Lily Dara, MD

Dr. Dara is an NIH funded physician-scientist and clinician. She completed her Gastroenterology training at USC, is board certified in Internal Medicine and Gastroenterology and practices primarily as a hepatologist (liver specialist). She is the director of the USC Liver Autoimmune and Rare Conditions Clinic in Pasadena (SOLAR CLINIC), where her practice is focused on rare liver diseases autoimmune liver diseases such as Drug-Induced Liver Injury, and Autoimmune Liver Diseases: Autoimmune Hepatitis (AIH) and Primary Biliary Cholangitis (PBC) and their variant syndromes. She is also on the liver faculty at the Los Angeles General Medical Center where she treats patients with liver disease (including alcohol associated liver disease, fatty liver disease, viral hepatitis, liver failure, cirrhosis of the liver, drug-induced liver disease, metabolic and genetic disorders of the liver among many others).Her research focuses on disorders of the liver including drug induced liver injury and hepatotoxicity from medications, drugs, toxins, and herbal supplements in translational animal models as well as humans. She participates as an investigator on the NIH’s Drug Induced Liver Injury Network (DILIN) and is a reviewer for the LiverTox website. Additionally, she conducts translational studies in Autoimmune Hepatitis and PBC, and studies their outcomes in patients with a focus on understanding difficult to treat autoimmune liver diseases.

• NIH, NIDDK: K08 Mentored Clinical Scientist Development Award, 2016-2021
• Keck School of Medicine of USC: USC RCLD Junior Faculty Transition Award, 2015
• American Association for the Study of Liver Disease: Presidential Poster of Distinction, 2011
• American Association for the Study of Liver Disease: Resident Scholar Award, 2007

