Upcoming Events

Mar
19
Tue
Special Seminar* School of Pharmacy* Dr. Natalie Torok @ 5650 Salk Hall
Mar 19 @ 10:30 am – 11:30 am

The Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences Seminar Series is Hosting
Dr. Natalie J. Torok
Professor
Vice Chief of Research
Gastroenterology & Hepatolog
Stanford University and VA Palo Alto, CA

Her Presentation title is: Matrix modulation in metabolic dysfunction associated steatohepatitis/HCC

PLRC Seminar Series: Dr. Xin Wei Wang @ S120 BST
Mar 19 @ 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm

Wang Headshot

Xin Wei Wang, PhD                                      

Deputy Director – Center for Cancer Research , Co-Director – Liver Cancer Program, Deputy Chief – Laboratory of Human Carcinogenesis NIH – National Cancer Institute

Seminar Title: Molecular landscape of liver cancer and its clinical implications

Host: Haitao Guo

 

As Deputy Director and Senior Investigator at the NCI-CCR, Dr. Wang dedicates his professional life on improving early detection, diagnosis, and treatment of liver cancer. He is also co-Director of the Multidisciplinary CCR Liver Cancer Program and Deputy Chief of the CCR Laboratory of Human Carcinogenesis, as well as members of the NIH Board of Scientific Directors. He is co-PI of the NCI-CLARITY study and the TIGER-LC consortium. Dr. Wang’s research centers on functional genomics of liver cancer utilizing genome-scale technologies paired with several international collaborative initiatives and clinical studies. His lab focuses on basic/translational research through building a global liver cancer database and employing integrated omics to understand tumor heterogeneity. He explores cutting-edge technologies such as genomics, transcriptomics, metabolomics, microbiomics, viromics and single cell analysis to define tumor subtypes, tumor cell evolution and subtype-specific biomarkers/drivers for improving early detection, diagnosis, prognosis, and prediction, and to delineate molecular mechanisms of liver cancer initiation and metastasis with applications towards precision oncology. He coauthors over 280 peer-reviewed articles (H-index 86) in top-tier journals including, Cell, Nature, Science, Cancer Cell, Nature Medicine, Nature Genetics, Gastroenterology, Hepatology, Journal of Hepatology, among others. His recent study published in Cell describes a paradigm shift approach for early detection of liver cancer. He has been an active member of AACR, AASLD, CALS, ILCA and SCBA. He was the President of CALS and SCBA DC-Chapter and council of ILCA. He received numerous awards including multiple NIH Director’s Awards, NCI Director’s Awards, and the Blue Faery Awards, among others. He serves on the editorial board of Cell & Bioscience, Hepatology, among others. He received PhD from New York University School of Medicine.

Mar
26
Tue
PLRC Seminar Series: Dr. Stacey Huppert @ S120 BST
Mar 26 @ 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm
PLRC Seminar Series: Dr. Stacey Huppert @ S120 BST

Stacey Huppert, PhD
Department of Pediatrics
Cincinnati Children’s Hospital

Seminar Title: Mechanisms regulating hepatic epithelial cell plasticity and identity

Biography

Dr. Stacey S. Huppert, PhD, is an Associate Professor in the Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital (CCHMC) and Department of Pediatrics at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. Her commitment to Notch signaling spans over twenty years since beginning her graduate training. In the laboratory of Dr. Marc A. T. Muskavitch at Indiana University, she demonstrated that Notch signaling exerts feedback regulation on ligand and receptor expression, and that the resultant asymmetries underlie proper cell fate determination (PMID: 9310323). As a postdoctoral fellow in Dr. Raphael Kopan’s Laboratory and then as an Instructor in the Department of Molecular Biology and Pharmacology at Washington University School of Medicine, she continued to study Notch signaling mechanisms. Generating a mouse with a targeted mutation at the gamma-secretase cleavage site within Notch1, she demonstrated that intramembranous processing of Notch1 and release of the Notch intracellular domain (NICD) is indispensable for proper embryonic development (PMID: 10879540).

