Digestive Health Center
Pilot and Feasibility Recipients

2024 Awards

Karthickeyan Chella Krishnan, PhD
Department of Pharmacology and Systems Physiology
Role of Mitochondrial Subpopulations in MASH Progression

Maria Fields, PhD
Department of Pediatrics; Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, Nutrition
Regulatory CD4+ T (Treg) Cells in the Pathogenesis of Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease (MASLD)

Mansa Krishnamurthy, MD, MSc
Department of Pediatrics, Division of Endocrinology
Identifying Unrecognized Gastrointestinal Pathologies in Patients with Maturity-Onset Diabetes of the Young (MODY)

2023

Nurit Azouz, PhD
Department of Pediatrics; Division of Allergy and Immunology
Elucidating the Role of the Low-Density Lipoprotein Receptor-Related Protein (LRP1) in Eosinophilic Esophagitis

Rana Herro, PhD
Department of Pediatrics; Division of Immunobiology
LIGHTing The Way for Effective Anti-Fibrosis Liver Therapies

Tetsuo Shoda, MD, PhD
Department Pediatrics, Division of Allergy and Immunology
Role of Hypoxia Signaling Pathway in Eosinophilic Gastritis

2022

Marialena Mouzaki, MD, MSc
Department of Pediatrics; Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition
Studying the Links Between Maternal and Offspring Hepatic Steatosis

Jose L. Peiro, MD, PhD
Department of Surgery; Division of Pediatric General and Thoracic Surgery
Effectiveness of Oral Furosemide to Prevent Intestinal Damage in Fetuses with Gastroschisis

Ty D. Troutman, PhD
Department Pediatrics, Division of Allergy and Immunology
Mechanisms and Consequences of Gene Expression Changes in Kupffer Cells During Liver Disease

2021

Jasbir Dhaliwal, MBBS, MRCPCH, MSc
Department of Pediatrics; Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition
Leveraging Machine Learning to Delineate Histologic Features Predictive of Pediatric Ulcerative Colitis Disease Course

Makiko Iwafuchi, PhD
Department Pediatrics; Division of Developmental Biology
Elucidating the Role of Epigenetic Repressor in Human Liver Development and Reprogramming

Anna Peters, MD, PhD
Department Pediatrics, Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition
Transcriptional T Cell Dynamics in Pediatric Liver Transplant Rejection

2020

Artem Barski, PhD
Department of Pediatrics; Division of Allergy and Immunology
Following Allergen-Specific T Cells in Food Allergy

Alex Bondoc, MD
Department of Surgery; Division of Pediatric General and Thoracic Surgery
GPC3 Cleavage Plays an Integral Role in Hepatoblastoma Tumor Proliferation

Sarah Orkin, MD
Department Pediatrics, Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition
Food Insecurity and Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease Severity

2019

John B. Harley, MD, PhD
Department of Pediatrics; Center for Autoimmune Genomics and Etiology
Epstein-Barr Virus and Herpes Virus Serology in Inflammatory Bowel Disease of Childhood

Juan Sánchez-Gurmaches, PhD
Department of Pediatrics; Division of Endocrinology
Brown Fat Preservation and NAFLD Development

Kelli VanDussen, PhD
Department Pediatrics, Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition
Host-Microbe Mechanisms Regulating Intestinal Epithelial Cell Microvilli

Stephen N. Waggoner, PhD
Department of Pediatrics; Center for Autoimmune Genomics and Etiology
Elucidation of the Transcriptional Regulatory Network Governing Innate Lymphoid Cell Behavior in Pediatric Crohn’s

2018

Akihiro Asai, MD, PhD
Department Pediatrics, Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition
Modeling Patient-specific Genetic Cholestasis with Induced Human Hepatocytes

Pooja Khandelwal, MBBS
Department Pediatrics, Division of Bone Marrow Transplantation & Immune Deficiency
Gene Expression Profiles in Acute Gastrointestinal Graft Versus Host Disease (GVHD)

Rajat Madan, MBBS, PhD
Department Internal Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases
Impact of Obesity-associated Microbiome and Bile Acid Metabolites in Regulating Clostridium difficile Lifecycle

