Research Summaries in Liver and Gastrointestinal Diseases
Marc Ghany, M.D.: Natural History and Therapy of Hepatitis B and C
Dr. Ghany’s primary interest lies with developing new strategies to manage chronic viral liver diseases. Current projects aim to refine our understanding of the pathogenesis of hepatitis B virus related liver disease and to develop new approaches to therapy. Other research interests include study of mutations of the viral genome and how they affect the clinical presentation of hepatitis B infection and response to different antiviral agents, and investigation of factors that affect the natural history of hepatitis C infection and testing therapeutic regimens for use in patients who fail standard therapy.
Theo Heller, M.D.:Clinical Development of Anti-virals for Viral Hepatitis
Dr. Heller’s research interests mainly relate to hepatitis C, particularly the very early events after exposure to and infection with hepatitis C virus. Current clinical protocols include studying the immune response in humans after exposure to hepatitis C and treating patients with acute hepatitis C. Another interest is in the area of hepatitis C virus replication, assembly and release, with focus on developing an in vitro model system. A third area of interest is in treating patients with hepatitis D with peginterferon.
Jay Hoofnagle, M.D.: Treatment of Viral Hepatitis and Fatty Liver Disease
Dr. Hoofnagle conducts clinical and translational research on acute and chronic liver diseases focusing largely on antiviral therapy of hepatitis B, C and D and metabolic approaches to the treatment of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis. Current protocols include analysis of viral kinetics during therapy of chronic hepatitis C with peginterferon with and without ribavirin and on antiviral responses of hepatitis B to combinations of nucleoside analogues. In the area of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, studies are focused upon responses to insulin-sensitizing agents and correlations of clinical, metabolic and histological responses.
Robert T. Jensen, M.D.: Biology and Pharmacology of Gastrointestinal Hormones
Dr. Jensen’s research interests involve both basic science and clinical studies in the area of gastrointestinal endocrinology. The basic science area of interest is the cellular biology and molecular pharmacology of gastrointestinal hormones, particularly members of the bombesin, CCK, and VIP-secretin family. His clinical studies involve patients with gastric hypersecretory states including studies in diagnosis, natural history, and treatment.
T. Jake Liang, M.D.: Molecular Pathogenesis and Vaccine Development of Viral Hepatitis
Dr. Liang’s major research interest is in the area of translational research of viral hepatitis, focusing on the interface between clinical and laboratory investigations. Research projects include the molecular pathogenesis of virus-cell/host interactions, vaccine development for hepatitis C, animal models for hepatitis B and C, and molecular pathways of host antiviral defense. Another interest is in identifying and characterizing molecular targets for antiviral development.
Caroline Philpott, M.D.: Iron Metabolism and Toxicity
Dr. Philpott’s major research effort is to couple microarray analysis with genetic, cell biological, and biochemical approaches to understand iron metabolism in human health and disease. The goal is to understand how the systems of iron uptake and utilization work, both in the simple eukaryote Saccharomyces cerevisiae and in higher eukaryotes. We have used whole-genome approaches to study the response to iron deprivation and iron overload in budding yeast. These efforts have led to the discovery of new genes involved in intracellular iron metabolism, novel systems of iron uptake, and unexpected interactions with other metabolic pathways. Newer areas of research include identifying genes involved in iron homeostasis of Candida albicans and humans.
Barbara Rehermann, M.D.: Immunology of Liver Diseases
Dr. Rehermann’s research interest lies in the immunology of viral and autoimmune liver diseases, particularly the immunopathogenesis of viral hepatitis B and C. The research focuses on the role of the virus specific immune response using multidisciplinary approaches that range from clinical immunology research with blood and liver biopsy samples of infected patients to basic immunology in animal models. Current projects are designed to characterize the cellular immune response after repeated low-dose exposure to the virus in anti-HCV-negative health care workers, to analyze the effect of early antiviral therapy on the HCV-specific memory immune response, and to investigate basic mechanisms of antigen processing and cross-priming.
Stephen Wank, M.D.: Functional Regulation of Digestion and Motility
Dr. Wank’s research interest is in two aspects of gastrointestinal function. The first focuses on understanding the hormonal regulation of digestion and motility. A basic science, cell biological and protein chemistry approach is undertaken to elucidate the structural basis for hormone-receptor interaction with emphasis on cholecystokinin, gastrin, pituitary adenylate cyclase activating polypeptide and the calcitonin gene-related peptide and their cognate receptors. The second area focuses on chemosensation in the gastrointestinal tract with emphasis on recognition of dietary amino acids and short chain fatty acids.
