GHEC affiliate profile JC Lai Sept 2014
Name
Affiliations
Narrative
(brief; refer to
detailed
information on
projects and
publications
below)
Goals
Selected
projects and
plans
Collaborators
(selected)
5 key
publications
Teaching
Jennifer C. Lai, MD, MBA
UCSF Department of Medicine
Eight years of experience with outcomes research in the field of hepatology and liver
transplantation.
 Improve clinical outcomes among patients with end-stage liver disease
 Integrate geriatric assessments of functional status into the evaluation and
management of liver transplant patients
 Optimize deceased donor liver allocation and distribution
 Functional Assessments in Liver Transplantation (FrAILT Study) – Established an NIH
funded (2013-2019) prospective cohort study of liver transplant patients to evaluate
assessments of functional status as determinants of outcomes in liver
transplantation, both pre- and post-transplant. Desire to develop physical activity
interventions to reverse functional decline in liver transplant candidates to optimize
both pre- and post-transplant outcomes.
 Deceased Donor Liver Allocation and Distribution – Conducted secondary dataset
analyses of prospectively collected data from all liver transplant candidates,
recipients, and donors in the U.S. (Standard Transplant Analysis and Research files
from the United Network for Organ Sharing). Identified disparities in access to
transplant and distribution practices based on gender and geography.
 Age in Liver Transplantation – Characterized national trends of aging in the liver
transplant wait-list, transplant recipient, and deceased liver donor pools. Identified
geographic disparities in transplant rates and outcomes by age.
 Lai JC, Verna EC, Brown RS Jr., Forman LM, Duman J, Foster RG, Stravitz RT, Terrault
NA for the ConsoRtiUm to Study Health Outcomes in HCV Liver Transplant Recipients
(CRUSH-C). Hepatitis C virus infected females are at higher risk of graft loss after
liver transplantation than males: A Multicenter Cohort Study. Hepatology 2011 Apr;
54(2): 418-424. PMID: 21538434; PMCID: PMC3144983
 Lai JC, Roberts JP, Terrault NA, Feng S. Patient, Center, and Geographic
Characteristics of Nationally Placed Livers. Am J Transplant 2012;12 (4):947-953.
PMID: 22300591; PMCID: PMC3689311
 Lai JC, Feng S, Roberts JP. An Examination of Liver Offers to Candidates on the Liver
Transplantation Wait-List. Gastroenterology 2012; 143 (5): 1261-65. PMID:
22841780; PMCID: PMC3480537
 Lai JC, Kahn JG, Tavakol M, Peters MG, Roberts JP. Reducing infection transmission
in solid organ transplantation through donor nucleic acid testing: A costeffectiveness analysis. Am J Transplant 2013 Oct; 13(10):2611-8. PMID: 24034208
 Lai JC, Feng S, Terrault NA, Lizaola B, Hayssen H, Covinsky K. Frailty predicts wait-list
mortality in liver transplant candidates. Am J Transplant 2014; in press. PMID:
24935609
 Liver Transplant Unit service
 Individual mentoring
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Skills
Survival analysis; prediction model development and validation
Substantive
areas
Cirrhosis, Liver Transplantation, Organ Allocation/Distribution, Chronic Disease (in the
context of hepatology, including chronic hepatitis C)
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