Laura Nagy, PhD
Staff
Director, Northern Ohio Alcohol Center
Email: [email protected]
Location: Cleveland Clinic Main Campus
Research
The research in my laboratory is aimed at understanding how chronic alcohol consumption contributes to chronic diseases, such as liver disease and diabetes. Recent data indicate that alcohol-associated liver disease affects over 10 million Americans and chronic, heavy alcohol consumption is an independent risk factor for type 2 diabetes. Making use of cell and animal models, as well as clinical samples, my laboratory group addresses some of the fundamental questions of how ethanol exposure injures the liver, with a goal of identifying the individual targets of ethanol-induced injury and the specific responses of the key cell types within the liver, as well as the integrated, organismal response to this ethanol-induced injury.
Biography
Laura E. Nagy received her PhD in Nutrition in 1986 from the University of California Berkeley. She is currently a Professor of Molecular Medicine and Staff in Inflammation and Immunity and Gastroenterology and Hepatology at the Cleveland Clinic. She also holds adjunct Professor appointments at Case Western Reserve University and Cleveland State University. She is Director of the Liver Disease Research Center in the Lerner Research Institute. Dr. Nagy’s research program is in the area of signal transduction and innate immunity in non-alcohol and alcohol-associated liver diseases. Her research has been continuously funded by grants from the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Defense. Dr. Nagy recently received a MERIT award from NIH and is principal investigator for the Northern Ohio Alcohol Research Center. Dr. Nagy is past Chair of the Board of Scientific Counselors and current Advisory Council member for the National Institutes of Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse and served as Associate Editor for both Hepatology and Alcoholism Clinical and Experimental Research.
Education & Professional Highlights
Post-doctoral fellowship- University of California San Francisc
Neurology/Pharmacology
1980-1986
Doctoral degree - University of California-Berkeley
Nutrition
Berkeley, CA USA
1986
Maser's degree - University of California at Berkeley
Nutrition
Berkeley, CA USA
1982
Undergraduate - Yale University
New Haven, CT USA
1979
Research
Research Summary
The research in my laboratory is aimed at understanding how chronic alcohol consumption contributes to chronic diseases, such as liver disease and diabetes. Recent data indicate that alcoholic liver disease affects over 10 million Americans and chronic, heavy alcohol consumption is an independent risk factor for type 2 diabetes. We’ve been particularly involved in understanding the effects of ethanol on hormone and cytokine receptor-dependent signal transduction. It has been our working hypothesis that disruption of signalling by hormones and cytokines contributes to the development of specific pathologies associated with chronic alcohol consumption Several projects in the laboratory address the pathophysiological mechanisms of ethanol-induced liver injury. In particular, we are interested in the contributions of the innate immune system, including the resident macrophage in the liver (Kupffer cells) and the complement pathway, in the initiation and progression of ethanol-induced liver injury. Recent work in the laboratory has also implicated ethanol-induced changes in adipose tissue metabolism and regulatory activity as a contributor to ethanol-induced insulin resistance and liver injury. Making use of cell and animal models, my laboratory group addresses some of the fundamental questions of how ethanol exposure injures the liver, with a goal of identifying the individual targets of ethanol-induced injury and the specific responses of the key cell types within the liver, as well as the integrated, organismal response to this ethanol-induced injury.
Our Team
Selected Publications
View publications for Laura Nagy, PhD
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Careers
Research News
Dr. Laura Nagy’s lab aims to discover potential new treatments and interventions for diseases like cirrhosis.
Investigating inter-organ cross-talk between the gut and immune system, Drs. de la Motte and Nagy will test HA35 as potential therapeutic for Western diet-induced metabolic syndrome.
The internally funded award promotes new cross-disciplinary collaborations for different perspectives into common topics, diseases and conditions.