David A. Shafritz

Dr. Shafritz's research is directed at repopulating the liver with transplanted cells, using adult liver cells, activated adult liver progenitor cells, fetal liver stem/ progenitor cells and embryonic stem cells. The Shafritz lab uses a variety of rat and mouse cell transplantation models with and without liver injury, and are conducting preliminary studies with human cord blood cells and human ES cells. The lab's most significant finding to date is thirty percent repopulation of normal adult rat liver with fetal liver stem/progenitor cells that differentiate into mature hepatocytes and bile duct epithelial cells which are structurally and functionally incorporated into the liver parenchyma for the lifetime of the recipient.