Meet the Team
Meet our Experts
Leadership
Alexander G. Miethke, MD
Associate Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Immune mediated liver injury, specifically the role of regulatory T cells in biliary atresia and primary sclerosing cholangitis; genetic basis for...
Nicholas J. Ollberding, PhD
Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Application and development of analytical methods for microbial metagenomic next-generation sequence data; dietary assessment and analysis...
Cynthia C. Wetzel, PhD
Assistant Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Research grant administration, specifically grants funded by the National Institutes of Health
Members
Research Interests
Allergic diseases; the mechanisms by which protease–protease inhibitor imbalance promotes barrier breaches and loss of immunologic tolerance in...
Research Interests
Epigenetics; epigenomics; immunology; T cell memory
Jonathan R. Dillman, MD, MSc
Associate Chief of Research, Department of Radiology
Research Interests
Ultrasound and MRI evaluation of Crohn's disease; ultrasound and MRI detection and measurement of liver fibrosis
Senad Divanovic, PhD
Associate Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Intestinal diseases research
Research Interests
Use of technology to promote self-management in chronic conditions; adherence and self-management assessment methodology; behavioral treatment of...
Stacey S. Huppert, PhD
Associate Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Hepatic cell plasticity, development and regeneration; reprogramming; three-dimensional hepatic architecture; Notch signaling; hepatobiliary disease
Makiko Iwafuchi, PhD
Associate Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Chromatin regulation; pioneer transcription factors; cell programming and reprogramming
Research Interests
Genetic basis of lupus; genetic basis of eosinophilic esophagitis; immunological mechanisms mediating genetic association with disease
Research Interests
Statistical genetics; genetics of heart malformations; pharmacogenetics; genetics of allergic disorders
Alexander G. Miethke, MD
Associate Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Immune mediated liver injury, specifically the role of regulatory T cells in biliary atresia and primary sclerosing cholangitis; genetic basis for...
Phillip Minar, MD, MS
Associate Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Application of personalized medicine in the care of children and young adults with IBD through the discovery of surrogate biomarkers of intestinal...
Research Interests
Structure and function of the gastrointestinal tract in the context of childhood nutrition, growth, immunity, and host-microbe interactions
Research Interests
Pediatric MASLD
Takahisa Nakamura, PhD
Associate Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Nicholas J. Ollberding, PhD
Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Application and development of analytical methods for microbial metagenomic next-generation sequence data; dietary assessment and analysis...
Chandrashekhar Pasare, DVM, PhD
Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Innate immunity; toll-like receptor signaling; dendritic cell biology; innate control of adaptive immunity; regulation of inflammation
Research Interests
Eosinophils; chemokines
Research Interests
Liver cancer; tumor initiation; cell-cell communication; hepatic progenitor cells
Research Interests
Severe allergies; eosinophilic gastrointestinal disorders; precision medicine; molecular and genetic mechanisms
Takanori Takebe, MD, PhD
Associate Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Organoid; organogenesis; stem cell biology; transplantation; drug development
Visit the Takebe Research Lab.
Kelli L. VanDussen, PhD
Assistant Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Intestinal epithelium; inflammatory bowel disease; primary cell culture; basic research; translational research
Research Interests
Understanding the development of the pancreas, and gastrointestinal organs; generating 3-dimensional human tissues from pluripotent stem cells and...
Research Interests
Cancer susceptibility; development and progression; squamous cell carcinoma; proton therapy; pluripotent stem cells and organ regeneration
Kathryn A. Wikenheiser-Brokamp, MD, PhD
Professor, UC Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
Stavra A. Xanthakos, MD, MS
Associate Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Prevalence, determinants and outcome of pediatric obesity-related liver disease (Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and steatohepatitis); bariatric...
Research Interests
Liver biology; cholestasis; molecular genetics of pediatric liver diseases
Research Interests
Barriers to weight management.
Research Interests
Using transgenic and gene targeted mouse models to study the physiological and pathological roles of Rho GTPases and their regulators in...
Basilia Zingarelli, MD, PhD
Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Signal transduction mechanisms regulating the inflammatory response in sepsis, hemorrhage, ischemia and reperfusion injury; inflammatory bowel...
Research Interests
Development of the digestive and respiratory systems. Learn more about CuSTOM.
Members - Associate
Research Interests
Pediatric hepatology; genetic and molecular mechanism of liver development and pathophysiology
Research Interests
Liver tumors; neonatal kidney failure; hepatoblastoma
Jasbir Dhaliwal, MBBS, MRCPCH, MSc
Assistant Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Artificial intelligence; deep learning; machine learning; predictive analytics; clinical decision support tool and social determinants of health
Research Interests
Intestinal Epithelium; Tuft cells; Microbiota; Inflammation; Immune Regulation
Maria E. Fields (Moreno-Fernandez), PhD
Assistant Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Immune regulation; inflammation; obesity; diabetes; liver disease; aging
Research Interests
Mucosal immunology; microbiota; nutrition; IBD
Pooja Khandelwal, MD
Associate Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Acute graft versus host disease biology; treatment of steroid refractory acute graft versus host disease; management of refractory autoimmune...
Mansa Krishnamurthy, MD, MSc
Assistant Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Disorders of beta cell function; monogenic diabetes; congenital hyperinsulinism
Jonathan Merola, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor, UC Department of Surgery
Research Interests
Hepatocyte Transplantation; immunosuppression monitoring; genetic modification of human allografts; CRISPR / Cas9
Research Interests
Impact of social determinants of health on gastrointestinal illnesses
Anna L. Peters, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Liver transplant rejection and tolerance; liver transplant outcomes research
Juan Sanchez Gurmaches, PhD
Assistant Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Adipocytes; brown and white fat; animal models; adipocyte development and heterogeneity; insulin signaling; animal models
Neha R. Santucci, MBBS, MD
Associate Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Disease; gene regulation; immunology; innate immunity; macrophages; myeloid cells
Stephen N. Waggoner, PhD
Associate Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Viral immunology; natural killer cells; immunoregulation; vaccines; autoimmunity; immune dysfunction in aging.
Research Interests
Bioinformatics; spatial transcriptomics; single-cell transcriptomics
Research Interests
Early life influences on the development of pediatric obesity; severe obesity in childhood; breastfeeding and complementary food; life-course...
Research Interests
Pediatric liver tumors; developmental biology; cancer genetics and genomics
University of Cincinnati Researchers
Jason T. Blackard, PhD, Department of Internal Medicine; Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology
Christian I. Hong, PhD, Department of Pharmacology and Systems Physiology
Min Liu, PhD, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
Ardythe L. Morrow, PhD, Department of Environmental and Public Health Sciences; Division of Epidemiology
Yvonne Ulrich-Lai, PhD, Department of Pharmacology and Systems Physiology
Senu Apewokin, MD, Department of Internal Medicine; Infectious Diseases
Karthickeyan Chella Krishnan, PhD, Department of Pharmacology and Systems Physiology
Clayton S. Lewis, PhD, Department of Internal Medicine; Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology
Nina G. Steele, PhD, Department of Internal Medicine; Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology
Alexander Thorman, PhD, Department of Environmental and Public Health Sciences; Division of Epidemiology
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