Transplant Hepatology Fellowship

The Hepatology program at USC has a long, rich and distinguished history with an international reputation for its contribution to modern Hepatology. Founded by Dr. Telfer B. “Pete” Reynolds, the Liver Program began at Los Angeles General-University of Southern California Medical Center (LAG+USC) has trained leaders of Hepatology and made major contributions to our understanding of portal hypertension and chronic hepatitis, to name a few. A dedicated inpatient service (USC Liver Unit) at the John Wesley Hospital in downtown Los Angeles, which relocated to Rancho Los Amigos Medical Center in 1979, was led by Dr. Allan G. Redeker and had inpatient Liver Unit which trained liver investigators from around the world. Drs. Reynolds and Redeker were the 14th and 22nd presidents, respectively, of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) and often worked together as a team making important observations. Together with Dr. Robert Peters (pathologist), Drs. Reynolds and Redeker published seminal studies in portal hypertension, alcohol-associated hepatitis, viral hepatitis, autoimmune liver diseases, drug induced liver injury and porphyria metabolism. They trained over 100 fellows many from overseas including Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, Israel, Taiwan and Japan. Many have gone on to become chiefs of academic liver programs. The Hepatology fellows at the USC Liver Unit fondly remember Drs. Redeker and Reynolds as their best teachers in their medical career. Both were dedicated to teaching and were notorious for their demanding standards and devotion to the care of their patients. The clinical cases at LAG Medical Center, the largest hospital in Los Angeles for indigent patients, never failed to provide a plethora of unique cases where fellows were put on the spot to make and defend diagnoses and explain pathophysiology.

The USC Liver Program ushered in a new era with the arrival of Dr. Neil Kaplowitz, world recognized physician investigator who became Chief of the USC Division of Gastrointestinal and Liver Diseases in 1990. He recruited physician-scientists Drs. Shelley Lu, Laurie DeLeve and Andrew Stolz to enhance the basic science component of the Liver Program. Under Dr. Kaplowitz’s leadership, faculty members were supported by NIH research program and the USC Liver Center, as one of only twelve Digestive Disease Center grants and being only one of four focused on liver disorders, has received continuous NIH funding since 1995.

In 1995, Dr. R. Rick Selby was recruited from the University of Pittsburg to initiate the USC Liver Transplant Program at Keck Hospital. He co-directed the program with Dr. Tse-Ling Fong until 2011. Currently, led by Drs. Jeffrey Kahn and Yuri Genyk, the USC Liver Transplant Program ranks as one of the top volume program in the country for both deceased donor liver transplantation as well as living donor liver transplantation.

Dr. Norah Terrault joined as Chief of the Division of GI bringing to the USC Hepatology program a strong clinical research program that has been supported by both NIH and Industrial funded grants as well as AASLD supported career awards. Since arriving at USC, Dr. Terrault has expanded the research portfolio by developing a team of world-renowned liver faculty who perform cutting edge research in areas of health disparities in liver disease, fatty liver disease, alcohol associated liver disease, autoimmune disorders of the liver, and viral hepatitis. She is a former AASLD President.

The University of Southern California offers an ACGME-approved Advanced Hepatology/Transplant Hepatology Fellowship Program at the Keck School of Medicine. Our training program strives to provide a robust clinical experience in an academic, high-volume, liver transplant program in the urban setting of Los Angeles. The program is committed to providing excellent clinical training in transplant hepatology through a multi-disciplinary approach to train the leaders in academic hepatology in the future. The one-year fellowship will offer a thorough exposure to both outpatient and inpatient management of a wide variety of acute and chronic liver disease. The program will offer expert training in the management of cirrhosis, portal hypertension, and hepatocellular carcinoma. Through the training program, the fellows will play an active role in the teaching of residents and medical students in the diagnosis and management of liver diseases.

Mission Statement

The USC Advanced Hepatology/Transplant Hepatology Fellowship provides physicians with the training necessary for a hospital-based, academic career in transplant hepatology that promotes clinical innovation and discovery to improve the health of the population of the greater Los Angeles area.

Aims

The USC Advanced Hepatology/Transplant Hepatology Fellowship Program aims to:

1. graduate trainees with all the skills, knowledge and attitude needed for excellence and life-long learning as academic transplant hepatologists
2. learn in an environment that promotes well-being for all patients and providers
3. develop the foundation for meaningful engagement in clinical research
4. participate in compassionate care of patients in the heart of urban Los Angeles
5. to serve as an educator and resource within our learning environment and for our community and
6. to recruit and retain competent fellows and faculty.

Leaders in basic science, translational and clinical research with NIH funded grants as well as AASLD supported career awards

• 3 past Presidents on the current faculty (Drs. Norah Terrault, Laurie Deleve, and Neil Kaplowitz).
• Drug-Induced Liver Injury Network (DILIN)-NIDDK, Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis Clinical Research Network – NIDDK, American Consortium of Early Liver Transplantation for Alcoholic Hepatitis (ACCELERATE-AH)
• Leaders in the study of racial/health disparities in HCC, viral hepatitis
• One of the largest living donor liver transplant programs in the country; the only living donor program in Southern California
• Center of Excellence for Transfusion-free surgery including liver transplantation – Transfusion-free Surgery and Patient Blood Management Program

Applications

Applicants to the USC Advanced Transplant Hepatology fellowship program generally apply one year prior to the start of the fellowship through the AASLD match system.

We start accepting applications through AASLD in Winter with interviews beginning in Spring

Requirements:

• Must currently be in an ACGME-approved Gastroenterology fellowship program and in good standing or have graduated from an ACGME-approved Gastroenterology program.
• Meet the requirements for board eligibility in Gastroenterology at the time of commencement of the fellowship
• Possess a valid California medical license at the time of commencement of fellowship
• US Citizen or permanent resident status
  *Canadian citizens with J1 visa, graduating from a GI program accredited by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada

Please contact Cindy Lim, Transplant Hepatology fellowship coordinator or Hyosun Helen Han, Transplant Hepatology Program Director or call (323) 409-7995 with any questions.

Benefits

USC Employee Benefits: https://employees.usc.edu/benefits-eligibility/

Unions

If interested, please visit https://www.cirseiu.org/keck-medicine-of-usc/.

Rotations

• 4-6 months of Transplant Inpatient Service
• 3-5 months of Outpatient Service
• 4 weeks of Multidisciplinary Rotation
• 4 weeks of Research
• 4 weeks of Vacation

Conferences

• Weekly Core Lecture Series
• Weekly Multidisciplinary Radiology and Pathology Conference
• Weekly Multidisciplinary Transplant Selection Committee Meeting
• Monthly Case Presentation Conference
• Monthly Journal Club
• Monthly M&M
• Annual AASLD Conference