Our Team
At California Pacific, our liver disease and transplant physician staff includes hepatologists and surgeons. If liver cancer is suspected, our team works closely with oncologists and radiologists to verify the diagnoses and determine the best treatment option. Please read below for an overview of our team's experience.
Hepatologists
Maurizio Bonacini, MD is a hepatologist and Director of the HIV Liver Clinic at California Pacific Medical Center. Dr. Bonacini is also Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine at UCSF. His research interests include HCV and HIV coinfection, and liver fibrosis and progression in HCV patients. He is a co-investigator for the DILIN group, a National Institutes of Health-supported research group on drug-induced liver injury. Dr. Bonacini received his training at University of Southern California's Liver Unit, Booth Memorial Medical Center (affiliated with New York University Medical Center), and Universite Catholique de Louvain (Brussels, Belgium). He is board-certified in internal medicine and gastroenterology. Dr. Bonacini speaks Spanish, Italian and French. Phone: (415) 600-1020.
Natalie Bzowej, MD, PhD is a hepatologist and Director of the Hepatology Research Center at California Pacific Medical Center. Dr. Bzowej holds her M.D. and Ph.D. in pharmacology from the University of Toronto and completed her gastroenterology fellowship at UCSF. She is board-certified in internal medicine and gastroenterology. Dr. Bzowej works in partnership with our hepatology team to manage the care of patients with acute, chronic and end-stage liver disease. She is in charge of the Clinical Research Trial Program and has an interest in chronic hepatitis B and C. Phone: (415) 600-1020.
Stewart Cooper, MD is a physician scientist and hepatologist. He directs hepatology and liver transplantation research, and and the Liver Immunology Laboratory at California Pacific. Dr. Cooper
investigates hepatic immunity, focusing on the determinants of HCV clearance and liver disease progression. He has special clinical and research interests in viral hepatitis, and has pioneered liver immunology
research for more than a decade. Dr. Cooper trained in the U.K. and served as Assistant Professor of Medicine, Microbiology & Immunology at UCSF and as a Research and Gastroenterology Fellow at Stanford University. He has an international reputation in viral hepatitis research and management, and is listed in Who’s Who of Medical Science Educators. Phone: (415) 600-1020.
Todd Frederick, MD is a board-certified gastroenterologist and transplant hepatologist with the Liver Disease Management & Transplant Program. He currently serves as Director of Quality and Clinical Protocols and Assistant Director of Clinical Research. Prior to this position, he was a fellow in gastroenterology/hepatology at UCSD. Dr. Frederick completed his internal medicine residency at UCSD and received his M.D. from New York Medical College. He has lectured on
management of advanced liver disease, viral hepatitis, artificial liver support systems and portal hypertension, among other topics. Dr. Frederick’s research interests include the pathophysiology of portal hypertension and clinical management of complications of advanced liver disease. Phone: (415) 600-1020. Email: fredertz@sutterhealth.org.
Catherine T. Frenette, MD is a transplant hepatologist with California Pacific Medical Center’s Liver Disease Management & Transplant Program. In this position, she provides comprehensive evaluation and treatment for patients with hepatitis, liver cancer and other liver diseases, both in San Francisco and outreach sites in Northern California and Nevada. Most recently, Dr. Frenette completed a postgraduate fellowship in gastroenterology and hepatology, with a focus on transplant hepatology at Scripps Clinic in La Jolla, Calif. She served as assistant chief fellow from 2006-2007. Dr. Frenette completed her residency in internal medicine at Scripps Mercy Hospital in San Diego and received her medical degree from Rush Medical College in Chicago. Dr. Frenette is board-certified in internal medicine and gastroenterology. Phone: (415) 600-1020. Email: frenetc@sutterhealth.org
Robert Gish, MD, is a hepatologist and Medical Director of the Liver Disease Management & Transplant Program. Dr. Gish received his undergraduate training in pharmaceutical sciences at the University of Kansas in Lawrence and his medical degree from the University of Kansas in Kansas City. After graduation, he completed his internship and residency in internal medicine at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) and a fellowship in Gastroenterology and hepatology at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Dr. Gish is also a Clinical Professor of Medicine at the University of Nevada in Reno and Las Vegas, and he teaches at University of California San Francisco (UCSF) as an Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine. He is heavily involved in community education regarding hepatitis and has established a dozen community outreach clinics throughout Northern California and Nevada. Dr. Gish is board-certified in internal medicine and gastroenterology, and certified by the CAQ in transplant medicine. Phone: (415) 600-1020.
Raphael B. Merriman, MD is a hepatologist with
the Liver Disease Management & Transplant Program. He also directs the Fatty Liver Disease Clinic which provides state-of-the-art diagnosis and management of this disorder and access to clinical research studies. Previously, Dr. Merriman served as Assistant Professor of Medicine at UCSF’s Division of Gastroenterology. Dr. Merriman completed fellowships in hepatology and gastroenterology at the Divisions of Gastroenterology at UCSF and Washington University School of Medicine (St. Louis), respectively. He completed his residency in internal medicine and also served as a chief resident at Washington University. Dr. Merriman earned his medical degree at University College Dublin, Ireland and completed a residency in Internal Medicine at Trinity College, Dublin. He is board-certified in gastroenterology and holds a certificate of added qualification in transplant hepatology with the ABIM. Phone: (415) 600-1020.
Adil (Ed) Wakil, MD, is a hepatologist and Associate Medical Director of California Pacific's Liver Disease Management & Transplant Program, where he is involved in a number of clinical trials regarding the treatment of viral hepatitis. Dr. Wakil began his medical training at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas and performed his gastroenterology fellowship at the University of California San Francisco. He remained on faculty at UCSF as an attending physician on the liver transplant service and pursued research interests in basic immunology. Currently, Dr. Wakil's research interests include protocols for treating underserved urban hepatitis C and HIV/HCV co-infected patients. Dr. Wakil is board-certified in gastroenterology and internal medicine, and speaks Spanish and French. Phone: (415) 600-1020.
Hematologists/Oncologists
The Liver Disease Management & Transplant team works closely with California Pacific's hematologists/oncologists and radiologists to evaluate, diagnose treat patients with liver cancer and other diseases of the liver. Included in this medical-surgical liver cancer team are:
> Ari Baron, MD
> Edward Chan, MD
>Kathleen Grant, MD
>Stephen Hufford, MD
>Kevin Knopf, MD
>Alan M. Kramer, MD
>David R. Minor, MD
>Bertrand Tuan, MD
>Wei Wang, MD
Radiologists
>Edward Baker, MD
>Jon Wack, MD
Critical Care
>Christopher R. Brown, MD
>James J. Hershon, MD
Inpatient Care: Hospitalists
>Adam Baumgarten, MD
>Guy Lubliner, MD
>Pam Grewall, MD
>Michael Vaughn, MD