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Expert is board certified in internal medicine with a subspecialty in Transplant Hepatology and Gastroenterology. He received his MD in 1990 from the University of Pittsburgh and completed his resident training in general medicine in 1993. He also completed his fellowship training in gastroenterology, hepatology and nutrition in 1996 at the University of Minnesota. He is currently an Associate Professor of Medicine and Medical Director of liver transplantation in the Department of Medicine at his institution, being awarded the Outstanding Teaching Award for the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology twice. He also serves as an attending physician in gastroenterology and hepatology at a major teaching hospital. His medical experiences include treating patients with cirrhosis, acute liver failure and post-liver transplantation.

His major area of research is the clinical use of liver assist devices to treat fulminant hepatic failure and chronic liver disease. Other areas of interest include the effects of hepatic encephalopathy on quality of life, to investigate new drugs to treat hepatic encephalopathy in patients with cirrhosis, and to identify factors to predict a successful outcome after liver transplantation. He has published numerous articles and abstracts on his area of expertise.

LIVER (artificial liver, liver cancer, cirrhosis, liver disease, pathology, transplantation, transplant hepatology): Expert’s expertise includes understanding the complications of evaluating and treating liver disease, understanding advances in clinical hepatology and liver transplantation, abnormal liver function, ethics in liver transplantation, treating patients with cirrhosis, using Nexavar in treating patients with hepatocellular carcinoma, cirrhosis effects on the kidney, hepatic encephalopathy, analyzing liver assist devices in acute liver failure, fulminant hepatic failure, preventing cirrhosis, glomerulonephritis, evaluating criteria for liver transplantation and common complications, transplant neuron-psychology in liver disease, protoporphyria, using the MELD System for liver allocation, portal hypertension, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, end-stage liver disease, safety of endoscopy in cirrhosis, managing varices, osteoporosis in liver transplant patients, timing and indications of liver transplantation, support systems in treating acute liver failure, neoplastic, infiltrative, and vascular diseases of the liver, and numerous other liver related issues.

IMMUNOSUPPRESSION (immunosuppressive drug): His expertise includes lecturing on liver-immunosupression acute and chronic rejection, immunosupression complication in liver transplantation, Ig-A studies and various other cases involving immunosupression, particularly related to liver and organ transplantation.

HEPATISIS (hepatitis C, non-A, non-B hepatitis): His experience includes presenting the epidemiology and prevention of Hepatitis C, analyzing Hepatitis A-E, and understanding, promoting and teaching the most current scientific updates on Hepatitis C virus.

GASTROENTEROLOGY: His experience in this area has been in understanding unexplainable abdominal pain, Ig-A associated with renal disease, Porphyria, pathophysiology and treatment, gastrointestinal diseases, preventive therapies for gastroesophageal varices in patients, digestive diseases and inflammation, disorders of the gallbladder and Biliary tract and numerous other cases involving gastroenterology.


Consultant for HepaHope, Inc. A company that makes a liver assist device.Researcher using AST-120 to treat patients with hepatic encephalopathy.Researcher using the new small molecules for HCV.