Research Summary

My lab studies how the different cell types in the liver, in particular the hepatocyte, are generated during development, patterned and maintained during adulthood, and regenerate after injury. Our long-term goals are to improve the understanding of liver disease pathophysiology and develop novel methods of treatment for liver diseases, including cell replacement therapy. Currently, we have two major research focuses: 1) understanding the biology of adult hepatocyte stem cells and 2) developing a liver cell atlas. We take innovative and integrated approaches to address these two areas using the tools of stem cell biology, developmental biology, genomics and tissue engineering.

I also study the porphyrias, a group of inherited diseases related to defects in heme synthesis pathway. I am a member of the Porphyrias Consortium, a NIH sponsored Rare Disease Clinical Research Consortium. The purpose of the network is to integrate translational studies of the porphyrias with clinical trials testing new therapeutics.

Research Funding

  • September 30, 2009 - August 31, 2024 - Porphyrias Consortium, Co-Investigator. Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: U54DK083909
  • September 1, 2020 - August 31, 2022 - Single cell resolution atlas of liver inflammation, Principle Investigator. Sponsor: Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Sponsor Award ID:
  • January 1, 2017 - December 31, 2021 - Wnt signaling and hepatocyte stem cells in liver homeostasis and cancer, Principle Investigator. Sponsor: Burroughs Wellcome Fund, Sponsor Award ID: CAMS
  • March 15, 2015 - February 29, 2020 - Wnt signaling in hepatocyte homeostasis, Principal Investigator. Sponsor: NIH/NIDDK, Sponsor Award ID: K08DK101603

Education

Stanford University, B.A.S., 06/2000, Philosophy, Biological Sciences
University of California San Francisco, MD, 06/2007, Medicine

Honors & Awards

  • 2004-2005
    Howard Hughes Medical Institute Research Training Fellowship for Medical Students
  • 2005-2006
    Howard Hughes Medical Institute Research Training Fellowship for Medical Students Continued Research Support
  • 2005-2007
    Howard Hughes Medical Institute Research Training Fellowship for Medical Students Continued Medical Education Support
  • 2006
    Dean’s Prize in Research, University of California San Francisco
  • 2007-2014
    Molecular Medicine Fellow, University of California San Francisco
  • 2009-2010
    Clinical Fellow Award, UCSF Gastroenterology Division
  • 2016-2021
    Career Award for Medical Scientists, Burroughs Wellcome Fund

