Chitra Saran, M.S., is the Highlighted Trainee Author for the February 2022 issue of The Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics. She is a pre-doctoral trainee at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in the Department of Pharmacology. Her mentor is Prof. Kim Brouwer. The JPET article that earned her selection as a Highlighted Trainee Author is titled “Novel Bile Acid-Dependent Mechanisms of Hepatotoxicity Associated with Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors” and is available at https://doi.org/10.1124/jpet.121.000828.

Ms. Saran’s areas of research include mechanisms of cholestatic hepatotoxicity by tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs), novel in vitro models of bile acid transport, and post-translational regulation of hepatic bile acid transporters. Elucidating molecular mechanisms of bile acid-mediated drug-induced liver injury (cholestatic DILI) will fill key knowledge gaps that limit accuracy in identifying compounds with cholestatic DILI risk in drug development. Her current research is focused on optimizing a human hepatoma-derived in vitro model to study mechanisms of drug-mediated alterations in bile acid transporters beyond competitive inhibition. She seeks to understand how cholestatic DILI may be caused by altered post-translational regulation of hepatic bile acid transporters.

The anticipated impact of Ms. Saran’s research is to improve our current understanding of the role of hepatic bile acid transporter regulation in TKI-mediated drug-induced liver injury. These new data and novel tools will facilitate more accurate predictions of transporter-mediated drug interactions to enable the development of safer medications in the future and will be invaluable to drug developers and the scientific community.

When not in the lab, Chitra enjoys playing badminton, hiking, cooking, and traveling. She also enjoys spending time with family and friends.