General Info

Dr. Joseph Pisegna is Professor of Medicine at UCLA and Chief of the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology in the VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System. Dr. Pisegna is interested in the molecular pharmacology of hormones and receptors in the gastrointestinal tract, especially the diagnosis and management of islet cell tumors of the pancreas, including the Zollinger-Ellison Syndrome. These research and clinical interests derive from research in the biochemistry and physiology of neuroendocrine tumors. While a fellow at the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Pisegna first developed a clinical interest in the Zollinger-Ellison Syndrome (ZES), where he discovered and cloned the receptor for gastrin and named it the cholecystokinin B receptor. More recently, Dr. Pisegna has demonstrated that receptors for gastrin are present in the kidney and mediate food-induced regulation of salt excretion. Dr. Pisegna was recruited to the faculty at the University of California, Los Angeles and the Center for Ulcer Research and Education (CURE) in 1996. He is a recipient of the VA Career Development Award at the West Los Angeles VA Medical Center. His addition to the faculty of the UCLA Center for Pancreatic Diseases provides unsurpassed expertise in the diagnosis and medical management of pancreatic endocrine tumors.