Bo Kong, PhD

Assistant Research Professor

Pharmacology and Toxicology

Lab Affiliation: Guo Lab

Education & Training

PhD - Pharmacology - Chinese Academy of Sciences, China
MS - Biochemistry - Xiamen University, China
BS - Biological Sciences - Hunan Normal University, China
Post-Doctoral Fellowship - Pharmacology and Toxicology - University of Kansas Medical Center, KS

Research Interests

My research focuses on the roles of the nuclear receptor, farnesoid X receptor (FXR), in regulating bile acid and lipid metabolism. Specifically, I primarily focus on determining the underlying mechanisms by which FXR and one of its intestinal target genes, fibroblast growth factor 15/19, in regulating bile acid homeostasis, non-alcoholic fatty liver diseases, liver carcinogenesis and liver regeneration. I have had close to twenty years’ experience using various in-vitro and in-vivo experimental models for research and have been continuously working in the FXR/bile acid/liver disease research area for ten years. I am the first one to over-express the soluble recombinant FGF15 and FGF19 proteins in prokaryotic expression systems, and I have also generated novel genetically modified mouse models (conditional knockout and transgenic FGF15 mice) to determine the molecular mechanism underling FGF15-mediated regulation of liver functions.

Publications

Awards

2012 - Presidential Poster Award, “Nuclear receptor SHP- and STAT3- dependent mechanisms of hepatocellular carcinoma development in FXR knockout mice”, AASLD annual Liver Meeting, Boston, MA
2012 - Presidential Poster Award, “Effects of Hepatocyte-specific Deletion of the Fxr Gene on Hepatocarcinogenesis in Mice”, AASLD annual Liver Meeting Boston, MA
2009 - Second place in poster presentation in the Annual Post-doctoral Research Symposium, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS
2008 - Presidential Poster Award, “FXR-Deficiency Induces Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis in LDLR-Knockout Mice Fed High-Fat Diet”, Annual Liver Meeting for American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD), San Francisco, CA