Completed BS, Cell Biology,from University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS BA, Communications Studies, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS PhD, Cell, Molecular and Structural Biology, Northwestern University School of Medicine, Chicago, IL Postdoctoral Research, Polarized membrane trafficking, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD.

The work in the Tuma lab is divided into two major areas. The first area examines how specialized human liver functions are reflected in the exquisite architecture of the hepatocyte (the major liver cell type) and the corresponding protein trafficking pathways, and how these pathways are perturbed during tumorigenesis. The second area is a collaborative effort with the University of Nebraska Medical Center (Omaha, NE). Together, we have developed a strategy to examine the hepatic damage associated with alcoholic liver disease. We have determined that the polarized hepatic cell line, the WIF-B cells, is an excellent model system to study alcohol-induced liver damage and are working to understand how liver cell structure and thus, function are altered by chronic alcohol consumption.