Maria Barrachina, PhD

Maria Barrachina, PhD, serves as Assistant Professor and Group Leader in the Center for Clinical and Translational Research at Nationwide Children's Hospital and The Ohio State University. Dr. Barrachina's research focuses on the molecular mechanisms linking metabolic disease to platelet dysfunction and thrombotic risk, with particular emphasis on how dietary lipids alter megakaryocyte and platelet biology.

Dr. Barrachina earned her Bachelor of Science in Biotechnology from the University of Valencia, followed by a Master's degree and PhD in Pharmacology, cum laude, from the University of Santiago de Compostela, Spain. She completed her postdoctoral training at Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School under Dr. Kellie Machlus and co-mentor Dr. Joseph Italiano, advancing to Instructor in Surgery before joining Nationwide Children's Hospital in 2026. Her current research, funded by an NIH/NHLBI R00 Award, examines how saturated fatty acid uptake alters platelet membrane composition and reactivity in obesity-associated thrombotic disease, building on her earlier NIH K99 and AHA Postdoctoral Fellowship-funded work on lipids in megakaryopoiesis and platelet function.

Dr. Barrachina has authored over twenty peer-reviewed publications in journals including Blood, Nature Cardiovascular Research, and Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology, and has been recognized with multiple early-career honors from the American Society of Hematology and the International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis. She has mentored undergraduate and graduate trainees throughout her career and will continue this mentorship as she builds her own lab.