Selected Publications

  1. Olivieri JE, Dehghannasiri R, Wang PL, Jang S, de Morree A, Tan SY, Ming J, Ruohao Wu A, Tabula Sapiens Consortium, Quake SR, Krasnow MA, Salzman J. RNA splicing programs define tissue compartments and cell types at single-cell resolution. Elife. 2021 09 13; 10.  View on PubMed
  2. Liang B, Zhou Y, Qian M, Xu M, Wang J, Zhang Y, Song X, Wang H, Lin S, Ren C, Monga SP, Wang B, Evert M, Chen Y, Chen X, Huang Z, Calvisi DF, Chen X. TBX3 functions as a tumor suppressor downstream of activated CTNNB1 mutants during hepatocarcinogenesis. J Hepatol. 2021 Jul; 75(1):120-131.  View on PubMed
  3. Russell JP, Lim X, Santambrogio A, Yianni V, Kemkem Y, Wang B, Fish M, Haston S, Grabek A, Hallang S, Lodge EJ, Patist AL, Schedl A, Mollard P, Nusse R, Andoniadou CL. Pituitary stem cells produce paracrine WNT signals to control the expansion of their descendant progenitor cells. Elife. 2021 Jan 05; 10.  View on PubMed
  4. Saberi B, Naik H, Overbey JR, Erwin AL, Anderson KE, Bissell DM, Bonkovsky HL, Phillips JD, Wang B, K Singal A, M McGuire B, Desnick RJ, Balwani M. Hepatocellular Carcinoma in Acute Hepatic Porphyrias: Results from the Longitudinal Study of the U.S. Porphyrias Consortium. Hepatology. 2021 May; 73(5):1736-1746.  View on PubMed
  5. Dickey AK, Quick C, Ducamp S, Zhu Z, Feng YA, Naik H, Balwani M, Anderson KE, Lin X, Phillips JE, Rebeiz L, Bonkovsky HL, McGuire BM, Wang B, Chasman DI, Smoller JW, Fleming MD, Christiani DC. Evidence in the UK Biobank for the underdiagnosis of erythropoietic protoporphyria. Genet Med. 2021 01; 23(1):140-148.  View on PubMed
  6. Tabula Muris Consortium . A single-cell transcriptomic atlas characterizes ageing tissues in the mouse. Nature. 2020 07; 583(7817):590-595.  View on PubMed
  7. Schaum N, Lehallier B, Hahn O, Pálovics R, Hosseinzadeh S, Lee SE, Sit R, Lee DP, Losada PM, Zardeneta ME, Fehlmann T, Webber JT, McGeever A, Calcuttawala K, Zhang H, Berdnik D, Mathur V, Tan W, Zee A, Tan M, Tabula Muris Consortium , Pisco AO, Karkanias J, Neff NF, Keller A, Darmanis S, Quake SR, Wyss-Coray T. Ageing hallmarks exhibit organ-specific temporal signatures. Nature. 2020 07; 583(7817):596-602.  View on PubMed
  8. Balwani M, Sardh E, Ventura P, Peiró PA, Rees DC, Stölzel U, Bissell DM, Bonkovsky HL, Windyga J, Anderson KE, Parker C, Silver SM, Keel SB, Wang JD, Stein PE, Harper P, Vassiliou D, Wang B, Phillips J, Ivanova A, Langendonk JG, Kauppinen R, Minder E, Horie Y, Penz C, Chen J, Liu S, Ko JJ, Sweetser MT, Garg P, Vaishnaw A, Kim JB, Simon AR, Gouya L, ENVISION Investigators . Phase 3 Trial of RNAi Therapeutic Givosiran for Acute Intermittent Porphyria. N Engl J Med. 2020 06 11; 382(24):2289-2301.  View on PubMed
  9. Alkhani A, Levy CS, Tsui M, Rosenberg KA, Polovina K, Mattis AN, Mack M, Van Dyken S, Wang BM, Maher JJ, Nijagal A. Ly6cLo non-classical monocytes promote resolution of rhesus rotavirus-mediated perinatal hepatic inflammation. Sci Rep. 2020 04 28; 10(1):7165.  View on PubMed
  10. Xu M, Wang H, Wang J, Burhan D, Shang R, Wang P, Zhou Y, Li R, Liang B, Evert K, Utpatel K, Xu Z, Song X, Che L, Calvisi DF, Wang B, Chen X, Zeng Y, Chen X. mTORC2 Signaling Is Necessary for Timely Liver Regeneration after Partial Hepatectomy. Am J Pathol. 2020 04; 190(4):817-829.  View on PubMed
  11. Naik H, Overbey JR, Montgomery GH, Winkel G, Balwani M, Anderson KE, Bissell DM, Bonkovsky HL, Phillips JD, Wang B, McGuire B, Keel S, Levy C, Erwin A, Desnick RJ. Evaluating the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System scales in acute intermittent porphyria. Genet Med. 2020 03; 22(3):590-597.  View on PubMed
  12. Naik H, Overbey JR, Desnick RJ, Anderson KE, Bissell DM, Bloomer J, Bonkovsky HL, Phillips JD, Wang B, Singal A, Balwani M. Evaluating quality of life tools in North American patients with erythropoietic protoporphyria and X-linked protoporphyria. JIMD Rep. 2019 Nov; 50(1):9-19.  View on PubMed
  13. Qiao Y, Wang J, Karagoz E, Liang B, Song X, Shang R, Evert K, Xu M, Che L, Evert M, Calvisi DF, Tao J, Wang B, Monga SP, Chen X. Axis inhibition protein 1 (Axin1) Deletion-Induced Hepatocarcinogenesis Requires Intact β-Catenin but Not Notch Cascade in Mice. Hepatology. 2019 12; 70(6):2003-2017.  View on PubMed
  14. Zhao L, Jin Y, Donahue K, Tsui M, Fish M, Logan CY, Wang B, Nusse R. Tissue Repair in the Mouse Liver Following Acute Carbon Tetrachloride Depends on Injury-Induced Wnt/β-Catenin Signaling. Hepatology. 2019 06; 69(6):2623-2635.  View on PubMed
  15. Wang B, Rudnick S, Cengia B, Bonkovsky HL. Acute Hepatic Porphyrias: Review and Recent Progress. Hepatol Commun. 2019 Feb; 3(2):193-206.  View on PubMed
  16. Peng WC, Logan CY, Fish M, Anbarchian T, Aguisanda F, Álvarez-Varela A, Wu P, Jin Y, Zhu J, Li B, Grompe M, Wang B, Nusse R. Inflammatory Cytokine TNFα Promotes the Long-Term Expansion of Primary Hepatocytes in 3D Culture. Cell. 2018 11 29; 175(6):1607-1619.e15.  View on PubMed
  17. Tabula Muris Consortium , Overall coordination , Logistical coordination , Organ collection and processing , Library preparation and sequencing , Computational data analysis , Cell type annotation , Writing group , Supplemental text writing group , Principal investigators . Single-cell transcriptomics of 20 mouse organs creates a Tabula Muris. Nature. 2018 10; 562(7727):367-372.  View on PubMed
  18. Balwani M, Wang B, Anderson KE, Bloomer JR, Bissell DM, Bonkovsky HL, Phillips JD, Desnick RJ, Porphyrias Consortium of the Rare Diseases Clinical Research Network . Acute hepatic porphyrias: Recommendations for evaluation and long-term management. Hepatology. 2017 10; 66(4):1314-1322.  View on PubMed
  19. Balwani M, Naik H, Anderson KE, Bissell DM, Bloomer J, Bonkovsky HL, Phillips JD, Overbey JR, Wang B, Singal AK, Liu LU, Desnick RJ. Clinical, Biochemical, and Genetic Characterization of North American Patients With Erythropoietic Protoporphyria and X-linked Protoporphyria. JAMA Dermatol. 2017 08 01; 153(8):789-796.  View on PubMed
  20. Gou EW, Balwani M, Bissell DM, Bloomer JR, Bonkovsky HL, Desnick RJ, Naik H, Phillips JD, Singal AK, Wang B, Keel S, Anderson KE. Pitfalls in Erythrocyte Protoporphyrin Measurement for Diagnosis and Monitoring of Protoporphyrias. Clin Chem. 2015 Dec; 61(12):1453-6.  View on PubMed

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