Washington University in St. Louis (WU)
Current research interests include investigation of hepatic ischemia-reperfusion injury, especially in the setting of liver and kidney transplantation as well as in liver resectional surgery. Basic investigations include the role of NF-?B and ER stress modulation of events associated with ischemia-reperfusion in the normal liver as well as in the setting of moderate to severe hepatic steatosis. We have an experienced staff of transplant and liver microsurgeons who have developed a rodent model of liver resectional surgery and liver transplantation to investigate ischemia reperfusion injury. In addition we have a significant infrastructure in place to support our clinical trials for ongoing clinical investigations, and maintain around 20 active trials at any given time. A second area of research focus includes the development of image-guidance in liver surgery. This clinical area of biomedical research includes the development of techniques to utilize preoperative cross-sectional imaging (CT and MR) in the conduct of liver resectional surgery as well as in ablative therapy for liver tumors. In addition to these basic research investigations, we also have a very active clinical trials group investigating new strategies for immunosuppression following liver and kidney transplantation. In addition, we have open studies investigating approved techniques for hemostatic adjuncts in patients undergoing liver resectional surgery.