Holger Willenbring, MD, PhD

Education

Professional Experience

• 1997 - 1998
  Medical Intern, Department of Pediatrics, University of Münster, Germany
• 1998 - 2001
  Medical Resident, Department of Pediatrics, University of Münster, Germany
• 2001 - 2005
  Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Molecular and Medical Genetics and Oregon Stem Cell Center, Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU), Portland, OR
• 2005 - 2011
  Assistant Professor, Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regeneration Medicine and Stem Cell Research and Department of Surgery, Division of Transplantation, UCSF
• 2008 - present
  Enrichment Program Director, UCSF Liver Center, San Francisco, CA
• 2011 - present
  Associate Professor, Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regeneration Medicine and Stem Cell Research and Department of Surgery, Division of Transplantation, UCSF
• 2012 - present
  Associate Director, UCSF Liver Center, San Francisco, CA

Honors & Awards

• 2006-2009
  Liver Scholar Award of the American Liver Foundation (ALF) and the American Society of Transplantation (AST)
• 2008-2013
  California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) New Faculty Award

Selected Publications

1. Huck I, Gunewardena S, Espanol-Suner R, Willenbring H, Apte U. Hepatocyte Nuclear Factor 4 Alpha Activation Is Essential for Termination of Liver Regeneration in Mice. Hepatology. 2018 Dec 05.
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2. Schaub JR, Huppert KA, Kurial SNT, Hsu BY, Cast AE, Donnelly B, Karns RA, Chen F, Rezvani M, Luu HY, Mattis AN, Rougemont AL, Rosenthal P, Huppert SS, Willenbring H. De novo formation of the biliary system by TGFß-mediated hepatocyte transdifferentiation. Nature. 2018 05; 557(7704):247-251.
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3. Abou-Alfa GK, Andersen JB, Chapman W, Choti M, Forbes SJ, Gores GJ, Hong TS, Harding JJ, Vander Heiden MG, Javle M, Kelley RK, Kwong LN, Lowery M, Merrell A, Miyabe K, Rhim A, Saha S, Sia D, Tanasanvimon S, Venook A, Valle JW, Walesky C, Whetstine J, Willenbring H, Zhu AX, Mayer D, Stanger BZ. Advances in cholangiocarcinoma research: report from the third Cholangiocarcinoma Foundation Annual Conference. J Gastrointest Oncol. 2016 Dec; 7(6):819-827.
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4. Rezvani M, Español-Suñer R, Malato Y, Dumont L, Grimm AA, Kienle E, Bindman JG, Wiedtke E, Hsu BY, Naqvi SJ, Schwabe RF, Corvera CU, Grimm D, Willenbring H. In Vivo Hepatic Reprogramming of Myofibroblasts with AAV Vectors as a Therapeutic Strategy for Liver Fibrosis. Cell Stem Cell. 2016 06 02; 18(6):809-16.
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5. Rezvani M, Grimm AA, Willenbring H. Assessing the therapeutic potential of lab-made hepatocytes. Hepatology. 2016 07; 64(1):287-94.
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6. Desai SS, Tung JC, Zhou VX, Grenert JP, Malato Y, Rezvani M, Español-Suñer R, Willenbring H, Weaver VM, Chang TT. Physiological ranges of matrix rigidity modulate primary mouse hepatocyte function in part through hepatocyte nuclear factor 4 alpha. Hepatology. 2016 07; 64(1):261-75.
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7. Mattis AN, Song G, Hitchner K, Kim RY, Lee AY, Sharma AD, Malato Y, McManus MT, Esau CC, Koller E, Koliwad S, Lim LP, Maher JJ, Raffai RL, Willenbring H. A screen in mice uncovers repression of lipoprotein lipase by microRNA-29a as a mechanism for lipid distribution away from the liver. Hepatology. 2015 Jan; 61(1):141-52.
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8. Hentzschel F, Hammerschmidt-Kamper C, Börner K, Heiss K, Knapp B, Sattler JM, Kaderali L, Castoldi M, Bindman JG, Malato Y, Willenbring H, Mueller AK, Grimm D. AAV8-mediated in vivo overexpression of miR-155 enhances the protective capacity of genetically attenuated malarial parasites. Mol Ther. 2014 Dec; 22(12):2130-41.
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9. Schaub JR, Malato Y, Gormond C, Willenbring H. Evidence against a stem cell origin of new hepatocytes in a common mouse model of chronic liver injury. Cell Rep. 2014 Aug 21; 8(4):933-9.
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10. Espejel S, Eckardt S, Harbell J, Roll GR, McLaughlin KJ, Willenbring H. Brief report: Parthenogenetic embryonic stem cells are an effective cell source for therapeutic liver repopulation. Stem Cells. 2014 Jul; 32(7):1983-8.
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11. Lee RH, Roll G, Nguyen V, Willenbring H, Tang Q, Kang SM, Stock PG. Failure to achieve normal metabolic response in non-obese diabetic mice and streptozotocin-induced diabetic mice after transplantation of primary murine hepatocytes electroporated with the human proinsulin gene (p3MTChins). Transplant Proc. 2014 Jul-Aug; 46(6):2002-6.
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12. Ng R, Wu H, Xiao H, Chen X, Willenbring H, Steer CJ, Song G. Inhibition of microRNA-24 expression in liver prevents hepatic lipid accumulation and hyperlipidemia. Hepatology. 2014 Aug; 60(2):554-64.
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13. Zhu S, Rezvani M, Harbell J, Mattis AN, Wolfe AR, Benet LZ, Willenbring H, Ding S. Mouse liver repopulation with hepatocytes generated from human fibroblasts. Nature. 2014 Apr 03; 508(7494):93-7.
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14. Mitchell C, Willenbring H. Addendum: A reproducible and well-tolerated method for 2/3 partial hepatectomy in mice. Nat Protoc. 2014; 9(6).
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15. Mathur A, Loskill P, Hong S, Lee J, Marcus SG, Dumont L, Conklin BR, Willenbring H, Lee LP, Healy KE. Human induced pluripotent stem cell-based microphysiological tissue models of myocardium and liver for drug development. Stem Cell Res Ther. 2013; 4 Suppl 1:S14.
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16. Lim L, Balakrishnan A, Huskey N, Jones KD, Jodari M, Ng R, Song G, Riordan J, Anderton B, Cheung ST, Willenbring H, Dupuy A, Chen X, Brown D, Chang AN, Goga A. MicroRNA-494 within an oncogenic microRNA megacluster regulates G1/S transition in liver tumorigenesis through suppression of mutated in colorectal cancer. Hepatology. 2014 Jan; 59(1):202-15.
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17. Willenbring H, Soto-Gutierrez A. Transplantable liver organoids made from only three ingredients. Cell Stem Cell. 2013 Aug 01; 13(2):139-40.
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18. Ma X, Duan Y, Tschudy-Seney B, Roll G, Behbahan IS, Ahuja TP, Tolstikov V, Wang C, McGee J, Khoobyari S, Nolta JA, Willenbring H, Zern MA. Highly efficient differentiation of functional hepatocytes from human induced pluripotent stem cells. Stem Cells Transl Med. 2013 Jun; 2(6):409-19.
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19. Willenbring H, Grompe M. A therapy for liver failure found in the JNK yard. Cell. 2013 Apr 11; 153(2):283-4.
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20. Fan B, Malato Y, Calvisi DF, Naqvi S, Razumilava N, Ribback S, Gores GJ, Dombrowski F, Evert M, Chen X, Willenbring H. Cholangiocarcinomas can originate from hepatocytes in mice. J Clin Invest. 2012 Aug; 122(8):2911-5.
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