Fellowship to Faculty Transition Award
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2009 Fellowship to Faculty Transition Award
Alan Mullen, MD, PhD
Massachusetts General Hospital
Dissecting the role of TGF-Bsignaling in human embryonic stem cell maintenance and endodermal differentiation
I would like to thank the AGA Foundation for selecting me as a recipient for the Fellowship To Faculty Transition Award. This Award will significantly contribute to my research career by allowing me to develop research skills in stem cell biology and in vitro models of differentiation, while learning how to combine biological experiments and bioinformatics to address complex biological processes. The protected time provided by this Award will give me the opportunity to develop my research project in a supportive environment and become competitive for funding as an independent investigator.
Embryonic stem cells have the potential to differentiate into any cell in the body and thus hold tremendous promise to treat diseases including cirrhosis, chronic pancreatic insufficiency and diabetes. My research focuses on embryonic stem cell transcriptional circuitry and early stages of embryonic stem cell differentiation. This Award will allow me to continue to study the mechanism by which TGF-b signaling maintains pluripotency in embryonic stem cells and how this same signal directs endodermal differentiation.
Andrew Rhim, MD
University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
Using genetic and molecular markers to dissect tumor cell heterogeneity in vivo
I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the AGA and the Foundation for honoring me with this generous award.
As a medical student, I was deeply affected when I took care of a patient with pancreatic cancer. I saw how quickly that patient died after we made the diagnosis. I was even more struck by the fact his swift demise was not the exception but rather the sad rule of pancreatic cancer. It was at that point in time when I decided to focus my career on this disease.
While a gastroenterology fellow at the University of Pennsylvania, I initiated my own research program studying the molecular and functional differences among cells that make up a pancreatic tumor. Specifically, I am interested in defining what molecular events are necessary to allow some cancer cells to metastasize. With the outstanding mentorship of Ben Stanger, M.D., Ph.D., I have developed a unique mouse model of pancreatic cancer that will help address this issue which has previously been difficult to study. My hope is that my research will lead to earlier diagnosis of pancreatic cancer, as well as better treatment for this deadly disease.
The Fellowship to Faculty transition award will provide me with the means to continue this work. It will provide a springboard for my career, as I develop my research program in pancreatic cancer as an independent academic gastroenterologist. Without such an award, my career path would be very difficult. With the aid of the FFTA, I look forward to achieving my goals and becoming an active and contributing member of the AGA.
Thomas Kerr, MD, PhD
Washington University School of Medicine
Regulation of the bile acid synthesizing enzyme Cyp7a1 by Post-transcriptional mRNA
processing
I am delighted to be selected to receive the AGA Foundation 2009 Fellowship to Faculty Transition Award. Regulated mRNA stability plays an increasingly recognized role in physiology and in pathogenesis. It is best studied for its role in inflammation and neoplasia. My research is directed toward examining the role of regulated mRNA stability in the liver, specifically in bile acid metabolism. The overall goal is to better understand the biochemical and genetic mechanisms that underlie metabolic disorders of the liver. The AGA/FFTA Award will allow me to maintain protected time and provide me with the resources necessary to pursue these aims. Furthermore, the AGA/FFTA Award allows me to continue to pursue a research project that compliments my clinical interest in liver disease. I would like to thank the AGA, FDHN, as well as my mentor Dr. Nicholas Davidson for making this award and project possible.
Charles M. Samson, MD
Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center
Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony Stimulating Factor and Homeostatic Responses to Gut Injury
I would like to thank the AGA Foundation for awarding me a Fellowship to Faculty Transition award. As I finish my pediatric gastroenterology fellowship, this grant will allow me to continue pursuing my goal of becoming a physician-scientist focused on research in the immunobiology of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and the clinical care of pediatric patients with IBD. I am gratefult that this award will provide me the necessary resources and protected time to expand my experiences in the laboratory and to continue receiving mentorship in a supportive environment. All of this will be essential in laying the foundation for a future career as an independent investigator. My research focuses on studying the involvement of the innate immune system and regulatory T-cells in the immunopathogenesis of IBD using a novel model of murine ileitis involving GM-CSF neutralization, CARD15 deficiency, and exposure to non-steroidal medication. We hope that by defining mechanisms in a model closely resembling ileal Crohn’s disease that our research will lead to better understanding of the role of intestinal homeostasis in IBD pathogenesis and may lead to novel therapeutic interventions for our patients.
