1. Gastrointestinal Cancers
Gastrointestinal cancer development and progression are linked with chronic inflammation and tumor microenvironment immune dysfunction. Approximately 30% of colon cancer develops from sessile serrated polyps (SSPs).
Pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors are increasing in incidence and are particularly difficult to treat. Heloisa Soares, MD, PhD, is developing novel models of pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors along with a preclinical treatment approach that could be translated to patients.
2. Esophageal Diseases
Inflammatory conditions of the esophagus are increasing and difficult to treat due to a lack of understanding of etiology. Kathryn A. Peterson, MD, studies familial risk for EoE, predisposition variants in targeted chromosomal regions, and underlying histologic immune milieu in order to improve prevention and treatment of this life-altering disease.
John C. Fang, MD, and Kathryn A. Peterson, MD, study autoimmune manifestations in patients with esophageal disorders that are challenging to diagnose and treat.
3. Inflammatory Bowel Disease
Ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s Disease are debilitating inflammatory diseases that lack curative therapies and may increase the risk of colon cancer development. John F. Valentine, MD has developed a colonic gene signature that predicts the onset of dysplasia in IBD patients with primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC).
The Petrey lab studies the interaction between the microvasculature and platelets in the initiation and progression of inflammatory bowel disease, which is disrupted and contributes to chronic disease. These studies focus on the extracellular matrix glycosaminoglycan hyaluronan (HA) as a key molecule that modulates innate immune mechanisms which when dysregulated can lead to disease.
4. Liver Disease
Tuan Pham, MD investigates biomarkers and novel inflammatory targets for Non-Alcoholic SteatoHepatitis and Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease. He is interested in the role of hepatic steatosis in advanced-stage disease and novel biomarkers on disease outcome, recurrence, and post-transplant outcomes.