Aditya D. Joshi, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor

Pharmaceutical Sciences

Phone 405-271-6593 x 47471

Fax 405-271-7505

Faculty Website www.joshilaboratory.org

Summary

My research is focused on understanding Aryl hydrocarbon Receptor (AhR) signaling in normal liver physiology as well as in plethora of hepatic and metabolic diseases. The AhR is a ligand-activated transcription factor, historically studied in the context of exogenous ligand 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD, dioxin) induced toxicity. We have demonstrated that in contrast to the toxicity exhibited by exogenous AhR agonists, the endogenous AhR ligand, cinnabarinic acid induced expression of AhR target gene, stanniocalcin 2 is responsible for hepatoprotection against chemical, environmental and pharmacological stressors both in vitro and in vivo. Our long-term objectives are to mechanistically study repertoire of AhR target genes in the context of liver and metabolic diseases and to develop a translational approach to AhR biology by identifying and characterizing therapeutically useful endogenous AhR agonists to ameliorate hepatic injury. To achieve our long-term goal my research employs cutting-edge cellular, molecular and biochemical methodologies as well as utilizes innovative genome-wide technologies such as next-generation sequencing (RNA, ChIP and ATAC-seq) and CRISPR mediated genome editing.