Nationality USA Name Jay Hoofnagle | Fields Liver disease | |
Institutions National Institutes of Health Known for Use of interferon in treatment of hepatitis Notable awards AASLD, Canadian Liver Foundation Gold Metal Award, NIH Director's Award, Hepatitis B Foundation Distinguished Scientist Institution National Institutes of Health Alma mater Yale University, University of Virginia |
Jay Houston Hoofnagle is an American M.D. He is a leading expert in hepatotoxicity, hepatitis, cirrhosis and other diseases of the liver, and director of the Liver Disease Research Branch in the Division of Digestive Diseases and Nutrition at the National Institutes of Health.
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Hoofnagle performed the first clinical trial on interferon for chronic hepatitis B. While it was believed that hepatitis was untreatable in the 1980s, Hoofnagle's trials at the National Institutes of Health using interferon during that period resulted in the first cures of hepatitis C infected patients. His graduate work is notable for elucidating serologic response to hepatitis infection and is included in many textbook descriptions of hepatitis infection as a classic piece of virology. Hoofnagle is the author of over 400 peer reviewed articles on liver diseases, and his Scopus h-index as of January 2014 is 69.
Career
Hoofnagle leads the Liver Disease Branch at NIDDK, and has done so since he was tapped for the position in 2003. In this capacity, Hoofnagle oversees the Drug-Induced Liver Injury Network and LiverTox, a database that provides "comprehensive and unbiased information about drug induced liver injury caused by prescription and nonprescription drugs, herbal and dietary supplements." Data produced from this network showed that dietary supplements account for nearly 20 percent of drug-induced liver injuries.
Prior to his current role, Hoofnagle was the Director of the Division of Digestive Diseases and Nutrition at the National Institute of Diabetes & Digestive & Kidney Diseases. Before joining the NIH, he was a senior scientist at the Hepatitis Branch, Division of Blood and Blood Products, Food and Drug Administration. Commissioned in the Public Health Service in 1978, he has risen to the rank of Lieutenant Commander.