Suraj Patel, M.D., Ph.D. Assistant Professor School Medical School Department Internal Medicine | Center for Human Nutrition Biography Suraj Patel, M.D., Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Department Internal Medicine and the Center for Human Nutrition at UT Southwestern Medical Center, and a member of the Division of Digestive and Liver Diseases. His clinical interests include obesity, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, and alcohol-related liver disease. Originally from New Jersey, Dr. Patel holds a bachelor's degree in mechanical and aerospace engineering from Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, where he graduated magna cum laude. He then received master's and doctoral degrees in bioengineering and immunology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard Medical School in Cambridge, Massachusetts, before pursuing his medical degree at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey. Dr. Patel then completed internal medicine residency training at UT Southwestern, before receiving advanced training through a fellowship program in gastroenterology at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, while simultaneously conducting a research fellowship in endocrinology, diabetes and metabolism at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC). Afterward, he remained at BIDMC to become a member of the clinical faculty. Dr. Patel joined the UT Southwestern faculty in 2021. He is certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine. Dr. Patel focuses his research on the metabolic causes and consequences of liver disease, and how the immune system influences liver metabolism. He combines conventional biological methods with novel transcriptomic and epigenomic techniques to develop therapies that limit organ dysfunction and improve patient health in metabolic disease. His investigations have resulted in numerous publications in peer-reviewed journals, and he has been invited to present his findings throughout the United States and around the world. Dr. Patel is an active member of several professional organizations, including the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases, American College of Gastroenterology, and the American Gastroenterology Association. He also serves as an ad hoc reviewer for numerous scientific journals, including Hepatology, Digestive Diseases and Sciences, Therapeutic Advances in Gastroenterology, Human Immunology, Tissue Engineering, Technology, The New England Journal of Medicine, and the Journal of Hepatology. Education Other Post Graduate Training Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2010) Graduate School Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2010) Medical School Rutgers New Jersey Medical School (2014) Internship UT Southwestern Medical Center (2015) Residency UT Southwestern Medical Center (2016), Internal Medicine Fellowship Massachusetts General Hospital (2020), Gastroenterology Research Interest Alcohol-associated liver disease Innate Immunity Insulin Resistance Metabolism NAFLD Obesity Publications Featured Publications Incidence and Progression of Alcohol-Associated Liver Disease After Medical Therapy for Alcohol Use Disorder. Vannier AGL, Shay JES, Fomin V, Patel SJ, Schaefer E, Goodman RP, Luther J, JAMA Netw Open 2022 May 5 5 e2213014 Hepatic IRF3 fuels dysglycemia in obesity through direct regulation of Ppp2r1b. Patel SJ, Liu N, Piaker S, Gulko A, Andrade ML, Heyward FD, Sermersheim T, Edinger N, Srinivasan H, Emont MP, Westcott GP, Luther J, Chung RT, Yan S, Kumari M, Thomas R, Deleye Y, Tchernof A, White PJ, Baselli GA, Meroni M, De Jesus DF, Ahmad R, Kulkarni RN, Valenti L, Tsai L, Rosen ED, Sci Transl Med 2022 Mar 14 637 eabh3831 Hepatic gap junctions amplify alcohol liver injury by propagating cGAS-mediated IRF3 activation. Luther J, Khan S, Gala MK, Kedrin D, Sridharan G, Goodman RP, Garber JJ, Masia R, Diagacomo E, Adams D, King KR, Piaker S, Reinecker HC, Yarmush ML, Argemi J, Bataller R, Dienstag JL, Chung RT, Patel SJ, Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2020 05 117 21 11667-11673 Hepatic Injury in Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis Contributes to Altered Intestinal Permeability. Luther J, Garber JJ, Khalili H, Dave M, Bale SS, Jindal R, Motola DL, Luther S, Bohr S, Jeoung SW, Deshpande V, Singh G, Turner JR, Yarmush ML, Chung RT, Patel SJ, Cell Mol Gastroenterol Hepatol 2015 Mar 1 2 222-232 Gap junction inhibition prevents drug-induced liver toxicity and fulminant hepatic failure. Patel SJ, Milwid JM, King KR, Bohr S, Iracheta-Vellve A, Iracheta-Velle A, Li M, Vitalo A, Parekkadan B, Jindal R, Yarmush ML, Nat Biotechnol 2012 Jan 30 2 179-83 DNA-triggered innate immune responses are propagated by gap junction communication. Patel SJ, King KR, Casali M, Yarmush ML, Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2009 Aug 106 31 12867-72 Substance use disorder is associated with alcohol-associated liver disease in patients with alcohol use disorder. Vannier AGL, Fomin V, Chung RT, Patel SJ, Schaefer E, Goodman RP, Luther J, Gastro Hep Adv 2022 1 3 403-408 Serum HMGB1 associates with liver disease and predicts readmission and mortality in patients with alcohol use disorder. Vannier AGL, Wardwell B, Fomin V, PeBenito A, Wolczynski N, Piaker S, Kedrin D, Chung RT, Schaefer E, Goodman R, Patel SJ, Luther J, Alcohol 2021 09 95 37-43 Hepatic connexin 32 associates with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease severity. Luther J, Gala MK, Borren N, Masia R, Goodman RP, Moeller IH, DiGiacomo E, Ehrlich A, Warren A, Yarmush ML, Ananthakrishnan A, Corey K, Kaplan LM, Bhatia S, Chung RT, Patel SJ, Hepatol Commun 2018 Jul 2 7 786-797 Early liver transplantation for alcoholic hepatitis: Ready for primetime? Kubiliun M, Patel SJ, Hur C, Dienstag JL, Luther J, J Hepatol 2018 03 68 3 380-382 Results 1-10 of 13 1 2 Next Last Honors & Awards Clinical Investigator AwardNIH NIDDK K08 (2020) Research Scholars Award in Liver DiseaseGilead Sciences (2020) AGA Research Scholars AwardAmerican Gastroenterology Association (2019) Fellowship Award for Outstanding Research by a Junior InvestigatorMGH Tosteson (2019) ACG Clinical Research AwardAmerican College of Gastroenterology (2018) House Officer of Excellence AwardUT Southwestern Medical Center (2015) Golden Ticket Sponsorship AwardNovartis Institute for BioMedical Research, Heprotech Inc. (2014) Physician Scientist Training Program (PSTP) AwardUT Southwestern Medical Center - Department of Internal Medicine (2014) Small Business Innovation Research Grant RecipientNIH NIAAA R43, Heprotech Inc. (2014) Small Business Innovation Research Grant RecipientNIH NIAAA R43, Heprotech Inc. (2013) Junior Faculty Presidential AwardSociety of Leukocyte Biology (2011) Postdoctoral Research Fellowship AwardShriners Hospital for Children (2011) Medical Engineering and Medical Physics Fellowship AwardHarvard-MIT Health, Science & Technology (2009) Young Investigator AwardInternational Endotoxin & Innate Immunity (2008) Biomedical Graduate Fellowship AwardWhitaker Foundation (2007) Predoctoral Training AwardDepartment of Defense CDMRP Prostate Cancer Research Program (2006) Professional Associations/Affiliations American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (2013) American College of Gastroenterology (2016) American Gastroenterology Association (2016) Society of Leukocyte Biology (2011)