Robert W Maitta, MD, PhD received his B.S. and M.A. in cell biology from The City College of New York. He then studied at the Medical Scientist Training Program at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine (AECOM) in New York where he received his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the Department of Microbiology and Immunology. This was followed by his M.D degree, which he also received from AECOM. Dr. Maitta completed his residency in Clinical Pathology at Montefiore Medical Center in New York. His residency training was followed by completion of a fellowship in Transfusion Medicine from Yale University’s Yale New Haven Hospital. He joined the faculty of University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center in 2011. Dr. Maitta is the author of Clinical Principles of Transfusion Medicine, 1st Edition.

Dr. Maitta’s research interests span both clinical/translational medicine and basic science. His work was the first to report using a murine model the importance of α-synuclein in development/ maturation of immune-competent B and T cells. Currently, studies are focused on looking at α-synuclein as a marker of senescence in platelets, and potential role in diagnosing neurological neoplasms. Dr. Maitta is also actively studying the role that immature platelets have in differentiating thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura from other microangiopathic hemolytic anemia presentations. These studies have expanded to study thrombocytopenias at large. Thirdly, he has also studied blood safety and transfusion reaction incidences secondary to blood component transfusions. He is also interested in alloimmunization in sickle cell disease and immune dysregulation in these patients. Studies are also ongoing to determine role of apheresis in defined disease processes.