
Our lab has a long standing interest in liver injury and repair. To learn more about the mechanisms that regulate this process, we study cultured cells, animal models of acute and chronic liver damage and samples from patients with various types of liver disease. Our group also conducts clinical trials in patients with chronic liver disease. We are particularly interested in fatty liver diseases, such as alcoholic fatty liver disease and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).
Research by our group has advanced understanding in two main areas: 1) immune system regulation of liver injury and regeneration and 2)the role of fetal morphogens, such as the hedgehog pathway, in regulating fibrotic responses to liver damage. Our basic research programs have been enjoyed continuous NIH support since 1989. We welcome students, post-doctoral fellows and visiting scientists who have interests in this research area to contact us about training opportunities and potential collaborations.
Since 2001 we have also been an active participant in the NIDDK-funded Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis Clinical Research Network (NASH CRN), a national consortium comprised of 8 university medical centers selected to generate a national registry for patients with NAFLD and to conduct multicenter treatment trials for this disorder. We are actively recruiting patients for this program, as well as a number of other industry-supported NAFLD studies.
Education and Training
- Georgetown University, M.D. 1978
- Johns Hopkins University, Medical Resident, Medicine
- Johns Hopkins University, Fellow in Gastroenterology, Medicine
Selected Grants and Awards
- Duke CTSA (KL2)
- Duke CTSA (TL1)
- Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women's Health
- An integrated and diverse genomic medicine program for undiagnosed diseases
- Postdoctoral Training in Genomic Medicine Research
- Hedgehog Signaling and Adult Liver Regeneration
- Duke Training Grant in Digestive Diseases and Nutrition
- Pathophysiological Role of Glutaminolysis in Human NAFLD Progression
- TNF Alpha and Recovery from Alchoholic Liver Injury
- Genetic and Epigenetic Markers of Progressive Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease
- Epigenetics and the Development of Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease
- NASH Clinical Research Network
- TAIWANJ JKB 121-001
- Role of the Stroma in Fibrolamellar Hepatocellular Carcinoma
- Submucosal esophageal structures as a progenitor niche for esophageal repair
- Serial Block Face Scanning Electron Microscope
- Impact of IMM-124E on Innate Immune and Fibrogenic Responses in Preclinical Mouse Model of NASH
- Impact of Fructose on Metabolism, Energy Homeostasis and MR biomarkers in NAFLD
- Pathogenesis of NASH Cirrhosis
- Cancer Biology Training Grant
- Liver Disease in Obesity
- TNF Alpha and Recovery from Alchoholic Liver Injury
- Rac1 Promotes Hepatic Stellate Accumulation/Activation in Liver Injury
- Characterizing Alcohol's Effects on Repair of Liver Injury
- Hyperinsulimia and Insulin Resistance in Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease
- Cholesterol, Hedgehog Signaling & Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
- Drug Abuse: Discovering Ligands for Pertinent GPCRs
- Innovative Assays for Oncogenic Hedgehog Signaling
- Liver Derived Microparticles In Cirrhosis Pathogenesis
- Metabolic Profiling to Identify Alcohol Biomarker Signature
- Bioenergetics and Alcoholic Liver Disease Pathogenesis