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