Anne Eichmann PhD

Dr. Eichmann is noted for her research exploring the factors that determine where the cells in blood vessels and lymphatic vessels grow, as well as understanding how the vascular and nervous systems influence each other’s growth and function. She is particularly interested in the mechanisms that direct vascular patterning and guidance and in understanding the function of specialized endothelial cells called tip cells, with the goal of manipulating guided vascular patterning.

Dr. Eichmann has discovered that common molecular cues direct the growth of blood vessels and nerves, opening new possibilities for directing blood vessel growth towards an infarcted tissue area or away from growing tumors. Understanding the relationship between the nervous system and the vascular system may be key to significant advances in biomedical research. Dr. Eichmann is currently studying the effect of that link in diseases affecting both systems, notably diabetes.