Nancy L. Ascher, MD, PhD | UCSF Department of Surgery

Biography

Dr. Nancy Ascher has devoted her career to organ transplantation and transplant research. She has served on the Presidential Task Force on Organ Transplantation, Surgeon General's Task Force on Increasing Donor Organs and Secretary of Health and Human Services Advisory Committee on Organ Transplantation.

Ascher is a graduate of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, where she earned her medical degree. She completed a general surgery residency and clinical transplant fellowship at the University of Minnesota, where she later joined the faculty and became clinical director of the liver transplant program.

Ascher is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons. She is a member of numerous other medical societies, including the American Society of Transplant Surgeons, in which she has served as president.

Education

Institution	Degree	Dept or School	End Date
University of Minnesota	Fellowship	Transplant Surgery	1982
University of Minnesota	Residency	General Surgery	1981
University of Michigan			1974

Board Certifications

American Board of Surgery, 1982, renewed 2012

Clinical Expertise

End-Stage Kidney Disease
Fulminant Hepatic Failure
Hepatitis B
Hepatitis C
Hepatocellular Carcinoma (Liver Cancer)
Kidney Transplantation
Liver Cysts
Living Donor Kidney Transplantation
Living Donor Liver Transplantation
Liver Transplantation
Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease
Pediatric Liver Transplantation
Pediatric Kidney Transplantation
Portal Hypertension

Grants and Funding

ALLOGRAFT RESPONSE TO LIVER TISSUE | NIH | 1988-09-30 - 1995-09-29 | Role: Principal Investigator
LIVER TRANSPLANTATION CENTERS | NIH/NIDDK | 1990-01-01 - 1995-03-31 | Role: Principal Investigator
ORGAN TRANSPLANTS: ANALYSIS OF MIGRATING LYMPHOCYTES | NIH | 1984-07-01 - 1987-06-30 | Role: Principal Investigator

Research Narrative

I. 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.

II. EXPANDED CRITERIA FOR LIVER TRANSPLANT FOR HEPATOCELLULAR CARCINOMA
We have redefined the criteria for liver transplantation beyond the Milan criteria. The UCSF criteria enables additional patients to benefit from liver transplants without compromising outcome.

Research Interests

Clinical Transplantation
Recurrence After Liver Transplantation
Transplant Policy
Transplant Ethics

Publications

MOST RECENT PUBLICATIONS FROM A TOTAL OF 10

Validation and refinement of early allograft dysfunction criteria in living donor liver transplantation.
Stacey P, Shui AM, Stacey H, Crest P, Braun H, Ascher N, Roberts JP, Brown AE| 2026-05-08 | PubMed
Living liver donor safety: Preoperative aspects of living liver donation- Guidelines from the ILTS-iLDLT consensus conference.
Selzner N, Patel MS, Khan MQ, Magistri P, Sayed BA, Rammohan A, Humar A, Abbey S, Badenoch H, Bhangui P, Cattral M, Durand F, Gross JA, Hibi T, Jhaveri K, Kabacam G, Khan M, Malik A, Nadalin S, Ng VL, Petrowsky H, Pillai A, Reddy MS, Tokat Y, Wong T, Yilmaz S, Yoshizumi T, Ascher N, Broering D, Burra P, Chen CL, Hirschfield G, Lerut J, Mas V, Taner T, Terrault N, Vyas MP, Wiggins C, Heimbach J, Olthoff K, Rela M, Bhangui P| 2026-01-09 | PubMed
Living liver donor safety: Intraoperative considerations in living liver donation-Guidelines from the ILTS-iLDLT group consensus conference 2025.
Bhangui P, Hakeem AR, Di Maira T, Rammohan A, Sayed BA, Soejima Y, Shingina A, Cheah YL, McCluskey S, Spiro M, Ganesh S, Rajalingam R, Gupta S, Findlay J, Gupta A, Chieh AKW, Sakamoto S, Xia Q, Kim KH, Polak WG, Sapisochin G, Soin AS, Pomposelli J, Vyas M, Wiggins C, Mas V, Taner T, Broering D, Chen CL, Terrault N, Burra P, Hirschfield G, Ascher N, Lerut J, Rela M, Heimbach J, Selzner N, Balci D, Olthoff K| 2025-12-29 | PubMed
Living liver donor safety: Early postoperative considerations of living liver donation guidelines from the ILTS-iLDLTG consensus conference.
Sayed BA, Tejedor M, Kathirvel M, Chadha R, Bhangui P, Rammohan A, Ghanekar A, Ivanics T, Kasahara M, Kim DS, Scatton O, Ghobrial M, Klair T, Rajakumar A, Bezinover D, Bittermann T, Don C, Surendran S, Hernandez-Alejandro R, Luzzi C, Tsien C, Di Benedetto F, Egawa H, Ascher N, Broering D, Burra P, Chen CL, Hirschfield G, Lerut J, Mas V, Taner T, Terrault N, Vyas MP, Wiggins C, Fung JJ, Olthoff K, Rela M, Heimbach J, Selzner N| 2025-12-18 | PubMed
Long-term considerations following living liver donation-Guidelines from the 2025 ILTS-iLDLT consensus conference on living liver donor safety.
Rammohan A, Shankar S, Syn N, Mathew JS, Bhangui P, Sayed BA, Jung DH, Watt KD, Pomfret EA, Roberts JP, Selzner M, Chan A, Maluf D, Zhu ZJ, Eghtesad B, Minnee RC, Chaudhary A, Eguchi S, James P, Goldaracena N, Kodali S, Kim J, Man NK, Liapakis AM, Fipps DC, Taner T, Wiggins C, Ascher N, Mas VR, Chen CL, Terrault NA, Burra P, Vyas MP, Suk-Suh K, Hirschfield G, Broering D, Lerut JP, Heimbach J, Olthoff KM, Selzner N, Rela M| 2025-12-18 | PubMed
The potential of kidney transplantation to reduce mortality from chronic kidney disease: a global, cross-sectional, modelling study.
Zambeli-Ljepovic A, Tungsanga S, Ghimire A, Bello AK, Okpechi IG, Siyoum MT, Mushi FA, Asiimwe F, Bagasha P, Okungu V, Bertozzi SM, Hoffmann TJ, Thomson D, Muller E, Scott JW, Syed S, Ascher N, Stock P, Rose J| 2025-08-27 | PubMed
Back Table Arterial Reconstructions Using the Recipient Hepatic Arterial Tree in Living Donor Liver Transplantation.
Stacey P, Braun H, Barua S, Tavakol M, Piper M, Ascher N, Roberts J| 2025-07-01 | PubMed
Proposed US Legislation to Pay Kidney Donors: Counter-productive and Against Global Ethical Standards.
Capron AM, Danovitch GM, Cooper M, Ascher NL, Delmonico FL| 2024-10-31 | PubMed
Promoting Equitable and Affordable Patient Access to Safe and Effective Innovations in Donation and Transplantation of Substances of Human Origin and Derived Therapies.
Cuende N, Tullius SG, Izeta A, Plattner V, Börgel MSc M, Ciccocioppo R, Correa-Rocha R, Koh MBC, De Angelis V, Gondolesi GE, Ten Ham R, Porte RJ, Hernández-Maraver D, Hawthorne WJ, Sureda A, Orlando G, Haraldsson B, Ascher NL, Dominguez-Gil B, Oniscu GC| 2024-10-22 | PubMed
A Last Hurrah: Reply to Sharif et al Regarding China.
Delmonico FL, Ascher NL| 2024-05-23 | PubMed

Resources