Amar Nijagal, MD Recipient of UCSF Liver Center Pilot/Feasibility Award

Amar Nijagal, M.D., an Assistant Professor in the Department of Surgery, was awarded a Pilot/Feasibility Award from the UCSF Liver Center, of which he is now an associate member. An external advisory board comprised of leading liver scientists evaluated applications for this award. Dr. Nijagal’s research proposal, "The Role of Monocytes on The Resolution of Perinatal Hepatic Inflammation", was among three chosen for this highly competitive award.

Dr. Nijagal’s laboratory focuses on perinatal inflammation of the liver as it can have life-threatening consequences, particularly in infants and young children. An example of a hepatic inflammatory process occurring in infancy is biliary atresia (BA), an obliterative cholangiopathy that rapidly progresses from inflammation to hepatic fibrosis and liver failure.

The fact that BA is such an aggressive disease in neonates compared to inflammatory liver diseases in adults suggests that the mechanisms responsible for restoring tissue homeostasis following inflammation are impaired in affected infants. Dr. Nijagal’s research team will be investigating the contribution of specific monocyte subsets to the resolution of perinatal hepatic inflammation, thereby uncovering therapeutic strategies that can be applied to treat infants and children with BA.