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Seema S. Aceves, MD, PhD
Professor, Departments of Pediatrics and Medicine, Division of Pediatric Gastroenterology
Institution: UC San Diego
saceves@ucsd.edu
Research Interests: Dr. Aceves conducts clinical and translational investigations on the impact and mechanisms of tissue remodeling in eosinophilic esophagitis, a disease of increasing worldwide prevalence. She uses primary human esophageal cells as in vitro model systems to understand the mechanisms of epithelial, fibroblast and smooth muscle changes in the disease. -
Veeral Ajmera, MD
Associate Professor of Medicine
Division of Gastroenterology
Institution: UC San Diego
v1ajmera@health.ucsd.edu
Research Interests: Dr. Ajmera's research interest includes non-invasive assessment of disease severity in Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH). His primary focus is risk factors and biomarkers associated with the development and progression of Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD). -
Brigid Boland, MD
Associate Professor, Department of Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology
Institution: UC San Diego
bboland@ucsd.edu
Research Interests: Dr. Boland is a translational researcher in the field of inflammatory bowel disease. She is developing methodologies for mechanism-of-action studies and early proof-of-concept trials in inflammatory bowel disease. With her clinical and basic science research experience, she is uniquely positioned to develop appropriately designed and powered translational studies to address both clinical and basic science questions in inflammatory bowel diseases. -
David Brenner, MD
Professor, Department of Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology.
Institution: UC San Diego
dbrenner@ucsd.edu
Research Interests: Dr. Brenner’s laboratory investigates the molecular pathogenesis of liver fibrosis and new strategies for therapy, using a range of in vivo and in vitro models of hepatic fibrosis and collagen expression that are relevant to human liver disease. -
John Carethers, MD
Distinguished Professor, Department of Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology
Vice Chancellor of Health Sciences
Institution: UC San Diego
jcarethers@health.ucsd.edu
Research Interests: Dr. Carethers’s research focuses on the areas of DNA mismatch repair, familial colorectal cancer syndromes, colorectal cancer disparities, and early onset colorectal cancer. His laboratory group conducts translational studies that apply cutting-edge molecular techniques to human samples to answer questions that can improve care and outcomes for those with colorectal cancer. -
John Chang, MD
Professor, Department of Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology
Institution: UC San Diego
jtc007@ucsd.edu
Research Interests: Dr. Chang is investigating the control of helper T-cell differentiation and its importance in regulating intestinal inflammation. -
Hilde Cheroutre, PhD
Professor and Division Head, Developmental Immunology, La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology
Adjunct Professor, Department of Medicine, UC San Diego
Institution: La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology
hilde@lji.org
Research Interests: Dr. Cheroutre focuses on T-cell development and selection, effector and memory T-cell differentiation, and protective immunity versus immune regulation. She explores the functional repertoire of CD4+ T-cells and their potential contributions in beneficial or pathogenic immune processes and inflammation at intestinal surfaces and systemic sites. -
Hiutung Chu, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Pathology
Institution: UC San Diego
hic011@ucsd.edu
Research Interests: Dr. Chu investigates how polymorphisms in host genes such as ATGL16L1 and NOD2 promote inflammation through defects in sensing protective signals from the microbiome, defining a potentially critical gene-environment etiology for inflammatory bowel diseases. -
Kathleen (Kit) Curtius, PhD
Assistant Professor, Division of Biomedical Informatics, Department of Medicine
Institution: UC San Diego
kcurtius@health.ucsd.edu
Research Interests: Dr. Curtius conducts research on developing stochastic models of evolutionary mechanisms that drive gastrointestinal carcinogenesis, calibrating models to population-scale data, and then predicting “windows of opportunity” when screening is particularly optimal. Her work requires the integration of different fields (e.g., screening guideline committees, clinicians, geneticists, molecular and computational biologists) that are primed for novel quantitative analyses beyond those currently employed in clinical practice and decisions. -
