This research program is part of the Section of Hepatology. The Section of Hepatology is headed by Dr. Gerald Minuk with the purpose intervening in liver disease. To this end it has become the base for 3 research programs that explore aspects of liver disease with the aim of the future development of therapeutics. The two other research programs are directed by Drs. Minuk and Yuewen Gong. Dr. Minuk is a clinical scientist researching the transition to hepatocellular carcinoma and the Hepatitis B virus induced pathogenesis in Inuit communities. Dr. Gong is a full time researcher evaluating the generation of fibrosis by the innate immune system in animal and cell culture models. The Section also has a full-time epidemiologist and statistician Dr. Julia Uhanova and a research nurse Kim Hawkins.
There is a clinical trials team, led by Dr. Vivian Schutt, that investigates the efficacy of experimental therapeutics that have recently been developed. This team is actively managing 5 separate trials in an attempt to improve treatment outcomes with viral hepatitis. The clinician, nurse and administrative members responsible for the Hepatology and Liver Transplantation Clinical Unit and the Viral Hepatitis Investigative Unit (directed by Dr. Kelly Kaita) work to provide real-time care and attention to those with liver disease. During weekly rounds within the Section, research and clinical personnel (including Clinical Hepatology Education Program Director Dr. Stephen Wong) are able to discuss and share issues in liver disease and the attempts made here and in other places to address it.
Graduate students within my laboratory receive training through the Department of Immunology. Through their course and laboratory training they should graduate with an expertise in viral immunology and an understanding of disease epidemiology. In addition, the Department of Immunology is highly multidisciplinary providing exposure to a variety of immunological interactions with disease systems.