Dr. Jennifer Lai Honored for Research in Cirrhotic and Liver Transplant Patients

UCSF News reports that Jennifer Lai, MD, MBA, a general and transplant hepatologist and assistant clinical professor in the UCSF Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, has been honored for her "patient-oriented clinical research within the core principles of geriatrics (i.e., frailty, disability, lag-time benefit) to cirrhosis patients and liver transplant patients, organ allocation and distribution, and liver donor quality."

UC San Francisco’s Jennifer Lai, MD, MBA, was recently selected as a “Top 40 under 40” in the Class of 2015 by the San Francisco Business Times. She is the only UCSF faculty member honored by the publication.

Lai, 36, is a general and transplant hepatologist, specializing in treating patients with chronic viral hepatitis (both B and C), autoimmune disorders, and those with end-stage liver disease needing liver transplantation.

“I am personally honored to receive this award,” said Lai, an assistant professor in hepatology within the Division of Gastroenterology in the Department of Medicine. “But, this award is a reflection of the focus and attention that both the UCSF divisions of gastroenterology and geriatrics have given to creative research initiatives like my own.”.......... 

She is actively engaged in patient-oriented clinical research within the core principles of geriatrics (i.e., frailty, disability, lag-time benefit) to cirrhosis patients and liver transplant patients, organ allocation and distribution, and liver donor quality. 

Lai is principal investigator for the National Institutes of Health-funded Functional Assessment In Liver Transplant (FrAILT) Study, which aims to apply measures of frailty and functional status to patients with end-stage liver disease awaiting liver transplantation. Her central hypothesis is that applying principles of geriatric assessment to this population can improve the ability to better identify patients particularly vulnerable to adverse outcomes before and after liver transplantation. Her research lays the groundwork for therapeutic interventions to "pre-habilitate" patients awaiting liver transplantation to improve their outcomes and quality of life.