Basic science research is conducted in laboratories located in the School of Medicine, Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center, and Texas Children’s Hospital Research Center. Fellows with particular expertise and interest are encouraged to attend seminars and laboratory meetings in their field of interest. However, no time is allocated for fellows to conduct independent, basic science research.
Advanced Liver Therapies
Advanced Liver Therapies, our program’s clinical research center, is directed by John M. Vierling, M.D., who serves as principal investigator for sponsored studies with all hepatology faculty members serving as sub-investigators. The staff includes an administrator, regulatory specialist, several full-time research coordinators and a laboratory and drug dispensing coordinator.
Facilities include examination rooms, sample preparation rooms, -80 degree Celsius freezers, conference rooms and consultation rooms. Investigator-initiated and industry-sponsored phase I-III trials are conducted on-site or at any of the hospitals staffed by BCM faculty. John A. Goss, M.D., program director for Liver Transplantation is the Principal Investigator for trials involving post-OLT immunosuppression or other therapies.
Fellows participate in clinical research by reviewing new and ongoing studies weekly during the research conference, assessing inclusion and exclusion criteria for studies in patients seen in the inpatient and outpatient settings, learning the basics of regulatory requirements and preparation of IRB submissions and performing clinical examinations of selected research patients.
We encourage each fellow to identify at least one specific topic of personal interest and to work closely with faculty mentors to formulate scholarly projects that can be finalized and submitted for publication within the 12-month training period. In addition, fellows are often invited by faculty members to co-author invited reviews and book chapters.
