Temple Liver Disease Program

The Temple Liver Disease Program provides comprehensive medical and surgical treatment for patients with all forms of liver disease.

Appointments: 1-800-TEMPLE-MED (800-836-7536)
Location: Temple University Hospital Boyer Pavilion
3509 N. Broad Street (Broad & Tioga Streets)
Philadelphia, PA 19140

Experience

The Temple Liver Disease Program is distinguished by the presence of nationally recognized experts in liver disease:

  • Drs. Martin Black and Santiago Munoz are two of the most experienced hepatologists in the mid-Atlantic area. They have managed care for thousands of patients with advanced liver or bile duct disease and they have pioneered many of the now-standard treatments for hepatobiliary disease. Over the course of their careers, Drs. Black and Munoz have also trained dozens of the top hepatologists now practicing in the U.S.
  • Dr. Ashokkumar Jain is recognized as one of the world's most experienced liver transplant and hepatobiliary surgeons. He has performed over 1,000 liver transplants and published hundreds of journal articles and textbook chapters.

A Full Range of Sophisticated Therapies

Many patients coming to Temple have obscure, unresponsive, serious, or complicated forms of liver disease. Our patients often require highly specialized treatments such as:

  • Aggressive drug and immune therapy for viral hepatitis and overlapping conditions
  • Tailored combinations of drug, immune, and nutrition therapy with extra attention to monitoring and adjustments to minimize side effects while increasing compliance and efficacy in patients with hepatitis or cirrhosis
  • Critical care for coagulopathy, encephalopathy, and other risks in acute liver failure
  • Interventional radiologic procedures:
    • Liver biopsy
    • Bile duct drainage
    • Portal vein embolization
    • Arterial chemoembolization
    • Yttrium therapies
    • Radiofrequency and microwave ablation
    • Transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunts (TIPS)
  • Laparoscopic and other minimally invasive procedures:
    • Liver biopsy
    • Liver lobectomy or cyst removal
    • Liver wedge resection
    • Stent placements
    • Cholecystectomy
    • Pancreatectomy
    • Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP)
  • Complex major liver and pancreatic surgeries:
    • Repair of bile duct injuries
    • Liver and bile duct resections
    • Radiofrequency ablation
    • Whipple procedure and variations
    • Pancreatectomy
    • Transplantation

Medical Team


Hepatologists

MARTIN BLACK, MD, head of the Liver Unit, is nationally renowned as a clinician and educator. For more than two decades, Dr. Black has been one of the most trusted hepatologists in Philadelphia, standing out not just for his diagnostic acumen and therapeutic skills in liver disease, but moreover for his personal devotion and long-term commitment to his patients. His special interests are in viral hepatitis, chronic active hepatitis, non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, and other serious or complex hepatobiliary disorders.

SANTIAGO J. MUNOZ, MD, Medical Director of the Temple Liver Transplant Program, is acknowledged as one of the region's most accomplished clinician-researchers in hepatology — a reputation earned during his decade as Chairman of the Division of Hepatology and Director of the Center for Liver Disease at Albert Einstein Medical Center and a decade as the Director of the Liver Disease Program at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. His special interests are in chronic viral hepatitis, autoimmune hepatitis, biliary cirrhosis, hemochromotosis, Wilson’s disease, acute fulminant liver failure, new antiviral agents, artificial liver support, and transplantation medicine.

VISHAL PATEL, MD served his residency at Lehigh Valley Hospital in Allentown, PA and completed his Hepatology fellowship at Albert Einstein Medical Center in Philadelphia. His clinical interests include management of viral hepatitis, autoimmune liver disease, end stage liver disease including complications of portal hypertension and acute liver failure.

Liver Surgeons

ASHOKKUMAR JAIN, MD, Surgical Director of Liver Transplant Program, is internationally known as one of the most experienced liver transplant and hepatobiliary surgeons. Since his training at the University of Pittsburgh, he has performed more than 1,000 liver transplants. Over the last two decades, he has published over 250 manuscripts and presented almost 600 scientific papers in national and international meetings. Dr. Jain brings unparalleled experience and new insights to the Liver Disease Program.

ANDREAS KARACHRISTOS, MD, PhD, Co-Director of the Temple Liver Tumor Program, is experienced in a full range of hepatobiliary surgical procedures to meet the special needs of diverse patients. He employs both open and laparoscopic approaches to address problems of the liver and bile duct. Dr. Karachristos also performs liver transplantation and surgery for primary and metastatic liver tumors — including the resectioning of liver tumors to allow patients to meet transplant eligibility.

SHEFALI AGRAWAL, MD is Assistant Professor of Surgery. Following her general surgery residency at the University of Rochester, NY, she completed fellowships in surgical oncology at the Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, NY, and in hepatobiliary and pancreatic surgery at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD. Her clinical specialties include liver and pancreatic surgery, management of benign tumors and cancer of the liver, gall bladder, bile ducts, and pancreas, and surgical oncology.

JOHN A. DALLER, MD is Associate Professor of Surgery and Director of the Abdominal Organ Transplant Program. He is a highly experienced transplant surgeon with special interests in hepatic physiology and regeneration as well as immunosuppression, vascular access, T-cell apoptosis, and signal transduction.

Interventional Radiology & Oncology

GARY S. COHEN, MD, is Chief of Vascular/Interventional Radiology, Co-Director of the Liver Tumor Program, and Professor and Vice Chair of Radiology. He has been consistently selected as a “TOP DOC” in Philadelphia magazine is nationally recognized for his interventional expertise. His interests include all facets of liver diagnosis and intervention from percutaneous biliary drainage and stenting to cutting-edge IPS endografts, percutaneous portal vein embolization en route to tumor resection, and percutaneous interventional oncology including chemoembolization, Yttrium therapies, radio frequency ablation, and microwave ablation.

S. ASIM ALI, MD is Assistant Professor of Oncology in the Department of Medicine. As a medical oncologist and Director of Gastrointestinal Oncology at the Temple Cancer Center, he has helped develop new techniques for improving patient supportive care during intensive chemotherapy.


To schedule an appointment with a physician from the Temple Liver Disease Program, call 1-800-TEMPLE-MED (800-836-7536).

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