Natalia Nieto Villa Pharm.D, MSc, PhD

Natalia Nieto, Pharm.D, M.Sc., Ph.D., She acquired solid knowledge on the role of oxidative stress, inflammation and fatty acids in inflammatory bowel disease, first period of Postdoctoral training in Dr. Marcos Rojkind Laboratory at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine (New York), an expert in hepatic stellate cells and liver fibrosis, she worked on extracellular matrix biology and on the pathophysiology of liver fibrosis. During the second period of Postdoctoral training in Dr. Arthur I. Cederbaum Laboratory at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (New York), an expert in oxidative stress and liver toxicity.

She studied the mechanisms involved in the up-regulation of collagen-I gene expression under oxidative stress conditions and the role of oxidant stress in hepatic fibrosis. Through my training, she developed broad expertise on the crosstalk among liver cells on the fibrogenic response to liver injury, which continues to be the major focus of research. Thus, she has a long-standing interest in understanding the pathophysiology of liver fibrosis. she has significant experience with various models of liver fibrosis, primary cell isolation, cocultures of hepatocytes, Kupffer cells and hepatic stellate cells and the molecular biology and signaling pathways involved in collagen-I regulation. Upon her arrival at The University of Illinois at Chicago, she started the Extracellular Matrix Biology and Liver Research Program that built a network of scientists within our institution with common research interests.