Liver Health Study: The purpose of this study is to test the impact of lifestyle behaviors influence the progression or regression of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. In Phase I, subjects will be A) patients with suspected nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) who could be approached to participate in a study in which they donate some liver tissue taken when they are undergoing their medically-indicated liver biopsy, or B) bariatric surgery patients who could be approached to participate in a study to allow liver and adipose tissue to be taken during their planned weight reduction surgery. In Phase II, subjects with NAFLD will participate in either an exercise and diet program, or be in the control group undergoing standard of care. We will follow the subjects for 9 months to determine how their liver health changes during this time. We hypothesize that liver fat, inflammation, and fibrosis insulin resistance and elevated uric acid in women make them more susceptible to cardiovascular stiffness, compared to men.

Publications

For a complete list of published work, see MyBibliography.