Research Summary

Dr. Maher is Chief of the Division of Gastroenterology at San Francisco General Hospital and Director of the UCSF Liver Center. Research in her laboratory focuses on the pathogenesis of fatty liver disease. Special emphasis is placed on the effects of individual dietary macronutrients on liver injury. Her studies in mice implicate dietary sugar as an important inducer of fatty liver disease, through conversion to toxic saturated fatty acids. Ongoing work in her group concentrates on the synergistic toxicity of dietary sugar and saturated fat. Experiments also focus on the mechanism by which saturated fatty acids kill liver cells.

Research Funding

  • September 15, 2018 - June 30, 2020 - Using disease-specific iPS cells to investigate fatty liver disease in a diverse human cohort, Principal Investigator. Sponsor: NIH/NIDDK, Sponsor Award ID: R21DK118380
  • August 1, 2004 - March 31, 2015 - Dietary Factors in the Pathogenesis of Steatohepatitis, Principal Investigator. Sponsor: NIH/NIDDK, Sponsor Award ID: R01DK068450
  • December 1, 2001 - November 30, 2006 - NRSA Hepatology Training Grant, Principal Investigator. Sponsor: NIH/NIDDK, Sponsor Award ID: T32DK060414
  • December 1, 1996 - November 30, 2000 - UCSF Liver Center, Principal Investigator. Sponsor: NIH/NIDDK, Sponsor Award ID: P30DK026743

Education

Duke University School of Medicine, M.D., 1979
Duke University Medical Center, Residency, 1983, Internal Medicine
University of California, San Francisco, Fellowship, 1987, Gastroenterology

