Juanita Merchant Explained

Juanita L. Merchant
Fields:
  • Medicine
  • Physiology
  • Gastroenterology
Workplaces:
Alma Mater:
Known For:
  • Research on gastric response to chronic inflammation

Juanita L. Merchant is an American gastroenterologist and physiology researcher who has contributed to understanding of gastric response to chronic inflammation.[1] [2] She is currently the chief of the University of Arizona Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology.[3] [4] Merchant was elected to the National Academy of Medicine in 2008,[5] and appointed an inaugural member of the NIH Council of Councils.[6]

Early life and education

Merchant grew up in Los Angeles. Her mother was an elementary school teacher.[7] She attended Stanford University, where she received her B.S. degree in biology. She went on to Yale University where she received both her M.D. and Ph.D. degrees in 1984. Merchant was the first African-American to earn a dual degree in medicine and cell biology from the Yale School of Medicine.[8] She completed her internal medicine residency and a research fellowship in gastroenterology at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston and her clinical fellowship in gastroenterology at UCLA.[9] Merchant is board certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine in both Internal Medicine (1987) and Gastroenterology (1993).[10]

Research and career

After completing her clinical fellowship at UCLA in 1991, Merchant was recruited to the University of Michigan, where she was the H. Marvin Pollard Professor of Gastrointestinal Sciences in Internal Medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology and Molecular and Integrative Physiology. She additionally held a faculty appointment in the University of Michigan Cellular and Molecular Biology Graduate Program. In 1994, Merchant was selected as an Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Investigator; this appointment provided support for her research on gastrointestinal-tract cell growth and differentiation until 2002.[11] [12] In 2018, Merchant joined the faculty at the University of Arizona College of Medicine, where she is the chief of the UA Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology as well as a professor of medicine in the UA Department of Medicine and a member of the Cancer Biology Research Program at the UA Cancer Center.[13] [14]

Merchant's research focuses on molecular mechanisms of gastric cancer biology, in particular the pathways involved in chronic inflammation processes. Since 1993, Merchant has been funded by NIDDK for a project on the "Transcriptional Control of Gastrin," which focuses on understanding the origin of gastrinomas.[15] In 2002, Merchant and collaborators found that antibiotics did a better job of treating gastritis in mice than blocking acid production with proton pump inhibitors.[16] Merchant holds a patent (granted in 2016) for a biomarker that can help diagnose Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) and Crohn's Disease.[17] In 2018, Merchant was awarded additional NIH funding to study "MDSC Polarization and Helicobacter-Induced Gastric Metaplasia;" this grant will support the study of the role of the Sonic hedgehog (SHH) gene in gastric cancer.[18] Her research has led to authorship or co-authorship on over 100 research publications[19] and she has been the editor or co-editor of multiple books, such as the textbook Physiology of the Gastrointestinal Tract.[20]

Awards and honors

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Helicobacter, Hedgehog Signaling & Gastric Cancer Department of Medicine. 2020-06-10. deptmedicine.arizona.edu.
  2. Merchant. JL. Du. M. Todisco. A. Sp1 phosphorylation by Erk 2 stimulates DNA binding.. Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications. 19 January 1999. 254. 2. 454–61. 9918860. 10.1006/bbrc.1998.9964.
  3. Web site: Faculty and Staff - Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology Department of Medicine. 2020-06-10. deptmedicine.arizona.edu.
  4. Web site: Message from the Chief Department of Medicine. 2020-06-10. deptmedicine.arizona.edu.
  5. Web site: Juanita L. Merchant. 12 May 2017. NAM.edu. National Academy of Medicine.
  6. Web site: NIH Council of Councils Members Named. NIH.gov. National Institutes of Health. 12 May 2017. March 24, 2008.
  7. Web site: 2017-02-03. Juanita L. Merchant, MD, PhD. 2020-06-10. University of Michigan Medical School. en.
  8. Web site: Blair. Jenny. A long voyage: Juanita Merchant's trip to the top of her field. 2020-06-10. Yale School of Medicine. en.
  9. Web site: Juanita Merchant, M.D., Ph.D.. 2020-06-10. Meharry Medical College.
  10. Web site: Juanita Lynne Merchant ABIM.org. 2020-06-10. www.abim.org.
  11. Web site: Juanita L. Merchant. 2020-06-10. HHMI.org. en.
  12. Web site: The New Hughes Investigators. 2020-06-10. The Scientist Magazine®. en.
  13. Web site: Juanita L. Merchant, MD, PhD Department of Medicine. 2020-06-10. deptmedicine.arizona.edu.
  14. Web site: National Expert on Colon Cancer Begins as Gastroenterology Chief at UA/Banner Department of Medicine. 2020-06-10. deptmedicine.arizona.edu.
  15. Web site: 2R01DK045729-24A1, TRANSCRIPTIONAL CONTROL OF GASTRIN. 2020-06-10. projectreporter.nih.gov.
  16. Web site: Pain in the gut? Don't blame stomach acid. 2020-06-10. EurekAlert!. en.
  17. Web site: Improving Diagnostics and Treatment for Functional Bowel Disease – Office of Technology Transfer – University of Michigan. 2020-06-10. techtransfer.umich.edu.
  18. Web site: 1R01DK118563-01, MDSC POLARIZATION AND HELICOBACTER-INDUCED GASTRIC METAPLASIA. 2020-06-10. projectreporter.nih.gov.
  19. Web site: Merchant Juanita - Search Results. 2020-06-10. PubMed. en.
  20. Book: Physiology of the gastrointestinal tract. Said, Hamid M.,, Ghishan, Fayez K.. 8 March 2018. 978-0-12-812426-0. Sixth. London. 1028731517.
  21. Web site: The American Society for Clinical Investigation. 2020-06-10. en-US.
  22. Goldenring. James R.. 2017-05-01. The AGA/Funderburg Award in Gastric Cancer: Twenty-five Years of Advances in Gastric Cancer Research. Gastroenterology. English. 152. 6. 1262–1266. 10.1053/j.gastro.2017.03.010. 0016-5085. 28327368. free.
  23. Web site: Two U-M doctors recognized as outstanding women in science by AGA Michigan Medicine. 2020-06-10. www.uofmhealth.org.
  24. Web site: Office of the Provost Harold R. Johnson Diversity Service Award. 2020-06-10. www.provost.umich.edu.
  25. Web site: AGA Institute Council Section Research Mentor Award. 2020-06-10. gastroaws.nclud.com.
  26. Web site: Sarah Goddard Power Award Center for the Education of Women University of Michigan. 2020-06-10. www.cew.umich.edu.
  27. Web site: News Around NIDDK, Summer 2018 Director's Update NIDDK. 2020-06-10. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. en-US.
  28. Web site: Distinguished Achievement Award in Basic Science. 2020-06-10. American Gastroenterological Association. en-US.
  29. Web site: UA Gastroenterology Chief Dr. Juanita Merchant Elected to National Academy of Medicine Governing Council Department of Medicine. 2020-06-10. deptmedicine.arizona.edu.

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