2008 Fellowship to Faculty Transition Award Recipients
Stacy Kahn, MD
University of Chicago
Heat shock proteins and probiotics: mechanisms of host defense in rotavirus infection
I would like to thank the AGA and the FDHN for awarding me the Fellowship to Faculty Transition Award. I recently completed my fellowship in Pediatric Gastroenterology at The University of Chicago and secured a junior faculty position as an Instructor. By providing the resources for protected research time, this grant will help me lay the ground work for my career as an academic physician.
As a Pediatric Gastroenterologist I am dedicated to research that will improve the lives of children with common gastrointestinal diseases. My research focuses on defining the mechanisms by which probiotics or “healthy bacteria” prevent and treat rotavirus, the most common cause of viral gastroenteritis in children less than 5 years old worldwide. Through this work I hope that we will be able to develop safer and more effective therapies for rotavirus and other causes of infectious diarrhea. In addition, this study will provide further insight into intestinal cell function, the foundation necessary for understanding, treating, and preventing all gastrointestinal diseases.
Christopher Osterreicher, MD
University of California, San Diego
Transcriptional Regulation of ACE2 and Role of its Product Ang1-7 in Liver Fibrogenesis
Andres Roig, MD
University of Texas Southwestern
Cancer Progression of Normal Human Colonic Epithelial Cells
I am honored to have been selected by the American Gastroenterological Association and the Foundation for Digestive Health and Nutrition as a recipient of the Fellow to Faculty Transition Award. This award is important to my career development as a physician-scientist since it gives me the opportunity to continue my research in a protected and mentored environment. My research focuses on the immortalization of normal adult human colonic epithelial cells to use as an in vitro cellular model for colorectal cancer progression studies. Current cell lines used to study colorectal cancer are actually of cancerous origin and contain many of the crucial genetic alterations important for progressing normal cells into tumors. My goal is to establish a reproducible system for the long-term culture of normal human colonic epithelial cells to prospectively introduce specific gain and loss of function genetic alterations in candidate genes thought to be important in CRC progression and then observe the long-term changes imparted by these genetic alterations. Result arising from this research should be useful in validating current paradigms in CRC initiation and progression and may provide new insights and possibly novel therapeutic targets for managing patients with CRC.
Anisa Shaker, MD
Washington University School of Medicine
Epimorphin regulation of colonic epithelial proliferation and role in carcinogenesis
I am currently a fellow working in the laboratory of Dr. Deborah Rubin. One of the overall aims of our research is to investigate the role of stromal-epithelial interactions in the regulation of epithelial cell proliferation, differentiation and ultimately in epithelial tumor formation. I would like to thank the AGA and FDHN for this Fellow to Faculty Transition Award which allows me to continue my research in a mentored setting with the goal of developing an independent research career. This two year award will enable me to cultivate what I have learned thus far in training and expand my basic laboratory research skills. This funding will provide me with protected time for continued focused lab research, afford me the opportunity to continue to generate meaningful data and ultimately to be a competitive candidate for federal grant support. My dedication to become a successful independent investigator, coupled with an ideal laboratory environment and assistance from this generous funding will serve to increase the possibility of my success.
