Marion Bessin Liver Research Center

Clinical Component

Since the Liver Research Center's last competitive renewal, the Division of Hepatology was recombined with the Division of Gastroenterology to form the Division of Gastroenterology and Liver Diseases at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore Medical Center, with Dr. Allan Wolkoff as the Division Chief of this unified service.

Within this Division is the Comprehensive Liver Program that includes specialists in hepatology, oncology, surgery, radiology, psychiatry, pediatric gastroenterology, and family medicine. This change in leadership and reorganization of the clinical services facilitates a new focus on translational research involving clinicians, epidemiologists, biostatisticians, and laboratory scientists to leverage the burden of liver disease in the Bronx, creating opportunities for innovative collaborative research. In addition, cutting-edge treatments for liver disease are available to patients, including advanced clinical trials, novel therapeutic approaches to complex problems, and liver transplantation. This clinical program now works closely with the LRC to bring new fundamental findings and research advances to the study and treatment of human liver diseases.

Services available in the clinical component include:

  1. a liver tissue and blood biorepository with an integrated informatics system that bridges the gap between inventory tracking, clinical and pathology annotation and use of this information for cohort extraction and studies on human tissues
  2. biostatistical support for the design and interpretation of patient-based studies by LRC investigators
  3. access to expertise and technology in epidemiology for design, implementation, quality control, and interpretation of epidemiologic studies

Availability of these new services has resulted in integration of translational research into the LRC. Use of the existing LRC Cores facilitated the development of epidemiological and clinical studies on subjects at risk for liver disease. In addition to ongoing epidemiological projects, a number of new initiatives provide a bridge between more basic liver-related studies and those that would be directly related to patients and patient-based materials. In large part, these projects stem from outreach programs to bring basic liver researchers together with clinical hepatologists and hepatobiliary surgeons.

In addition, the LRC has a close working relationship with the Institute for Clinical and Translational Research (ICTR) at Einstein and Montefiore. The ICTR provides access to the following:

The LRC works closely with the ICTR and has full access to all of its services, providing a milieu conducive to cooperative and collaborative translational investigation.

 

Clinical Component Members

Milan KinkhabwalaMilan Kinkhabwala, M.D.
Professor, Surgery, Einstein; Chief, Transplantation, Montefiore Einstein Center for Transplantation; Director, Hepatobiliary Cancer, Montefiore Einstein Center for Cancer Care

Kristina R. Chacko, M.D.Kristina R. Chacko, M.D.
Professor, Department of Medicine (Gastroenterology & Liver Diseases)

 

Howard StricklerHoward Strickler, M.D.
Professor, Department of Epidemiology & Population Health; Harold and Muriel Block Chair in Epidemiology & Population Health

John ReinusJohn Reinus, M.D.
Professor of Clinical Medicine, Department of Medicine (Gastroenterology & Liver Diseases)

 

Jonathan SchwartzJonathan Schwartz, M.D.
Professor of Clinical Medicine, Department of Medicine (Gastroenterology & Liver Diseases)

 

sigalSamuel Sigal, MD
Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine, Department of Medicine (Gastroenterology & Liver Diseases)

Kathryn TanakaKathryn Tanaka, M.D.
Associate Professor of Pathology (Clinical), Department of Pathology;
Director GI/Liver Pathology Fellowship;
Associate Director of Surgical Pathology

 

Sara BellemareSara Bellemare, M.D.
Assistant Professor, Department of Surgery

Diego CamachoDiego Camacho, M.D.
Assistant Professor, Department of Surgery;
Director, Minimally Invasive and Laparoscopic Surgery

 

Harmit KaliaHarmit Kalia, D.O.
Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine (Gastroenterology & Liver Diseases)

Nadia OvchinskyNadia Ovchinsky, MD
Assistant Professor, Department of Pediatrics (Gastroenterology & Nutrition)

 

Matthew J. AkiyamaMatthew J. Akiyama, M.D., Assistant Professor, Medicine/General Internal Medicine
Infectious Diseases; HIV; HCV; Hepatitis C and Linkage to Care in the Criminal Justice System

Andreas Kaubisch Andreas Kaubisch, M.D., Associate Professor, Medicine/Oncology, Gastrointestinal Cancer

 

Mimi KimMimi Kim, Sc.D., Professor, Epidemiology & Population Health, Biostatistics and Clinical Study Design

Bryan J. RudolphBryan J. Rudolph, M.D., Assistant Professor, Pediatrics (Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition)
Pediatric Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

 

Leadership

Director
Allan W. Wolkoff, MD
Professor (Medicine and Anatomy and Structural Biology)


Associate Director
David A. Shafritz, MD
Professor (Medicine and Cell Biology, Pathology)

 

Contact Us

Albert Einstein College of Medicine
625 Ullmann Building
1300 Morris Park Avenue
Bronx, NY 10461

Phone: 718.430.2098