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Nancy L. Ascher, M.D., Ph.D.
Professor and Chair, Department of Surgery
Isis Distinguished Professor ofTransplantation
Contact Information
(415) 353-1550 Clinical, Kidney and Pancreas
(415) 476-1236 Academic
aschern@surgery.ucsf.edu
Education
- 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 2002
Clinical Expertise
- Fulminant Hepatic Failure
- Hepatocellular Carcinoma (Liver Cancer)
- Kidney Transplantation
- Liver Transplantation
- Live Donor Liver Transplantation
- Viral Hepatitis
Research Interests
- Clinical Transplantation
- Disease Recurrence After Liver Transplantation
- Transplant Policy
- Transplant Ethics
- Clinical Transplantation
- Disease Recurrence After Liver Transplantation
- Transplant Policy
- Transplant Ethics
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.
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. LOCAL EVENTS IN ALLOGRAFT REJECTION
We have continued to work with the sponge allograft model to look
at the specific lymphokines as well as mechanisms of rejection
occurring at the graft site. We have expanded the research to
specifically look at the in vivo response to hepatocytes and islet
cells placed in the sponge matrix allograft. We have found that we
can define the specific in vivo response and in fact can generate a
predictable response to either islets or hepatocytes. This work has
been expanded to define the specific lymphokines present in human
liver allograft r ejection.
II. USE OF THE SCID MOUSE IN TRANSPLANTATION MODELS
In order to study the interactions of subsets of cells and
cytokines in transplantation biology we have used the severe
combined immunodeficiency disease (SCID) mouse in a transplant
model. We have found a way to have stable reconstitution with
allogenic and synegenic cells. The reconstituted SCID can reject
allografted tissue in a normal tempo with histological features
akin to normal rejection.
III. 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.
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
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 Michels 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."