Debanjan Dhar, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine
Institution: UC San Diego
ddhar@health.ucsd.edu
Research Interests: Dr. Dhar’s research interest is to conduct basic and applied research with a focus on liver diseases such as Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH), rosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Dr. Dhar’s goal is to elucidate the molecular mechanisms underlying MASH development and HCC initiation and devise new therapeutic strategies. -
Lars Eckmann, MD
Professor, Department of Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology
Institution: UC San Diego
leckmann@health.ucsd.edu
Research Interests: Dr. Eckmann has a long-standing research interest in mucosal immunology, epithelial cell biology, regulation of inflammatory responses in the intestinal tract, and microbial pathogenesis. His laboratory has employed a range of animal and cell culture models to discover immune defenses, new therapeutics, and preventive strategies against clinically important mucosal microbes, including pathogenic bacteria (Salmonella, pathogenic Escherichia coli) and protozoan parasites (Giardia, Entamoeba histolytica, Trichomonas vaginalis). -
Dannielle Engle, PhD
Assistant Professor
Institution: The Salk Institute for Biological Studies
engle@salk.edu
Research Interests: Dr. Engle’s research focuses on the links between aberrant glycosylation, pancreatitis, and pancreatic cancer to identify new targets for the early diagnosis and effective treatment of pancreatic disease. She created new model systems that accurately recapitulate the physiological aspects of human pancreatic disease. Dr. Engle discovered that the glycan CA19-9 is more than a correlative biomarker of pancreatic disease, but CA19-9 mediates the initiation and persistence of pancreatitis in mice. -
Peter B. Ernst, DVM, PhD
Professor, Department of Pathology
Co-Director, UC Veterinary Medical Center
Director, Center for Veterinary Sciences and Comparative Medicine
Head, Division of Comparative Pathology and Medicine
Institution: UC San Diego
pernst@ucsd.edu
Research Interests: Dr. Ernst is a mucosal immunologist who has studied immune/epithelial interactions in the digestive tract for over 30 years. In particular, he has investigated the mechanisms controlling host responses to gastroenteric bacteria including Helicobacter pylori and several food- and water-borne pathogens, and the functions of adenosine receptors in T-cell differentiation and intestinal inflammation. -
Ronald Evans, PhD
Professor, March of Dimes Chair in Molecular and Developmental Biology
Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Institution: The Salk Institute for Biological Studies
evans@salk.edu
Research Interests: Dr. Evans is known for establishing the first molecular blueprint of steroid receptors, the isolation of the first orphan receptors and proposing the existence of a supergene family of nuclear receptors. He has worked extensively on orphan ligand identification and linked nuclear receptors to the regulation of fatty acid, cholesterol, glucose and xenobiotic metabolism. -
Ariel Feldstein, MD
Professor of Pediatrics, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition
Institution: UC San Diego
afeldstein@ucsd.edu
Research Interests: Dr. Feldstein focuses on dissecting the biochemical pathways of cell death triggered by over-accumulation of fatty acids and other lipids in MASLD and MASH. He is also interested in hepatocyte-adipocyte crosstalk, their role in metabolic syndrome and MASH, and the identification of novel diagnostics for these conditions. -
Gen-Sheng Feng, PhD
Professor, Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, and Molecular Biology
Institution: UC San Diego
gfeng@ucsd.edu
Research Interests: Dr. Feng’s research program aims at understanding the dynamic interplay between signaling pathways in different cell types in health and disease. His current focus is on elucidating the anti-oncogenic effects of classical oncoproteins in liver cancer. Elucidating the previously unrecognized complexity in mechanisms of liver tumorigenesis will lead to a paradigm shift in understanding the initiation and development of liver cancer which is now the most deadly malignant disease worldwide. -
Pradipta Ghosh, MD
Professor, Department of Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology
Institution: UC San Diego
prghosh@health.ucsd.edu