• Alkaline Phosphatase Normalization Occurs Less Frequently in Hispanic Patients With Primary Biliary Cholangitis. Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2026 Jan 29.. View in PubMed
• Impact of race/ethnicity and the presence of immune-related adverse events on outcomes for non-small cell lung cancer patients treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors. Ther Adv Med Oncol. 2026; 18:17588359261423890.. View in PubMed
• Associations between per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances and metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease in adolescents and young adults: modifying roles of age, lifestyle factors, and PNPLA3 genotype. Environ Res. 2026 Jan 01; 288(Pt 2):123320.. View in PubMed
• Authors’ Reply on Immune-Mediated Liver Injury in HCC. Liver Int. 2025 Nov; 45(11):e70415.. View in PubMed
• High Grade Hepatotoxicity From Dual Checkpoint Inhibitors Is More Common in Hepatocellular Carcinoma Than Other Cancers. Liver Int. 2025 Sep; 45(9):e70255.. View in PubMed
• Immune-Mediated Liver Injury From Checkpoint Inhibitor: An Evolving Frontier With Emerging Challenges. Liver Int. 2025 Feb; 45(2):e16198.. View in PubMed
• Genetic variants associated with immune-mediated liver injury from checkpoint inhibitors. Hepatol Commun. 2024 09 01; 8(9).. View in PubMed
• Evaluation of markers of immunity in different metastatic immune microenvironments suggests more suppression within breast to liver metastases in breast cancer. Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2024 Jul; 206(2):245-259.. View in PubMed
• Innate and adaptive immune cell interaction drives inflammasome activation and hepatocyte apoptosis in murine liver injury from immune checkpoint inhibitors. Cell Death Dis. 2024 02 14; 15(2):140.. View in PubMed
• A 68-Year-Old Woman With Unexplained Liver Enzyme Elevation and Active Chronic Hepatitis: Beware of Drug-Induced Autoimmune-Like Hepatitis. Gastroenterology. 2024 02; 166(2):259-266.e1.. View in PubMed
• Etiology of end-stage liver cirrhosis impacts hepatic natural killer cell heterogenicity. Front Immunol. 2023; 14:1137034.. View in PubMed
• No Necroptosis in Hepatocytes: The Final Nail in the Coffin? Gastroenterology. 2022 12; 163(6):1492-1495.. View in PubMed
• Autophagy impairment in liver CD11c+ cells promotes non-alcoholic fatty liver disease through production of IL-23. Nat Commun. 2022 03 17; 13(1):1440.. View in PubMed
• Mechanisms of immune checkpoint inhibitor-mediated liver injury. Acta Pharm Sin B. 2021 Dec; 11(12):3727-3739.. View in PubMed
• Acute Hepatitis A and Hepatitis B Coinfection. ACG Case Rep J. 2021 Nov; 8(11):e00702.. View in PubMed
• We Are Not Immune: Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Autoimmune Liver Diseases. Hepatology. 2021 11; 74(5):2876-2887.. View in PubMed
• IgG:IgM Ratios of Liver Plasma Cells Reveal Similar Phenotypes of Primary Biliary Cholangitis With and Without Features of Autoimmune Hepatitis. Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2021 02; 19(2):397-399.. View in PubMed
• Interaction of RIPK1 and A20 modulates MAPK signaling in murine acetaminophen toxicity. J Biol Chem. 2021 Jan-Jun; 296:100300.. View in PubMed
• Cell Death in Liver Diseases: A Review. Int J Mol Sci. 2020 Dec 18; 21(24).. View in PubMed
• Cell death in drug-induced liver injury. Adv Pharmacol. 2019; 85:31-74.. View in PubMed
• The Receptor Interacting Protein Kinases in the Liver. Semin Liver Dis. 2018 02; 38(1):73-86.. View in PubMed
• Drug-Induced Liver Injury: Cascade of Events Leading to Cell Death, Apoptosis or Necrosis. Int J Mol Sci. 2017 May 09; 18(5).. View in PubMed
• A murder mystery in the liver: who done it and how? J Clin Invest. 2016 11 01; 126(11):4068-4071.. View in PubMed
• The many faces of RIPK3: What about NASH? Hepatology. 2016 11; 64(5):1411-1413.. View in PubMed
• Knockdown of RIPK1 Markedly Exacerbates Murine Immune-Mediated Liver Injury through Massive Apoptosis of Hepatocytes, Independent of Necroptosis and Inhibition of NF-κB. J Immunol. 2016 10 15; 197(8):3120-3129.. View in PubMed
• Randomized trial of 1-week versus 2-week intervals for endoscopic ligation in the treatment of patients with esophageal variceal bleeding. Hepatology. 2016 08; 64(2):549-55.. View in PubMed
• Reply. Hepatology. 2016 07; 64(1):308-9.. View in PubMed
• Reply. Hepatology. 2016 07; 64(1):312-3.. View in PubMed
• Mechanisms of adaptation and progression in idiosyncratic drug induced liver injury, clinical implications. Liver Int. 2016 Feb; 36(2):158-65.. View in PubMed
• Questions and controversies: the role of necroptosis in liver disease. Cell Death Discov. 2016; 2:16089.. View in PubMed
• Receptor interacting protein kinase 1 mediates murine acetaminophen toxicity independent of the necrosome and not through necroptosis. Hepatology. 2015 Dec; 62(6):1847-57.. View in PubMed
• Targeting signal transduction pathways which regulate necrosis in acetaminophen hepatotoxicity. J Hepatol. 2015 Jul; 63(1):5-7.. View in PubMed
• Cellular uptake and cytotoxicity of a near-IR fluorescent corrole-TiO2 nanoconjugate. J Inorg Biochem. 2014 Nov; 140:39-44.. View in PubMed
• MAT2B-GIT1 interplay activates MEK1/ERK 1 and 2 to induce growth in human liver and colon cancer. Hepatology. 2013 Jun; 57(6):2299-313.. View in PubMed
• Regulation of drug-induced liver injury by signal transduction pathways: critical role of mitochondria. Trends Pharmacol Sci. 2013 Apr; 34(4):243-53.. View in PubMed
• Dynamic adaptation of liver mitochondria to chronic alcohol feeding in mice: biogenesis, remodeling, and functional alterations. J Biol Chem. 2012 Dec 07; 287(50):42165-79.. View in PubMed
• The contribution of endoplasmic reticulum stress to liver diseases. Hepatology. 2011 May; 53(5):1752-63.. View in PubMed
• Hydroxycut hepatotoxicity: a case series and review of liver toxicity from herbal weight loss supplements. World J Gastroenterol. 2008 Dec 07; 14(45):6999-7004.. View in PubMed

• Kaplowitz, Neil
• Win, Sanda
• Stolz, Andrew
• Tsukamoto, Hidekazu
• DeLeve, Laurie
• Ji, Cheng
• Terrault, Norah
• Gonzalez, Frank
• Zhang, Lin