Laboratory Description

The major focus of Dr. Crawford's current research is Directing the Molecular Pathology and Tissue Bank Core Laboratory in the Department of Pathology (see web link on Crawford home page).  This core laboratory provides the morphologic and immunologic readouts for experiments at the University of Florida College of Medicine involving gene therapy and to a lesser extent stem cell biology and cancer biology. 

Dr. Crawford's individual research interests are in the microarchitecture of the liver, especially the intrahepatic biliary tree.  Understanding the microarchitecture is critical to understanding the pathophysiology of bile formation, and the hepatic regenerative response to injury.  This is relevant to the role of inflammation in cholestasis; and more recently the proliferative response of progenitor cells within the liver.  Our current focus is on the the microarchitecture of canals of Hering within the hepatic parenchyma, with a particular eye towards the relationship of normal anatomic structures to hepatic recovery from injury and the potential entry of exogenous stem cells into the liver for liver restitution.

Dr. Crawford also is Editor-in-Chief of LABORATORY INVESTIGATION, an official publication of the United States and Academy of Pathology.  This journal publishes articles addressing the pathogenesis of human disease, mechanistic studies of experimental models of disease, and technical advances in experimental or diagnostic pathology.

Key Hepatobiliary Research Group Faculty (see other faculty links):
Martha Campbell-Thompson: Associate Director, Molecular Pathology and Tissue Bank Core Laboratory; colon carcinogenesis
Chen Liu: Hepatitis C pathobiology, hepatocarcinogenesis
Bryon Petersen: Hepatic regeneration, stem cell biology, and toxicology
Naohiro Terada: Hepatic differentiation, stem cell biology, intracellular signalling