American Liver Foundation Honors Professor of Medicine Jacquelyn J. Maher, MD with the Distinguished Scientific Achievement Award
Dr. Maher honored for her research contributions regarding NAFLD and mechanisms of Liver Cell Toxicity
American Liver Foundation (ALF) is thrilled to announce that Jacquelyn J. Maher, MD, is the winner of its 2024 Distinguished Scientific Achievement Award (DSAA). Dr. Maher is Chief of the Division of Gastroenterology & Hepatology at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and William and Mary Ann Rice Distinguished Professor of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). ALF will present the prestigious DSAA award to Dr. Maher during an evening reception held in her honor on Monday, November 18th in San Diego during the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) annual Liver Meeting.
“Dr. Maher and her team at the UCSF Liver Center are committed to improving the understanding of liver biology by focusing on the pathogenesis of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD)*,” said Lorraine Stiehl, Chief Executive Officer, American Liver Foundation. “Her ongoing work focuses on the mechanisms by which metabolic stresses kill liver cells and truly illustrates her continued effort to improve the lives of the 100 million people affected by liver disease.”
Dr. Maher has been practicing medicine for over 35 years and specializes in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, autoimmune hepatitis, hepatitis, and cirrhosis. As Director of the UCSF’s Liver Center from 2007-2024, she led an innovative team of over 60 researchers all working to develop and evaluate various treatment options for patients with liver disease as well as to understand and cure human liver diseases. The Center is one of 18 Digestive Diseases Research Core Centers in the United States whose goal is to enhance research productivity and collaboration among scientists with similar interests. The Center’s overall focus is liver injury and immunology, liver regeneration, clinical transplantation, liver metabolism, and organ crosstalk. Dr. Maher studies basic biological processes relevant to liver biology and disease. Her research’s main focus has been the pathogenesis of NAFLD and mechanisms of liver cell toxicity and her studies in mice have implicated dietary sugar as an important inducer of steatotic (fatty) liver disease. More recently, her team has worked on characterizing how “genetic signatures” could contribute to fatty liver disease by using induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) from patients with NAFLD to study the disorder directly in humans.
“I am truly honored to receive the 2024 Distinguished Scientific Achievement Award from the ALF,” said Dr. Maher, Chief of the Division of Gastroenterology & Hepatology at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital. “This recognition is particularly meaningful because the DSAA is bestowed upon physician-scientists who have devoted their careers to understanding liver diseases in the hope of improving human health. I am deeply grateful to the mentors who taught me science and integrity, and to the colleagues and trainees who have allowed me in some small way to contribute to the field of hepatology.”
Dr. Maher received her medical degree from Duke University’s School of Medicine and did her residency in Internal Medicine at Duke University Medical Center. She had a fellowship in Gastroenterology from the University of California, San Francisco. Dr. Maher has co-authored over 100 publications and is a recognized leader in liver research at UCSF and beyond. In addition to her research excellence, she directed the T32 postdoctoral program in hepatology at UCSF for 16 years and is well known for her leadership in mentoring and training the next generation of liver researchers. Dr. Maher has served as Associate Editor for Hepatology and other scientific journals and is currently a member of the NIDDK Advisory Council.
The Distinguished Scientific Achievement Award (DSAA) is a prestigious award honoring a scientist who has made a major contribution to liver disease research in basic science or in its application towards the prevention, treatment or cure of liver disease. The 2023 winner of the Distinguished Scientific Achievement Award was Jeffrey V. Lazarus, PhD, MIH, MA of the City University of New York.
American Liver Foundation also offers a research awards program in three categories, Liver Scholar Award, Postdoctoral Research Fellowship Award, and Pilot Award, to provide necessary funding to help advance research in liver biology and disease. Since 1979, ALF’s research awards program has provided more than $28 million in research funding. Over 850 qualified scientists and physicians have pursued research careers in liver biology, disease and treatment because they received these grants early in their careers. Learn more at liverfoundation.org/research.
*The nomenclature for nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has recently changed to metabolic dysfunction associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD). Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) has been renamed to metabolic dysfunction associated steatohepatitis (MASH). Fatty liver disease is now called steatotic liver disease. Alcohol associated fatty liver disease is now called metabolic alcohol associated liver disease (metALD).