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Branko Stefanovic Ph.D.
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Associate Professor
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branko.stefanovic@med.fsu.edu
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850-644-7600
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Department of Biomedical Sciences |
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pharmacology, biochemistry, physiology (small groups) |
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Job Description
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Dr. Stefanovic is a tenure track scientist who conducts research in the area of molecular mechanisms of liver fibrosis. He also teaches and facilitates small groups in pharmacology, biochemistry and physiology.
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Biosketch
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Dr. Stefanovic joined the faculty of the FSU College of Medicine in August 2002 after serving for eight years as a research assistant professor in the Division of Digestive Diseases and Nutrition in the Department of Medicine at the University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill. After earning his doctorate in molecular biology at FSU in 1991, he did post-doctoral training at the University of Bern in Switzerland. |
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Education |
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B.S., Medical Biochemistry, University of Zagreb, Croatia, 1978
Ph.D., Molecular Biology, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Fla., 1991
Postdoctoral Fellow, Dept. of Developmental Biology, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland, 1992-1994
Major Study: Molecular assembly and function of RNA-protein complexes |
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Service
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AUCU committee
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Honors/Awards
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Postdoctoral Research Award, Swiss National Fond. Assembly and function of U7snRNA particle. 1992.
Pilot Feasibility Grant. Center for Gastrointestinal Biology and Disease. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Principal Investigator. 1996.
American Digestive Health Foundation, Research Industry Schoolar Award. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Principal Investigator. 1998 to 2001.
RO1-NIH 7GM41804. Role of TNF? in the impaired wound healing of cachexia. Co-Investigator. 00 to 04.
NIH 1R01DK59466-01A1. Regulation of type I collagen in hepatic fibrosis. Principal Investigator. Funding 2002-2007.
FYAP award. Florida State University, Division of sponsored research. 2003 to 2004
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Memberships
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American Association for Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD), since 1995.
Experimental Biology and Medicine, since 2008.
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Research Focus
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Liver fibrosis is the ninth leading cause of death in the United States, and there is no therapy. It is characterized by an excessive production of collagens type I and III by the activation of hepatic stellate cells (HSCs). To understand the posttranscriptional regulation of collagen gene expression in fibrosis with the long-term goal of developing novel therapies, Dr. Stefanoic's future work will focus on elucidating the molecular mechanisms that regulate collagen mRNA stability and translation, cloning of the specific RNA binding proteins and discovery of novel genes involved in activation of hepatic stellate cells.
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Publications
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Fritz D, Stefanovic B. RNA binding protein RBMS3 is expressed in activated hepatic stellate cells
and liver fibrosis and increases expression of transcription factor Prx1. J.Mol.Biol. 2007; 17;371(3):585-95.
Jiang F, Stefanovic B. Homeobox Gene Prx1 Is Expressed in Activated Hepatic Stellate Cells and Transactivates Collagen {alpha}1(I) Promoter. Exp Biol Med. 2008: 233(3):286-96.
Cai L, Fritz D, Stefanovic L, Stefanovic B. Coming together: liver fibrosis, collagen mRNAs and the RNA binding protein. Expert Rev. Gastroenterol. Hepatol. 3(1), 2009
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