Biography
Dr. D. Montgomery Bissell is Professor of Medicine and Director Emeritus of the UCSF Liver Center, an NIH-funded consortium of 40 independently funded researchers who study the liver and its diseases. Bissell has a career-long interest in liver disease, dating to when he conducted a project on hepatocellular carcinoma in East Africa as a Harvard medical student. He then turned his attention to defining the cellular responses and molecular regulation of the scarring process known as fibrosis and cirrhosis. The latter is the most important consequence of many chronic liver diseases including inborn errors of metabolism, viral hepatitis, autoimmune states, alcohol abuse and others. It also is the setting for most cases of liver cancer.
Since 1981, Bissell has led the Rice-Liver Center Laboratory at San Francisco General Hospital, known internationally for basic research on fibrosis and defining new therapies to block fibrosis progression in patients. He is a member of several professional organizations including the American Society for Clinical Investigation and the Association of American Physicians and has served on numerous review panels for NIH, the Veterans Administration and other groups.
Awards & Honors
| Award | Conferred By | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Distinguished Achievement Award | American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases | 2004 |
| MERIT award | NIDDK/NIH | 1998/2004 |
| Advisory Council | NIDDK/NIH | 1997/2001 |
| President | American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases | 1994/1995 |
| Member | American Society for Clinical Investigation | 1977/-- |
Education
| Institution | Degree | Dept or School | End Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| University of California, San Francisco | Liver Research | School of Medicine | 1973 |
| Boston City Hospital | Residency | Harvard Medical Services | 1970 |
| Harvard University | M.D. | School of Medicine | 1967 |
| Harvard University | A.B | Harvard College | 1962 |
Board Certifications
American Board of Internal Medicine
Clinical Expertise
Alcoholic Liver Disease
Autoimmune Hepatitis
Benign Liver Tumors
Cirrhosis
Fulminant Hepatic Failure
Hepatitis B
Hepatitis C
Hepatocellular Carcinoma (Liver Cancer)
Live Donor Liver Transplantation
Liver Transplantation
Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease
Primary Biliary Cirrhosis
Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis
Program Affiliations
UCSF Liver Center
Member, UCSF Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program (BMS)
UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center
Grants and Funding
- UCSF Liver Center | NIH | 1985-07-01 - 2023-05-31 | Role: Principal Investigator
- General Clinical Research Center | NIH | 1974-10-01 - 2007-11-30 | Role: Co-Investigator
- CELLULAR PATHOPHYSIOLOGY OF HEPATIC FIBROSIS | NIH | 1982-07-01 - 2004-06-30 | Role: Principal Investigator
- REGULATION OF THE FIBRONECTIN GENE IN LIVER CELLS | NIH | 1996-09-01 - 2000-08-31 | Role: Principal Investigator
- CELLULAR PATHOPHYSIOLOGY OF HEPATIC FIBROSIS | NIH | 1982-07-01 - 1995-06-30 | Role: Principal Investigator
- MATRIX-DEGRADING PROTEINASES AND HEPATIC FIBROSIS | NIH | 1988-09-01 - 1991-08-31 | Role: Principal Investigator
- LIVER CORE CENTER | NIH | 1985-07-01 - 1990-06-30 | Role: Co-Investigator
- CELLULAR PATHOPHYSIOLOGY OF HEPATIC FIBROSIS | NIH | 1982-07-01 - 1990-06-30 | Role: Principal Investigator
Research Narrative
My laboratory investigates tissue remodeling in liver injury. We have been focusing recently on oval cells, which are liver progenitor cells and proliferate in several forms of liver injury. Oval cells, can be isolated and, with expansion in culture, hold promise for cell-based therapy of a variety of liver diseases. We have recently defined a member of the TNF-alpha family of cytokines that appears to be a specific growth factor for a subset of oval cells. We are interested also in mechanisms of the fibrotic response to biliary injury. We have found that TGFβ and the integrin αvβ6 have key roles.
Research Interests
Liver Injury and Repair