Dr. Lai is a practicing general and transplant hepatologist who specializes in caring for patients across the entire spectrum of liver disease, from diagnosis to liver transplant—and beyond.

She is director of the UCSF Health Advancing Research in Clinical Hepatology (ARCH), the research arm of the UCSF Division of GI/Hepatology, as well as director of Patient-Facing Research Core of the NIH-funded UCSF Liver Center.

Dr. Lai earned her B.S. from Stanford University and combined MD/MBA degrees from Tufts University School of Medicine, then completed her clinical training in Internal Medicine at Columbia University, and gastroenterology and advanced/transplant hepatology fellowships at UCSF. Since joining faculty within the UCSF Division of Gastroenterology & Hepatology, Dr. Lai has established a robust research program focused on understanding the lived experience of patients with cirrhosis undergoing liver transplantation. Her work has been funded by numerous organizations including the National Institutes of Health, American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD), American Gastroenterological Association (AGA), American College of Gastroenterology (ACG), and American Society of Transplantation (AST), among others. She has co-authored >165 scientific publications. Dr. Lai has received many honors for her work including the SF Business Times Top 40 under 40 Leader award, AGA Young Investigator Award in Clinical Science, AST Clinical Science Career Development Award, Young Investigator Award from the International Liver Transplantation Society, and the UCSF Department of Medicine Resident Research Award. Currently, Dr. Lai serves as an Associate Editor for the Hepatology Journal (the premier hepatology journal) and a standing member of the U.S. FDA Gastrointestinal Drug Advisory Committee.