2018 Transplant Hepatology Board Review Course

Gautham Reddy, MD is a transplant hepatologist and gastroenterologist who currently serves as the Associate Chief in the Section of Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition at The University of Chicago Medicine. He has an avid interest in medical education and previously served for many years as the Program Director for both the Gastroenterology Fellowship and the Transplant Hepatology Fellowship at The University of Chicago. He has been a recipient of teaching and mentorship awards and has served on multiple AASLD and ACG committees related to training and education. His research interests include novel therapeutics for rare hepatology conditions and medical education.

Dr. Oren Fix is the Medical Director of the Liver Transplant Program at Swedish Medical Center in Seattle, Washington, Clinical Associate Professor at the Washington State University Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine, and Associate Provider Informaticist at Providence St. Joseph Health. He is board certified in Transplant Hepatology, Gastroenterology, Internal Medicine, and Clinical Informatics. He is the co-chair for the AASLD COVID-19 Task Force's Clinical Oversight Subcommittee, and serves on the AASLD Nominating Committee, Online Learning Committee, and the GI/Transplant Hepatology Pilot Steering Task Force. He is on the editorial boards of Liver Transplantation and Hepatology Communications. Past service to AASLD includes chair of the Training and Workforce Committee and chair of the MOC Committee.

I am a Professor of Medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, and am Certified in both Gastroenterology and Hepatology and in Transplant Hepatology. My major clinical research focus is on the therapy and diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma. I work in a muliti-disciplinary medical/radiologic/surgical Liver Tumor clinic, and am involved in the recruitment of patients with HCC into clinical or pathologic trials. My major interest is on loco-regional therapy for HCC, both as a primary therapy and as a bridge to liver transplantation, including ⁹⁰Yttrium radiotherapy and TACE.

Dr Michael Ronan Lucey was born in Dublin, Ireland, and was educated at Trinity College, Dublin, graduating with the degrees of M.B., B.Ch in 1976.  He was awarded an M.D. by thesis in 1985. He completed his internship at the Meath Hospital, Dublin and residency in Internal Medicine at the Federated Dublin Voluntary Hospitals.  He was a fellow in Gastroenterology at Saint Bartholomew's Hospital, and a fellow in Liver Diseases in Kings College Hospital, both in London, England.  In 1985 he came to the University of Michigan, first as a fellow and then as faculty in the Division of Gastroenterology.  While at the University of Michigan, he became Medical Director of the liver transplant program.  From 1995 to 2001, he was Director of Hepatology at the University of Pennsylvania.  In 2001until the present,  he has been Professor of Medicine, Chief of the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. 

Dr Lucey's research interests include selection for and outcome of liver transplantation, alcoholic liver disease, and management of end-stage liver disease.  Dr Lucey was president of the American Society of Transplantation in 2003. He was treasurer of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases from 2007 to 2010. 

He was Editor in Chief of Clinical Liver Disease, the on-line educational journal of the AASLD from 2011 to 2017.  

Julie K. Heimbach, M.D., is a Professor of Surgery and Chair of the Division of Transplantation Surgery at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.  She is currently on the council of the American Society of Transplant Surgeons; and recently served a member of the Governing Board of the AASLD and as chair of the Liver and Intestinal Transplant Committee of UNOS.   She also serves as associate editor of AJT and Journal of Hepatology.  Her interests are in liver transplantation in the setting of malignancy, particularly hilar cholangiocarcinoma, as well as the management of obesity in liver transplantation and living donor transplantation. 

Jennifer C. Lai, MD, MBA is a general/transplant hepatologist, associate professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and director of the UCSF Advancing Research in Clinical Hepatology (ARCH) program. Her mission is to improve the lives of patients with end-stage liver disease both at an individual level—through exceptional patient-centered care—and at a system-wide level—through rigorous clinical investigation and effective dissemination of impactful research. Her research lies at the intersection of hepatology, liver transplantation, and geriatrics, focusing on the application of aging research principles to the care of liver transplant patients across their life-long journey from diagnosis of advanced chronic liver disease through long after liver transplantation. The foundation for her research is the NIH-funded Multi-Center Functional Assessment in Liver Transplantation (FrAILT) Study.

Dr. Lai earned her undergraduate degree from Stanford University and combined MD/MBA degrees from Tufts University. She completed residency at the New York Presbyterian Hospital-Columbia followed by gastroenterology and transplant hepatology fellowships at UCSF. She serves as Associate Editor for the American Journal of Transplantation, member for the Editorial Boards for HEPATOLOGY and for Liver Transplantation and standing member on the FDA Gastrointestinal Drug Advisory Committee.

