Robert J. Fontana, MD, FAASLD

Biography

Dr. Fontana is a Professor of Medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology & Hepatology at the University of Michigan. Over the past 2 decades, Dr Fontana has been involved in prospective registry studies regarding the etiologies and outcomes of acute liver failure and idiosyncratic DILI and clinical trials in viral hepatitis. Dr. Fontana is the Co-PI of the Drug Induced Liver Injury Network Steering Committee and is conducting studies on genetic susceptibility factors and outcomes of DILI. Ongoing analyses include a review of immune mediated liver injury due to checkpoint inhibitors, the role of liver elastography in the natural history of DILI, refinements to the Revised Electronic Causality Assessment method (RECAM) instrument, and the development of an in-vitro test system using iPSC derived hepatocytes to improve DILI diagnosis and mechanistic research. Dr. Fontana is the lead author of the 2023 AASLD Guidance on Drug induced liver injury and past president of the AASLD Hepatotoxicity Special Interest Group. He is also the Education Lead of the MASLD SIG and heavily involved in medical education as the Director of The Transplant Hepatology Fellowship at Michigan and a sought after speaker at national and international Scientific meetings in Liver Transplantation, DILI, and toxic liver injury.