"Beta-Catenin and Hepatocellular Cancer: From Bench to Bedside"

Speaker:

Paul Monga, M.D.
Professor of Pathology & Medicine
Vice Chair & Chief of the Division of Experimental Pathology
Assistant Dean & Co-Director of the Medical Scientist Training Program
Director, Pittsburgh Liver Research Center
Director, Cellular Approaches to Tissue Engineerig & Regeneration Program
Associate Director, University of Pittsburgh Drug Discovery Institute
University of Pittsburgh

About Paul Monga:

Dr. Monga received his medical education at Dayanand Medical College & Hospital in Chandigarh, India.

At the Pittsburgh Liver Research Center, Dr. Monga focuses on uncovering the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying liver pathophysiology, with particular emphasis on liver regeneration, metabolic zonation, and chronic liver disease progression. His team investigates how Wnt and Yap signaling pathways regulate hepatocyte function and repair, as well as the dynamic interplay between these pathways during regeneration. His team studies transdifferentiation between hepatocytes and biliary epithelial cells to enhance hepatic repair and explore the molecular drivers of hepatic fibrosis, including stellate cell activation and macrophage interactions, to develop anti-fibrotic therapies. Additionally, they examine cholestatic liver injury by targeting bile acid metabolism and maintaining the blood-bile barrier through junctional integrity, using advanced imaging and animal models.

Dr. Monga’s group also addresses liver cancer biology, particularly hepatocellular carcinoma, by modeling tumorigenesis with genetic tools and correlating findings with human datasets to identify therapeutic targets and validate disease mechanisms.

Among his many honors and awards, Dr. Monga was elected to the American Society for Clinical Investigation (2009), winner of the Outstanding Investigator Award from the American Society for Investigative Pathology (2013 and 2014), and recipient of the Takeda Distinguished Research Award from the American Physiological Society (2019).