Selected Publications

  1. Peaslee C, Esteva-Font C, Su T, Munoz-Howell A, Duwaerts CC, Liu Z, Rao S, Liu K, Medina M, Sneddon JB, Maher JJ, Mattis AN. Doxycycline Significantly Enhances Induction of Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells to Endoderm by Enhancing Survival Through Protein Kinase B Phosphorylation. Hepatology. 2021 Oct; 74(4):2102-2117.  View on PubMed
  2. Ha NB, Cho SJ, Mohamad Y, Kent D, Jun G, Wong R, Swarnakar V, Lin S, Maher JJ, Lai JC. Visceral Adipose Tissue Inflammation and Radiographic Visceral-to-Subcutaneous Adipose Tissue Ratio in Patients with Cirrhosis. Dig Dis Sci. 2021 Jun 16.  View on PubMed
  3. Duwaerts CC, Le Guillou D, Her CL, Phillips NJ, Willenbring H, Mattis AN, Maher JJ. Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell-derived Hepatocytes From Patients With Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease Display a Disease-specific Gene Expression Profile. Gastroenterology. 2021 Jun; 160(7):2591-2594.e6.  View on PubMed
  4. Duwaerts CC, Siao K, Soon RK, Her C, Iwawaki T, Kohno K, Mattis AN, Maher JJ. Hepatocyte-specific deletion of XBP1 sensitizes mice to liver injury through hyperactivation of IRE1α. Cell Death Differ. 2021 May; 28(5):1455-1465.  View on PubMed
  5. Alkhani A, Levy CS, Tsui M, Rosenberg KA, Polovina K, Mattis AN, Mack M, Van Dyken S, Wang BM, Maher JJ, Nijagal A. Ly6cLo non-classical monocytes promote resolution of rhesus rotavirus-mediated perinatal hepatic inflammation. Sci Rep. 2020 04 28; 10(1):7165.  View on PubMed
  6. Maher JJ, Schattenberg JM. Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease in 2020. Gastroenterology. 2020 05; 158(7):1849-1850.  View on PubMed
  7. Duwaerts CC, Maher JJ. Macronutrients and the Adipose-Liver Axis in Obesity and Fatty Liver. Cell Mol Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2019; 7(4):749-761.  View on PubMed
  8. Greenhalgh SN, Matchett KP, Taylor RS, Huang K, Li JT, Saeteurn K, Donnelly MC, Simpson EEM, Pollack JL, Atakilit A, Simpson KJ, Maher JJ, Iredale JP, Sheppard D, Henderson NC. Loss of Integrin αvβ8 in Murine Hepatocytes Accelerates Liver Regeneration. Am J Pathol. 2019 02; 189(2):258-271.  View on PubMed
  9. Maher JJ. Macrophages Steal STING From the Infectious Disease Playbook to Promote Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease. Gastroenterology. 2018 12; 155(6):1687-1688.  View on PubMed
  10. Lee B, Holt EW, Wong RJ, Sewell JL, Somsouk M, Khalili M, Maher JJ, Tana MM. Race/ethnicity is an independent risk factor for autoimmune hepatitis among the San Francisco underserved. Autoimmunity. 2018 08; 51(5):258-264.  View on PubMed
  11. Wen JW, Kohn MA, Wong R, Somsouk M, Khalili M, Maher J, Tana MM. Hospitalizations for Autoimmune Hepatitis Disproportionately Affect Black and Latino Americans. Am J Gastroenterol. 2018 02; 113(2):243-253.  View on PubMed
  12. Pierce AA, Duwaerts CC, Siao K, Mattis AN, Goodsell A, Baron JL, Maher JJ. CD18 deficiency improves liver injury in the MCD model of steatohepatitis. PLoS One. 2017; 12(9):e0183912.  View on PubMed
  13. Duwaerts CC, Amin AM, Siao K, Her C, Fitch M, Beysen C, Turner SM, Goodsell A, Baron JL, Grenert JP, Cho SJ, Maher JJ. Specific Macronutrients Exert Unique Influences on the Adipose-Liver Axis to Promote Hepatic Steatosis in Mice. Cell Mol Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2017 Sep; 4(2):223-236.  View on PubMed
  14. Maher JJ. Modeling fatty liver disease in animals: Is there an optimal approach, and is the effort worthwhile? Hepatology. 2016 11; 64(5):1398-1400.  View on PubMed
  15. Jacquelyn J. Maher. Pathogenesis of NAFLD and NASH. Alcoholic and Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease. 2016 Jan 1; 71-101.  View on PubMed
  16. Brunt EM, Wong VW, Nobili V, Day CP, Sookoian S, Maher JJ, Bugianesi E, Sirlin CB, Neuschwander-Tetri BA, Rinella ME. Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. Nat Rev Dis Primers. 2015 12 17; 1:15080.  View on PubMed
  17. Pierce AA, Duwaerts CC, Soon RK, Siao K, Grenert JP, Fitch M, Hellerstein MK, Beysen C, Turner SM, Maher JJ. Isocaloric manipulation of macronutrients within a high-carbohydrate/moderate-fat diet induces unique effects on hepatic lipogenesis, steatosis and liver injury. J Nutr Biochem. 2016 Mar; 29:12-20.  View on PubMed
  18. Pierce AA, Pickens MK, Siao K, Grenert JP, Maher JJ. Differential hepatotoxicity of dietary and DNL-derived palmitate in the methionine-choline-deficient model of steatohepatitis. BMC Gastroenterol. 2015 Jun 24; 15:72.  View on PubMed
  19. Mattis AN, Song G, Hitchner K, Kim RY, Lee AY, Sharma AD, Malato Y, McManus MT, Esau CC, Koller E, Koliwad S, Lim LP, Maher JJ, Raffai RL, Willenbring H. A screen in mice uncovers repression of lipoprotein lipase by microRNA-29a as a mechanism for lipid distribution away from the liver. Hepatology. 2015 Jan; 61(1):141-52.  View on PubMed
  20. Duwaerts CC, Maher JJ. Mechanisms of Liver Injury in Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis. Curr Hepatol Rep. 2014 Jun 01; 13(2):119-129.  View on PubMed

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