The major research interests are: 1) the study of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in experimental models of nutritional deficiency; 2) the study of agents which can inhibit fat accumulation and/or the progression from steatosis to steatohepatitis, fibrosis and hepatocellular carcinoma development. These studies involve micro and macroarrays technology, northern and western blots, immunohistochemical analysis. The long-term goal is to improve design of drugs capable to inhibit the progression of a disease that is emerging as the most common liver disease in clinical practice.

Giovanna Maria Ledda has been Professor of Pathology since November 2000. Prior to that she was a Post-doc at the Department of Pathology at the University of Pittsburgh (1979-1980) and at the Department of Pathology of the University of Toronto (1980-81), and a Research Associate in the Institute of Pharmacology and Biochemical Pathology at the University of Cagliari from 1981-1990. G.M. Ledda was the Chair of the Department of Toxicology from 2004 to 2006. President of Herbal Sciences and Technologies, and Environmental Toxicology First Degree since 2003.

Ledda-Columbano GM, Pibiri M, Concas D, Cossu C, Tripodi M, Columbano A. Loss of cyclin D1 does not inhibit the proliferative response of mouse liver to mitogenic stimuli, Hepatology. 36:1098-105, 2002.
Ledda-Columbano GM, Pibiri M, Concas D, Molotzu F, Simbula G, Cossu C, Columbano A Sex difference in the proliferative response of mouse hepatocytes to treatment with the CAR ligand, TCPOBOP, Carcinogenesis. 24:1059-1065, 2003.
Columbano A, Ledda-Columbano GM. Mitogenesis by ligands of nuclear receptors: an attractive model for the study of the molecular mechanisms implicated in liver growth, Cell Death Differ. 10: S19-21,2003.
G.M.Ledda-Columbano, M.Pibiri. F.Molotzu, C.Cossu, L.Sanna, G.Simbula, A.Perra, A.Columbano. Induction of hepatocyte proliferation by retinoic acid. Carcinogenesis, 25: 2061-2066, 2004.
G.M.Ledda-Columbano, M.Pibiri, C.Cossu, F.Molotzu, J.Locker, A.Columbano. Aging does not reduce the hepatocyte proliferative response of mice to the primary mitogen TCPOBOP. Hepatology 40:981-988, 2004.
Ledda-Columbano GM, Pibiri M, Cossu C, Molotzu F, Locker J, Columbano A. Aging does not reduce the hepatocyte proliferative response of mice to the primary mitogen TCPOBOP, Hepatology, 40:981-988, 2004.
Ledda-Columbano GM, Perra A, Pibiri M, Molotzu F, Columbano A. Induction of acinar cell proliferation by thyroid hormone. J Endocrinol. 185:393-399, 2005.
Columbano A, Ledda-Columbano GM, Pibiri M, Cossu C, Menegazzi M, Moore DD, Huang W, Tian J, Locker J Gadd45beta is induced through a CAR-dependent, TNF-independent pathway in murine liver hyperplasia, Hepatology 42:1118-1126, 2005.
Ledda-Columbano GM, Molotzu F, Pibiri M, Cossu C, Perra A, Columbano A. Thyroid hormone inuces cyclin D1 nuclear translocation and DNA synthesis in adult rat cardiomyocytes. FASEB J 1:87-94, 2006.
Columbano A, Pibiri M, Deidda M, Cossu C, Scanlan TS, Chiellini G, Muntoni S, Ledda-Columbano GM. The thyroid hormone receptor-beta agonist GC-1 induces cell proliferation in rat liver and pancreas. Endocrinology, 147:3211-3218, 2006.