The Postdoctoral Training Program in Hepatology is an integral part of the comprehensive hepatology research program at UCSF. The purpose of the Program is to provide trainees a solid background in liver biology and disease as well as the investigational skills to address new questions and contribute to new knowledge in hepatology. The Program is staffed by 12 faculty based within the Departments of Medicine and Surgery; collectively these individuals offer balanced expertise in basic and clinical hepatology and have a strong track record of working collaboratively with each other. A subgroup of 6 Program faculty comprise a Steering Committee charged with screening applicants, reviewing the training curriculum and monitoring the progress of active trainees. The top priority of the Program is to train physician-scientists who are admitted to UCSF as Gastroenterology fellows. MD applicants to the Program must have a prior record of research accomplishment and dedication to an independent investigative career in hepatology. PhD applicants are admitted largely from mentor laboratories; they must display similar academic promise and an orientation toward translational liver research. All trainees are placed through a core curriculum covering liver biology, liver-related research methods and general academic skills. They then undergo specialized research instruction under an individual mentor, with choices ranging from clinical epidemiology, health outcomes and genetics to cell biology, immunology, metabolism and fibrosis/carcinogenesis. Additional focused coursework is highly recommended for all trainees; for those pursuing clinical investigation, enrollment in a Master's Degree program is mandatory. Importantly, the Training Program benefits from numerous institutional resources including outstanding graduate programs in basic and clinical sciences as well as research support units such as the Liver Center and the Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute. Program faculty are strong figures in each of these units, and accordingly can guide trainees to utilize these resources to maximize the value of their postdoctoral experience. The ultimate goal of the Training Program is to provide sufficient group and individual mentorship to enable graduates to assume a faculty-level position and compete successfully for independent research funding in hepatology.

Public Health Relevance

The UCSF Postdoctoral Training Program in Hepatology is designed to provide MD and PhD scientists the skills to conduct independent research relevant to the liver. The Program fills a need for basic and clinical investigators who will develop new knowledge to aid the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of liver-related ailments. The Training Program enables faculty to provide focused research instruction to 4 trainees per year. Importantly, it also enables trainees to enroll in didactic courses and obtain an advanced degree. The ultimate goal of the Training Program is for graduates to become independent investigators, meaningful contributors to the field of hepatology, and hopefully mentors themselves. The expectation is that the trainees' research successes will translate into improved outcomes for patients suffering from liver diseases.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK)
Type
Institutional National Research Service Award (T32)
Project #
5T32DK060414-17
Application #
9514122
Study Section
Kidney, Urologic and Hematologic Diseases D Subcommittee (DDK)
Program Officer
Densmore, Christine L
Project Start
2001-12-01
Project End
2022-06-30
Budget Start
2018-07-01
Budget End
2019-06-30
Support Year
17
Fiscal Year
2018
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
University of California San Francisco
Department
Internal Medicine/Medicine
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
094878337
City
San Francisco
State
CA
Country
United States
Zip Code
94118
Cullaro, Giuseppe; Hirose, Ryutaro; Lai, Jennifer C (2018) Changes in Simultaneous Liver Kidney Transplant Allocation Policy May Impact Post Liver Transplant Outcomes. Transplantation :
Lee, Brian P; Mehta, Neil; Platt, Laura et al. (2018) Outcomes of Early Liver Transplantation for Patients With Severe Alcoholic Hepatitis. Gastroenterology 155:422-430.e1
Lee, Brian P; Terrault, Norah A (2018) Early liver transplantation for severe alcoholic hepatitis: moving from controversy to consensus. Curr Opin Organ Transplant 23:229-236
Cullaro, Giuseppe; Park, Meyeon; Lai, Jennifer C (2018) ""Normal"" Creatinine Levels Predict Persistent Kidney Injury and Waitlist Mortality in Outpatients With Cirrhosis. Hepatology 68:1953-1960
Ajmera, Veeral; Belt, Patricia; Wilson, Laura A et al. (2018) Among Patients With Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease, Modest Alcohol Use Is Associated With Less Improvement in Histologic Steatosis and Steatohepatitis. Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol 16:1511-1520.e5
Cullaro, Giuseppe; Sarkar, Monika; Lai, Jennifer C (2018) Sex-based disparities in delisting for being ""too sick"" for liver transplantation. Am J Transplant 18:1214-1219
Cullaro, Giuseppe; Pisa, Joseph F; Brown Jr, Robert S et al. (2018) Early Postoperative Neutrophil Gelatinase-Associated Lipocalin Predicts the Development of Chronic Kidney Disease After Liver Transplantation. Transplantation 102:809-815
Kotwani, Prashant; Saxena, Varun; Dodge, Jennifer L et al. (2018) History of Marijuana Use Does Not Affect Outcomes on the Liver Transplant Waitlist. Transplantation 102:794-802
Ajmera, Veeral H; Terrault, Norah A; Harrison, Stephen A (2017) Is moderate alcohol use in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease good or bad? A critical review. Hepatology 65:2090-2099
Perito, Emily R; Ajmera, Veeral; Bass, Nathan M et al. (2017) Association Between Cytokines and Liver Histology in Children with Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease. Hepatol Commun 1:609-622

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