Liver is the primary target following exposure to xenobiotics such as environmental chemicals and therapeutic drugs. In response to such exposures, hepatic detoxification systems are activated in order to protect our bodies from harmful effects. The regulators of these systems are constitutive active/androstane receptor (CAR) and pregnane X receptor (PXR), which coordinately regulate numerous hepatic genes involved in the xenobiotics metabolic pathway. Although these alterations of gene expression are generally protective, the activation of nuclear receptors can also cause harmful consequences to human health, including liver cancer and cholestasis. My long-term goals are to identify and characterize the molecular basis of liver physiology and pathology following xenobiotic exposures and to hopefully find specific therapeutic approaches to liver diseases.

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1. Molecular Analysis of Transcriptional Regulation

2. Phenotypic Analysis of Gene-Knockout mice

3. Mouse Primary Hepatocytes