Dr. Todisco's research efforts have been focused on the investigation of the mechanisms that regulate epithelial cell growth and differentiation in the upper gastrointestinal tract. In particular, he has investigated the intracellular signal transduction pathways that mediate the multiple, complex actions of growth factors, such as gastrin and epidermal growth factor, in the stomach. Most of his work has been focused on the gastric parietal cells, highly specialized gastric epithelial cells that appear to play an important role in the complex process of differentiation and development of multiple cell lineages in the stomach. In a series of recent investigations Dr. Todisco has demonstrated that while protein kinase B/Akt is a crucial molecular switch for the induction and the maintenance of parietal cell differentiation, MAPK appears to be responsible for the activation of programs that lead to parietal cell dedifferentiation.