Currently Dr. Huppert’s research program investigates hepatic cell plasticity and switching of liver cell identities to build missing liver bile ducts (PMID: 29720662) and formation of the three-dimensional hepatic architecture during development, homeostasis and regeneration. Her group uses multiple models of Alagille syndrome (ALGS) – mouse experimental and human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). They are focused on enhancing the potential of hepatocytes to restore bile ducts of patients with Alagille syndrome and other hepatobiliary diseases on two fronts: 1. Identify possible treatments for children whose liver disease is related to a lack of bile ducts by testing modifiers of Notch signaling (PMID: 37021797), and 2. Correcting the bile duct supporting mesenchymal cell niche (https://www.rarediseaseadvisor.com/news/easing-bile-duct-paucity-algs-through-peribiliary-mesenchyme/).

Apr
9
Tue
PLRC Seminar Series: Dr. Jeff Albrecht @ S120 BST
Apr 9 @ 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm

George Michalopoulos Endowed Lectureship in the Department of Pathology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jeffrey Albrecht, MD

Department of Medicine

Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition University of Minnesota    

Seminar title: Cyclin D1 at the nexus of cell cycle control and metabolism in the liver.

Biography: Jeffrey H. Albrecht MD is a gastroenterologist with a focus on hepatology (liver diseases). He was previously head of the Gastroenterology Division at Hennepin County Medical Center and director of the Liver Clinic at the Minneapolis VA Health Care System.

Research Summary

His research focuses on cell cycle control proteins in liver regeneration, metabolism, and carcinogenesis. In particular, his laboratory has investigated novel links between cyclin D1, hepatocyte metabolism, and fatty liver disease.

Clinical Summary

Dr. Albrecht’s clinical expertise is hepatology and general gastroenterology, including the diagnosis and treatment of liver diseases, cirrhosis, and liver cancer                                        

Apr
16
Tue
PLRC Seminar Series: Dr. Yulei Wang @ S120 BST
Apr 16 @ 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm

 

y.Wang picture

 

Yulei Wang, PhD
Senior Fellow/Group Leader
Department of Translational Medicine/Oncology
Genentech
South San Francisco, CA

 

 

Seminar title: Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Biomarker Discovery, Disease Biology, and Clinical Translation

Yulei joined Genentech in 2011. Currently a Senior Fellow/Group Leader in the Department of Translational Medicine, Yulei has extensive experiences in leading biomarker subteams for supporting both early stage (i.e. ADC/TDC and the TGFb franchise) and late stage clinical programs (i.e. cancer immunotherapies in hepatobiliary cancers). She also leads a group of biomarker scientists and oversees translational/reverse translational activities in GI disease area and across Morpheus signal-seeking combination platform.

As a well-recognized innovative scientific leader with a passion for both patients and science, Yulei has been a champion in leading the translation and reverse translation studies in liver cancer and ovarian cancer disease areas as well as global combination immunotherapy development. By integrating cancer genomics, digital pathology, ctDNA and single cell multi-omics in clinical biomarker studies, her team has successfully linked biomarker discovery, disease biology and clinical translation to enable transformative drug development.

In addition to leading clinical biomarker studies, Yulei is an accomplished postdoc mentor and head of translation research laboratory. Her group focuses on understanding the heterogeneity of the disease biology, tumor immune microenvironment and stroma biology to guide the development of novel therapeutic and diagnostic strategies.

 

                               

 

Highlights

Dr. Mo Ebrahimkhani and colleagues publishes a new human embryo-like model in Nature
December 14, 2023

... Read More

Alex Soto-Gutierrez, Jai Behari, Lans Taylor and team publish in Gastro Hep Advances
October 24, 2023

... Read More

mycko-abstract
Ed Prochownik and team publish in Cell Reports
July 26, 2023

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Pittsburgh Liver Institute *LAUNCH*
July 25, 2023

... Read More

George Michalopoulos, MD, PhD
Dr. George Michalopoulos adds to Pittsburgh’s rich Liver history
July 12, 2023

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PLRC X/Twitter Feed

 

PLRC grant number P30 DK120531