Research Programs

Viral hepatitis is a leading cause of liver transplantation in the US as well as worldwide. CDC announced that the number of new HCV infections tripled over the last five years. Despite the implementation of a global vaccine program, the number of chronic HBV infection continue to be high as the new immigrant account for over 95 % of new US cases. In addition, the recent outbreak of HAV in the US, spreading across the nation, revealed significantly higher mortality compared to past outbreaks. The immune response against infected hepatocytes largely drives the disease presentation and progression. Our laboratory focuses on understanding the innate immunology against hepatitis viruses with an ultimate goal to establish a definitive prevention strategies.

For the better understanding of the "disease condition", it is critically important to understand the cell biology of the liver in the homeostatic and the developmental condition. Thus, our laboratory constantly studies the general biology of the liver with the special focus on the function of the hepatocytes. The hepatocytes look the same in the hepatic lobule. However, their function is highly compartmentalized depending on the proximity to the vascular structures such as the portal vein and the central vein, namely hepatic zonation. We believe furthering our understanding of the hepatic zonation would lead to the improvement of the clinical management of the liver failure.

The cellular response to nutrients significantly influences various aspects of cell biology beyond its fundamental role for the homeostatic energy production. The liver plays a major role in the storage and metabolism of a various kinds of nutrients. Therefore, an influx of excessive quantity of nutrients such as, but not limited to, carbohydrates and lipids deregulate the hepatic metabolic pathways. The overstocking of the nutrients along with the deregulated metabolic pathway concertedly induces hepatic inflammation. This event leads to the development of liver fibrosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Our laboratory is looking at the link between the deregulated metabolic homeostasis of hepatocytes and the hepatic and systemic innate immunity.

One of the missions of physician-scientists is to identify unmet clinical needs in clinical medicine. Our laboratory proactively investigates a series of clinical medicine relevant questions. Currently, our translational research programs address the disease mechanism and significance of the followings:

• Prevalence and significance of occult HCV infection in the progression of the liver diseases.
• Role of innate immune defense program in the prevention and exacerbation of spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (SBP).