Alison B. Kohan, PhD

Dr. Kohan is an expert in the field of intestinal lipoproteins and their metabolism, and the interaction between chylomicron metabolism and inflammation. The consequences of dysfunction in these physiological processes are inflammatory bowel disease and altered whole-body lipid metabolism. Dr. Kohan has made major contributions to understanding the role of chylomicron synthesis and secretion to metabolic and inflammatory disease. She has shown that apolipoprotein C-III, a significant cardiovascular risk factor, plays a critical role in regulating enterocyte cellular metabolism and chylomicron secretion.Dr. Kohan also discovered that the apoC-III content of chylomicrons has a significant role in regulating CD4+T cells and Foxp3+Treg metabolism. Dr. Kohan has also pioneered the primary murine organoid model to study lipoprotein synthesis and secretion by enterocytes. Dr. Kohan’s long-term research goal is to identify and understand mechanisms of intestinal lipoprotein formation, intestinal lipoprotein regulation of immune cells during disease, and to determine how this intestinal lipoprotein/immune system interaction contributes to cardio-metabolic disease progression. Her specific academic mission is to identify and develop clinical treatments based on these findings.