Research Awards Program Currently Funded Awards and Recipients 2011 Liver Scholars AASLD/ALF Liver Scholar Donghun Shin, PhD University of Pittsburgh Pittsburgh, PA Mechanisms Regulating Early Liver Development: Liver Specification and Hepatic Competence Mentor: Satdarshan P. Singh Monga, MD AASLD/ALF Liver Scholar Pranavkumar Shivakumar, MPharm, PhD Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center Cincinnati, OH Activation of complement system regulates epithelial injury and obstruction in biliary atresia Mentor: Jorge A. Bezerra, MD AASLD/ALF Liver Scholar Jessica Wen, MD The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia/University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA Mechanisms of Liver Fibrosis in Congenital Hepatic Fibrosis Mentor: Rebecca Wells, MD American Liver Foundation Liver Scholar Romina Fiorotto, PhD Yale University New Haven, CT Dysregulation of TLR4-dependent epithelial innate immunity in cystic fibrosis cholangiopathy Mentor: Mario Strazzabosco, MD, PhD American Liver Foundation Liver Scholar Eek Joong Park, PhD University of California, San Diego La Jolla, CA Contribution of mTOR and autophagy signaling to obesity-promoted hepatocarcinogenesis Mentor: David Brenner, MD
2011 PSC Seed Grant
American Liver Foundation PSC Seed Grant Bertus Eksteen, PhD University of Calgary Calgary, Alberta, Canada Role of Glypican-6 in Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis
2011 Postdoctoral Research Fellowships Charles Trey, MD Memorial Postdoctoral Research Fellowship Antonio Sorrentino, PhD University of California, San Francisco San Francisco, CA Discovery and pre-clinical development of microRNA therapeutics targeting liver cancer Mentor: Andrei Goga, MD, PhD Herman Lopata Memorial Hepatitis Postdoctoral Research Fellowship Selena Sagan, PhD Stanford University Stanford, CA Investigating a protective role for miR-122 in the life cycle of Hepatitis C virus Mentor: Peter Sarnow, PhD Hans Popper Memorial Postdoctoral Research Fellowship Tomonori Aoyama, MD, PhD University of California, San Diego La Jolla, CA Regulation of liver macrophages in liver fibrogenesis Mentor: David Brenner, MD Sunflowers for Holli Autoimmune Hepatitis Postdoctoral Research Fellowship David Assis, MD Yale University School of Medicine New Haven, CT The role of Macrophage Migration Inhibitory Factor (MIF) in Autoimmune Hepatitis Mentor: James Boyer, MD Alexander M. White, III Postdoctoral Research Fellowship Frank DiPaola, MD Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center Cincinnati, OH The role of peribiliary glands in development and repair of extrahepatic bile ducts Mentor: Jorge Bezerra, MD
2011 Postdoctoral Research Fellowships (continued)
Roger L. Jenkins, MD Postdoctoral Research Fellowship Michel Fausther, PhD University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Little Rock, AR Dysregulation of CD73/ecto-5’-nucleotidase in liver fibrosis Mentor: Jonathan Dranoff, MD Irwin M. Arias, MD Postdoctoral Research Fellowship Andrew Cox, PhD Brigham and Women’s Hospital/Harvard Medical School Boston, MA Role of nitric oxide signaling in liver development and regeneration in zebrafish Mentor: Wolfram Goessling, MD, PhD Congressman John Joseph Moakley Postdoctoral Research Fellowship Baran Ersoy, PhD Brigham and Women’s Hospital Boston, MA Regulation of Hepatic Glucose Homeostasis by Phosphatidylcholine-Transfer Protein (PC-TP) and Thioesterase Superfamily Member 2 (Them2) Mentor: David Cohen, MD, PhD Tim Sylvia Memorial Postdoctoral Research Fellowship Award Hisashi Kosaka, MD, PhD Boston University School of Medicine Boston, MA Mechanisms of Hepatic Adhesion Formation Mentor: James Becker, MD Thomas E. Starzl, MD Postdoctoral Research Fellowship Moritz Schmelzle, MD Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center/Harvard Medical School Boston, MA Platelet activation triggered by CD39L1/NTPDase2 facilitates stem cell-mediated liver regeneration Mentor: Simon Robson, MD, PhD, FRCP 2010 Liver Scholars AASLD/ALF Liver Scholar Takeshi Saito, MD, PhD USC Keck School of Medicine Los Angeles, CA Identification of a novel host innate immune factor that regulates HCV Mentor: Neil Kaplowitz, MD
2010 Liver Scholars (continued) AASLD/ALF Liver Scholar Udayan Apte, PhD University of Kansas Medical Center Kansas City, KS Wnt/β-Catenin Signaling in Liver Regeneration Following Acetaminophen-Induced Acute Liver Failure Mentor: Hartmut Jaeschke, PhD AASLD/ALF Liver Scholar Amal Dutta, MD, PhD UT Southwestern Medical Center, Department of Pediatrics Dallas, TX Regulation of Biliary Secretion and Bile Formation by the Ca2+-Activated CIˉ Channel TMEM16A Mentor: Andrew P. Feranchak, MD American Liver Foundation Liver Scholar Kari Chambers, PhD Washington University School of Medicine St. Louis, MO PGC-1β- Mediated Control of Hepatic Fatty Acid Metabolism through ChREBP Mentor: Brian N. Finck, PhD 2009 Liver Scholar American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases Liver Scholar Alexander G. Miethke, MD Children’s Hospital Medical Center Cincinnati, OH Regulatory T Cells and the Pathogenesis of Biliary Atresia Mentor: Jorge A. Bezerra, MD