Dr. Joel Lavine a Significant Contributor to Understanding and Treatment of Pediatric and Adult Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis

Joel Edward Lavine, MD, PhD, Professor of Pediatrics and former Vice-Chair for Research at the Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons, is celebrated for his initial report and confirmations of his discovery of the sole recommended treatment for nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). This is the world’s most common chronic liver disorder. He also developed the devoted care outpatient digestive disease center at New York-Presbyterian and started the only liver transplant center for children in San Diego County. Author or co-author of over 200 studies published in the peer-reviewed medical literature, Dr. Lavine has also earned distinction for discovering the genetic basis of several GI and liver disorders.

Dr. Lavine’s Research Is Globally Significant

Dr. Lavine’s work towards the successful treatment of NASH has global implications. A substantial portion of the world’s population, in nations both the East and West, has nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), an antecedent conditions for NASH. A substantial portion of NASH patients develop cirrhosis within 10 years, and many of those patients develop liver cancer. NAFLD has become the major etiology of chronic liver disease in developed nations worldwide.

Uncovering the Genetic Factors in Pediatric Liver Disease

In critical colllaborations, Dr. Lavine has elucidated the relationship between the PNPLA3 gene and the protein it encodes, adiponutrin, to explain NAFLD as a sequel to hepatic inflammation in children. Dr. Lavine pioneered vitamin E and, later, obeticholic acid treatment for NASH. He also did extensive work on the causes of hepatotoxicity in children, including not only prescription pharmaceuticals but also unregulated drugs and herbal remedies.

Dr. Lavine has played an important educational role in his specialty, clarifying what is known as about the clinical presentation, histology, susceptibilities, treatment, prevalence and demographics. Importantly, he has demonstrated the frequent distinctions between pediatric and adult NASH.

A Lifetime of Medical Excellence

Dr. Lavine earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California at Berkeley in 1975 and his Doctor of Philosophy degree from the University of California at Santa Barbara in 1980. He completed a Doctor of Medicine from the University of California at San Diego in 1984.

Continuing his internship and residency at the University of California at San Francisco between 1984 and 1986, Lavine went on to a postdoctoral fellowship in pediatric gastroenterology.

Joel Edward Lavine MD has been a fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases, and the American Gastroenterological Association. Receiving the Pediatric Research Prize from the American Liver Foundation in 1989, Dr. Lavine has been frequently named to lists of the Best Doctors, Super Doctors, and Top Doctors of the Greater New York City area. Dr. Lavine appears in multiple editions of Who’s Who in America and their Lifetime Achievement Award.