Walter Park, MD, PhD, Associate Professor of Medicine, Gastroenterology, Stanford University

Research Description: As a pancreatologist, Dr. Park focuses on the diagnosis and management of acute pancreatitis, chronic pancreatitis, pancreatic cysts, and the early diagnosis of pancreatic cancer. His current research focuses on translational biomarker discovery for chronic pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer through development of bio-repositories with clinical databases. To complement this focus, he has competency in endoscopic ultrasound, which allows me to visualize the pancreas and collect various bio-specimens for biomarker development. He is a Principal Investigator within an NIDDK/NCI Consortium for the Study of Chronic Pancreatitis, Diabetes, and Pancreas Cancer (CPDPC), Principal Investigator for the NIDDK Type 1 Diabetes in Acute Pancreatitis Consortium, and Principal Investigator for a California Institute of Regenerative Medicine Translational-1 project grant. For his basic science pursuits, his interests include understanding factors driving pancreatitis and progression to pancreatic cancer. In particular, the effects of obesity and specific beneficial metabolites and hormonal treatments (GLP1 agonists, w-3 fatty acids) on pancreatitis are new areas of interest that would be facilitated by the interaction with the NORC. He is especially interested in how the interaction of the NORC Core III for tissue banking, which he will lead, can interact with mass spectrometry tools in Core II to further profile the effects of obesity on pancreatitis. Dr. Park collaborates extensively with many members of the NORC.