Dr. Ryan's research endeavors with the liver transplant program include the study of post transplant biopsies in hepatitis C patients more particularly regarding response to antiviral therapy and the treatment of acute cellular rejection. Additional projects have included liver grafts from donors with CNS tumors and analysis of outcomes in patients with primary sclerosing cholangitis. Collaboration with Oncology is ongoing and involves the association of tissue factor (TF) with VEGF expression in colorectal, pancreatic and gastric carcinomas, suggesting a link between hemostatic activation and angiogenesis. Past studies included EGFR and VEGF expression and mutated K12-ras as indicators of survival in colon cancer. Another field of investigation concerns the development and evaluation of microtubule-targeting agents as therapeutic candidates in hepatic and colorectal cancers.