Liver-Related Work

Develop genetic model of Type 2 Diabetics (T2D) and Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis (NASH) simulating the disease in organ on a chip model to help understand the pathophysiology in humans, by maintaining human hepatocytes in three-dimensional (organ-on-a chip) model system. In a normal liver, lipid droplets formed as triglyceride undergo regulated lipolysis to release fatty acids back into the hepatocyte free fatty acid pool. PNPLA3 is a gene that participates in the lipolytic process, and a single-nucleotide variant of PNPLA3 leads to the accumulation of macro steatosis and is strongly associated with NASH progression. Therefore, developing a PNPLA3 genetic model will help us to understand the progression NAFLD to NASH and liver cancer in humans.

Research Instructor
Computational and Systems Biology, UPDDI