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Jesus Rivera-Nieves, MD
Assistant Professor of Medicine

Education:

  • Medical School: University of Puerto Rico, San Juan Puerto Rico 1990
  • Internship/Residency: Internal Medicine, University of Maryland, Baltimore MD 1990-1993
  • Research Fellowship: Pulmonary Medical Branch, NHLBI, NIH, Bethesda MD 1993-1998
  • Fellowship: Gastroenterology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 1998-2001
  • Board Certified in Internal Medicine and Gastroenterology

Faculty Appointments:

  • Assistant Professor of Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology & Hepatology, University of Colorado Denver, Denver CO July 2007- present
  • Assistant Professor of Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology & Hepatology, University of Virginia Health System, Charlottesville, VA 2002- present
  • Clinical Instructor of Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology & Hepatology, University of Virginia Health System, Charlottesville, VA, 2001-2002

Professional Societies:

  • American College of Physicians
  • American Gastroenterological Association
  • American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy
  • American College of Gastroenterology
  • Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America
  • American Association of Immunologists
  • Society for Mucosal Immunology

Research Interests:

Crohn's disease (CD) is a chronic inflammatory condition of the intestine that affects over a million people in North America. The disease is characterized by dense inflammatory infiltrates that affect any segment of their gastrointestinal tract, but most commonly the small intestine (terminal ileum). Cells of the granulocytic, monocytic and lymphocytic lineages are active participants in the chronic inflammatory process. Their recruitment from the blood is regulated by adhesion molecules and chemokine receptors on their cell surface that interact with molecules expressed on intestinal endothelium and enable them to migrate to the intestine. These adhesive pathways represent attractive therapeutic novel strategies that if, used appropriately, may ameliorate inflammation by interfering with leukocyte recruitment. Our recent work has demonstrated that in chronic inflammation these recruitment pathways are redundant and that when specific molecules are blocked or genetically absent, other molecules compensate for their deficiency. Using novel mouse models of chronic ileitis that in its pathological features recapitulate many of the characteristics of the human disease, we have been dissecting the specific adhesive pathways that when targeted may ameliorate intestinal inflammation. Given the similarities between the disease of our mouse models and that of patients with Crohn's Disease, our studies my provide important future leads to treat this devastating disease.

Click here for more information on the Rivera Lab

Representative Publications:

  1. Kosiewicz MM, Nast C, Krishnan A, Rivera-Nieves J, Moskaluk CA, Matsumoto S, Kozaiwa K and Cominelli F. Th1-type responses mediate spontaneous ileitis in a novel murine model of Crohn's Disease. Journal of Clinical Investigation 2001;107(6): 695-702. Click here for pdf
  2. Burns RC, Rivera-Nieves J, Moskaluk CA, Matsumoto S, Cominelli F and Ley KF. Antibody blockade of ICAM-1 and VCAM-1 ameliorates inflammation in the SAMP-1/Yit adoptive transfer model of Crohn's Disease. Gastroenterology 2001; 121(6): 1428-36. Click here for pdf
  3. Bamias G, Marini M, Ross WG, Weber B, Moskaluk CA, Rivera-Nieves J and Cominelli F. Down-regulation of intestinal lymphocyte activation and Th1 cytokine production by antibiotic therapy in a murine model of Crohn's Disease. Journal of Immunology 2002;169:5308-14.Click here for pdf
  4. Rivera-Nieves J, Bamias G, Vidrich A, Marini M, Pizarro TT, McDuffie MJ, Cohn SM, Moskaluk CA and Cominelli F. Emergence of perianal fistulizing disease in the SAMP1/YitFc Mouse, a spontaneous model of chronic ileitis. Gastroenterology 2003; 124: 972-82. Click here for pdf
  5. Marini M, Bamias G, Rivera-Nieves J, Moskaluk CA, Hoang SB, Ross WG, Pizarro TT and Cominelli F. TNF-alpha neutralization ameliorates the severity of murine Crohn's-like ileitis by abrogation of intestinal epithelial cell apoptosis. PNAS 2003; 100: 8366-71. Click here for pdf
  6. Olson TS, Bamias G, Naganuma M, Rivera-Nieves J, Burchin TL, Ross W, Morris MA, Pizarro TT, Ernst PB, Cominelli F, Ley K. Expanded B cell population blocks redulatory T cells and Exacerbates ileitis in a murine model of Crohn's disease. Journal of Clinical Investigation 2004; 114:389-98. Click here for pdf
  7. Rivera-Nieves J, Olson T, Bamias G, Knight RF, Bruce A, Cominelli F and Ley K. L-selection, ?4?1 and ?4?7 integrins participate in CD4+T cell trafficking to the chronically inflamed small intestine. Journal of Immunology 2005; 174:2343-2352. Click here for pdf
  8. Bamias G, Martin C, Mishina M, Ross WG, Rivera-Nieves J, Cominelli F. Pro-inflammatory effects of TH2 cytokines in a murine model of chronic small intestine inflammation. Gastroenterology 2005; 128: 654-666. Click here for pdf
  9. Odashima M, Bamias G, Rivera-Nieves J, Linden J, Nast CC, Moskaluk CA, Sugawara K, Kozaiwa K, Otaka M, Watanabe S, Cominelli F. Activation of A2A adenosine receptor attenuates intestinal inflammation in animal models of inflammatory bowel disease. Gastroenterology 2005; 129: 26-33. Click here for pdf
  10. Bachmann C, Klibanov AL, Olson TS, Sonnenschein JR, Rivera-Nieves J, Cominelli F, Ley KF, Lindner JR, Pizarro TT. Targeting mucosal addressin cellular adhesion molecule (MAdCAM)-1 to noninvasively image experimental Crohn's disease. Gastroenterology 2006; 130:8-16. Click here for pdf
  11. Rivera-Nieves J, Burchin T, Olson T, Morris MA, McDuffie M, Cominelli F and Ley K. Critical role of endothelial PSGL-1 in chronic murine ileitis. Journal of Experimental Medicine 2006; 203:907-917. Click here for pdf
  12. Bamias G, Mishina M, Nyce M, Ross WG, Kollias G, Rivera-Nieves J, Pizarro TT, Cominelli F. Role of TL1A and its receptor DR3 in two models of chronic murine ileitis. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 2006; 103: 8441-8446. Click here for pdf
  13. Rivera-Nieves J, Bamias G, Knight RF, Opperman M, Cominelli F. Blockade of CCL25/CCR9 attenuates early chronic murine ileitis. Gastroenterology 2006; 131:1518-1529. Click here for pdf
  14. Bamias G, Rivera-Nieves J, Arseneau KO, De La Rue SA, Pizarro TT and Cominelli F. Commensal bacteria exacerbate intestinal inflammation, but are not essential for the development of murine ileitis. Journal of Immunology 2007; 178:1809-1818. Click here for pdf
  15. Veerman K, Williams MJ, Uchimura K, Singer MS, Merzaban JS, Owen P, Rivera-Nieves J, Rosen SD and Ziltener HJ. PSGL-1 interaction with CCL21/CCL19 facilitates efficient T cell homing to secondary lymphoid organs. Nature Immunol 2007;8(5): 532-9. Click here for pdf