Clinical and Research Interests: I am a General and Acute Care Surgeon with a long standing interest of the impact of hypoperfusion as seen in the setting of shock and sepsis on liver injury and function.  My laboratory works with human specimens from injured and septic patients.  We also have an extensive laboratory-based research program that examines the impact of ischemia reperfusion and sepsis on liver injury and immune function.  This includes the use of cultured primary hepatocytes and other liver cells from rodent models as well as humans and small animal models of shock, ischemia reperfusion, and sepsis.

Ongoing Research Studies:

1.       A major interest in my laboratory is the role of pattern recognition receptors in hepatocytes as well as immune cells.  This includes the characterization of toll-like receptors and other pattern recognition receptors in hepatocytes with a special interest on the endotoxin-sensing pathways.

2.       We have a long standing interest on the regulatory roles of nitric oxide in the liver and have characterized many of the pathways which regulate the expression of the inducible nitric oxide synthase and the downstream signaling effects of nitric oxide in liver cells.

NIH Research:

View Dr. Billiar’s NIH Report on nih.gov

Selected Publications:

View Dr. Billiar’s publications on PubMed

Chair, Department of Surgery
George Vance Foster Endowed Professor
Distinguished Professor of Surgery
Vice-President and Chief Academic Officer, University of Pittsburgh Physicians
Associate Medical Director, UPMC International and Commercial Services Division