Jordan Schaefer, MD, MSc

Jordan Schaefer, MD, MSc
Associate Professor of Internal Medicine, Hematology/Oncology
University of Michigan 

Focus: Hemostasis & Thrombosis, Adult Medicine, Clinical/Translational Research 

Fun Facts: Black-Belt in Tae Kwon Do, College Football Coach Dad, Trophy-Winning Dachshund  

2022 HTRS Mentored Research Award Recipient: 

• Mentors: Suman Sood, MD MSCE| Geoffrey Barnes, MD MSc| Jennifer Griggs, MD MPH  

• Project Title: “An Intervention to Reduce High Risk Primary Prevention Aspirin Use” 

"In college, I worked doing autopsies in the hospital morgue where the pathologist taught me about medicine.  I always enjoyed looking at blood under the microscope.  I still do. "

THREE FUN FACTS 

1. Our dachshund named Mr. Peabody is an extremely competitive racer.  Even when running against 80 other dachshunds, he has won several trophies. This is especially fun for our kids, who love sports: Cora (10) is a dancer, Clara (8) is a gymnast, and Eliza (6) and Elliott (4) are still deciding.  We love traveling locally as a family and watching college football, something I grew up with because my father was a college football coach.  When I earned my black belt in Tae Kwon Do awhile back, my sister met my instructor and now they are married – an entire family dedicated to the martial arts.
    
2. The first year of my 2022 HTRS MRA, I earned a master’s degree in health and healthcare research at the University of Michigan, focusing on statistics and research methods. I am so fortunate that my entire MRA mentorship team is based here.  Along with clinic, master’s work, and four kids at home, it was a juggling act but I’m so grateful for the opportunity to have gained enhanced research skills and for the huge support I received along the way. I am especially appreciative of my amazing wife Katie whose encouragement and dedication made it all possible.   
    
3. My K01 award application has been approved for funding by the NIH.  Since this K award builds on my MRA project, I am very thankful for HTRS’ support of my research and continued efforts to become an independent investigator in the field of classical hematology, focusing on interventions that improve antithrombotic therapy delivery. I truly value this ongoing support, which has been crucial to obtaining this career development award. 

TWO REASONS I CHOSE THIS CAREER 

1. In medical school at Michigan State University, I did rotations with Dr. John Penner and liked the diversity of patients and conditions he cared for.  He applied the latest science to patient care, but he was also very practical in adapting it to each individual patient.  He encouraged me to read all about the conditions we were seeing, and followed up with me about how the patients were doing over time.  He was very inspirational – his patients trusted him with their care and he was very kind, which is how I continually aspire to be. 
   
   Dr. Ken Schwartz, a great clinician, introduced me to hematology research and served as my second mentor.  We experimented on aspirin in the lab, receiving a training award from the American Society of Hematology (ASH).  He was very passionate about research and patient care. We have remained in touch and he’s continued to support my career development.  
    
2. Through this research experience, I attended an ASH meeting -- my initial exposure to HTRS and its career development focus.  This led to an extraordinary opportunity to learn from the top experts in hematology: the HTRS Trainee Workshop.  I was able to take what I learned there and apply it to patient care when I returned to Mayo Clinic, where I was a resident at the time.  It was also an amazing chance to network; I met people I collaborate with today and it led to other training opportunities.  This experience inspired a few clinical questions I went on to study and instilled more confidence to further my expertise as a resident interested in hematology.  Others recognized my interest and encouraged this focus on research and patient care: it solidified my goal to become a clinical researcher,

​​​​​​​ONE THING I LEARNED

1. Good Mentorship is Critical 
   
   All along my career path, I’ve benefited so much from outstanding mentors and role models, including Drs. Sumi Sood, Geoffrey Barnes, Jennifer Griggs, Sarah Krein (my Michigan team) and those outside my institution whom I’ve met via ASH and HTRS: Drs. Neil Zakai, Marc Carrier, David Garcia, Alok Khorana, and Scott Kaatz.  When I think about all the time they have spent meeting with me – getting coffee or over the phone, sometimes at the last minute -- talking through my research, identifying challenges, and discussing how to overcome them, I don’t know what my career would look like without their support. These are just some of the many people who have helped me along the way. Inspired and truly indebted, I have begun to pay that forward and mentor others.  It is a critical service to our community and the patients we serve.