​Welcome to the UCSF Liver Center

The Liver Center is a consortium of more than 60 researchers who share a common interest in liver biology and disease. The goal of the Center is to integrate bench science with clinical investigation, in support of its vision to understand and cure human liver diseases.

The physicians and scientists of the Liver Center are committed to improving understanding of liver biology and alleviating suffering from liver diseases. Read More.
Holger Willenbring, MD, PhD
Program Director, Liver Center

Holger Willenbring named as new Center Director

   The Liver Center is proud to announce that Dr. Holger Willenbring, Professor of Surgery in the Division of Transplant Surgery, has been appointed as its new Program Director. His appointment was approved by officials at NIDDK on September 16, 2024. Dr. Willenbring succeeds Dr. Jacquelyn Maher, who stepped down as Director after completing a 16-year term from 2008-2024.
   Dr. Willenbring is well known to the Liver Center, having served as its Associate Director since 2012. In addition, Dr. Willenbring oversees the Liver Center's Enrichment Program, which he will continue to do through the current fund year. Dr. Willenbring previously provided oversight to the Liver Center Pilot & Feasibility Program, but with his new responsibilities as Director he will delegate that role to Dr. Maher for the 2025 funding cycle. 
   With this leadershsip transition, Dr. Jennifer Lai will also assume a new role as Associate Director of the Center. Please join us in congratulating Drs. Willenbring and Lai as they lead the Center to new heights of excellence!

Congratulations to the 2026 Pilot & Feasibility Grant Awardees!

Maria Duarte, MD

Peripheral Blood DNA Methylation Signatures Predicting Fibrosis Risk Among People with HIV and MASLD

Alessandra Ferrari, PhD

Dietary Control of Cholesterol Homeostasis Through Lipid Membrane Remodeling

Hirotake Komatsu, MD, PhD

Addressing Diffusion Barriers in Large Liver Organoids

Featured Publications

Heidary Arash E, Groeger M, Grenert JP, Wittmann T, Raffai RL, Maher JJ, Willenbring H. TM6SF2 acts at ER membrane contact sites to enable RAB7-dependent endolysosomal VLDL secretion and maintain Golgi structure. Cell Rep. 2026 Oct 27;45(10):118116. Epub 2026 Oct 15. PubMed PMID: 42879277. 

Tabula Sapiens Consortium. Electronic address: [email protected], Tabula Sapiens Consortium (Wang BM). Tabula Sapiens 2.0: A comprehensive transcriptomic atlas of human cell types. Cell. 2026 Oct 29;189(22):7212-7227.e8. Epub 2026 Sep 2. PubMed PMID: 42685689. 

Sangokoya C, Rosso IR, Ghandehari-Alavijeh R, Blelloch R. Post-transcriptional regulation of Profilin-2 by microRNAs and RNA-binding proteins forms a critical regulatory node for early embryonic cell fate decisions. PLoS Genet. 2026 Sep;22(9):e1012279. eCollection 2026 Sep. PubMed PMID: 42685094; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC13537575.

Nunez M, Shifman HP, Shui AM, Lai JC, Wadhwani S. Medicaid Expansion and its Association With Liver Transplant Outcomes in Adults. Transplantation. 2026 Sep 14. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 42743251. 

Lee JY, Zhu C, Boldridge MA, Stark RL, Bonilla G, Watari K, Papa C, Xu L, Gonzalez F, Tang X, Dang KT, Son K, Chetal K, Ibrahim P, Sadreyev RI, Sheikh BN, Karin M, Näär AM. A multi-functional oral small molecule targeting energy and lipid metabolism to treat obesity and related metabolic disorders. Sci Adv. 2026 Aug 21;12(34):eaed3119. Epub 2026 Aug 21. PubMed PMID: 42627907; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC13496183. 

Cullaro G, Lai JC, Liu T, Gomez ME, Simonetto DA, Lee S, Lee BP, Allegretti AS, Mazumder NR, Patidar KR, Verna EC. Machine learning-derived clinical phenotypes of ascites in cirrhosis: A multi-center latent class analysis with external validation. Liver Transpl. 2026 Nov 1;32(11):1465-1478. Epub 2026 Aug 6. PubMed PMID: 42560069; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC13668033. 

For a complete list of liver-related member publications updated monthly, click here