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RESEARCH
 Areas of GI, Liver and Nutrition Research

Stephanie Abrams, M.D.
Assistant Professor, Pediatrics, Section of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, Baylor College of Medicine

  

  • Fatty Liver

  • Obesity

 
Sarah Barlow, M.D., MPH
Associate Professor, Pediatrics, Section of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, Baylor College of Medicine

  • Obesity

 

Arthur L. Beaudet, M.D.
Chief, Genetic Service, Texas Children's

  

Professor and Chair of Molecular and Human Genetic and Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine

  

  • Genomic imprinting, specifically in Prader-Willi syndrome, Angelman syndrome and autism  

  

Molly S. Bray, Ph.D.

  

Associate Professor of Pediatrics, USDA-ARS Children’s Nutrition Research Center, Baylor College of Medicine

  

  • Genetic basis of obesity

  • Altered sleep patterns and accumulation of body fat

 

Douglas G. Burrin, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Pediatrics, USDA-ARS, Children's Nutrition Research Center, Baylor College of Medicine.

  

  • Nutrient needs of the neonatal gut
Barbara Stoll, Ph.D.

Associate Professor and Research Instructor, USDA-ARS, Children’s Nutrition Research Center, Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine

  

  • Nutrient needs of newborns 

 

Beth A. Carter, M.D.

  

Pediatric gastroenterologist/hepatologist, Texas Children's

  

Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Section of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, Baylor College of Medicine.

  

  • Molecular basis for total parenteral nutrition (TPN)

  • Intestinal rehabilitation

 

Lawrence C. Chan, M.B., B.S., D.Sc

  

Professor of Medicine and Molecular and Cellular Biology, Baylor College of Medicine

  

  • Hyperglycemia and diabetic complications 

 

Margaret E. Conner, Ph.D

  

Associate Professor, Department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology and Department of Immunology, Baylor College of Medicine

  

  • Viral infections at mucosal surfaces, particularly rotavirus, which is the major viral pathogen of diarrhea in young children

 

Gretchen J. Darlington, Ph.D.

  

Professor, Departments of Pathology, Molecular Genetics, and Molecular and Cellular Biology, Baylor College of Medicine

  

  • Mechanisms of liver regeneration
    The liver is capable of regeneration in response to loss of liver mass, but aging results in a diminished and delayed response of the liver to the proliferative stimulus induced by partial keratectomy.

  • Liver stem cell gene expression
    One goal is to identify genes with protein products that may serve as markers for stem cells and that may be used to select the stem cells from a population of multiple cell types. A second goal is to use the gene expression patterns to make predictions about the biology of stem cells.

  

Elizabeth J. Dial, Ph.D.

  

Associate Professor, Department of Integrative Biology and Pharmacology, The University of Texas Medical School at Houston

  

  • Protection of the gastrointestinal mucosa by factors including breast milk

 

Hashem B. El-Serag, M.D., MPH

  

Chief, Gastroenterology, Baylor College of Medicine; Associate Professor of Medicine, Gastroenterology and Health Services Sections, Baylor College of Medicine

  

  • Epidemiology and outcomes of GI and liver disorders, particularly gastroesophageal reflux disease and Barrett’s esophagus

  

Mary K. Estes, Ph.D.

  

Professor, Departments of Molecular Virology and Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine; Director, Texas Gulf Coast Digestive Disease Center

  

  • Vaccines for rotaviruses and calcivirusesotaviruses

  • Human calciviruses, the major cause of epidemic gastroenteritis
    Her laboratory is evaluating how to effectively orally deliver virus-like particles subunit vaccines to induce a mucosal immune response and protection from virus infection.

  

George Ferry, M.D.

  

Director, IBD Center; chief, Gastroenterology Clinic; chief IBD Clinic, Texas Children's
Professor of Pediatrics, Section of Gastroenterology, Hematology and Nutrition, Baylor College of Medicine

  

  • Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)

  • Member of national Pediatric IBD Consortium

  

Mark A. Gilger, M.D.

  

Chief, Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition Service, Texas Children's;
Section Head, Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition; Professor of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine

  

  • Therapeutic Endoscopy

  • Infections of the GI Tract (H.pylori; calicivirus, Norwalk Virus)

 

David Y. Graham, M.D.

