Northern California
The Research
The American Liver Foundation is the largest supporter of liver disease research outside of the federal government. Since 1979 our competitive Research Awards Program has granted more than $21.3M to more than 650 scientists. These grants have encouraged young scientists and physicians to build careers in liver research and treatment. Our grants have also enabled recipients to successfully compete for additional research funds from the NIH and other sources, and - thereby - enhance our progress towards improved prevention, detection and treatment options. The northern California chapter has funded more than $3M in research grants to UC Davis, UCSF and Stanford medical center.
In fact, pioneering studies funded by the ALF have demonstrated the principal feasibility of liver cell therapy in patients. Research is exploring the very real possibility of specific hepatocyte replacement rather than whole organ transplant in achieving a therapeutic effect in many liver diseases. Below you will find just a small sample of research projects that were awarded in Northern California.
 | Liver Fibrosis and Cirrhosis29.2KB |
| Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD)43.4KB |
| Hepatitis B28.9KB |
| Metabolic Liver Diseases28.9KB |
| The Donor Liver28.6KB |
| Primary Biliary Cirrhosis (PBC)28.8KB |
2008 Postdoctoral Research Fellowships
Herman Lopata Memorial Hepatitis Postdoctoral Research Fellowship
Nam-Joon Cho, PhD
Stanford University
Stanford, CA
Hepatitis C Virus Replication in Optimized Hydrogel-based Hepatic Tissues
Congressman John Joseph Moakley Postdoctoral Research Fellowship
Xiaosong Jiang, MD | Profile
University of California Davis Health System
Sacramento, CA
The Role of Hepatic Stellate Cell Proliferation in Liver Fibrogenesis
Dr. Shirat Einav, a fellow at the Stanford University School of Medicine, recently received the American Liver Foundation’s Elmer T. Gould Memorial Postdoctoral Research Award; his mentor Jeffrey Glenn, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor of Medicine at Stanford, was a recipient of an American Liver Foundation research award in 1998. Research made possible by you!
Dr. Einav’s letter underscores the very importance of your participation in events like the Liver LIFE Walks, the Liver LIFE Challenge Climb, the Liver LIFE Challenge Marathon, the Salute To Excellence and the Flavors Culinary Gala that help make research grants possible:
Dear ALF;
I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your generous support of my research. I am an infectious disease fellow at Stanford University and am working at Dr. Jeffrey Glenn’s laboratory on molecular virology of the hepatitis C virus (HCV). HCV is a major health problem. Current therapies are inadequate for most of the 150 million people worldwide infected with this virus.
We have identified a potential new target for specific anti-HCV therapy. The main goal of the proposed project is to translate our findings into the development of a new class of anti-HCV agents directed against this target.
There is clearly a desperate need for new treatment modalities against HCV. Drugs with greater specificity against the virus would hopefully achieve higher response rates combined with a decreased toxicity. The proposed research seeks to directly address this. The American Liver Foundation Fellowship will enable me to dedicate all my time and effort towards achieving this project’s goals. Moreover, receiving this support also provides great encouragement to commit my career development. I would like to thank you again for your support and I am looking forward to informing the American Liver Foundation of our progress and achievements.
Thank you! Sincerely, Shirit Einav, MD
For more information about our National Research Awards program please visit www.liverfoundation.org.
Page updated: September 2nd, 2008
© Copyright 2008 American Liver Foundation. All Rights Reserved.