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INFORMATION FOR

    Fred Sanford Gorelick, MD

    Henry J. and Joan W. Binder Professor of Medicine (Digestive Diseases) and of Cell Biology
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    Additional Titles

    Director Investigated Gastroenterology NIH T32, Internal Medicine

    Deputy Director, MD-PhD Program

    About

    Titles

    Henry J. and Joan W. Binder Professor of Medicine (Digestive Diseases) and of Cell Biology

    Director Investigated Gastroenterology NIH T32, Internal Medicine; Deputy Director, MD-PhD Program

    Biography

    After completing medical school and internal medicine training at the University of Missouri, Dr. Gorelick trained at Yale in Gastroenterology. After his clinical training, he began basic science training with Dr. James Jamieson at Yale. During that period he described calcium-calmodulin dependent protein kinase II and subsequently worked with Dr. Paul Greengard (Rockefeller University) to examine the enzyme's mechanism of activation, a response critical to neuronal memory.

    His later work has focused on the mechanisms of acute pancreatits and how digestive enzymes, such as trypsin, are activated within the pancreas during this disease. Dr. Gorelick sees patients with gastrointestinal diseases at the VAMC in West Haven, CT. He is also the Deputy Director for the Yale physician Scientist program and directs a year-long course for the group that links basic science to clinical disease. He has also been the Director of the Yale Program in Investigative Gastroenterology for over 10 years. His laboratory at the VA studies the molecular mechanisms related to acute pancreatitis with a goal of developing tools that prevent or lessen disease.

    Appointments

    Other Departments & Organizations

    Education & Training

    Visiting Scientist
    Rockefeller University (2018)
    Post Doctoral
    Yale University (1980)
    GI Fellow
    Yale University School of Medicine (1979)
    Resident
    University of Missouri (1976)
    MD
    University of Missouri (1973)

    Board Certifications

    • Gastroenterology

      Certification Organization
      AB of Internal Medicine
      Original Certification Date
      1980

    • Internal Medicine

      Certification Organization
      AB of Internal Medicine
      Original Certification Date
      1976

    Research

    Overview

    We have found that activation of digestive enzymes in the pancreatic acinar cell takes place in a special cellular organelle that has features of both a lysosome and classic secretory vesicle. Our recent focus has turned to the role of the survival factor, renalase (RNLS), a protein discovered by Dr. Desir and co-workers at Yale that modulates acute injury and inflammation. RNLS may enhance cell survival by activating a plasma-membrane calcium pump. We have found that RNLS reduces the severity of acute experimental pancreatitis. We have also found that it can be a driver for select cancers, including pancreatic adenocarcinoma. Efforts are underway to develop RNLS agonists and antagonists for therapeutic use. We have also found that plasma levels of RNLS are dynamically regulated and might be useful biomarkers in the setting of inflammatory injury as well as select cancers. Finally, we believe that specific estrogen receptors might account for greater acute pancreatitis severity in young females and could be targeting therapeutically. We plan to pursue these studies using rodents models of pancreatitis, human acinar cells, and to collaborate with clinical investigators to examine these pathways in patients to examine the following issues.

    1) The effects of renalase in models of acute acute pancreatitis

    2) Regulation of plasma renalase levels during acute injury and the function of plasma renalase binding proteins

    2) Renalase as a driver for pancreatic cancer and its function in pancreatic cancer precursor lesions

    3) The potential of serum renalase levels to be biomarkers in pancreatic cancer that corresponds to tumor stage.

    4) The role of estradiol and estrogen receptors in acute pancreatitis models.

    Medical Research Interests

    Autophagy; Cell Biology; Cell Survival; Digestive System Diseases; Gastrointestinal Diseases; Pancreas, Exocrine; Pancreatic Diseases; Pancreatic Neoplasms; Pancreatitis; Proteolysis

    Research at a Glance

    Yale Co-Authors

    Frequent collaborators of Fred Sanford Gorelick's published research.

    Publications

    2024

    2023

    See All Publications

    Academic Achievements & Community Involvement

    • activity

      NIH NIDDK

      Peer Review Groups and Grant Study SectionsCo-Chair
    • activity

      Veterans Administration

      Peer Review Groups and Grant Study SectionsCo-Chair
    • honor

      Senior Clinical Scientist Award

      National AwardVeterans Administration
    • honor

      Lifetime Mentorship Award

      National AwardAmerican Gastroenterological Association
    • honor

      Research Mentor Award in Pancreatic Diseases

      National AwardAmerican Gastroenterological Association
    See All Achievements

    Get In Touch

    Contacts

    Email
    Academic Office Number
    Secondary Academic Office Number
    Lab Number
    Office Fax Number
    Mailing Address

    Yale School of Medicine

    Department of Medicine (Digestive Diseases), PO Box 208019

    New Haven, CT 06520-8019

    United States

    Administrative Support