Joseph Lillegard, M.D., Ph.D., is a Regenerative Medicine Minnesota research grant recipient. He is researching gene therapy to fight inborn errors of metabolism of the liver, primarily Hereditary Tyrosinemia Type 1 (HT1), a metabolic disorder caused by an enzyme deficiency. HT1 is a genetic disorder that can lead to liver and kidney failure, and is fatal without treatment. There is no cure. This project aims to develop a lentivirus-mediated gene therapy to treat multiple inborn errors of liver metabolism, with the research in HT1 serving as a model for future studies of other rare liver diseases.

Dr. Lillegard is a supplemental consultant at Mayo Clinic and a pediatric general and thoracic surgeon at Children's Minnesota.

Learn more about Dr. Lillegard’s research in the video below:

Tags: Center for Regenerative Medicine, Dr. Joseph Lillegard, Hereditary Tyrosinemia, liver disease, Mayo Clinic, Medical Research, regenerative medicine, Regenerative Medicine Minnesota, Regenerative Medicine Minnesota, Research, stem cells