VCU liver disease specialist wins $1.5 million NIH grant

By Joe Kuttenkuler

RICHMOND, Va. – Arun Sanyal, M.D., professor and chair of the Division of Gastroenterology in the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, has been awarded a $1.5 million, five-year grant from the National Institutes of Health to study the causes and treatments of a common, yet poorly understood, liver disease.

Known as nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, or NASH, the disease affects three to four percent of Americans whose livers store unusually high levels of fat. Over time, 20-30 percent of those affected may develop cirrhosis that can, in turn, lead to life-threatening liver failure and the need for a transplant. The disease is strongly related to obesity, so Sanyal cautions that the United States could be facing a significant health problem over the next few decades.

"We think that the longer someone is obese, the more likely it is that they will develop NASH," Sanyal said. "And, unfortunately, obesity has turned into a national epidemic, even among our children."

Sanyal is associate chair of research in VCU’s Department of Internal Medicine and principal investigator on two other NIH grants, including a NIH career development award to study the mechanisms and treatment of liver disease. The newly awarded grant is scheduled to begin in May.