Research Interests: Dr. Ghosh's laboratory studies the cell biology of signal transduction with a special emphasis on the identification and characterization of novel modulators of heterotrimeric G proteins. Over the years, her group has systematically pursued in depth the mechanism and biological implications of an intracellular heterotrimeric G protein system and revealed along the way how G protein signaling via guanine exchange modulator (GEM) is fundamentally distinct from the conventional G protein signaling from the cell surface by G protein-coupled receptors. -
Jack Gilbert, PhD
Professor, Department of Pediatrics
Institution: UC San Diego
jagilbert@health.ucsd.edu
Research Interests: Dr. Gilbert’s research focuses on fundamental questions about our microbial interaction with built environments, including what factors influence their microbial communities and how microbes are transferred throughout these environments. His group is also interested in manipulating the microbial assemblages in the gut as a novel therapeutic for human disease. -
Christopher K. Glass, MD, PhD
Distinguished Professor of Cellular and Molecular Medicine
Professor of Medicine
Institution: UC San Diego
ckg@health.ucsd.edu
Research Interests: Dr. Glass’ primary interests are to understand the mechanisms by which sequence-specific transcription factors, co-activators and co-repressors regulate the development and function of macrophages. A major direction of his laboratory has been to define the genome-wide locations and functions of these proteins through the use of assays that are based on massively parallel DNA sequencing. The combination of these technologies with molecular, genetic, lipidomic and cell-based approaches is providing new insights into mechanisms that regulate macrophage gene expression and function that are relevant to inflammatory diseases that include diabetes, atherosclerosis and neurodegenerative diseases. -
David Gonzalez, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Pharmacology
School of Medicine and the Skaggs School of Pharmacy
Institution: UC San Diego
djgonzalez@health.ucsd.edu
Research Interests: Dr. Gonzalez’s research platform breaks the mold of traditional host-microbe research by utilizing innovative approaches in quantitative proteomics to rationalize further bench-top experimentation. Starting from a systems scale and narrowing to a single target approach. Dr. Gonzalez’s lab is examining bacterial pathogenesis, host responses to infection, and the impact of the microbiome on health and disease. -
Philip Gordts, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine
Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism
Glycobiology Research & Training Center (GRTC)
Institution: UC San Diego
pgordts@health.ucsd.edu
Research Interests: Dr. Gordts conducts research on the biological functions of hepatic receptors and glycans such as heparan sulfate in metabolic disease. A major focus of the lab is on the regulation of hepcidin by heparan sulfate and its co-receptor syndecan-1 in hepatocytes. Hepcidin plays a central role in controlling iron absorption in the intestine and iron storage in hepatocytes. -
Samir Gupta, MD
Professor, Department of Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology
Institution: UC San Diego
s1gupta@ucsd.edu
Research Interests: Dr. Samir Gupta’s research focuses on the prevention and screening of colorectal cancer and polyps. He has led randomized clinical trials as well as numerous observational studies of the clinical and molecular epidemiology of digestive system cancers and neoplasia, including colorectal, hepatocellular, and pancreatic cancer. -
Phillipp Hartmann, MD
Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition
Institution: UC San Diego
phhartmann@health.ucsd.edu
Research Interests: Dr. Hartmann is interested in the role of the intestinal microbiome in various liver diseases with a focus on pediatric Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) and Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH). He aims to develop novel diagnostic and therapeutic strategies that will help to design more personalized treatment approaches. -
Cynthia Hsu, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor, Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine
Institution: UC San Diego
c6hsu@health.ucsd.eduResearch Interests: Dr. Hsu's research focuses on the role of the gut microbiome and microbial metabolites in the pathogenesis of alcohol use disorder and steatotic liver diseases, with an emphasis on the development of novel therapeutic strategies. Her lab combines bioinformatics, gnotobiotic mouse models, and translational liver disease models to study the gut-liver-brain axis.
