Questions about applying?

Contact Jeroen Kwakkenbos, Program Coordinator, for more information about the ALF & AASLD Research Awards Program.

(212) 668-1000 x136

Email

2008 Resident Scholar Travel Award Applications

The application cycle for the 2008 Resident Scholar Travel Awards is closed. ALF is no longer accepting applications.

Learn about the travel awards

2008 ALF Research Award Winners

Learn more about the valuable work that ALF-funded researchers are doing.

Read project summaries from the 2008 winners

Home > Healthcare Professionals > Research Awards > Researcher Profiles > Dr. Ajay K. Jain

Dr. Ajay K. Jain, MD

Alexander M. White, III Memorial Postdoctoral Research Fellowship. Baylor College of Medicine, Texas Children's Hospital, Houston, Texas. "Role of Farnesoid X Receptor (FXR) and Fibroblast Growth Factor 19 (FGF19) In Parenteral Nutrition Associated Liver Disease (PNALD)."


Dr. Ajay K. Jain, MD

There are various technologies that allow doctors to provide food and nutrients to patients who, for medical reasons, cannot eat normally. For example, many patients receive nutrients for a period of time through their veins, fed directly into the bloodstream and bypassing the digestive system altogether. This system is called Parenteral Nutrition (PN). For reasons that are not clear, however, patients receiving PN can develop significant liver disease. It is believed that this kind of liver disease develops when the digestive system is not being used. Studies have shown that piglets, when allowed to eat normally, appear to produce a hormone, FGF19, that may play a role in preventing this kind of liver disease. Piglets receiving PN, on the other hand, produce little or no FGF19.

Dr. Jain's study investigates the hypothesis that when a patients stops using his or her digestive tract while undergoing PN, levels of the FGF19 hormone drop, contributing to liver disease. Dr. Jain will examine how exactly a person's metabolism changes while receiving PN. He postulates that when chenodeoxycholic acid is taken orally, it can raise FGF19 back to normal levels. For this reason, he will also explore whether taking small doses of oral chenodeoxycholic acid can help protect the livers of patients receiving PN.

Page updated: August 21st, 2008