2020 Transplant Hepatology Board Review Course

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. 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.

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. 

Catherine Frenette is the Medical Director of Liver Transplant at the Scripps Center for Organ Transplant, Scripps Green Hospital, La Jolla, CA. She is also the Medical Director of the Liver and Hepatocellular Cancer Program at the Scripps MD Anderson Cancer Center. Catherine underwent medical training at Rush Medical College in Chicago, IL. She then completed internal medicine training at Scripps Mercy Hospital in San Diego, CA, and subsequently underwent training in gastroenterology with a focus on transplant hepatology at Scripps Clinic in La Jolla, CA. Since joining Scripps in 2012, Catherine has worked diligently to provide excellent medical care to patients with end stage liver disease and liver cancer. In addition to directing two major medical programs in Southern California, Catherine has been the Principle or Co-Investigator for multiple clinical trials related to liver disease and liver cancer. She also serves a key role in the training of gastroenterology fellows, as well as internal medicine residents. Catherine has also served the community through the American Liver Foundation, where she serves as vice-chair of the local Medical Advisory Committee and is also on the National Executive Committee. She has been awarded Fellow Status of the American Society of Transplantation and has also been awarded Fellow of the American Gastroenterology Association.

I have worked diligently in the transplant world for more than a decade, where I have been active in local and regional meetings, attending nearly every regional meeting in the past 12 years. I also have been active in meetings regarding policy, attending national meetings to discuss liver redistricting and participating in the American Transplant Society Liver and Intestinal Community of Practice Policies Subcommittee. I have a unique perspective regarding transplantation, because I am also a donor family member. This allows me to truly understand all parties involved in transplant, including the donor, the recipient, as well as the transplant programs and organ procurement organizations. I have served on many committees throughout my career and am committed to continuing to serve the transplant community as an Associate Councillor.

Dr. Stevan Gonzalez is the medical director of liver transplantation at the Baylor Simmons Transplant Institute at the Baylor Scott & White All Saints Medical Center in Fort Worth, Texas. He is a graduate of Dartmouth Medical School and completed his training in internal medicine, gastroenterology, and hepatology at the New York-Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medical Center in New York, at which time he received a Master of Science degree in biostatistics at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. He then completed a transplant hepatology fellowship at Stanford University Medical Center. He has worked as a transplant hepatologist with the Baylor program in Fort Worth and Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas since 2008, and has served as the medical director of liver transplantation at Baylor in Fort Worth since 2015. He has maintained an active role in organ transplantation, medical education, and research as an Associate Professor in the Department of Internal Medicine at the TCU and UNTHSC School of Medicine. His clinical and research interests include viral hepatitis and liver transplantation, portal hypertension, and kidney dysfunction in cirrhosis.

Janice Jou, MD, MHS is a transplant hepatologist in the VA Portland Healthcare System and Associate Professor in the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at Oregon Health and Science University. Dr. Jou is also the program director for the gastroenterology fellowship at OHSU and is actively involved in leading educational activities for the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases and the American Gastroenterological Association. Her research interests include outcomes for hepatocellular carcinoma and processes of care in chronic liver disease.

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.

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.

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.  

Dr. Lin is a pediatric hepatologist and gastroenterologist at Doernbecher Children's Hospital.  His research focus is on pediatric liver disease and assessing strategies to improve access to this specialized care.  He also conducts research on physician-caregiver-patient communication strategies and the impact on outcomes. Dr. Lin is passionate about teaching medical students and trainees. In his spare time, Dr. Lin enjoys rock climbing, barefoot running, and trying new recipes.  

Erin Maynard, MD, FACS, is Associate Professor of Surgery at Oregon Health and Science University, Associate Program Director of the General Surgery Residency Program,  Section Chief and Surgical Director of Liver Transplant at the Portland VA Medical Center in Portland, OR.

Dr. Erin Maynard received her Bachelor of Science Degree at Ohio University in Athens, OH before completion of medical school at The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH. She then completed her surgical residency at Maine Medical Center in Portland, ME before completing her training in Abdominal Organ Transplantation and Hepatobiliary Surgery at Washington University in St. Louis, MO.  She went on to practice multi-organ abdominal transplant at the University of Kentucky before being recruited to Oregon Health and Science University.  Her interests at the university are focused on adult multi-organ transplantation, as well as, both benign and malignant hepatopancreaticobiliary surgery.  She is also actively engaged in resident and fellow education and focuses her research interests on clinical outcomes, hepatocellular carcinoma, and liver transplantation. 

