Lily Dara, MD

Associate Professor of Medicine

Image of Lily Dara, MD
Is this your profile? Click to edit

Overview

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.

Research Funding

  • The impact of sex and cell death on checkpoint inhibitor hepatotoxicity
    NIH · R01DK144042 · Sep 8, 2025 – Jul 31, 2030 · Role: Principal Investigator
  • Targeting Cell Death Pathways in Immune-mediated Liver Injury from Checkpoint Inhibitors
    NIH · R03DK132437 · Apr 1, 2022 – Mar 31, 2025 · Role: Principal Investigator
  • Role of RIPK1 and RIPK3 in liver injury.
    NIH · K08DK109141 · Jul 1, 2016 – Nov 30, 2022 · Role: Principal Investigator
  • USC-UCLA Drug-Induced Liver Injury (DILI) Clinical Center.
    NIH · U01DK083020 · Sep 30, 2008 – Jun 30, 2023 · Role: Co-Investigator

Publications

  • 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
  • Alkaline Phosphatase Normalization Occurs Less Frequently in Hispanic Patients With Primary Biliary Cholangitis. Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2026 Jan 29.. 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 09; 45(9):e70255.. View in PubMed
  • Immune-Mediated Liver Injury From Checkpoint Inhibitor: An Evolving Frontier With Emerging Challenges. Liver Int. 2025 02; 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