UF liver researcher receives awards to support research projects

Chen Liu, M.D., Ph.D., of the University of Florida College of Medicine, has received the 2003 On-Going Liver Scholar Award from the American Liver Foundation, New England Chapter.

Liu, an assistant professor of pathology, immunology and laboratory medicine, has been honored with the renewal of the Charles M. Trey, M.D., Memorial Liver Scholar Award, which he originally received in 2002. The award is presented to medical scholars and researchers who demonstrate interest in and dedication to the field of liver disease.

The scholar award, which provides $150,000 over three years, supports Liu’s investigation of how cells develop an antiviral response to hepatitis C infection. According to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an estimated 3.9 million Americans have been infected with the virus, which in most patients develops into a chronic infection that subsequently leads to chronic liver disease or cancer.

Liu also recently received an American Liver Foundation Innovative Hepatology Seed Grant. The two-year, $100,000 grants are awarded to faculty members to initiate projects that address novel and important clinical questions related to liver disease. With the funding, Liu has begun a study of the mechanisms of liver cell damage in alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency, a genetic disease affecting both the liver and the lungs.