Rodger Liddle

Professor of Medicine
Rodger Liddle
Rodger Liddle

Overview

Our laboratory has two major research interests:

Enteroendocrine Cell Biology

Enteroendocrine cells (EECs) are sensory cells of the gut that send signals throughout the body.  They have the ability to sense food and nutrients in the lumen of the intestine and secrete hormones into the blood.  Our laboratory has had a longstanding interest in two types of EECs that regulate satiety and signal the brain to stop eating.   Cholecystokinin (CCK) is secreted from EECs of the upper small intestine and regulates the ingestion and digestion of food through effects on the stomach, gallbladder, pancreas and brain.  Peptide YY (PYY) is secreted from EECs of the small intestine and colon and regulates satiety.  We recently demonstrated that CCK and PYY cells not only secrete hormones but are directly connected to nerves through unique cellular processes called ‘neuropods’.  Our laboratory is devoted to understanding EECs signaling and its role in disease.

Pancreatitis

Pancreatitis is an inflammatory disease of the pancreas compounded by intrapancreaatic activation of digestive enzymes.  Our laboratory is studying the influence of nerves on the development of pancreatitis. Neurogenic inflammation results from the release of bioactive substances from sensory neurons in the pancreas causing vasodilatation, edema, and inflammatory cell infiltration producing tissue necrosis. Our goal is to identify the agents that activate sensory neurons, characterize the receptors on sensory nerves that mediate these actions, and determine the effects of neural stimulation on pancreatic injury with the long-term objective of developing strategies to reduce neurogenic inflammation to treat pancreatitis. 

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Positions

Professor of Medicine in the School of Medicine

1994 School of Medicine

Faculty Network Member of the Duke Institute for Brain Sciences in the Institutes and Provost's Academic Units

2013 Institutes and Provost's Academic Units

Member of the Duke Cancer Institute in the School of Medicine

1988 School of Medicine

Education

B.S. 1972

1972 University of Utah

M.D. 1978

1978 Vanderbilt University

Internship, General Internal Medicine

1979 University of California - San Francisco

Residency, Generalinternal Medicine

1981 University of California - San Francisco

Gastroenterology Fellowship, Gastroenterology

1984 University of California - San Francisco

Publications, Grants & Awards

Offices & Contact

1033A GSRB-1 Bldg
Durham, NC
27710
Duke Box 103859, 1033A GSRB-1
Durham, NC
27710