Gastrointestinal Program
The overall goal of the Gastrointestinal Program is to conduct research on the causes, prevention and therapy of GI cancers. We have built up a strong translational component based on close collaboration of GI clinicians with basic and population scientists.
The GI Program has 21 members from 10 academic departments in two schools organized into the following three areas: basic research, epidemiological research and clinical research. Under each area, there is active research in all major subsites of GI malignancy (stomach/esophagus, colorectum and hepatobiliary).
Research projects and accomplishments within the program include:
- Study of the pharmacogenomics of GI cancers.
- Pioneering work on the role of thymidylate synthase (TS), both at the gene and intracellular protein levels, on colorectal carcinogenesis and therapeutic/clinical outcomes.
- Study of the epidemiology of hepatocellular carcinoma.
- Innovative work on the possible roles of tea polyphenols and dietary isothiocyanates in human GI cancers, and how genetic factors influence these diet-cancer associations.
- The development of MethyLight, a high-throughput, semi-quantitative DNA methylation analysis technique, and contributor to novel data on DNA methylation and human colorectal cancer.
- Instrumental information on the role of S-adenosylmethionine (SAMe) in liver health and disease, and efforts to test SAMe as an agent for the primary prevention of liver cancer.
- The establishment of a 4,000-member strong familial colorectal cancer registry to investigate colorectal cancer prevention.
Publications