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Michael Karin, PhD
Distinguished Professor, Departments of Pharmacology and Pathology, Cancer Center
Institution: UC San Diego
mkarin@ucsd.edu
Research Interests: Dr. Karin has spent his career investigating stress and inflammation signaling covering the entire gamut of research approaches from basic biochemistry through molecular cell biology to animal pathophysiology. Many of his recent and current studies have focused on epithelial proliferation and transformation in the colon and liver in response to chemical and inflammatory insults. -
Tatiana Kisseleva, MD, PhD
Professor, Department of Surgery
Institution: UC San Diego
tkisseleva@mail.ucsd.edu
Research Interests: Dr. Kisseleva examines the cellular origin of cells contributing to fibrosis in the liver. In addition, she has been exploring the role of IL-17 signaling, and the effect of therapeutic inhibition of IL-17-producing Th17 in chronic liver diseases, MASH and hepatocellular carcinoma. -
Mitchell Kronenberg, PhD
Professor & Chief Scientific Officer, La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology
Professor of Biology, UC San Diego
Institution: La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology
mitch@liai.org
Research Interests: Dr. Kronenberg’s laboratory studies the functions of T-cells in intestinal inflammation and defense including models of IBD. He has explored the T-cell receptor (TCR) diversity of donor-derived T-cells in the intestine of inflammation-prone SCID recipients by immunoscope (CDR3 length) analysis and sequencing of TCR beta chains. -
Jin Lee, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Pathology
Institution: UC San Diego
jil327@health.ucsd.edu
Research Interests: Dr. Lee’s research focuses on the cellular microenvironment that controls liver regeneration and hepatocellular carcinoma, especially how innate and adaptive immune cells target transformed or mutated cancerous hepatocytes. The overall objectives of Dr. Lee's studies are to elucidate the underlying mechanism of cell-cell interaction in liver cancer, and to define new biomarkers of disease progression. -
Cristina Llorente, PhD
Assistant Adjunct Professor, Division of Gastroenterology
Institution: UC San Diego
allorenteizquierdo@health.ucsd.edu
Research Interests: Dr. Llorente’s research focus is to disentangle the role of intestinal stem cells, their proliferation, and differentiation into various intestinal cells for the development of alcohol-induced liver illnesses. Alcohol-associated liver disease is an understudied disease. Although the importance of microbiota and bacterial translocation are known for alcohol-related liver disease, the exact mechanism of how they contribute to the disease is unknown. By using various intestinal epithelial cell-specific knockout mice, it was noted that ISC differentiation to goblet cells plays an important role in the development of alcohol-induced liver disease through the regulation of the immune system. -
Rohit Loomba, MD
Professor, Department of Medicine
Chief, Division of Gastroenterology
Institution: UC San Diego
roloomba@ucsd.edu
Research Interests: Dr. Loomba’s research focuses on all aspects of MASLD including aging, epidemiology, genetic and environmental predisposition, natural history and treatment of MASH. He utilizes diverse epidemiologic and outcomes research methodologies to answer clinically relevant questions. Examples of the research conducted include patient-oriented clinical research based on patients seen in the MASLD clinic, clinical trials, population-based cohort studies, twin studies and clinical decision-making by utilizing meta-analytic approaches. He is also undertaking multi-omics approaches to tease out the genetic and environmental determinants of MASLD and hepatic fibrosis. -
Li-Fan Lu, Ph.D.
Professor and Co-Director Program in Immunology
Department of Molecular Biology
Institution: UC San Diego
lifanlu@ucsd.edu
Research Interests: Dr. Lu’s research interest is to study immune regulation in different tissue microenvironments under different physiological and pathological conditions. Particularly, in the past few years his research aims at exploring the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying regulatory T (Treg) cell-mediated control of intestinal homeostasis in the presence or absence of commensal and pathogenic microbes. -
Sushil K. Mahata, PhD
Professor of Medicine, Metabolic Physiology & Ultrastructural Biology Laboratory
Institution: UC San Diego
smahata@health.ucsd.eduResearch Interests: Dr. Mahata’s Lab investigates the role of Chromogranin A (CgA) and its peptide Catestatin (CST) in the regulation of cardiovascular, metabolic, and gut physiology. His current research focuses on the role of CgA and CST in the alleviation of age-associated diseases like diabetes, hypertension, Alzheimer’s disease, sarcopenia, and gastroparesis. He is also exploring the therapeutic potential of CST in combating the above diseases.
