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A gift to the UCSF Department of Surgery can help physicians and scientist find treatments and cures for serious liver diseases such as hepatitis B & C, and liver cancer.
Nancy L. Ascher, M.D., Ph.D.
Professor and Chair, Department of Surgery
Division of Transplant Surgery
Isis Distinguished Professor in Transplantation
Leon Goldman, MD Distinguished Professor in Surgery
Contact Information
(415) 353-1550 Clinical, Kidney and Pancreas
(415) 476-1236 Academic
nancy.ascher@ucsfmedctr.org
BiographyEducation
- University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, B.A., 1967-70
- University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI, M.D., 1970-74
- University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, Ph.D., 1974-85
Residencies
- University of Minnesota, Department of Surgery, Minneapolis, MN, Surgical Internship, 1974-75
- University of Minnesota, Department of Surgery, Minneapolis, MN, Surgical Residency, 1975-77
- University of Minnesota, Department of Surgery, Minneapolis, MN, Surgical Residency, 1979-81
Fellowships
- University of Minnesota, Department of Surgery, Minneapolis, MN, Transplant Fellowship, 1981-1982
Postdoctoral Training
- University of Minnesota, Department of Surgery, Minneapolis, MN, Research Fellowship, 1977-79
Board Certification
- American Board of Surgery, 1982, renewed 2012
Clinical Expertise
- End-Stage Kidney Disease
- Fulminant Hepatic Failure
- Hepatitis B
- Hepatitis C
- Hepatocellular Carcinoma (Liver Cancer)
- Kidney Transplantation
- Liver Cysts
- Liver Transplantation
- Living Donor Liver Transplantation
- Living Donor Kidney Transplantation
- Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease
- Pediatric Kidney Transplantation
- Pediatric Liver Transplantation
- Portal Hypertension
Research Interests
- Clinical Transplantation
- Recurrence After Liver Transplantation
- Transplant Ethics
- Transplant Policy
Biography
Dr. Nancy Ascher, chair of the UCSF Department of Surgery, has devoted her career to organ transplants and transplant research. Dr. Ascher completed her undergraduate and medical education at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. She then went on to complete a general surgery residency and clinical transplantation fellowship at the University of Minnesota. She is board-certified by the American Board of Surgery.
Dr. Ascher joined the faculty of the Department of Surgery at the University of Minnesota in 1982 and was named Clinical Director of the Liver Transplant Program. She was recruited in 1988 by the UCSF Department of Surgery to build a liver transplantation program. In 1991, she was appointed Chief of Transplantation, an expanded role that included liver, kidney and pancreas transplants. In 1993, she was appointed Vice-Chair of the UCSF Department of Surgery, and in 1999 was appointed Department Chair. Today, Dr. Ascher also serves as Director of Tertiary Care for the UCSF Medical Center.
Dr. Ascher has had a distinguished career of public service that includes appointments to the Presidential Task Force on Organ Transplantation and the Surgeon General's Task Force on Increasing Donor Organs. She also served as Chair of the Advisory Committee on Organ Transplantation for the Secretary of Health and Human Services from 2001 - 2005. Highly respected by her peers, Dr. Ascher was named to the list of U.S. News "America's Top Doctors," a distinction reserved for the top 1% of physicians in the nation for a given specialty.
Dr. Ascher is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons and holds memberships in numerous other medical societies. She has taken an active leadership role in American Society of Transplant Surgeons activities and was its past-president. Dr. Ascher has published over 425 articles in medical and scientific journals. Her research interests are in hepatocyte immunogenicity, mechanisms of allograft rejection and clinical transplantation.
Research Summary
I. RECURRENT DISEASE AFTER LIVER TRANSPLANT
The NIH Liver Transplant Data Base has been extended to address the
important issue of disease recurrence after liver transplantation.
Although short term liver transplant results have improved markedly
over the past ten years, it is apparent that disease recurrence is
an important source of patient morbidity and graft loss. Long term
following of greater than 1000 patients in the Liver Transplant
Data Base will facilitate our understanding of the factors
associated with graft recurrence.
