News & Events: Amar Nijagal, M.D.

Pediatric surgeon-scientist Amar Nijagal, M.D. has been awarded an American Cancer Society Individual Research Grant to study the crucial link between liver and bile duct development, and hepatobiliary cancers. The study is entitled: "Single cell characterization and organoid development of pediatric choledochal cysts and hepatoblastoma to understand the link between liver development and hepatobiliary malignancy."  Project Summary Developmental abnormalities of the liver and bile ducts can lead to life-threatening cancers. Both choledochal cysts, congenital dilations of the biliary tree [...]

Amar Nijagal, M.D., an Assistant Professor in the Department of Surgery, was awarded a Pilot/Feasibility Award from the UCSF Liver Center, of which he is now an associate member. An external advisory board comprised of leading liver scientists evaluated applications for this award. Dr. Nijagal's research proposal, "The Role of Monocytes on The Resolution of Perinatal Hepatic Inflammation", was among three chosen for this highly competitive award. Dr. Nijagal's laboratory focuses on perinatal inflammation of the liver as it can have life-threatening consequences, particularly in infants and [...]

Pediatric surgeon-scientist Amar Nijagal, M.D., Assistant Professor in the Division of Pediatric Surgery, has been awarded the 29th Franklin H. Martin, MD, FACS Faculty Research Fellowship from the American College of Surgeons. His research will study the role of neutrophils and monocytes during the initiation and resolution of neonatal liver inflammation.   Dr. Nijagal's laboratory is focused on the immune regulation of liver development and perinatal liver inflammation.  Using an infectious model of neonatal liver inflammation, Dr. Nijagal's group has made the striking observation that the [...]

Amar Nijagal, M.D., assistant professor of Surgery in the Division of Pediatric Surgery, received the Jay Grosfeld MD Scholar Award from the American Pediatric Surgical Association Foundation (APSAF) at the 2018 APSA annual meeting. Dr. Nijagal was one of two junior faculty honored with the highly competitive award for his grant proposal, "Investigating the fetal mechanisms of liver and bile duct repair: a link to the prenatal origins of biliary atresia". The Department of Surgery is also pleased to announce the launch of the Nijagal Lab website. The lab will study how immune cells regulate [...]

UCSF News reports on fetal stem cell transplantation, taking healthy cells from the bone marrow of a donor, and transplanting them into the fetus through ultrasound-guided injections with the goal of having the implanted cells, or graft, replenish the patient's supply of healthy blood-forming cells. UCSF researchers have tackled a decade-long scientific conundrum, and their discovery is expected to lead to significant advances in using stem cells to treat genetic diseases before birth. Through a series of mouse model experiments, the research team determined that a mother's immune response [...]