History

The Division of Liver Diseases enjoys a ~50 year tradition of excellence and leadership in hepatology that supports our mission to advance our understanding of liver disease in order to improve the lives or our patients. Our status as a freestanding division that is separate from, but complementary to, gastroenterology has enabled us to create world-leading programs in research, education and patient care dedicated solely to the study and treatment of liver diseases. With one of the largest and most dynamic liver disease faculties anywhere in the world, the Division is forging new directions in investigating, diagnosing, and treating liver disease that promise to improve the prospects for our patients. Our partnerships with colleagues in gastroenterology and allied specialties including pathology, radiology and surgery, contribute to a fertile environment that fosters groundbreaking discoveries and new paradigms of care.

1950

The creation of the Mount Sinai Division of Liver Disease.

1965

Drs. Hans Popper and Fenton Schaffner are considered the founding fathers of hepatology. Popper became the Mount Sinai School of Medicine’s first dean of Academic Affairs.

1974

Mount Sinai’s Rubin and Lieber showed that alcohol was toxic to the liver in baboons.

2013

Mount Sinai’s Bonito and Alexandropoulos led an animal study that uncovered a mechanism responsible for the development of autoimmune hepatitis.

2013

Mount Sinai’s Evans, Sourisseau, Goldman, He and Gouon-Evans showed for the first time that hepatitis C virus can replicate in monkeys, which could result in a new animal model.

2014

Mount Sinai’s Llovet and Hoshida developed the first-ever gene test that could be used to identify patients with cirrhosis who are at the highest risk of developing the most common type of liver cancer HCC.