The AGA Research Foundation provides research funding to investigators who are working to change the future of GI patient care. During October, which is Liver Awareness Month, we’re thrilled to introduce you to three researchers currently funded by the AGA Research Foundation who are making a difference through liver-related research.
Hossam Abdelsamed, PhD
2021 AGA Pilot Research Award Recipient
Project: Epigenetic programming in liver transplant patients: a novel tool to discover biomarkers and understand liver tolerance mechanisms.
Dr. Abdelsamed is an early career investigator at the Starzl Transplantation Institute (STI) at the University of Pittsburgh and hopes his research will impact patients through “the discovery of safe, non-invasive biomarkers that can predict rejection in liver transplant patients or even help clinicians make informed decisions on when to reduce immunosuppressive drugs.”
Jennifer Flemming, MD, MAS
2022 AGA-Amgen Pilot Research Award in Health Disparities
Project: Examining the association between social determinants of health and immigration status with evaluation for and receipt of liver transplantation: A population-based study.
Dr. Flemming is an established investigator at Queen’s University who is evaluating the “influence of social determinants of health on access to liver transplantation in vulnerable populations” through her research with the goal to “improve the lives of patients living with liver disease through understanding the natural history, epidemiology, and outcomes especially in previously underrepresented and understudied populations.”
Shuang “Sammi” Wang, PhD
2020 AGA Research Scholar Award Recipient
2021 AGA Pilot Research Award Recipient
Project: Mapping a hepatic stellate cell (HSC)-macrophage physical interactome in normal and NASH mouse liver.
Dr. Wang is an early career investigator at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and hopes her research will impact patients “by characterizing a novel mode of physical interaction between the main liver fibrogenic cells (stellate cells) with liver inflammatory cells” to “identify novel mediators that can be targeted pharmacologically to break up this vicious cycle fueling NASH.”
