Dr. Liuyi Hao, a postdoctoral researcher at UNCG’s Center for Translational Biomedical Research, has received a 2017 Postdoctoral Fellowship Award from the American Liver Foundation. The fellowship is highly competitive, with no more than 10 awarded each year, and represents a significant achievement for Hao and UNCG.
The award will support Hao’s research on activating transcription factor 4, a gene transcription regulator hypothesized to play a central role in the development of alcoholic liver disease, or ALD. Approximately 20,000 people in the U.S. die each year due to ALD, according to the CDC.
Hao, who completed his PhD at Harbin Medical University and joined the Center for Translational Biomedical Research in July 2016, hopes his research will improve understanding of the biological underpinnings of the disease, and, ultimately, lead to improved treatment options.
The UNCG Center for Translational Biomedical Research is located at the North Carolina Research Campus in Kannapolis. The campus houses a number of corporations, healthcare organizations, and universities that work together in a public-private partnership to better understand human health, nutrition, and agriculture. The CTBR focuses on the molecular mechanisms of disease pathogenesis and progression, biomarkers for diagnosis, and discovering novel interventions for the prevention and treatment of disease.
Article author Hope Voorhees is a Media and Communication Intern with UNCG’s Office of Research and Engagement. She is a junior at UNCG, majoring in Psychology and Sociology with a concentration in Criminology.