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Omar Mesarwi, MD
Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine
Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine
Institution: UC San Diego
omesarwi@health.ucsd.edu
Research Interests: Dr. Mesarwi’s research interests and publications are in the fields of glucose dysregulation, lipid metabolism, and Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD). His particular interest is the impact of hypoxia, as it occurs during obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), for the development of MASLD and other metabolic derangements. He described the significance of hepatocyte HIF-1 in the progression of liver fibrosis in MASLD. -
Ravinder Mittal, MD
Professor, Department of Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology
Institution: UC San Diego
rmittal@ucsd.edu
Research Interests: Dr. Mittal’s laboratory investigates the sensory and motor functions of the esophagus. These studies include basic research in cell culture and animal models, as well as investigations of motility in humans with varying degrees of upper gastrointestinal inflammation. -
Marygorret Obonyo, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Medicine
Institution: UC San Diego
mobonyo@health.ucsd.edu
Research Interests: Dr. Obonyo’s research focuses on Helicobacter pylori infection with the goal of identifying novel unique pathways and genes for therapeutic intervention. -
D. Brent Polk, MD, AGAF
Professor of Pediatrics, Chief, Division of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition
Institution: UC San Diego
dpolk@health.ucsd.edu
Research Interests: Dr. Polk’s research interests are in the regulation of the development of the intestine as it relates to injury, inflammation, regeneration and associated cancer – with an ultimate goal of identifying novel ways to better treat or possibly prevent childhood inflammatory bowel disease. -
David Pride, MD, PhD
Professor, Department of Pathology
Director of Microbiology, Director of Pandemic Applications Laboratory
Director of IPATH Laboratory
Institution: UC San Diego
dpride@ucsd.edu
Research Interests: Dr. Pride’s laboratory has been pioneering work on the human virome in the oral cavity and intestine. He investigates how viral communities, particularly bacteriophages, alter human bacterial communities by either killing their bacterial hosts or providing them with potentially beneficial gene functions. He is deciphering the role of the vast viral communities in altering inflammation in gastrointestinal disease in humans. -
Manuela Raffatellu, MD
Professor, Department of Pediatrics
Institution: UC San Diego
mraffatellu@ucsd.edu
Research Interests: Dr. Raffatellu investigates the complex interplay between gut pathogens, mucosal immunity and inflammation, and the gut microbiota, with the long-term goal of discovering therapeutic targets for controlling infection. She has a long-standing interest in the host response to mucosal pathogens such as Salmonella. -
Jesus Rivera-Nieves, MD
Professor, Department of Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology
Institution: UC San Diego
jriveranieves@ucsd.edu
Research Interests: Dr. Rivera-Nieves’ laboratory investigates pathogenic pathways in spontaneous, chronic mouse models (e.g. SAMP1/Yit, TNFΔARE) of Crohn’s-like ileitis that closely recapitulate the human disease. This work has been instrumental in developing novel concepts about leukocyte trafficking and the role of cytokines in the initiation and perpetuation of IBD. -
Debashis Sahoo, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Department of Computer Science and Engineering
Institution: UC San Diego
dsahoo@health.ucsd.eduResearch Interests: Dr. Sahoo is a computer scientist with strong biology and translational medicine experience. He leads a group with broad expertise ranging from computer science and engineering, data science, and electrical engineering to bioinformatics, systems biology, to cellular and molecular biology. Dr. Sahoo’s computational technique is focused on the mathematics of two values (Boolean logic), which has allowed him to make unique contributions in bioinformatics and systems biology including in the areas of biomarkers in colorectal cancer and inflammatory bowel disease.