  

Professor of Medicine, Section of Digestive Diseases, VA Medical Center and Baylor College of Medicine

  

  • Infectious agents in the GI system, specifically H. pylori and mycobacterium paratuberculosis

 

William C. Heird, M.D.

  

Professor of Pediatrics – USDA/VARS, Children’s Nutrition Research Center, Baylor College of Medicine

  

  • Fatty acid and amino acid needs during infancy

 

Paula M. Hertel, M.D.

  

Assistant Professor of Pediatrics and Section of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, Baylor College of Medicine

  

  • Rotavirus and biliary atresia

  

Craig L. Jensen, M.D.

  

Attending Physician, Texas Children's
Associate Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Section of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, Baylor College of Medicine

  

  • Effects of maternal DHA intake on visual function and neurodevelopmental status of breast-fed infants

  • Transport of long-chain fatty acids into the central nervous system and retina 

 

Saul Karpen, M.D., Ph.D.

  

Director, Texas Children's Liver Center; Medical Director, Texas Children's Liver Transplantation Program; and Chief of Service, Texas Children's Biliary Atresia Clinic, Texas Children's
Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Molecular and Cellular Biology, Baylor College of Medicine

  

  • Novel molecular targets to treat cholestatic liver disease, which currently has no effective therapies

  • Five NIH-sponsored national multicenter clinical research trials for pediatric liver disease

 

William J. Klish, M.D.

  

Attending Physician, Texas Children's
Professor of Pediatrics, Section of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, Baylor College of Medicine

  

  • Body composition in children

  • Obesity

  

Lenard M. Lichtenberger, Ph.D.

  

Professor of Integrative Biology and Pharmacology, University of Texas Medical School at Houston

  

  • Barrier properties of the upper GI tract, specifically phospholipids

  • Mucosal ulceration

  

David D. Moore, Ph.D.

  
Professor of Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine

  • Metabolic regulation

Kathleen W. Motil, M.D., Ph.D.

  

Attending Physician, Texas Children's
Associate Professor, Section of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition Department of Pediatrics, Children’s Nutrition Research Center

  

  • Nutritional and endocrine factors that regulate growth, body composition and bone mineralization in girls with Rett syndrome

  

Buford L. Nichols, M.D.

  

Professor of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine; Director Emeritus, Children’s Nutrition Research Center

  

  • Enzyme deficiencies

  

Robert J. Shulman, M.D.

  

Director, Nutritional Support Team, Texas Children's
Professor of Pediatrics, Section of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, Baylor College of Medicine

  

  • Development and adaptation of the gastrointestinal tract in the preterm infant and older child

  • Recurrent Abdominal Pain

  

Betty L. Slagle, Ph.D.

  

Associate Professor, Department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine

  

  • HBV X protein in virus replication and in cancer

  

C. Wayne Smith, M.D.

  

Professor of Pediatrics, Department of Pediatrics - Leukocyte Biology, USDA, Children's Nutrition Research Center, Baylor College of Medicine

  

  • Obesity and the inflammatory process

  

Sundararajah Thevananther, Ph.D.

  

Associate Professor of Pediatrics, Molecular and Cellular Biology, and Section of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, Baylor College of Medicine

  

  • Purinergic signaling in heptocellular function in health and disease

  

James Versalovic, M.D., Ph.D.

  

Professor of Pathology, Molecular and Human Genetics and Molecular Virology and Microbiology; Director of Molecular Pathology and Microbiology Laboratories, Texas Children’s Hospital

  

  • Immunoprobiotics and intestinal microbiology

  

William W. Wong, Ph.D.

  

Professor of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine; Director, Gas-Isotope-Rato Mass Spectrometry Laboratory, USD/VARS, Children’s Nutrition Research Center

  

  • Dietary supplementation to prevent chronic diseases

  • Childhood obesity

  • Principal investigator of Texas Department of Health-funded project on childhood obesity in Texas

  

Huda Y. Zoghbi, M.D.

  

Professor of Pediatrics, Molecular and Human Genetics and Program in Developmental Biology, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Pediatric Neurology Division, Baylor College of Medicine

  

  • Genetic and cell biological approaches to neurodegenerative and neurodevelopment diseases