Josh Levitsky, MD, MS is currently a Professor of Medicine and Surgery in the Division of Gastroenterology & Hepatology at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. Dr. Levitsky received his B.S. from the University of Michigan and M.D. from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine where he was elected to Alpha Omega Alpha. He then completed an Internal Medicine residency and Gastroenterology fellowship at the University of Chicago Hospitals and a Transplant Hepatology fellowship at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, receiving an AASLD Fellowship Award. At Northwestern, he completed a Master of Science in Clinical Investigation. He is currently certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine in Gastroenterology and Transplant Hepatology.

Dr. Levitsky’s academic interests are clinical and translational in nature, with a focus on liver transplant immunosuppression, tolerance and biomarkers. He has published numerous peer-reviewed journal articles, abstracts, book chapters and reviews on topics relevant to liver disease and transplantation. He is a Deputy Editor for the American Journal of Transplantation. He is the principal and co-investigator for a number of NIH, pharmaceutical and investigator-initiated trials. At Northwestern, he is currently the Gastroenterology Program Director and Director of Liver Research. He has been elected to the Feinberg Academy of Medical Educators and has received several teaching awards.

Dr. Levitsky is an active member of several professional societies, including the American Society of Transplantation, American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases, and the International Liver Transplantation Society. He was previously a Councilor-At-Large for the American Society of Transplantation from 2014-2017. He was a prior chair of the American Transplant Congress, recent co-chair of AST’s CEOT meeting and is the current co-chair of the AST Education Committee. One of his passions is trainee education, establishing the AST Comprehensive Trainee Curriculum and regularly participating in the yearly Fellow’s Symposium. Dr. Levitsky’s dedication to the field of transplantation and AST includes all facets of clinical care, advocacy, research and education.

James L. Boyer, MD, FAASLD is the Ensign Professor of Medicine and Emeritus Director of the Liver Center at Yale University School of Medicine.  He is a graduate of Haverford College (1958) and the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (1962). From 1982 until 1996 he directed a combined Digestive Disease Section in the Department of Medicine at Yale.  He was the founding Director of the NIDDK funded Liver Center at Yale since 1984 and former Director of the NIEHS Center for Membrane Toxicity Studies at the Mt Desert Island Biological Laboratory in Salsbury Cove, ME where he was also Chairman of their Board of Trustees from 1995 to 2003 and 2011-2013.  He is past Chair, Board of Directors of the American Liver Foundation and a current member of Board of Mangers of Haverford College and Honorary Board member of the Mt Desert Island Biological Laboratory.  Dr. Boyer has a broad interest in all aspects of basic and clinical hepatology.  His laboratory has pioneered in understanding the cellular and molecular basis of bile formation and cholestasis and was supported by NIH for more than 40 years including two MERIT awards from NIDDK.  He is a member of the AASLD, ASCI, AAP, APS and ACCA and past president of both the American and the International Association for the Study of Liver Disease.  He is the recipient of Distinguished Achievement Awards from the AGA, AASLD and American Liver Foundation and the EASL International Recognition Award in 2020. 

Dr. Fleckenstein is a Professor of Medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri.  She is interested in the management of advanced cirrhosis and pregnancy related liver disease.  She serves as the director of the liver transplant fellowship program at Washington University and she has served on several AASLD committees. 

Dr. Scott W. Biggins is Chief of Hepatology, Director of the Liver Care Line for UW Medicine, and Director of the Center for Liver Investigation Fostering Discovery (C-LIFE) at the University of Washington. Dr. Biggins is a national recognized clinician and researcher in the field of Hepatology. He received his undergraduate degree in chemical engineering (bioengineering option) from the University of California, Los Angeles (1994) and his medical degree from the University of Southern California (1999). He completed a residency in Internal Medicine at Oregon Health & Science University (2002) and his Gastroenterology fellowship training at the University of California, San Francisco (2005). He was also awarded a Master’s degree in Clinical Research from the University of California, San Francisco (2006).

Dr. Biggins' clinical interests are the risk reduction and management of complications of end-stage liver disease, and the clinical evaluation and care of liver transplant candidates and recipients. He has been recognized as a fellow of American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (FAASLD), American Society of Transplantation (FAST), and American Gastroenterological Association (AGAF). He is Vice Chair of the AASLD Special Interest Group (SIG) for Portal Hypertension.

His research is focused on complications of portal hypertension, improving recipient and donor selection for liver transplantation and revising organ allocation algorithms in order to maximize patient outcomes. He has received research funding from the American Liver Foundation, National Institutes of Health and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. He has published more than 75 papers in peer-reviewed journals including the New England Journal of Medicine, Gastroenterology, HEPATOLOGY, and Liver Transplantation.

Dr. Berg is Professor of Medicine and Medical Director of Abdominal Transplantation at Duke University.  He has been a director of liver transplant programs for more than 20 years, and trained nearly twenty transplant hepatologists over that time frame.  He has served in numerous national roles related to management of the US transplant system, including as President of UNOS.  His research interests focus on expanding the donor pool to better match organ demand, as well as utilization of organs previously considered as “marginal”.