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Alan R. Saltiel, PhD
Distinguished Professor of Medicine and Pharmacology
Institution: UC San Diego
asaltiel@health.ucsd.edu
Research Interests: Dr. Saltiel’s research explores the links between obesity, MAFLD and MASH, and has focused on the metabolic regulators of metabolism and their control of apoptotic enzymes. -
Bernd Schnabl, MD
Professor, Department of Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology
Institution: UC San Diego
beschnabl@health.ucsd.edu
Research Interests: Trained as a physician-scientist, Dr. Schnabl is particularly interested in translational approaches to better understand the mechanism of chronic liver disease. His laboratory pioneered work on characterizing the intestinal bacterial microbiome, fungal mycobiome and virome associated with non-alcoholic and alcohol-associated fatty liver disease. -
Shailja Shah, MD
Associate Professor, Department of Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology
Institution: UC San Diego
s6shah@health.ucsd.edu
Research Interests: Dr. Shah’s primary clinical and research interest is in inflammation-associated carcinogenesis of the gastrointestinal tract, namely the colon and stomach, with a predominant focus on the latter. She is establishing a multidisciplinary research program that is anchored in defining non-genetic, genetic, and systems-level determinants of Helicobacter pylori treatment- and disease-related clinical outcomes among high-risk populations, including US Veterans and non-white racial/ethnic and immigrant groups. Dr. Shah is actively involved in research and public policy initiatives to promote gastric cancer prevention and early detection efforts, such as gastric cancer screening and preneoplasia surveillance, among high-risk populations. -
Siddharth Singh, MD
Associate Professor, Department of Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology
Institution: UC San Diego
sis040@ucsd.edu
Research Interests: Dr. Singh’s research interests are twofold: (a) population health management and value-based care in IBD, including comparative effectiveness research, guideline development and implementation and (b) identifying modifiable predictors of disease course and response to therapy in IBD. -
Claude Sirlin, MD
Professor, Department of Radiology
Institution: UC San Diego
csirlin@ucsd.edu
Research Interests: Dr. Sirlin is investigating the use of non-invasive imaging for the diagnosis, characterization, and monitoring of Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD), other diffuse liver diseases, and liver cancer. -
Nicholas J.G. Webster, PhD
Professor, Department of Medicine, Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism
Institution: UC San Diego
nwebster@ucsd.edu
Research Interests: Dr. Webster’s research goal is to understand the mechanisms of signal transduction and gene regulation in different developmental and disease contexts. His laboratory found that deletion of SRSF3 impairs splicing of selected RNA isoforms results in inhibition of hepatocyte maturation, impairment of lipid and glucose metabolism, and generation of endoplasmic reticulum stress. -
Rena H. Yadlapati, MD
Associate Professor, Division of Gastroenterology & Hepatology
Institution: UC San Diego
ryadlapati@ucsd.edu
Research Interests: Dr. Yadlapati’s research focus is to determine personalized care pathways for reflux-associated laryngeal symptoms through patient-centered clinical trials and consensus development. One of her long-term objectives is to develop novel paradigms for diagnostic testing and healthcare delivery for esophageal conditions. -
Amir Zarrinpar, MD, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology
Institution: UC San Diego
azarrinpar@ucsd.edu
Research Interests: Dr. Zarrinpar investigates the role of diet and metabolism on the microbiota and inflammation. His laboratory has designed engineered bacteria to explore the functional role of the gut microbiota on host physiology, obesity, MASLD and MASH. -
Karsten Zengler, PhD
Professor, Department of Pediatrics
Institution: UC San Diego
kzengler@ucsd.edu
Research Interests: Dr. Zengler’s research investigates the interactions of microorganisms with their environment and host using experimental, computational and systems biology tools. His focus is on the role that the microbiome plays in health and disease by linking microbial activity in the skin and gut to host immune responses.
