Binita Kamath

Director, Hepatology Program
Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition

Senior Associate Scientist
Developmental & Stem Cell Biology

Chair Positions

Vice Chair, Executive Committee
Childhood Liver Disease Research and Education Network (ChiLDREN) 
 
Chair, Alagille Syndrome Working Group

Dr. Kamath’s clinical and research interests lie in paediatric liver disease, specifically cholangiopathies. Although some of these diseases are rare, her research is fundamental to understanding biliary disease mechanisms that has generalizability to other more common and complex bile duct diseases.  

Her research approach is translational, encompassing patient-based studies and basic science approaches in her laboratory. Her primary interest is Alagille syndrome, a multi-system disease with cholestasis associated with bile duct paucity. Her goals are to understand the phenotypic manifestations, genotype-phenotype relationships and natural history of Alagille syndrome. Her team has developed a technology to differentiate cholangiocytes from human induced pluripotent stem cells. They are utilizing this protocol to study mechanisms underlying bile duct paucity in Alagille syndrome and to validate genomic variants associated with biliary atresia.  

Dr. Kamath is also leading a clinical research effort to develop a global database of Alagille syndrome patients, specifically focusing on non-hepatic involvement. 

Research

Dr. Kamath’s primary interest is Alagille syndrome, a multi-system disease with cholestasis associated with bile duct paucity – she aims to understand the phenotypic manifestations, genotype-phenotype relationships and natural history of Alagille syndrome.  
 
She established collaborations with Dr. Gordon Keller and Dr. Anand Ghanekar to develop a highly innovative protocol to differentiate cholangiocytes from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). Her goal is to derive patient-derived cholangiocytes, which can be used to study disease mechanisms of developmental biliary disorders, in order to understand complex biliary diseases, and in the future, for drug screening.
 
She subsequently established an independent laboratory and is currently applying this differentiation protocol from iPSCs derived from patients with Alagille syndrome, and using this technology to study syndromic biliary atresia. 

The Kamath lab's focus is a novel area of study to assess the concept of frailty in children awaiting liver transplantation. Frailty is a validated measure of debilitation in the elderly, which is correlated with significant morbidity and mortality. Adult data reveal that frailty measures elements of morbidity in patients awaiting a liver transplantation that are not captured in laboratory evaluations or current organ allocation scoring systems. They are conducting additional studies to explore the biologic correlate of frailty in children and sarcopenia. 

Education and experience

• 1990–1993: BA (Hons), Medical Sciences, Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge University, Cambridge, UK)
• 1993–1995: MBBChir, Cambridge University, School of Clinical Medicine, Cambridge, UK
• 2006–2010: Masters of Science in Translational Research (MTR), University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, USA

Achievements

• 2019: Alagille Syndrome Champion Award, Awarded by Alagille Syndrome Alliance for Contributions to Research and Clinical care of Alagille Syndrome
• 2018: Teaching and Mentorship Award, Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
• 2012: Teaching and Mentorship Award, Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
• 2012: Nominated - Subspecialty Teaching Award, Department of Paediatrics, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

1. SRA] Ogawa M, Ogawa S, Bear C, Ahmadi S, Chin S, Li B, Grompe M, Keller G*, Kamath BM*, Ghanekar A* (*denotes equal contribution). Directed Differentiation of Functional Cholangiocytes from Human Pluripotent Stem Cells. Nature Biotechnology, 33: pp853-61, 2015.
2. [SRA] Baird LC, Smith ER, Ichord R, Piccoli DA, Bernard TJ, Spinner NB, Scott B, Kamath BM. Moyamoya Syndrome Associated with Alagille Syndrome: Outcome after Surgical Revascularization. J Pediatrics. 166: pp 470-3, 2015.
3. [SRA] Mouzaki M, Bass LM, Sokol RJ, Piccoli DA, Quammie C, Loomes KM, Heubi JE, Hertel PM, Scheenstra R, Furuya K, Kutsch E, Spinner NB, Robbins KN, Venkat V, Rosenthal P, Beyene J, Baker A, Kamath BM. Early life predictive markers of liver disease outcome in an International Multicentre of Children with Alagille Syndrome. Liver Int, 36: pp755-60, 2016.
4. [PA] Kamath BM, Abetz-Webb L, Kennedy C, Hepburn B, Gauthier M, Johnson N, Medendorp S, Dorenbaum A, Todorova L, Shneider BL. Development of a Novel Tool to Assess the Impact of Itching in Pediatric Cholestasis. Patient. 2018 Feb: 11(1):69-82.
5. [SRA] Lurz, E, Quammie C, Englesbe M, Alonso EM, Lin HC, Hsu EK, Furuya KN, Gupta NA, Venkat VL, Daniel JF, Leonis MA, Miloh T, Telega GW, Yap J, Menendez J, Book LS, Himes RW, Sundaram SS, Parekh R, Sonnenday C, Bucuvalas J, Ng VL*, Kamath BM* (*denotes equal contribution). Frailty in Children with Liver Disease: A Prospective Multicenter Study. The Journal of Pediatrics 2018, 194, 109–115.e4.