Mark W. Russo, MD, MPH, FAASLD is Medical Director of Liver Transplantation, Chief, Division of Hepatology, and Clinical Professor of Medicine at Carolinas Medical Center-Atrium Health. At the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases, Dr. Russo is Chair of the Maintenance of Certification Committee, member of the Nominating Committee, co-director of the 2020 AASLD Transplant Hepatology Board Review course, and member of a working group planning for the future hepatology workforce. He is an Associate Editor for the American Journal of Gastroenterology and serves on the editorial board of Expert Reviews in Gastroenterology and Hepatology and the Journal of Clinical Medicine.  He has more than 100 peer-reviewed publications and editor of the textbook Diagnosis and Management of Autoimmune Hepatitis.

Peter Chin-Hong is Associate Dean for Regional Campuses. He is a medical educator who specializes in treating infectious diseases, particularly infections that develop in patients who have suppressed immune systems, such as solid organ and hematopoietic stem cell transplant recipients and HIV+ organ transplant recipients. He directs the immunocompromised host infectious diseases program at UCSF. His research focuses on donor derived infections in transplant recipients and molecular diagnostics of infectious diseases in patients with suppressed immune systems. He earned his undergraduate and medical degrees from Brown University, before completing an internal medicine residency and infectious diseases fellowship at UCSF, where he is Professor of Medicine and Director of the Yearlong Inquiry Program in the School of Medicine. He was the inaugural holder of the Academy of Medical Educators Endowed Chair for Innovation in Teaching. He was a member of UNOS/OPTN Disease Transmission Advisory Committee and is Associate Medical Director of Donor Network West.

Dr. Leise finished his internal medicine residency, chief residency, Gastroenterology and Transplant Hepatology fellowships at Mayo Clinic, Rochester.  He is an Assistant Professor of Medicine with research interests in Hepatitis C, hepatic encephalopathy, and liver transplant outcomes.

Mark W. Russo, MD, MPH, FAASLD is Medical Director of Liver Transplantation, Chief, Division of Hepatology, and Clinical Professor of Medicine at Carolinas Medical Center-Atrium Health. In the AASLD, Dr. Russo is Chair of the Maintenance of Certification Committee, member of the Nominating Committee, co-director of the 2020 AASLD Transplant Hepatology Board Review course, and member of a working group planning for the future hepatology workforce. He is an Associate Editor for the American Journal of Gastroenterology and serves on the editorial board of Expert Reviews in Gastroenterology and Hepatology and the Journal of Clinical Medicine.  He has more than 100 peer-reviewed publications and editor of the textbook Diagnosis and Management of Autoimmune Hepatitis.

Andrew Aronsohn is an Associate Professor of Medicine in the Center for Liver Diseases at the University of Chicago Medical Center. Dr. Aronsohn is the program director for the Gastroenterology fellowship at the University of Chicago. In addition, Dr. Aronsohn is a faculty member at the MacLean Center for Clinical Medical Ethics at the University of Chicago and is the co-director of the Pritzker School of Medicine Doctor Patient Relationship course.  Dr. Aronsohn research interests involve HCV education, access to care and elimination. He is the co-principal investigator of HepCCATT, an initiative to diagnose, link to care and treat HCV in the Chicago area. This project utilizes telehealth technology to expand HCV management into the primary care setting.  Dr. Aronsohn is the co-lead of the treatment experienced section of the AASLD / IDSA HCV guidance writing committee as was a member of National Academies of Medicine committee which wrote “A National Strategy for the Elimination of Hepatitis B and C”. He also has a busy clinical practice, which includes both general and transplant hepatology.

Dr. Lisa VanWagner is an Assistant Professor of Medicine-GI & Hepatology and Preventive Medicine-Epidemiology at Northwestern University in Chicago, IL.  Dr. VanWagner utilizes human population-based approaches, large electronic health record data analysis and health services research methods to define and characterize cardiovascular disease (risk prediction, prevention and treatment approaches in patients with chronic liver disease.  Notably, she leads the multicenter Advancing Liver Therapeutic Approaches (ALTA) Consortium Study Group for the Management of Portal Hypertension and is the lead Principal investigator for ALTA TIPS, a U.S. based longitudinal observational study of patients who are undergoing transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) placement. ALTA will create a database that will provide clinical parameters and outcomes of patients undergoing TIPS as part of their standard of care in hopes of answering key clinical questions about the utilization, outcomes and best practices surrounding TIPS as a therapeutic intervention for the complications of portal hypertension.  She is an active member of AASLD, currently serving as a member of the Practice Guidelines Committee and is an Associate Editor for Liver Transplantation and Clinical Liver Disease.