The main focus of our basic science and clinical research is in pediatric liver disease.

Our basic laboratory has developed mouse models that allow us to study some of the mechanisms of injury in the bile duct (the tube that drains bile from the liver into the intestine) that result in liver diseases such as biliary atresia or primary sclerosing cholangitis. We also use cell culture techniques to specifically examine how immune cells recognize and target the bile duct cell injury, with the hope of being able to develop new drug therapy to treat these diseases.

In our clinical research, we are the Canadian lead centre for studying all Canadian pediatric patients diagnosed with biliary atresia. Our aim is to understand the long-term outcome of this pediatric disease and to develop novel strategies to improve both the diagnosis and treatment.

Immune mediated bile duct epithelial injury
Using standard immune assays and murine derived in vivo systems and in vitro cell culture, our laboratory examines the mechanisms of immunocyte recognition of bile duct epithelial cells in healthy and disease states.

Neonatal biliary atresia in Canada: Long term experience 1985-2002
Established a Canadian wide database of patients with biliary atresia.

Development and Validation of a Disease-Specific Health-Related Quality of Life Questionnaire for Children After Liver Transplantation
A CIHR-funded study of Canadian children post liver transplant.

Pashankar D, Schreiber RA: Postnatal infections of the liver: Bacterial, Parasitic and other infections. Pediatric Gastrointestinal Disease 4 th ed. W Allan Walker, Ronald E Kleinman, Phillip M Sherman, Oliver-Jean Goulet, Ian R Sanderson, Benjamin L Shneider eds, Chap 51:2 2004.

Schreiber RA, Roberts EA, Smith L, Martin SR, Barker CC & The Canadian Pediatric Hepatology Research Group. Neonatal biliary atresia in Canada . Can J Gastroenterol 2004;18 (suppl A):89A.

Ebbeson R, Schreiber R: Diagnosing autoimmune hepatitis in children: is the international autoimmune hepatitis group scoring system useful? Clin Gastro and Hepatol 2004 Oct p.1-6.

Schreiber RA: Maternal infant and fetal HBV and HCV infection. Frontiers in Viral Hepatitis 2003. Schinazi FR ed. Elsevier Press p.89-97.

Schreiber RA, Kleinman RE. Biliary atresia research agenda. J Pediatr Gastroenterol Nutr. 2002;35 Suppl 1:S11-6.

Jonas MM, Kelley DA, Mizerski J and the International Ped Lamuvidine Investigator group. Clinical trial of lamuvidine in children with chronic hepatitis B NEJM 2002 346:1706-1713.

Daftarian P, Schreiber R, Jevon G, Templeton V, and Jacobson K. In vitro and in vivo bile duct cell immune injury in citrobacter induced murine colitis: a model for primary sclerosing cholangitis. Hepatology October 2002.

Pashankar D, Schreiber RA. Jaundice in older children and adolescents. Pediatr Rev. 2001 Jul;22(7):219-26.

Pashankar D, Schreiber RA. Neonatal cholestasis: a red alert for the jaundiced newborn. Can J Gastroenterol. 2000 Nov;14 Suppl D:67D-72D.