Basic Research
Basic science research in the Division of Digestive and Liver Diseases focuses on inflammation and injury, metabolism, and cancer biology. See faculty profiles for further details.
Research Interests: Dr. Amin’s research focuses on closing the gap between liver organ demand and supply by rehabilitating fatty donor livers that are otherwise too risky to be transplanted. He also works on improving organ storage conditions outside of the human body.
Research Interests: COMMD proteins: Dr. Burstein studies the regulation of endosomal protein sorting and immune function by members of this protein family. Genetics of inflammatory disorders: His lab investigates the genetic basis of disorders of immune function, particularly affecting the GI tract Mucosal immunity and immune-tumor interactions in the GI tract.
Research Interests: Pathogenesis of Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease
Research Interests: Cholesterol and Fat Metabolism, Enteroendocrine Cell Biology, SREBP, Scap and Insig Proteins
Research Interests: Hepatic Steatosis, Lipid Metabolism
Research Interests: Liver Cancer, Liver Cirrhosis, Molecular Classification, Precision Medicine, Prognostic Prediction
Research Interests: Cachexia, Cytokine-Associated Adipocyte Lipolysis, Lipid Metabolism, Obesity
Research Interests: Celiac Disease, Inflammatory Bowel Disease, Inborn Errors of Immunity, Rare Liver Diseases
Research Interests: Cancer Biology, Mucosal Immunology, Drug Discovery
Research Interests: Dr. Llano’s primary research interest is cachexia, or wasting syndrome, particularly in the context of patients with cancer. He studies the molecular mechanisms through which cancers drive cachexia as a member of the Infante Lab
Research Interests: Cancer Genetics, Cancer Metastasis, High-Risk and Hereditary Cancer Screening, Pancreatic Cancer, Pancreatitis
Research Interests: Anti-Tumor Immunity, Cancer, Immunogenic Cell Death, Immunotherapy, Necroptosis Signaling
Research Interests: Dr. Ni's research objective is to predictably engineer the microbiota to treat intestinal diseases using a pipeline based on next-generation sequencing of patient-derived samples coupled with bacterial genetics.
Research Interests: Dr. Patel asks fundamental questions about how the liver works, and by doing so he hopes to gain new insights into the metabolic causes and consequences of liver disease with the ultimate goal of developing new clinical therapies. His laboratory has a particular interest in hepatic metabolism and its regulation by the immune system. He utilizes genetic, epigenetic and proteomic approaches, combined with detailed physiological studies, to understand the complex mechanisms that causally link inflammation to metabolic dysfunction in obesity and fatty liver disease.
Research Interests: Colon Cancer, Gut Microbiota, Inflammasome, Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IBDs), Th17/Treg Differentiation
Hans-Christian Reinecker, M.D.
Research Interests: Control of adaptive host-defenses by Schlafen family proteins, controlling innate and adaptive immune responses by Sensor Stimulator of Interferon Genes (STING), developing strategies to induce anti-tumor immunity for cancer immunotherapy, targeting intracellular microtubule based microbial pattern recognition to control disease mechanisms of Inflammatory Bowel Diseases
Research Interests: COMM Domain Contraining Proteins (COMMDs), Endosomal Trafficking of Cargos, Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC)
Research Interests: Apoptotic and Inflammatory Signaling, Inflammatory Bowel Disease, Intestinal Epithelial Cell Biology, Mucosal Immunology