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.

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.

Dr. Singal is a Professor of Internal Medicine, Chief of Hepatology, and Medical Director of the Liver Tumor Program at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, TX. He has obtained state, DOD and NIH funding to examine the HCC care continuum, ranging from HCC prevention to screening and early detection to treatment and survivorship. Dr. Singal has published over 150 scientific papers regarding HCC screening and treatment. For his work, he has been awarded the David Bruton Professorship in Clinical Cancer Research and Blue Faery Award for Excellence in Liver Cancer Research.

Ryan M. Taylor, MD, MS is Associate Professor of Medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology/Hepatology, Department of Internal Medicine, at the University of Kansas School of Medicine where he is Medical Director of Liver Transplantation and Medical Director of Hepatology.  After obtaining his medical doctorate at the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine, Dr. Taylor completed his residency in Internal Medicine and his fellowship in Gastroenterology/Hepatology as well as Transplant Hepatology at the University of Michigan School of Medicine in Ann Arbor.  Dr. Taylor was a 2006-2007 American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases Advanced Hepatology Award recipient.   During his fellowship training he also completed a Masters of Science degree in Clinical Research Design and Statistical Analysis through the University of Michigan School of Public Health.  

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.

Zobair M. Younossi, MD, MPH, FAASLD is the President of Inova Medicine, Inova Health System as well as Professor and Chairman of the Department of Medicine at Inova Fairfax Medical Campus in Falls Church, Virginia. He is also Chair of Clinical Research at the same institution. Dr. Younossi earned his medical degree from the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry in Rochester, NY and completed his residency in internal medicine with a fellowship in gastroenterology and hepatology at Scripps Clinic and Research Foundation in La Jolla, California. He initially served as Staff Hepatologist and Senior Researcher at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation in Cleveland, Ohio before establishing the Center for Liver Diseases at Inova Fairfax Hospital, which is now renowned for research related to outcomes research in liver disease and clinical, health services and translational research in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). He has served as Vice President of Research for Inova Health System and currently serves as its Chair of Research.

 Over the past three decades, Dr. Younossi has pioneered research in NAFLD and has been a leader in the field of patient-reported outcomes (PROs), economic assessment and other areas of outcomes research in liver disease. He leads a number of international efforts related to NAFLD and PROs in liver disease though global collaborations, including the Chair of Global NASH Council and the Global Liver and NASH Registries. Dr. Younossi has authored over 590 articles, 3 books, 6 journal supplements, over 25 book chapters and over 900 abstracts at the international scientific meetings. 

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”.

David Levi, MD, FACS is a transplant surgeon at Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, NC. He is a Professor of Surgery in the Department of Surgery at UNC-Charlotte Campus. He has been at Carolinas Medical Center since 2012.

He received his Bachelor of Arts in Biology, graduating Magna Cum Laude with Phi Beta Kappa distinction from Wabash College in Indiana.  He completed his MD at the University Of Miami Miller School Of Medicine graduating with AOA recognition and completed his general surgery residency and transplant surgery fellowship at Jackson Memorial Hospital. He joined the faculty at the Miller School of Medicine at the University of Miami in 1999. He was promoted to the level of Clinical Professor of Surgery and was selected to the Iron Arrow Honor Society.  Dr. Levi is board certified in surgery and is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons.  He is a member of the Southern Surgical Association, the American Society of Transplant Surgeons, and The American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases, the Transplantation Society, the International Liver Transplant Society and the Americas Hepato-Pancreato Biliary Association.  His clinical interests include liver transplantation, hepatobiliary surgery, and the multidisciplinary management of liver cancer. An author of more than 200 publications and abstracts including original manuscripts, reviews and book chapters, his academic and research interests primarily focus on the clinical aspects of liver transplantation, hepatobiliary surgery, the management of HCC, and surgical outcomes and quality.

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.

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.

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.