Florin Selaru, MD
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Cholangiocarcinoma: molecular characterizatioin based on microRNA arrays
My research interest and the foremost goal of my career are to improve the lives and alleviate the suffering of patients with gastrointestinal cancers. In particular, through the use of high-throughput genomic techniques, I hope to discover genetic clues to unveil intimate molecular mechanisms involved in cholangiocarcinoma. Such an understanding should yield novel biomarkers leading to the early detection and selection of patients for curative therapies, such as radical surgery. The AGA Foundation Fellowship to Faculty Transition Award will prove vitally necessary to protect my research time and allow me to advance my scientific knowledge and training in order to achieve my ultimate goals of becoming an independent clinician-investigator and making a substantial contribution to the welfare of cholangiocarcinoma and other gastrointestinal cancer patients. Obtaining funding from AGA will not only provide me with quintessential funding for my cholangiocarcinoma project during my fellowship, but it will also ensure that I will have the financial means to continue my research career after graduation. I am fully committed to a career in translational cancer research, and the funding from AGA will strongly support my advancement.
2007 Fellowship to Faculty Transition Award Recipients
Erick Chan, MD
Receiving this prestigious award will allow me to continue my current research in a mentored setting, thereby facilitating my advancement and growth as a physician-scientist. I wish to thank the American Gastroenterological Association, the Foundation for Digestive Health and Nutrition, as well as the many donors and contributors who have made possible grants like the FFTA.
John Chang, MD
Fellow in Gastroenterology
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA
Our laboratory is interested in certain subsets of T cells develop during an immune response. A better understanding of how this process occurs would be helpful in developing new strategies for modulating the immune system for a variety of gastrointestinal diseases, in particular, hepatitis C and inflammatory bowel disease.
I am dedicated to pursuing a career in academic gastroenterology as a physician-scientist. The AGA Fellowship/Faculty Transition Award will help to provide me with the protected research time as Instructor of Medicine as well as training opportunities needed for my learning and growth as a scientist.
Lee Peng, MD, PhD
Massachusetts University
Boston, MA
I would like to thank the AGA and FDHN for supporting me with the Fellowship/Faculty Transition Award during this important training phase of my academic career. Currently, I am applying my scientific background in chemistry and chemical biology to the study of problems in digestive disease. I wish to expand the scope of my scientific skill set to incorporate more biology, in order to better study the mechanisms and pathways that govern the life cycle of the hepatitis C virus (HCV) and to find novel agents capable of modulating HCV replication. This award will make it possible for me to develop these new skills and to focus on my research, as I transition from fellowship to faculty and towards research independence as a clinician-basic scientist.
2006 Fellowship to Faculty Transition Award Recipients
Carl B. Rountree, Jr., MD
Children’s Hospital, Los Angeles
Paula Hertel, MD
Baylor College of Medicine
Bernd Schnabl, MD
Columbia University
Mala Setty, MD
University of Chicago
2005 Fellowship to Faculty Transition Award Recipients
Wolfram Goessling, MD, PhD
Massachusetts General Hospital
Gregory Harmon, MD
University of California, San Diego
Mei Chris Huang, MD, PhD
Washington University School of Medicine
Mark Osterman, MD
University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
2004 AstraZeneca Fellowship/Faculty Transition Award Recipients
Ariel Feldstein, MD
Mayo Clinic
Christopher Gasink, MD
University of Pennsylvania
Sohail Husain, MD
Yale University School of Medicine
Sandeep Tripathy, MD, PhD
Washington University School of Medicine
2003 AstraZeneca Fellowship-to-Faculty Transition Award Recipients
Barbara Jung, MD
University of California, San Diego
Zhiping Li, MD
Johns Hopkins University
Lei Lu, MD
Massachusetts General Hospital
2002 AstraZeneca Fellowship-to-Faculty Transition Award Recipients
Annemarie Broderick, MD
Brigham and Women's Hospital
Christianna M. Kreiss, MD
University of Pittsburgh
Yu-Xiao Yang, MD
University of Pennsylvania
John Y. Kao, MD
University of Michigan Medical Center
2001 AstraZeneca Fellowship-to-Faculty Transition Award Recipients
Terence T. Chiu, MD
University of California School of Medicine, Los Angeles
Lisa M. Forman, MD
University of Pennsylvania
Gregory J. Gurtner, MD
Washington University School of Medicine
Uzma Shah, MD
Massachusetts General Hospital
