Scott W. Biggins, MD, MAS

My research efforts focus on exploring evidence-based improvements in recipient selection and organ allocation systems for liver transplantation. I conduct investigations of the manifestations and natural history of end stage liver disease, portal hypertension, outcomes measures of liver transplantation, and medical ethics of organ transplantation. My work in identifying and characterizing the association between serum sodium and liver transplant waitlist mortality prompted the shift to MELDNa as the primary urgency measure for allocating deceased donor liver grafts in the United States.

 My clinical interests include risk reduction and management of the complications of end-stage liver disease (variceal bleeding, ascites, encephalopathy and hepatocellular carcinoma) as well as the clinical evaluation and on-going care of liver transplant candidates and recipients. I perform endoscopy with a focus on variceal band ligation.

I have a strong interest in quality improvement, clinical care outcomes and heath care policy. I have been and remain heavily involved in shaping local, regional, and national liver allocation policy. I am currently Vice Chair of UNOS Liver & Intestine committee and a member of the UNOS Policy Oversight Committee. I have held several national and regional UNOS committee positions since 2007. I have been Chair of the UNOS Region 5 and Region 8 Liver & Intestine regional review boards and an active member of the UNOS Liver & Intestine committee. For the AASLD, I am Chair of the AASLD Special Interest Group on Portal Hypertension and member of the Practice Guidance Committee. I have been a member of the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients (SRTR) visiting committee that has the charge to oversee analysis done on behalf of the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN). I have served as Chair of the ABIM Transplant Hepatology Self-Evaluation Production Maintenance of Certification Committee and Associate Editor of Liver Transplantation (official journal of AASLD).

I instruct gastroenterology fellows and surgical/medical residents in the management of patients with end-stage liver disease and patients who have undergone liver transplantation. I am a guest lecturer in medical ethics with a focus of application of principles of ethics to organ transplantation and informed consent. Additionally, I teach methodology of clinical research to gastroenterology fellows and other post-doctoral clinicians; here my focus has been in study design and statistical computing in clinical research.