Michael Rosen, MD, MSCI
Department Pediatrics; Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition
Cell-specific Transcriptome Dysregulation across the Inflammatory Demarcation Line in Pediatric Ulcerative Colitis

2017

Patricia Fulkerson, MD, PhD
Department of Pediatrics; Division of Allergy and Immunology
Eosinophil Progenitor Level as a Disease Monitoring Tool in Eosinophilic Esophagitis

Soona Shin, PhD
Department of Surgery, Division of Pediatric General and Thoracic Surgery 
Reprogramming of FOXl1+ Hepatic Progenitor Cells and Angiogenesis

Jessica Woo, PhD, MHSA
Department of Pediatrics; Division of Biostatistics and Epidemiology
Identifying Microbiome Signatures in Infants at Risk of Developing Severe Early Childhood Obesity

2016

Theresa Alenghat, VMD, PhD
Department of Pediatrics; Division of Immunobiology
Role of HDAC3 in Coordinating Intestinal Regulation of Metabolic Health and Disease

Sandip Bhattacharyya, MSc, PhD
Department of Pediatrics; Center for Prevention of Preterm Birth
Novel Roles of TAK1 Ubiquitination in Driving Inflammation in Colitis

Takahisa Nakamura, PhD
Department of Pediatrics; Divisions of Endocrinology and Developmental Biology
Role of Argonaute-2 in Selective Hepatic Insulin Resistance

2015

Maxime Mahe, PhD
Department of Surgery; Division of Pediatric and General Thoracic Surgery
Effects of the Enteric Nervous System on Human Intestinal Epithelial Functions

Takahisa Nakamura, PhD
Department of Pediatrics; Divisions of Endocrinology and Developmental Biology
Role of Argonaute-2 in Selective Hepatic Insulin Resistance

Ting Wen, MD, PhD
Department of Pediatrics; Division of Allergy and Immunology
Analysis and Function of Esophageal Lymphocytes in Eosinophilic Esophagitis

Chunyue Yin, PhD
Department of Pediatrics; Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition
Mutation in Crumbs Family Member 1 Causes Intrahepatic Bile Duct Paucity in Zebrafish

2014

David Haslam, MD
Department of Pediatrics; Division of Infectious Disease
Role of the Intestinal Microbiome in Defense Against Clostridium difficle-Associated Disease

Joseph Sherrill, PhD
Department of Pediatrics; Division of Allergy and Immunology
Characterization of the Antimicrobial Peptide RNase 7 in Eosinophilic Esophagitis

Timothy Weaver, PhD
Department of Pediatrics; Division of Neonatology and Pulmonary Biology
Star-Related Lipid Transfer Domain Protein (StarD7) in Intestinal Epithelial Barrier Function and Food Sensitization

2013

Phillip Minar, MD
Department of Pediatrics; Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition
Predicting Treatment Response with Neutrophil CD64 in Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Joseph Palumbo, MD
Department of Pediatrics; Cancer and Blood Disease Institute, Division of Hematology
Mechanisms Coupling Fibrinogen to Colitis and Colitis-Associated Colon Cancer Pathogenesis

Yi Zheng, PhD
Department of Pediatrics;Cancer and Blood Disease Institute, Division of Experimental Hematology and Cancer Biology
Mechanism of Nutrient Regulation of Intestinal Stem Cells

2012

Matthew Flick, PhD
Department of Pediatrics; Cancer and Blood Diseases Institute Division of Experimental Hematology and Cancer Biology
Coagulation Factors & the Pathogenesis of Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

Geraldine Guasch, PhD
Department of Pediatrics; Division of Developmental Biology
Using Shh Knockout Mouse to Investigate the Mechanism of Persistent Cloaca in Human

Nives Zimmermann, MD
Department of Pediatrics; Division of Allergy and Immunology
Target for Eosinophilic Inflammatory Diseases

2011

Senad Divanovic, PhD, MS
Department of Pediatrics; Division of Immunobiology
Role of IL-17 in NAFLD Development & Progression

