Prof. Dr. Deborah Stroka

Our research focuses is on llver cell biology around the following areas of interest:

Liver regeneration: The liver has the potential to regenerate to its original mass when tissue is lost or injured via a complex, tightly controlled process. We study the mechanisms of regeneration in young healthy livers to have better insights to what happens when it is compromised such as in aged or diseased livers. In particular, we are interested how DNA damage and replication stress affects the proliferative capacity of the liver. One disease that leads to replicative dysfunction is metabolic associated steatohepatitis (MASH). With the help of imaging mass cytometry (IMC, www.imc.unibe.ch) we try to better understand the crosstalk of cells during MASH development.

Liver cholestasis/cholangiopathies are a major health burden and are the main indication for liver transplantation. Our research aims to help alleviate liver cholestasis by developing and validating a new drug targeting tight junctions, studying the relevance of the gut-liver axis in the context of the IBD-PSC disorders, and investigating the bile microbiome composition in both healthy and diseased livers.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the fifth most common cancer worldwide. We are developing a novel immunotherapy to increase the therapeutic window of the disease while maintaining a high efficacy and exceptionally low side-effect profile.

Our research in done in accordance with the 3R principles. To refine the current in vitro models, we are developing an in vitro 3D culture to better mimic their native environment. This 3D model enables us to study the liver stage of plasmodium infection in malaria.