Research Themes

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a major cause of liver-related death and the incidence of HCC is rising at an alarming rate. The development of HCC in a chronically diseased liver is a multistep process and although much is known about both the cellular changes that lead to HCC and the etiological agents responsible for the majority of HCC, the molecular pathogenesis of HCC is not well understood and effective prevention and treatment is not available for many patients. The Hepatocellular Carcinoma research group is jointly supported by the Liver Center and Cancer Center at KUMC and combines both translational and clinical collaborations to study the molecular mechanisms of HCC including HCC-induced genetic alterations, aberrant cellular growth, malignant transformation and inflammation-associated changes in cell growth control.

Udayan Apte, PhD
Termination of Liver Regeneration, Pathogenesis of Hepatocellular Carcinoma, Regulation of Cell Proliferation

Gaurav Chaturvedi, PhD
Role of circulating cancer cells in Hepatocellular carcinoma post transplant

Wen-Xing Ding, PhD
Autophagy and Apoptosis in liver injury and cancer therapy; Redox Signaling and Mitochondrial damage

Grace Guo, PhD
FXR & FXR-induced growth factors in regulation of liver & intestinal function

Partha Krishnamurthy, PhD
Role of ATP binding cassette (ABC) transporters in Biology and Medicine

Sitta Sittampalam, PhD
Developing innovative methods in quantitative biology, stem cell pharmacology and its applications in drug discovery

Yu-Jui Yvonne Wan, PhD
Retinoic acid and its receptors, xenobiotic metabolism, alcoholic liver disease, liver cancer, and liver regeneration

Steven Weinman, MD, PhD
Cellular Pathogenesis of Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Stephen Williamson, MD
Division of Hematology/Oncology, Internal Medicine