Current Associate Members
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Andrés Gottfried, MD, PhD
Adjunct Assistant Professor, Department of Pharmacology and Department of Medicine
Institution: UC San Diego
andresg@health.ucsd.eduResearch Interests: Dr. Gottfried conducts translational research in disorders of gut-brain interaction and motility disorders under the hypothesis that mucosal immune dysregulation plays a major role in these conditions. His clinical and current research focus are on gastroparesis and stomach mucosa neuro-immune myeloid cell interactions. His goal is to identify specific phenotypes of immune dysfunction in patients and reverse translate them in mice for mechanistic insights. Dr. Gottfried is also interested in the clinical and gut immunoregulatory effects of vagal nerve stimulation. His long-term goal is to understand the neuroimmune basis of gut motility and hypersensitivity disorders and provide improved disease definitions, diagnostics, and treatments to patients.
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Hiroshi Kiyono, DDS, PhD
Professor, Department of Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology
Institution: UC San Diego
hkiyono@ucsd.edu
Research Interests: Dr. Kiyono’s contributions to the understanding of the gut mucosal immune system has been in intestinal mucosa, epithelial, mesenchymal, and immune cells which form a multi-ecological system in concert with the gut microbiota to create and maintain homeostasis. While building on the foundation of mucosal immunology through basic research, his research team has also actively facilitated the development of oral and nasal vaccines which hold promise as next-generation vaccines. -
Yun Sok Lee, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Medicine, Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism
Institution: UC San Diego
ysl004@health.ucsd.edu
Research Interests: Dr. Lee’s lab studies the etiology of T2DM. Specifically, he hypothesizes that obesity-induced low-grade chronic inflammation (metaflammation) is a major cause of the development of insulin resistance and metabolic dysfunction. Previously he observed that obesity-induced adipose tissue hypoxia and increased adipocyte HIF-1alpha enhance liver steatosis, inflammation, and insulin resistance. Their current focus is on how adipose tissue inflammation affects liver changes (MASH). -
Christian M. Metallo, PhD
Professor, Molecular and Cell Biology Laboratory
Institution: The Salk Institute for Biological Studies
metallo@salk.edu
Research Interests: Dr. Metallo’s work focuses on mapping interconnected metabolic networks to uncover disease-causing pathways. Using tracer molecules and advanced mass spectroscopy techniques, his lab identifies how molecules are broken down and rebuilt, where metabolites end up in the body, and what regulates these processes. Taking this approach, he has made key discoveries about the metabolic pathways that drive cancer progression and macular disease — pathways that can then be influenced through dietary manipulations or targeted therapies. -
Thomas Riffelmacher, PhD
Instructor, Director of Immunometabolism Core
Institution: La Jolla Institute for Immunology
triffelmacher@lji.orgResearch Interests: Dr. Riffelmacher applies metabolomic and genomic strategies to the study of non-conventional T cells in different physiological contexts with a particular focus on Natural Killer T (NKT) cells and Mucosal associated invariant T cells (MAITs) in intestinal tract and liver. His overall research goals are to elucidate the function and regulation of innate T cells in the context of obesity, steatohepatitis, and human tumors and to identify whether their metabolic programs are relevant determinants of their functional potential in these settings of disease.
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Jeffrey Schwimmer, MD
Professor of Pediatrics
Institution: UC San Diego
jschwimmer@ucsd.edu
Research Interests: Dr. Schwimmer's research on MASLD is focused on children and includes epidemiology, clinical phenotype, diagnosis (both histology and non-invasive measures), pathophysiology (genetics and microbiome), and treatment (clinical trials of nutrition and medications). -
Hiromi I. Wettersten, DVM, PhD, MPVM
Assistant Professor, Department of Pathology
Institution: UC San Diego
hwettersten@health.ucsd.edu
Research Interests: The research of Dr. Wettersten explores the role of integrins in inflammatory diseases of epithelial tissues. She discovered that a particular integrin, αvβ3, is increased in pancreatitis and other inflammatory conditions, and its neutralization with an antibody resulted in prolonged drug sensitivity and eradication of metastatic tumor cells in epithelial cancer models. Mechanistic studies suggest that the integrin effects are mediated by tumor associated macrophages, which are particularly enriched in tumors with positive expression of integrin αvβ3, a marker of epithelial-mesenchymal transition and cancer stem cells.