Rod McEver

Dr. Rodger McEver also serves as OMRF’s Chief Scientific Officer. A cardiovascular biologist and hematologist, he previously headed OMRF’s Cardiovascular Biology Research Program from 2007 to 2016. During his career, he received more than 30 years of continuous funding from the National InsOtutes of Health and served as principal investigator on several major program grants.

McEver’s research focused on how circulating blood cells attach to blood vessels at the sites of Issue injury or infection. His lab discovered the protein P-selection, and his work with this adhesion molecule led to the creation of Adakveo, a drug to treat sickle cell disease that earned FDA approval in 2019.

He has received numerous awards, including a MERIT Award from the National InsOtutes of Health and election as a Fellow of the American Heart Association. He is board-certified in internal medicine and hematology and served as the Alvin Chang Chair in Cardiovascular Biology at OMRF. He also co-founded other biotechnology companies: Selexys PharmaceuOcals Corp., which was acquired by Novartis, and Tetherex PharmaceuOcals.