Jason Spence, PhD
Department of Pediatrics; Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition
Development of the Human Intestinal Stem Cell Niche

Amit Tevar, MD
Department of Surgery
The Role of B Cells in the Progression of Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis

2010

Jason Blackard, PhD
Department of Internal Medicine; Division of Digestive Diseases
Functional Analysis of Hepatitis B Virus Surface Mutations

Brian Gebelein, PhD
Department of Pediatrics; Division of Developmental Biology
Organismal Growth Control in Drosophila

Pranavkumar Shivakumar, MPharm, PhD
Department of Pediatrics; Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition
Role of Complement in the Pathogenesis of Biliary Atresia

Yui-Hsi Wang, PhD
Department of Pediatrics; Division of Allergy and Immunology
Role of IL-25 in Food-Induced Gastrointestinal Allergic Inflammation

Stavra Xanthakos, MD, MSc
Rohit Kohli, MBBS, MS
Cincinnati Children's Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition
Coenzyme Q as a Novel Biomarker for the Severity of Steatohepatitis

2009

Kasper Hoebe, PhD
Department of Pediatrics; Division of Immunobiology
Role of Gut Flora in Regenerative Liver Disease in GIMAP5sphnix Mutant Mice

Kevin Hommel, PhD
Department of Pediatrics; Division of Behavioral Medicine and Clinical Psychology
Individualized Management of Adherence in Crohn's and Colitis (IMACC)

Alexander Miethke, MD
Department of Pediatrics; Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition
Regulatory T Cells and Pathogenesis of Biliary Atresia

2008

Carine Blanchard, PhD
Department of Pediatrics; Division of Allergy and Immunology
Role of TSG6 in Eosinophilic Esophagitis

Christopher Karp, MD
Department of Pediatrics; Division of Molecular Immunology
Role of RP105 in Diet-Induced Obesity and Insulin Resistance

Jochen Mattner, MD
Department of Pediatrics; Division of Immunobiology
The Role of Antigen Presenting Cells in the Induction of Liver Specific Autoimmunity

Ardythe Morrow, PhD
Department of Pediatrics; Division of Neonatology
Measurement of Gastrointestinal Glycosylation in IBD Patients and Controls

Noah Shroyer, PhD
Department of Pediatrics; Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition
Role of Atoh1 and γ-secretase Inhibitors in Protection from Intestinal Epithelial Injury and Colitis

Yana Zavros, PhD
Department of Molecular and Cellular Physiology
Role of Inflammation and Sonic Hedgehog in the Development of Gastric Cancer

2007

Xiaonan Han, PhD
Department of Pediatrics; Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, & Nutrition
STAT5b Regulation of Gut Epithelial Barrier Integrity in Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD)

Jeffrey A. Rudolph, MD
Department of Pediatrics; Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, & Nutrition
cAMP Mediated Survival Signaling in the Intestinal Crypt

Richard T. Strait, MD
Department of Pediatrics; Division of Emergency Medicine
IgA and Intestinal Anaphylaxis

Bruce C. Trapnell MD, MS
Department of Pediatrics; Division of Pulmonary Biology
Role of GM-CSF Signaling in the Pathogenesis of Crohn's Disease

2005

Lee (Ted) A. Denson, MD
Department of Pediatrics; Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, & Nutrition
Immunomodulatory Effects of Growth Hormone in Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Simon P. Hogan, PhD
Department of Pediatrics; Division of Allergy and Immunology
Eosinophils and Nitric oxide Metabolism in Ulcerative Colitis

Mike A. Leonis, MD, PhD
Department of Pediatrics; Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, & Nutrition
Gene Expression Profiling of Pediatric Hepatoblastoma: Diagnostic and Prognostic Significance

Kris A. Steinbrecher, PhD
Department of Pediatrics; Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, & Nutrition
Role of GC-C in Intestinal Epithelial Cell Proliferation

Gregory M. Tiao, MD
Department of Surgery; Division of Pediatric and General Thoracic Surgery
Pathogenic Mechanisms of Virus-Induced Biliary Atresia

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