Biography
Dr. Lai is also a clinical investigator with a robust research program dedicated to improving the lives of patients living with chronic liver disease and to help more of them survive to transplant and thrive after. Her research program has been continuously supported by numerous organizations including the National Institutes of Health, American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD), American Gastroenterological Association (AGA), American College of Gastroenterology (ACG), American Society of Transplantation (AST), and American Federation for Aging Research (AFAR), in addition to the generous support of grateful patients. She serves as director of the UCSF Health Advancing Research in Clinical Hepatology (ARCH), the research arm of the UCSF Division of GI/Hepatology, as well as director of Patient-Facing Research Core of the NIH-funded UCSF Liver Center.
Dr. Lai earned her B.S. from Stanford University and combined MD/MBA degrees from Tufts University School of Medicine, then completed her clinical training in Internal Medicine at Columbia University, and gastroenterology and advanced/transplant hepatology fellowships at UCSF. Dr. Lai has received many honors for her work including the SF Business Times Top 40 under 40 Leader award, AGA Young Investigator Award in Clinical Science, AST Clinical Science Career Development Award, Young Investigator Award from the International Liver Transplantation Society, and the UCSF Department of Medicine Resident Research Award. Currently, Dr. Lai serves as an Associate Editor for the Hepatology Journal (the premier hepatology journal) and a standing member of the U.S. FDA Gastrointestinal Drug Advisory Committee.
If you are interested in contributing to Dr. Lai's research program, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution: https://makeagift.ucsf.edu/LaiResearchFund
Education
Institution | Degree | Dept or School | End Date |
---|---|---|---|
Osher Collaborative for Integrative Health | Integrative Health | 06/2024 | |
Columbia University Medical Center | Internship/Residency | Internal Medicine | |
Stanford University | B.S. | ||
Tufts University School of Medicine | M.D./M.B.A. | Medicine / Healthcare administration | |
UCSF | Advanced Training in Clinical Research | ||
UCSF | Fellowship in Advanced/Transplant Hepatology | ||
UCSF | Fellowship in Gastroenterology |
Board Certifications
American Board of Internal Medicine
American Board of Internal Medicine - Gastroenterology
Awards & Honors
Award | Conferred By | Date |
---|---|---|
Distinction in Mentoring (UCSF Academic Senate) | UCSF | 2023 |
Long-Term Mentor Award | UCSF Medical School | 2021 |
Young Investigator Award in Clinical Science | American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) | 2020 |
Floyd Rector Internal Medicine Research Mentoring Award | UCSF | 2019 |
Fellow | American Society of Transplantation | 2017 |
AST/Novartis Faculty Development Award (grant) | American Society of Transplantation | 2016 |
Clinical Science Career Development Award | American Society of Transplantation | 2016 |
New Investigator Award | American Geriatrics Society | 2015 |
Young Investigator Award | International Liver Transplantation Society | 2015 |
Top 40 under 40 | San Francisco Business Times | 2015 |
Paul B. Beeson Scholar in Aging Research (grant) | American Federation for Aging Research | 2014 |
Associate Scholar Genius Award (grant) | UCSF Pepper Center | 2014 |
T. Franklin Williams Scholar (grant) | Association of Specialty Professors | 2013 |
Junior Faculty Career Development Award (grant) | American College of Gastroenterology | 2012 |
Transplant Hepatology Fellowship (grant) | American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases | 2011 |
Clinical Research Award (grant) | American College of Gastrenterology | 2011 |
Vanguard Award | International Liver Transplantation Society | 2011 |
Sylvia Allison Kaplan Clinical Research Award | Northern California Kaiser Permanente | 2009 |
Alpha Omega Alpha | Tufts University School of Medicine | 2005 |
Collaboration Interests
I am interested in:
- physician scientist
Clinical Expertise
Alcoholic Liver Disease
