Erik von Rosenvinge, M.D.,
Interests include studying the effects of the CCK-2 (“gastrin”) receptor on the pathogenesis of malignancy. This receptor has been long known to be integral in the development of type I & type II gastric carcinoids, but more recently it has also been found in colorectal, pancreatic, gastric, thyroid, and pulmonary malignancies, as well as in Barrett’s esophagus. Our studies will focus on the use of a novel CCK-2 receptor antagonist in a unique population of patient’s with Zollinger-Ellison syndrome and type II gastric carcinoids.
An additional area of interest is in improving the efficiency and patient tolerability of colonoscopy. To this end, a novel stiffening wire is being developed for testing on healthy volunteers.
Lakshmi Gopal-Clark, M.D.,
I have particular interests in motility and functional GI disorders. I am interested in developing new strategies and methods to help diagnose and treat patients.
Currently, we are investigating different uses of new technology to aid in the management of patients. My goals are to apply a more comprehensive approach to this area.
Apurva Modi, M.D.,
My research interests include studying the pathophysiology of Graft-Versus-Host-Disease to assist in developing focused and effective diagnostic and therapeutic options that are less invasive and have fewer systemic side effects. An additional area of interest is in studying the effect of triple therapy with S-adenosyl methionine in addition to peginterferon and ribavirin in the treatment of Hepatitis C non-responders.
Grishma Joy, M.D.,
My main research interest is in that of carinoid tumors. Carcinoid tumors are rare and can present late in the stage of the disease when metastasis is already present, and this partially accounts for the current poor 5 year survival rates. The rareness of sporadic carcinoid tumors has prevented large scale studies on genetic analysis and on the development of reliable diagnostic modalities for early detection. We propose to study the natural history of the familial form of carcinoid tumors which also provides a unique opportunity for genetic analysis. These patients are members of families with a strong family history of the disease and, once recruited, undergo a battery of testing using biochemical, endoscopic, and imaging modalities; with the goal of early detection and possible curative intervention. Furthermore, phenotypic detection of affected family members and collection of DNA from multiple kindreds can facilitate possible identification of the culprit gene. Finally, evaluation and follow-up of affected members over time can give invaluable information regarding the natural history and the relative utility of surveillance methods for familial midgut carcinoids. Hopefully, the information gained form this study can be used in the management of sporadic carcinoid and other familial neoplasms.
