Rohit Loomba

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Rohit Loomba
Born	India
🏳️ Nationality	American
🎓 Alma mater	Armed Forces Medical College, Pune University (M.B.B.S.) Duke University School of Medicine (MHSc)
💼 Occupation
Known for	Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD/NASH), non-invasive liver biomarkers, gut microbiome in liver disease
🏅 Awards	Top 1% globally cited scientists (2019–2023); Elected ASCI (2020); Elected AAP (2023)
🌐 Website	masld.ucsd.edu

Rohit Loomba, MD, MHSc, is an American physician-scientist and one of the world's foremost authorities on metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD, formerly known as NAFLD/NASH). He holds the John C Martin Endowed Chair and serves as Professor of Medicine (with tenure), Chief of the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Director of Hepatology, and Founding Director of the MASLD Research Center at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD).

Loomba is among the world's most highly cited scientists in his field, consistently ranked in the top 1% of globally cited researchers across all disciplines by Web of Science from 2019 through 2023. His Google Scholar H-index stands at 160, reflecting over 640 primary peer-reviewed publications. He has served as Principal Investigator on numerous NIH-funded and investigator-initiated multi-centre clinical trials, including landmark studies evaluating novel pharmacological agents for MASH.

Education and training

Loomba completed his undergraduate medical degree (M.B.B.S., equivalent to MD) at the Armed Forces Medical College, Pune University, India from 1993 to 1999. He subsequently undertook his Internal Medicine residency at St. Luke's Hospital, St. Louis, Missouri (2000–2003), followed by a year as Chief Resident (2003–2004).

From 2004 to 2007, he pursued a combined Hepatology and Research Fellowship at the Liver Diseases Branch, NIH/NIDDK, Bethesda, MD. He concurrently completed a Master of Health Science (MHSc) in Clinical Research through the NIH–Duke University Combined Program at Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC (2005–2007). He then completed a Gastroenterology Fellowship at UC San Diego (2007–2009).

He is board-certified in both Internal Medicine (2004) and Gastroenterology (2009, recertified 2019).

Academic career

Positions at UC San Diego

Loomba joined UCSD in 2009 as an Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology with a joint appointment in the Division of Epidemiology. He was promoted progressively through the clinical and ladder-rank faculty tracks, achieving tenure as Professor of Medicine in 2015.

He has held the following positions at UCSD:

• Director, NAFLD Clinic (2009–present)
• Director, Liver Epidemiology Training Program (2011–present)
• Associate Director of Clinical Research, Division of Gastroenterology (2013–2018)
• Co-Director, Translational Core, Division of Gastroenterology (2013–2018)
• Director of Hepatology (2016–present)
• Medical Director, Liver Transplantation (2016–2019)
• Vice-Chief, Division of Gastroenterology (2016–2022)
• Founding Director, MASLD Research Center (present)
• Chief, Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology (2023–present)
• Professor of Medicine, Ladder Rank, with tenure, Step V (2021–present)
• John C Martin Endowed Chair (present)
• Adjunct Professor, Division of Epidemiology, Department of Family Medicine and Public Health (present)

Research

Loomba's research programme spans the full translational spectrum of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) — from population-level epidemiology and genetic risk to development of non-invasive biomarkers, gut microbiome signatures, and phase 1–3 clinical trials of novel therapeutics.

MASLD / MASH / NAFLD

Together with Arun Sanyal, Loomba co-authored a landmark 2013 Nature Reviews Gastroenterology & Hepatology article documenting the global NAFLD epidemic. His prospective cohort studies at UCSD established the association between hepatic steatosis and cardiovascular risk independent of NASH grade.

Non-invasive imaging biomarkers

Loomba has been a global leader in validating magnetic resonance elastography (MRE) and MRI-derived proton density fat fraction (MRI-PDFF) as non-invasive endpoints in NASH clinical trials. His prospective studies demonstrated that MRE predicts advanced fibrosis with superior diagnostic accuracy compared to transient elastography (FibroScan) and clinical prediction models.

He developed the MEFIB index (MRE + FIB-4) and the MASH Resolution Index (MASHResInd), novel composite non-invasive tools that are now widely adopted in clinical practice and trial screening.

