Marion Bessin Liver Research Center The interdisciplinary Marion Bessin Liver Research Center, established in 1974, was conceived and initiated to provide the impetus for fundamental, applied and clinical research investigators to work together on problems in liver diseases. Specific areas of investigation include: Fundamental mechanisms of normal liver function Alterations in these functions resulting from metabolic disorders, genetic diseases, acute and chronic liver injury, hepatitis virus infection, hepatic fibrosis, and liver cancer Ways to overcome these abnormalities using advanced methods of genetic engineering, gene therapy and liver cell transplantation Areas of scientific expertise in the Center, with examples, include: State-of-the-art imaging technologies as they relate specifically to the liver Immunology of the liver and mechanisms of inflammation and disease Cancer of the liver as related to mechanisms and treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and cholangiocarcinoma Liver regeneration and cellular growth control Liver repopulation by transplanted cells (Chandan Guha, M.B.B.S., Ph.D. and Jayanta Roy-Chowdhury, M.B.B.S.) Pathobiology of drug and bile acid transport by the liver Pathobiology of gallstone disease and molecular regulation of hepatic lipid metabolism Metabolic hepatic injury elating to pathobiology and treatment of fatty liver disorders, hepatic tumorigenesis and liver cancer progression Active research and clinical seminar series are held on a regular basis.
