prof. dr. A.J. (Han) Moshage

BioSketch Han Moshage

Professor of Experimental Hepatology and Gastroenterology, University Medical Center Groningen

Han Moshage (1959) studied chemistry at the Radboud University of Nijmegen (Netherlands) and graduated in 1983 with specialization Biochemistry. After receiving his PhD degree at the Radboud University of Nijmegen in 1987 (Title: Molecular regulation of fibrinogen and albumin synthesis in the liver during the acute phase response), he was post-doctoral fellow at the Alcohol Research and Treatment Center of the VA Medical Center/Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York, USA. From 1990-1993 he was an assistant professor at the Dept. of Hepatology, University Hospital Leuven in Belgium. Since 1993 he has been at the Dept. of Gastroenterology and Hepatology of the University of Groningen. In 2005, he was appointed full professor of Experimental Hepatology and Gastroenterology.

Moshage also served as secretary of the Dutch Society of Hepatology (1997-2003), member of the Scientific Council of the Dutch Digestive Diseases Foundation (1998-2005), director of the research master program Molecular Medicine and Innovative Treatment (2005-2013), director of the University of Groningen Research Institute GUIDE (2005-2012), director of the Graduate School of Medical Sciences (2009-2012) and is currently responsible for International Relations within the Graduate School of Medical Sciences. He served on many evaluation panels of funding agencies and is currently chair of the starting career grant program ZonMW-Veni for (bio)medical sciences of the Dutch government. He also serves on the editorial board and was/is guest editor of several peer-reviewed international journals. Moshage has been the primary supervisor of more than 25 PhD students. 

Research

Metabolic dysfunction-Associated Fatty Liver Disease (MAFLD) or Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) comprises the spectrum of liver diseases that is the result of excessive lipid accumulation and disturbed lipid metabolism in the liver. This spectrum ranges from simple hepatic steatosis, to (chronic) inflammation (NASH) and fibrosis and cirrhosis.

In our research on MAFLD we focus on the mechanisms and manipulation of cell death as a result of lipotoxicity, focusing on free fatty acid-induced cell death, endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress and mitochondrial dysfunction as well as on the role of extracellular vesicles (exosomes) in the pathogenesis of MAFLD.

Research key words: lipotoxicity, fatty liver diseases, oxidative stress, signal transduction, extracellular vesicles, fibrosis, inflammation, liver cell biology, hepatocytes, non-parenchymal cells