Anania elected president, Liver Fibrosis SIG

Frank A. Anania, MD, FACP, AGAF, FAASLD (Bruce Logue Chair in Digestive Diseases; professor of medicine; and director, Emory Division of Digestive Diseases) was recently elected president of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases‘ (AASLD) Liver Fibrosis Special Interest Group (SIG) at the AASLD’s November meeting in Boston.

The Liver Fibrosis SIG is an interactive group of investigators focusing on the pathogenesis, diagnosis, development of therapeutics, and outcomes for liver fibrosis. The goals of this SIG are to broaden knowledge of the disease and to foster collaborations in basic and translational/clinical studies of liver fibrosis.

The Liver Fibrosis SIG sponsors programs at the AASLD annual meeting, identifies emerging topics in fibrosis research, and develops educational webinar programs.

More information about the Liver Fibrosis SIG

More about Dr. Anania

Dr. Anania is the Bruce Logue Chair in Digestive Diseases; a professor of medicine; and the director of the Division of Digestive Diseases at Emory University in Atlanta. He is heavily involved in basic science research. His lab is currently investigating the molecular role of leptin in the development of liver scarring. The team has convincingly demonstrated that leptin is definitely harmful in excess quantities and leads to enhanced liver scar tissue as well as multiplication of stellate cells. Importantly, it acts as a brake to preventing diseased stellate cells from dying, thereby preventing the body’s mechanisms from controlling excess scarring. The team currently uses animal models with single-gene deficiencies to gain an understanding of exactly how leptin alters the life cycle of stellate cells and how it transmits signals to the cell nucleus that result in dangerous events for the health of the liver. Finally, they have begun to look at peptides made by the human body to determine whether we can prevent or reduce the burden of obesity on the liver and, thereby, prevent serious liver disease and/or cirrhosis.

Related Links

• Emory University Department of Medicine, Division of Digestive Diseases
• Emory University School of Medicine 
• American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases  (AASLD)