Introduction to the Speaker:

Associate Prof. Grace Liejun Guo is a tenured faculty in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology in the School of Pharmacy at the Rutgers University in New Jersey, USA. Dr. Guo has determined the roles of nuclear receptors and signaling pathways that are critical for liver homeostasis and metabolism, including farnesoid X receptor (FXR), pregnane X receptor, constitutive androstane receptor, fibroblast growth factor 15/19 and bile acids. The highlights of Dr. Guo’s research findings include understanding the cellular and molecular mechanism by which tissue-specific FXR functions to regulate bile acid homeostasis, transcriptional regulation of drug metabolism and transport, non-alcoholic hepatosteatosis, liver and colon carcinogenesis, and liver regeneration. Dr. Guo has published 78 peer-reviewed research and review articles on nuclear receptors and their regulation of liver and intestine functions. As the PI or Co-I on several NIH funding, Dr. Guo’s laboratory has laid the ground work by determining the role of intestinal FXR in regulating liver functions. Dr. Guo is a member of several scientific societies, scientific reviewer for the US and Italian NIH and private foundations, editorial board member and ad hoc manuscript reviewers for numerous prestigious journals, and invited speakers for national and international lectures and meetings.