Genetics and twin studies

Loomba led the Genetics of NAFLD in Twins Consortium, which demonstrated that both hepatic steatosis and fibrosis are highly heritable, with heritability estimates of approximately 50–60% for steatosis and 50% for fibrosis.

Gut microbiome

Loomba's laboratory produced the first metagenomic gut-microbiome signature capable of non-invasively detecting advanced fibrosis in NAFLD, published in Cell Metabolism in 2017. He is the founding director of the San Diego Integrated NAFLD Research Consortium (SINC), established in 2011.

Clinical trials

Loomba has served as Principal Investigator or lead PI on dozens of landmark clinical trials in NASH/MASH, including:

• MOZART Trial — ezetimibe versus placebo in NASH (novel MRI and MRE endpoints)
• ATLAS Trial — cilofexor and firsocostat combination therapy in bridging fibrosis and cirrhosis due to NASH (Phase 2b)
• FASCINATE-2 — denifanstat (FASN inhibitor) in MASH (Phase 2b)
• SYNERGY-NASH Trial — tirzepatide for MASH with liver fibrosis (Phase 2b)
• ENLIVEN Trial — pegozafermin (FGF21 analogue) in MASH (Phase 2b)
• ION224-CS2 Trial — DGAT2 antisense inhibitor ION224 for MASH (Phase 2)
• SEQUOIA Trial — fazirsiran for alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency–associated liver disease (Phase 2)

Research grants

Loomba has been continuously NIH-funded since joining UCSD. Select grants include:

Agency / Grant No.	Title	Period	Role
NIDDK / R01DK121378	Ancillary Studies of NAFLD and NASH in HIV-infected Adults	2020–2025	Multiple-PI
NIDDK / U01DK61734	Clinical Research Network in Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis (NASH CRN)	2009–2024	Principal Investigator (UCSD Site; Consortia PI)
NIDDK / R01DK124318	Screening for advanced fibrosis among patients with diabetes	2020–2025	Principal Investigator
NIH/NHLBI / 5P2ES010337	Cardiovascular-NASH disease nexus	2020–2025	Principal Investigator
NIH/NIAAA / U01AA029019	Novel IL-23 inhibitor for alcohol-associated liver disease	2020–2025	Principal Investigator
NIH/NIDDK / U01DK130190	Liver Cirrhosis Network	2021–2026	Principal Investigator
NIDDK / K23DK090303	Genetic Epidemiology of NAFLD: A Twin Study	2011–2015	Principal Investigator

Awards and honours

• 2002 — AGA/Wyeth Resident Reporter Award
• 2002 — American Liver Foundation / AASLD Resident Scholar Award
• 2009 — T. Franklin Williams Scholarship Award
• 2009 — AGA Foundation – Sucampo–ASP Designated Research Scholar Award in Geriatric Gastroenterology
• 2012 — Health Heroes Award (American Liver Foundation)
• 2018 — David Y Graham and Jim T Schwartz Lectureship Distinguished Lecturer, Baylor College of Medicine
• 2019 — Dr. Charles S. Lieber Lecture, Digestive Disease Week
• 2019–2023 — Top 1% globally highly cited scientists across all fields (Web of Science)
• 2020 — Elected to the American Society of Clinical Investigation (ASCI)
• 2023 — Elected to the Association of American Physicians (AAP)
• 2024 — INASL – Dr. D.V. Datta Memorial Oration for outstanding contribution in teaching and research in Hepatology

Patents

• 2014 — US Patent Application: Differential Diagnosis of Liver Disease — Polyunsaturated fatty acid metabolites as novel lipidomic biomarkers for non-invasive diagnosis of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis.
• 2015 — Provisional US Patent Application: Differential Diagnosis of Liver Disease — Quantitative Determination of Esterified Eicosanoids.

