Ana Claudia Maretti Garcia, PhD

Dr. Maretti-Garcia’s research focuses on uncovering how the immune system contributes to the progression of chronic liver diseases. She specializes in advanced transcriptomic analyses and real-time cellular behavior assays, leveraging these technologies to explore the molecular and cellular mechanisms driving liver dysfunction.
She has developed an innovative in vitro model for MASLD using 3D human liver spheroids, integrating single-cell transcriptomics and epigenetics to investigate how environmental pollutants like PFAS influence the progression of MASLD and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). In addition to environmental factors, she is also exploring the role of dietary factors, such as cholesterol and sugar, in the onset of MASLD, aiming to uncover new strategies for prevention and treatment.

• USC: USC Dean’s Pilot Award, 2024
• AASLD: Presidential Poster of Distinction, 2023
• USC: USC President Sustainability Initiative Award, 2023
• USC: RCLD Young Investigator Award, 2017-2018
• AASLD: Basic Science Young Investigator Travel Award, 2016
• AASLD: Presidential Poster of Distinction, 2016
• Brazilian Society of Protozoology: Best Scientific Presentation Award, 2007

• Senescence-related genes are associated with the immunopathology signature of American tegumentary leishmaniasis lesions and may predict progression to mucosal leishmaniasis Clin Exp Immunol. 2025 Jan 21; 219(1). . View in PubMed
• Examining disparities in PFAS plasma concentrations: Impact of drinking water contamination, food access, proximity to industrial facilities and superfund sites Environ Res. 2025 Jan 01; 264(Pt 1):120370. . View in PubMed
• PFHpA alters lipid metabolism and increases the risk of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease in youth-a translational research framework medRxiv. 2024 Jul 03. . View in PubMed
• Circulating Neutrophil Profiles Undergo a Dynamic Shift during Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatohepatitis (MASH) Progression Biomedicines. 2024 May 16; 12(5). . View in PubMed
• Chronic HCV infection promotes cytotoxicity in antigen-specific CD8+ T cells regardless of virus specificity Frontiers in Virology. 2023; 3. . View in PubMed
• Etiology of end-stage liver cirrhosis impacts hepatic natural killer cell heterogenicity Front Immunol. 2023; 14:1137034. . View in PubMed
• Editorial: New strategies for the treatment of diseases caused by trypanosomatid parasitesFront. Cell. Infect. Microbiol. 2023; 13. . View in PubMed
• Hepatic damage caused by long-term high cholesterol intake induces a dysfunctional restorative macrophage population in experimental NASH Front Immunol. 2022; 13:968366. . View in PubMed
• Single-cell transcriptomic analyses of T cells in chronic HCV-infected patients dominated by DAA-induced interferon signaling changes PLoS Pathog. 2021 08; 17(8):e1009799. . View in PubMed
• Cholesterol-Induced M4-Like Macrophages Recruit Neutrophils and Induce NETosis Front Immunol. 2021; 12:671073. . View in PubMed
• Susceptibility of Rat Steatotic Liver to Ischemia-Reperfusion Is Treatable With Liver-Selective Matrix Metalloproteinase Inhibition Hepatology. 2020 11; 72(5):1771-1785. . View in PubMed
• Sinusoids as Drivers of Liver Development: More Than Simple Chemistry Hepatology. 2019 08; 70(2):737-739. . View in PubMed
• Incomplete Differentiation of Engrafted Bone Marrow Endothelial Progenitor Cells Initiates Hepatic Fibrosis in the Rat Hepatology. 2019 03; 69(3):1259-1272. . View in PubMed
• Liver-Selective MMP-9 Inhibition in the Rat Eliminates Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury and Accelerates Liver Regeneration Hepatology. 2019 01; 69(1):314-328. . View in PubMed
• Liver Sinusoidal Endothelial Cell: An Update Semin Liver Dis. 2017 11; 37(4):377-387. . View in PubMed
• Severity of tegumentary leishmaniasis is not exclusively associated with Leishmania RNA virus 1 infection in Brazil Mem Inst Oswaldo Cruz. 2013 Aug; 108(5):665-7. . View in PubMed
• Efficacy of synthetic peptides RP-1 and AA-RP-1 against Leishmania species in vitro and in vivo Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 2012 Feb; 56(2):658-65. . View in PubMed
• Transcriptome patterns from primary cutaneous Leishmania braziliensis infections associate with eventual development of mucosal disease in humans PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2012; 6(9):e1816. . View in PubMed
• MMP-9 activity is induced by Leishmania braziliensis infection and correlates with mucosal leishmaniasis Acta Trop. 2011 Aug; 119(2-3):160-4. . View in PubMed
• Influence of the Notch system in the therapeutic response of American tegumentary leishmaniasis Br J Dermatol. 2011 Jun; 164(6):1228-34. . View in PubMed
• Therapeutic failure in American cutaneous leishmaniasis is associated with gelatinase activity and cytokine expression Clin Exp Immunol. 2011 Feb; 163(2):207-14. . View in PubMed
• LXR deficiency confers increased protection against visceral Leishmania infection in mice PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2010 Nov 16; 4(11):e886. . View in PubMed

• DeLeve, Laurie
• Tsukamoto, Hidekazu
• Papadopoulos, Vassilios
• Zlokovic, Berislav
• Terrault, Norah
• Gonzalez, Frank