Director, Professor

Dr. Manal Abdelmalek is a tenured Professor of Medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology and Director of the NAFLD Clinical Research Program at Duke University.

She received training in Internal Medicine, Gastroenterology, and Hepatology at the Mayo Clinic and obtained an MPH degree with an emphasis in epidemiology, public health, and clinical investigation at the University of Florida. Since first reporting on NASH as a cause of cryptogenic cirrhosis nearly 25 years ago, her clinical and research area of interest has been in the field of NAFLD, its associated risk factors for disease acquisition and progression, and the discovery of novel approaches to treatment. She has expertise in designing and conducting clinical trials including investigator-initiated, industry-sponsored, and NIH-funded clinical studies evaluating new therapies and biomarkers for NAFLD and NASH.

She collaborates extensively to translate new compounds to first-in-man clinical studies and translate research to define pathogenic mechanisms underlying NAFLD acquisition and progression. She is a key opinion leader in NASH Therapeutics, a member of the Liver Forum, and advisor to industry, the FDA, and biomarker development companies. Dr. Abdelmalek is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians, American College of Gastroenterology, and American Association for the Study of Liver Disease. She is a standing member of the NASH Clinical Research Network (NASH CRN) for the past 15 years. She has authored more than 200 publications in the field of liver disease.