At Cleveland Clinic's Mikati Center for Liver Diseases, our team has the experience and expertise to accurately diagnose and offer world class treatments for all forms of liver disease, including viral hepatitis, fatty liver, alcoholic liver disease, autoimmune liver diseases, genetic liver diseases and liver cancer.
The Mikati Center, established in 2013, was established through a generous philanthropic gift from the Mikati family with a vision to expand and enhance the hepatology program under the direction of Dr. Nizar Zein. The Center‘s mission is to sustain and improve the lives of those with liver diseases through advances in research, innovation, and education. Our physicians are not only skilled clinicians, they are actively involved in both clinical and translational research projects as well as educational programs in our community and across the nation.
More than 100 types of liver disease have been identified. Their common feature is that they all involve damage to the liver that disturbs its ability to function normally. The staff of the Mikati Center is well versed in new innovative and comprehensive therapies for any stage of liver disease and brings together all specialists in one setting to help create an individualized treatment plan for each patient.
This guide provides an overview of the liver transplantation program at Cleveland Clinic. The transplant process, from evaluation to post transplant follow up, is highlighted for potential patients.
Several of the staff of Mikati Center for Liver Diseases are actively engaged in research. With a wide variety of studies in liver diseases, the research projects of our staff have gained remarkable recognition both nationally and internationally. Current and most recent areas of research and innovation include:
3D liver printing
The 3D Printed Liver Anatomic Model, based on medical imaging, is the first of its kind and has multiple implications for surgical planning and education. The 3D printing of livers is a multidisciplinary project that includes team members from radiology, biomedical engineering, hepatology and hepatobiliary surgery teams. Started in 2012, this project has evolved over the past three years to provide the best patient specific liver replicas with the highest accuracy and resolution available today. These 3D replicas provide valuable input for surgeons, especially in complex resections, may reduce surgical complications, and provide state of the art teaching tools for medical trainees. Dr. Zein and his team are still engaged in continued research and refinement of 3D liver printing. Working with Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute’s Medical Devices Unit, Dr. Zein has built more than 20 of these liver models to date – in a flexible resin with internal lumen geometry generated from a reconstructed CT scan – to improve surgical planning and training.
Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH)
The incidence and risk factors of hepatocellular carcinoma in patients with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis.
Clinical Research Network in Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis: Dr. Arthur McCullough is the principal investigator for our Cleveland Clinic Lerner- CWRU site, one of only eight sites nationally participating in this NIH funded network.
Alcohol-related liver diseases
Biochemical, cellular, and systematic responses to alcohol.
Macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) in progression and treatment of alcoholic liver disease.
Translational research component of an NIH funded multisite study to identify novel therapies and biomarkers in alcoholic hepatitis.
Breath testing as an alternative, noninvasive diagnostic tool in the following areas
Fatty liver progression.
Liver cirrhosis.
End-stage liver diseases.
Alcoholic hepatitis.
Other areas of research
Exploration of fatty liver as an indication for liver transplantation and its effects on the transplanted graft, particularly in young subjects.
Role of rifaximin in the primary prophylaxis of spontaneous bacterial peritonitis in patients with liver cirrhosis.
Rate of tumor growth as a predictor for recurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma after liver transplantation in patients whose tumor burdens exceed current transplant criteria.
Mikati Center funded projects
Philanthropic contributions from the Mikati family and other generous individuals have given the Mikati Center many unique opportunities. One of those opportunities has been development of our own internal call for pilot research proposals. To date, chronic liver disease research projects in the following areas are supported by the Mikati Center:
Normothermic machine preservation in human liver transplantation.
Evaluation of donor outcomes following living donor liver transplantation.
Mitigation of alcohol induced gut liver injury.
For more information of Liver Disease related research at Cleveland Clinic and information on how to enroll in clinical trials, visit the Lerner Research Institute.
Since our founding in 1921, Cleveland Clinic has been at the leading-edge of healthcare. From wellness initiatives, to research that advances patient care, to the education of future physician-investigators and primary care doctors, we anticipate issues before they are public concerns and go on to develop original solutions. Every day, our patients show us firsthand how important this work is. And we are excited about the discoveries we have yet to make.
But we can’t do this without help. Government funding for research has declined by 20 percent in the last decade. We could lose an entire generation of researchers if we can’t find support for their work, which has potential to save lives.
Future gifts will support life-changing work. These resources will help us invest in capital, research, education and patient care to answer the pressing needs of society at a time when federal and corporate funding is on a steep decline.
Many of the cutting edge research accomplishments and other advances that have made the Mikati Center for Liver Diseases a leader in hepatology have been facilitated by generous philanthropic contributions. To learn more about how to make an impact, please call Cleveland Clinic's Philanthropy Institute at 216.444.1245, 800.223.2273 ext. 41245, or email giving@ccf.org.
