AASLD Impact Awards
The new AASLD Impact Award recognizes mid-career members making significant contributions today and demonstrating a clear trajectory toward future leadership in AASLD and the field of hepatology.
These inaugural recipients are shaping the future of hepatology through innovation, leadership, and meaningful contributions across research, clinical care, education, and mentorship.
Meet the inaugural AASLD Impact Award recipients.
Lily Dara, MD
University of Southern California
Lily Dara, MD, is a physician-scientist, hepatologist, and Associate Professor of Medicine at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California. She is Director of the USC Rare and Autoimmune Liver Disease Center, where she leads clinical and translational programs in autoimmune and rare liver diseases. Dr. Dara’s research focuses on drug-induced liver injury (DILI), particularly liver injury from cancer therapies and immunotherapy, as well as autoimmune liver diseases, including autoimmune hepatitis and primary biliary cholangitis. Her research integrates basic, animal-model, and translational approaches to understand mechanisms of hepatotoxicity, inflammation, and cell death. She is the USC site PI for the Drug-Induced Liver Injury Network (DILIN) and leads NIH-funded research on immune checkpoint inhibitor hepatotoxicity. Dr. Dara has held multiple leadership roles within AASLD. She is the immediate past Chair of the AASLD Hepatotoxicity SIG and currently serves as Vice Chair of the Cholestatic and Autoimmune Liver Diseases (CALD) SIG. She has also served on AASLD scientific committees and led numerous educational programs, symposia, and research initiatives.
Jennifer Lai, MD, MBA
University of California, San Francisco
Jennifer Lai, MD, MBA, is a practicing integrative hepatologist and Professor of Medicine at UCSF, where she holds the Endowed Professorship of Liver Health and Transplantation. Triple board-certified in transplant hepatology, physician nutrition, and integrative health, she takes a patient-centered approach integrating nutrition, movement, and overall well-being into liver disease care. Funded continuously by the NIH since 2013, Dr. Lai’s research focuses on frailty and sarcopenia in cirrhosis. She developed the Liver Frailty Index and leads the multicenter FrAILT Study consortium, helping establish frailty as a measurable and modifiable determinant of outcomes. A dedicated mentor, she holds an NIH K24 Mentoring Award and has served AASLD through numerous scientific, editorial, and governance roles, including Associate Editor of HEPATOLOGY and AASLD Foundation Board trustee.
Mazen Noureddin, MD, MHSc, FAASLD
Houston Methodist Hospital
Mazen Noureddin, MD, MHSc, FAASLD, is Professor of Medicine at Houston Methodist Hospital and an internationally recognized leader in steatotic liver disease (SLD) and SLD-related cirrhosis. His research focuses on disease mechanisms, non-invasive diagnostics, biomarkers, and therapeutic development. He has led or participated in more than 100 clinical trials and authored more than 350 peer-reviewed publications. Dr. Noureddin completed advanced hepatology training at the NIH and a gastroenterology fellowship at UC San Diego. He previously founded and directed the Fatty Liver Program at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. A former Chair of the AASLD MASLD Special Interest Group, he serves on international consensus panels, advisory committees, and editorial boards of leading journals. He also founded the Houston Research Institute and serves as Chief Scientific Officer of Summit Clinical Research Solutions.
Bernd Schnabl, MD, FAASLD
University of California, San Diego
Bernd Schnabl, MD, FAASLD, is a trained hepatologist and physician-scientist. He is Professor of Medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology at the University of California San Diego, where he serves as Director of the NIH-funded San Diego Digestive Diseases Research Center (SDDRC). He cares for patients with liver diseases at UC San Diego Health and the VA San Diego Healthcare System. Dr. Schnabl earned his MD from the University of Freiburg, Germany. He completed a residency in internal medicine, followed by a clinical fellowship in gastroenterology at Columbia University in New York City. His basic, translational, and clinical research focuses on understanding the complex interactions between the gut and the liver, with the goal of developing new microbiome-based therapies for patients.
Elliot Tapper, MD, FAASLD
University of Michigan Medical Center
Elliot B. Tapper, MD, FAASLD, is an Associate Professor in the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology and Academic Chief of Hepatology at the University of Michigan. His primary goal is to empower patients to enjoy a high quality of life. He is an expert in the management of chronic liver disease, performance of clinical trials, and use of big data to study liver disease. Dr. Tapper has developed strategies that reduce symptoms and improve quality of life and invented tools that have helped keep patients with cirrhosis at home and out of the hospital. He is the Editor-in-Chief of Hepatology Communications.