Auinash Kalsotra was recently awarded a two-year grant to study the functional role of RNA processing, a cellular process that, among other roles, regulates liver regeneration.
Congratulations to Assistant Professor of Biochemistry Auinash Kalsotra, who was recently awarded a two-year grant to study the functional role of RNA processing, a cellular process that, among other roles, regulates liver regeneration. Dr. Kalsotra is a member of the Departments of Biochemistry and Medical Biochemistry, and will be teaching first-year medical students.
Dr. Kalsotra’s laboratory, in collaboration with Dr. Sayee Anakk, assistant professor of medical molecular and integrative physiology, has identified patterns in RNA splicing that determine the way liver cells naturally regenerate healthy cells across the life span. The Carver Trust grant will fund research to understand how splicing in diseased liver cells deviates from the typical patterns, specifically focusing on how alternative splicing functions in promoting cellular repair and regeneration.
Dr. Kalsotra’s research aims to shed light on possible interventions that could ultimately help people with chronic liver disease, such as hepatitis or liver cancer, to improve the body’s natural ability to regenerate healthy cells—a process that is impeded in a diseased organ.
The Roy J. Carver Charitable Trust supports advanced scientific research to improve human health. Applicants from the fields of medicine, engineering, and the natural sciences compete regionally for large, multiyear grants.
This funding will build on current work supported by the American Heart Association, which examines how changes in alternative splicing facilitate the growth of the heart after birth.