Current Research and Scholarly Interests
Our laboratory has been focusing on the mechanism of liver fibrosis and the role of hepatocyte cell death in fibrogenic injury. We have demonstrated the intricate link between hepatocyte apoptosis, generation of apoptotic bodies and their efferocytosis by stellate cells triggering fibrogenic activation. Key to this was the activation of the NADPH oxidase NOX2 and production of reactive oxidative species inducing stellate cell transdifferentiation and collagen I transcription. We are particularly interested in clinical conditions that are linked to accelerated fibrosis such as during aging and T2DM. Our goal is to uncover how biomechanical characteristics of the ECM affect mechano-sensation, and how these pathways could ultimately be targeted. We are also interested in aging and its effects on metabolic pathways and mitochondrial function leading to disease progression in NASH and HCC.
Our other major focus is on alcoholic hepatitis, and defining novel therapeutic targets based on sterile inflammatory pathways. Our ultimate goal is translation and developing new treatment approaches that reverse fibrosis and improve patient outcomes.
We have two investigator-initiated clinical trials exploring novel treatment and diagnostic strategies in NASH.