Autoimmune Hepatitis
Cirrhosis
Drug-Induced Hepatitis
Fulminant Hepatic Failure
Hemochromatosis
Hepatitis B
Hepatitis C
Hepatocellular Carcinoma (Liver Cancer)
Liver Transplantation
Living Donor Liver Transplantation
Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease
Polycystic Liver Disease
Primary Biliary Cirrhosis
Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis
Clinical Trials
- Functional Assessment in Liver Transplantation (NCT03228290)Related Conditions: Liver Disease, Liver Transplant| Start Date: | End Date:
- Exercise Intervention in Liver Transplant Patients (NCT02367092)Related Conditions: Liver Disease, Sarcopenia, Liver Cirrhoses, Liver Transplant, Cirrhosis| Start Date: | End Date:
Program Affiliations
UCSF Liver Center
In the News
Grants and Funding
- The spectrum of cognitive impairment including Alzheimer’s Disease and related dementias after liver transplantation | NIH/NIA | 2023-09-15 - 2028-08-31 | Role: PI
- Investigating the role of frailty on outcomes in acutely ill patients with cirrhosis undergoing liver transplantation in the acute care setting | NIH/NIDDK | 2023-07-15 - 2028-06-30 | Role: PI
- The Impact of Frailty on Liver Transplant Outcomes in Older Adults with Hepatocellular Carcinoma | NIH/NIA | 2023-01-15 - 2027-12-31 | Role: PI
- Predicting post-transplant mortality and global functional health based on pre-transplant functional status in liver transplantation | NIH | 2018-06-15 - 2023-05-31 | Role: PI
- UCSF Liver Center | NIH | 1985-07-01 - 2023-05-31 | Role: Co-Investigator
- Development of a laboratory frailty index to improve prediction of mortality in patients with cirrhosis awaiting liver transplantation | NIH | 2020-05-01 - 2022-04-30 | Role: Principal Investigator
- Frailty and Functional Status in Older Liver Transplant Patients | NIH | 2014-09-15 - 2019-08-31 | Role: Principal Investigator
- Global Functional Status in the Older Liver Transplant Candidate | NIH | 2013-08-15 - 2015-07-31 | Role: Principal Investigator
Research Narrative
Dr. Lai has engaged in research investigating clinical outcomes in patients with chronic liver disease. Her research focuses on three main areas:
1) Understanding the impact of functional status and physiologic reserve (i.e., frailty) in patients with cirrhosis awaiting liver transplantation (actively enrolling)
2) Evaluating the association between chronic hepatitis C and systemic inflammation with Vitamin D status and bone mineral density (actively enrolling)
3) Characterizing patterns of liver allocation and distribution and their association with liver transplant outcomes (both pre- and post-transplant) on a national level
Research Interests
Impact of function status in patients on the liver-transplant waiting list
Hepatitis C virus (HCV)
Patterns of donor liver allocation and liver transplant outcomes
Publications
- Association between neighborhood-based material deprivation and liver transplant waitlist registrants demographics and mortality.| | PubMed
- Neighborhood Income Is Associated with Health Care Use in Pediatric Short Bowel Syndrome.| | PubMed
- A chair-stand time of greater than 15 seconds is associated with an increased risk of death and hospitalization in cirrhosis.| | PubMed
- Ambient air pollution is associated with graft failure/death in pediatric liver transplant recipients.| | PubMed
- Association of state Medicaid expansion policies with pediatric liver transplant outcomes.| | PubMed
- Nonselective beta-blockers may lead to stage 2 acute kidney injury and waitlist mortality in child class C cirrhosis.| | PubMed
- Variation in skeletal muscle mass among patients with cirrhosis of different self-identified race/ethnicity.| | PubMed
- Structured Moderate Exercise and Biomarkers of Kidney Health in Sedentary Older Adults: The Lifestyle Interventions and Independence for Elders Randomized Clinical Trial.| | PubMed
- A comparison of large language model versus manual chart review for extraction of data elements from the electronic health record.| | PubMed
- Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Brief Cognitive Instruments to Evaluate Suspected Dementia in Chinese-Speaking Populations.| | PubMed