Jian-Min Yuan
University of Pittsburgh, PA·Public Health & Epidemiology
Liver cancer, mainly hepatocellular carcinoma, is becoming more common in the United States. The leading driver is now non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, which affects about one in four U.S.
- Fields
Public Health & Epidemiology
Medicine & Clinical Research
- Topics
non-alcoholic fatty liver disease
hepatocellular carcinoma
liver cancer
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Aug 2027
What they work on
- Enroll and follow at least 1,000 patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and advanced fibrosis, tracking liver stiffness by transient elastography every six months for up to five years.
- Determine whether immune-suppressing cytokines in patients predict progression to hepatocellular carcinoma or end-stage liver disease.
- Test whether altered bile acid profiles, including gut microbe-derived secondary bile acids, raise the risk of liver cancer and end-stage liver disease.
- Assess whether gut dysbiosis, an imbalanced gut bacterial community, influences progression of fatty liver disease to liver cancer and liver failure.
More about the research
adults. It ranges from simple fat buildup to inflammation, scarring (fibrosis) and cirrhosis. Scarring best predicts long-term outcomes, and fatty liver disease will soon be the top reason for liver transplants. There is no proven way to treat or prevent it, and why some patients go on to liver cancer or liver failure is unclear.
Why it matters
People with fatty liver disease and advanced scarring are at high risk of liver cancer and transplant-level liver failure. Identifying immune, bile acid and gut bacteria markers that predict progression could help doctors decide who needs closer cancer surveillance. It could also inform prevention strategies for this growing patient group.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Nicholas Davidson
Washington University in St Louis, MO·Medicine & Clinical Research
Determine how the human TM6SF2 E167K variant alters fat loading onto APOB and the release of VLDL from the liver and chylomicrons from the gut, using liver-specific knockout and variant knock-in mice.
Zhenyu Zhong
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, TX·Medicine & Clinical Research
Define how obesity-associated loss of nerve–immune communication in the liver contributes to hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), using complementary mouse models and human liver specimens.
Xiaotao Zhang
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, NY·Medicine & Clinical Research
Estimate recruitment, retention and diet adherence in adults with MASLD and F2–F3 fibrosis, verifying adherence with plasma pipecolic acid, a blood marker of bean intake, within a randomized crossover trial.
The school
University of Pittsburgh: 83 labs on PI Pages, $1.5B a year on research, 403 research doctorates a year.
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