St. John’s Scientist Wins Federal Grant to Research Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

Sunil Kumar ’09GP, ’14Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, in St. John’s University’s College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, was recently awarded a grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to find an effective therapy for a form of liver disease with no cure and which can lead to cancer. 

“This funding will enhance the research experience of our undergraduate and graduate students at St. John’s University, and it will help me discover a novel mechanism and potential therapy for nonalcoholic fatty liver disease,” Dr. Kumar said in expressing his appreciation for the $750,000 grant he received from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS), a division of the NIH.

Anne Y. F. Lin ’84P, ’86Pharm.D., FNAP, Dean and Professor, College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, said of Dr. Kumar’s accomplishment, “It is wonderful that our undergraduate and graduate students will have the opportunity to work with Dr. Kumar on research which could result in potential treatment options for these patients.”

Dr. Kumar and his team are studying the interplay of diabetes, obesity, and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). It is estimated that about 25 percent of adults in the US suffer from NAFLD. There are currently no treatments approved by the US Food and Drug Administration.

Patients rely on diet or exercise to help manage the disease, but these methods are ineffective at advanced stages of the condition. NAFLD is a spectrum of disorders ranging from simple lipid accumulation in the liver, which leads to liver fibrosis, and finally liver cancer if it remains untreated.

“Therefore, it is dire to understand its mechanisms and discover a novel, potential therapy,” said Dr. Kumar.

His long-term research goal is to understand the mechanistic role of what is known as Lipocalin-Type Prostaglandin D₂ Synthase (L-PGDS) in NAFLD and apply this knowledge to develop novel therapeutic strategies.   

Dr. Kumar joined the faculty of St. John’s University in 2021. Since then, he has received unwavering support from his colleagues and the administration to establish his research laboratory. Dr. Kumar is equally passionate about teaching and brings his research experience into the classroom.