McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine faculty member Satdarshan “Paul” Singh Monga, MD (pictured), Associate Professor of Pathology and Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh, was recently named the head of the Division of Experimental Pathology, Department of Pathology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. The mission of the scientists in this Division (formerly known as the Division of Cellular and Molecular Pathology) is to conduct research on normal and abnormal tissue growth and differentiation, mechanisms of immunity, pathways leading to disease, and markers of molecular diagnosis, using techniques from cellular and molecular biology. In his new role, Dr. Monga will direct and organize the research efforts within the Division of Experimental Pathology and also serve as the coordinator for the basic science members of the other divisions within the Department of Pathology, thus achieving better integration of effort and purpose.
“Dr. Monga has been eminently successful in building a strong research program in his laboratory. He has joined the editorial board of several journals, including the American Journal of Pathology and Hepatology. He is the leader of the program committee for next year's American Society for Investigation Pathology meeting and the upcoming meeting of Hepatocyte Biology in Snowmass, Colorado,” said McGowan Institute faculty member George Michalopoulos, MD, PhD, Maude Menten Professor and Chairman, Department of Pathology. “Please join me in congratulating Dr. Monga for his new responsibilities.”
Other recent accomplishments of Dr. Monga include:
- Accepted to serve a 4-year term as an NIH study section member for Hepatobiliary Pathophysiology
- Named to the editorial board of the journal, Organogenesis
- Elected as Program-Chair Elect for the American Society of Investigative Pathology, and
- from July 1, 2008, became the Program Chair of this national organization
- Appointed to serve on the Basic Research Committee for the American Society of Study of Liver Diseases
The Department of Pathology plays a key role in patient care, as well as in basic science and clinical research at UPMC and the School of Medicine, forging intellectual links between diagnostic services and basic sciences. Some of the highlights within the Department’s Division of Experimental Pathology include:
- Research on the role of growth factors, including hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), transforming growth factors x and b, Interleukin 6, and tumor necrosis factor (TNF), on the biology of normal and neoplastic cells
- Role of growth factors in liver regeneration and carcinogenesis
- Investigation of chemical substances that act as tumor promoters
- Studies on the role of the histocompatibility loci as regulators of immune function,
organismal growth, placental function, pregnancy, and antigenic processing
- Studies of the role of growth factors and matrix in lung development and injury
- Studies of the structure/function, biosynthesis, and assembly of HLA molecules
- Studies of the biology of the normal and neoplastic prostatic epithelium
- Studies of the role of different k-ras mutations on colonic tumor progression
- Studies utilizing our tissue bank of human tissue with chip arrays and biometrics
Additionally, Dr. Monga is an Assistant Professor of Gastrointestinal Oncology at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute.
Illustration: McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine.
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Bio: Satdarshan “Paul” Singh Monga, MD
Bio: George K. Michalopoulos, MD, PhD
Department of Pathology, Division of Experimental Pathology