II. EXPANDED CRITERIA FOR LIVER TRANSPLANT FOR HEPATOCELLULAR
CARCINOMA
We have redefined the criteria for liver transplantation beyond the
Milan criteria. The UCSF criteria enables additional patients to
benefit from liver transplants without compromising outcome.
Selected Publications
- Painter P, Krasnoff J, Paul SM, Ascher NL. Physical activity and health-related quality of life in liver transplant recipients. Liver Transpl 7(3):213-9, 2001.
- Yao F, Ferrell L, Bass N, Bacchetti P, Ascher NL, Roberts J. Liver transplantation for hepatocellular carcinoma: comparison of the proposed UCSF criteria with the Milan criteria and the Pittsburgh modified TNM criteria. Liver Transpl 8(9):765-74, 2002.
- Yao FY, Bass NM, Nikolai B, Davern TJ, Kerlan R, Wu V, Ascher NL, Roberts JP. Liver transplantation for hepatocellular carcinoma: analysis of survival according to the intention-to-treat principle and dropout from the waiting list. Liver Transpl 8(10):873-83, 2002.
- Stock PG, Roland ME, Carlson L, Freise CE, Roberts JP, Hirose R, Terrault NA, Frassetto LA, Palefsky JM, Tomlanovich SJ, Ascher NL. Kidney and liver transplantation in human immunodeficiency virus-infected patients: a pilot safety and efficacy study. Transplantation 76(2):370-5, 2003.
- Shergill AK, Khalili M, Straley S, Bollinger K, Roberts JP, Ascher NA, Terrault NA. Applicability, tolerability and efficacy of preemptive antiviral therapy in hepatitis C-infected patients undergoing liver transplantation. Am J Transplant 5(1):118-24, 2005.
In the News
Twenty-Five Department of Surgery Faculty Named to U.S. News “Top Doctors†List
U.S. News - Mar 01, 2012In its most recent survey, U.S. News in collaboration with Castle Connolly Medical Ltd. listed twenty-five (25) surgeons in the UCSF Department of Surgery, nearly one-third (1/3) of the clinical faculty, on the list of U.S. News "Top Doctors". The list, compiled from the opinion of colleagues, denotes the top 10% of physicians within a region practicing a given specialty. Fifteen of the 25 department surgeons were also named by their peers to the list of America's Top Doctors (ATD), a distinction reserved for the top 1% of physicians in the nation for that specialty. The listings are published online at U.S. News. The group rankings are intended to guide patients in selecting a doctor and physicians in making specialty referrals.
Transplantation: The Cerberus of the 20th Century
UCTV - Jan 05, 2009"Dr. Nancy Ascher presents The Osher Center for Integrative Medicine's mini-med lecture on transplantation. Explore how new technology may affect the future of transplantation."
Organs for Sale?
Nancy Ascher, MD, PhD on NPR's Forum with Michael Krasny - Sep 22, 2008"Each day in the U.S., 19 people die waiting for donated organs. To help increase supply, some health experts and economists want to legalize the market for human organs. We take up the issue with a panel of experts."
Great Discoveries: UCSF Organ Transplant Experience Discussed by Dr. Nancy Ascher
UCTV - Mar 13, 2008Dr. Nancy Ascher, chair of the UCSF Department of Surgery, has devoted her career to organ transplants and transplant research. Learn more about organ transplant at UCSF Medical Center, a service that began in the 1960s. Series: "UCSF Mini Medical School for the Public" [6/2006] [Health and Medicine] [Professional Medical Education] [Show ID: 11683]
UCSF Surgeons Discuss Embryonic Stem Cells as Treatment of Liver Disease on PBS NewsHour
PBS NewsHour with Jim Lehrer - Oct 08, 2007Dr. Nancy Ascher and Dr. Holger Willenbring were interviewed by PBS NewsHour correspondent Spencer Michaels about the transformation of embryonic stem cells into new liver cells as a treatment for patients.
A day in the life of a husband and wife liver transplant team
San Francisco Chronicle, CA - Dec 18, 2005"Of all the things for a married couple to bicker about, Nancy Ascher and John Roberts have hit on a first -- a pulsing human liver. To be precise, they are standing forehead to forehead with a man splayed out between them. Roberts wants more of his liver to take next door to a waiting recipient. Ascher wants more of it left behind for the donor's recovery."
