COBRE Faculty Enhancement Projects

We initiated a Faculty Recruitment Enhancement program and were able to hire two senior faculty members to become members of our COBRE.  They are Hartmut Jaeschke who is from the University of Arizona and Dr. Bao-Ting Zhu from the University of South Carolina.

PI: Hartmut Jaeschke, Ph.D., Professor Department of Pharmacology, Toxicology, and Therapeutics, University of Kansas Medical Center.

Dr. Hartmut Jaeschke was previously at the University of Arizona and joined our program in September 2006.  My research activities are focused on 2 main areas: 1. Investigating mechanisms of drug hepatotoxicity in vivo and in cultured hepatocytes with emphasis on studying the signal transduction pathways leading to mitochondrial dysfunction and nuclear DNA damage (experimental model: acetaminophen overdose). 2. Investigating mechanisms of inflammatory liver injury with emphasis on neutrophil-mediated liver cell death (experimental models: hepatic ischemia-reperfusion injury, obstructive cholestasis, endotoxemia and acetaminophen overdose).

PI: Bao-Ting Zhu, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Pharmacology, Toxicology, and Therapeutics, University of Kansas Medical Center.

Dr. Bao Ting Zhu came to the University of Kansas Medical Center this January 2007 from the University of South Carolina.  His research interest mainly focuses on understanding the biochemical and molecular mechanisms of estrogen's hormonal and carcinogenic actions.  In recent years, he has systematically characterized the complete profiles of various biologically-active estrogen metabolites/derivatives that are formed by various human cytochrome P450 isoforms or in various human tissues (hepatic and extrahepatic).  In addition, he has been studying the unique biological functions associated with some of the bioactive estrogen metabolites (such as 2-methoxyestradiol and 4-hydroxyestradiol) in selected target sites.  Major efforts are currently underway to identify novel estrogen receptors that are believed to mediate the unique biological actions of some estrogen metabolites.  Within the Training Program Dr. Zhu serves as a graduate and postdoctoral mentor, and dissertation committee member.