Selected publications

New England Journal of Medicine

• Loomba, R; Hartman, ML; Sanyal, AJ (2024). "Tirzepatide for metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis with liver fibrosis". N Engl J Med. 391 (4): 299–310. doi:10.1056/NEJMoa2401943. PMID 38856224 .
• Loomba, R; Sanyal, AJ; Kowdley, KV (2023). "Randomized, controlled trial of the FGF21 analogue pegozafermin in NASH". N Engl J Med. 389 (11): 998–1008. doi:10.1056/NEJMoa2304286. PMID 37356033 .
• Harrison, SA; Bedossa, P; Guy, CD; Schattenberg, JM; Loomba, R (2024). "A phase 3, randomized, controlled trial of resmetirom in NASH with liver fibrosis". N Engl J Med. 390 (6): 497–509. doi:10.1056/NEJMoa2309000. PMID 38324483 .

The Lancet

• Loomba, R; Morgan, E; Yousefi, K (2025). "Antisense oligonucleotide DGAT-2 inhibitor, ION224, for MASH (ION224-CS2)". Lancet. 406 (10505): 821–831. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(25)00979-1. PMID 40849139 .
• Neuschwander-Tetri, BA; Loomba, R; Sanyal, AJ (2015). "Farnesoid X nuclear receptor ligand obeticholic acid for non-cirrhotic, non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (FLINT)". Lancet. 385 (9972): 956–65. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(14)61933-4. PMID 25468160.
• Loomba, R; Morgan, E; Watts, L (2020). "Novel antisense inhibition of diacylglycerol O-acyltransferase 2 for treatment of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease". Lancet Gastroenterol Hepatol. 5 (9): 829–838. doi:10.1016/S2468-1253(20)30174-3. PMID 32640186 .

Cell Metabolism

• Loomba, R; Seguritan, V; Li, W (2017). "Gut microbiome-based metagenomic signature for non-invasive detection of advanced fibrosis in human nonalcoholic fatty liver disease". Cell Metabolism. 25 (5): 1054–1062. doi:10.1016/j.cmet.2017.04.001. PMID 28467925.
• Loomba, R; Friedman, SL; Shulman, GI (2021). "Mechanisms and disease consequences of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease". Cell. 184 (10): 2537–2564. doi:10.1016/j.cell.2021.04.015. PMID 33989548 .

Hepatology

• Loomba, R; Wolfson, T; Ang, B (2014). "Magnetic resonance elastography predicts advanced fibrosis in patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease". Hepatology. 60 (6): 1920–8. doi:10.1002/hep.27362. PMID 25041862.

Editorial roles

Journal	Role	Period
Alimentary Pharmacology and Therapeutics	Co-Editor	2021–present
Hepatology	Deputy Editor	2017–2021
Alimentary Pharmacology and Therapeutics	Associate Editor	2014–2016
Gastroenterology	Editorial Board	2014–present
Journal of Hepatology	Editorial Board	2015–present
Nature Reviews Gastroenterology and Hepatology	Editorial Board	2018–present
GUT	Editorial Board	2015–present

He also serves as peer reviewer for The New England Journal of Medicine, The Lancet, JAMA, Nature, Science, Cell Metabolism, and Nature Medicine, among others.

Professional service

• AASLD NASH Task Force Steering Committee (2019–present)
• Chair, AASLD Clinical Research Committee (2021–2023)
• Chair, AASLD NAFLD Special Interest Group (2018–2019)
• Elected to National Board of Directors, American Liver Foundation (2011–2015)
• Chair, ALF Research Awards Committee (2014–2016)
• Member, NIDDK Steering Committee, NASH Clinical Research Network (2009–present)
• Chair, Standard of Care Committee, NASH CRN–NIDDK (2010–2019)
• Standing Member, Subcommittee C Study Section, NIDDK, NIH (2016–2019)
• Chair, Ancillary Studies Committee, Liver Cirrhosis Network (2021–present)

See also

• Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease
• Metabolic syndrome
• Magnetic resonance elastography
• Gut microbiome
• Hepatology

External links

• Official MASLD Research Center at UCSD
• Google Scholar profile
• UCSD Faculty Profile

Category:American hepatologists Category:American gastroenterologists Category:University of California, San Diego faculty Category:Duke University alumni Category:Living people Category:Physician-scientists Category:Members of the American Society of Clinical Investigation

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