Message From the Chiefs

Welcome to the inaugural Mount Sinai Health System Specialty Report for Liver Diseases. The publication of this report is the latest step Mount Sinai is taking to recognize and elevate the importance of hepatology as a separate specialty that nonetheless collaborates closely with our gastroenterological colleagues.

Topics covered in this report range from a new understanding of the processes behind liver fibrosis to a new classification system for cholangiocarcinoma and new pharmaceutical approaches to nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), now known as metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH). We also pay close attention to important subgroups disproportionately affected by liver disease, including African Americans, World Trade Center responders, and those who are pregnant.

This report also marks a transition in division leadership—only the third in the institution’s history. After 22 years as Chief of the Division of Liver Diseases, I am stepping down to concentrate on my other responsibilities, including serving as Dean for Therapeutic Discovery, co-directing the Cancer Mechanisms program of The Tisch Cancer Institute, and leading a new Institute for Liver Research.

My successor, Meena Bansal, MD, was my first faculty recruit here at Mount Sinai, and has had a stellar career ever since. Among many achievements, she led our successful fellowship application as one of the first approved Advanced Hepatology Programs in the United States, and is the founding Director of our NAFLD/NASH (now MASLD/MASH) Center of Excellence. She has served as Secretary of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) and hopefully will be elected President in the coming years, as were my two predecessors as division chief: Fenton Schaffner, MD; and Paul Berk, MD; and I.

I am immensely proud of the tremendous growth the Division has experienced during the last two decades, in terms of research productivity, faculty size, clinical volume, national visibility, and education. We’ve hosted three postgraduate courses annually and trained dozens of leading hepatologists and mid-level providers around the country and throughout the world.

Our research expertise touches on all aspects of investigative and clinical hepatology, including viral hepatitis, fibrosis, liver cancer, steatotic liver disease, biliary disease, and environmental impact on the liver.

The future will surely be even brighter under Dr. Bansal’s leadership, and I look forward to remaining as a member of her team.

Scott L. Friedman, MD
Dean for Therapeutic Discovery
Director, Institute for Liver Research
Irene and Dr. Arthur M. Fishberg Professor of Medicine
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

It is a tremendous honor for me to be selected to succeed my mentor, Dr. Friedman, as the System Chief of the Division of Liver Diseases. It is particularly fitting as I was Dr. Friedman’s first faculty recruit 22 years ago. As division chief, I aim to use my scientific and clinical background, coupled with my strategic and operational experience, to help the Division achieve further success in its clinical, scientific, and patient-centered missions.

I look forward to a wonderful 2024 filled with challenges and opportunities. Together the Division will continue to flourish.

Meena Bansal, MD
Chief, Division of Liver Diseases
Director, MASLD/MASH (NAFLD/NASH) Center of Excellence
Mount Sinai Health System
Professor of Medicine (Liver Diseases)
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai