Amar Nijagal, MD
Associate Professor
Surgery
School of Medicine

The Nijagal lab investigates how the immune system affects the development of fetal organs. His research focuses on liver and bile duct development and how changes in the process contribute to congenital diseases and childhood liver cancer.

Dr. Nijagal completed his medical degree and a residency in general surgery at UCSF, where he served as chief resident. He completed a postdoctoral research fellowship at the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine and a fellowship in general and thoracic pediatric surgery at Boston Children's Hospital. He is a member of the American College of Surgeons, American Pediatric Surgical Association, American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases, UCSF Naffziger Surgical Society, and Association for Academic Surgery.

• Perinatal liver inflammation is associated with persistent elevation of CXCL10 and its canonical receptor CXCR3 on common myeloid progenitors.
  bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology 2024 Alkhani A, Baskaran S, Murti A, Rapp B, Levy CS, Wang B, Nijagal A
• Index admission cholecystectomy for acute cholecystitis reduces 30-day readmission rates in pediatric patients.
  Surgical endoscopy 2023 Pathak SJ, Ji H, Nijagal A, Avila P, Dai SC, Arain MA, Kouanda A
• Neonatal Hepatic Myeloid Progenitors Expand and Propagate Liver Injury in Mice.
  Journal of clinical medicine 2023 Alkhani A, Korsholm C, Levy CS, Mohamedaly S, Duwaerts CC, Pietras EM, Nijagal A
• Advances in the Treatment of Neonatal Biliary Disease.
  Clinics in perinatology 2022 Mohamedaly S, Nijagal A
• Hepatic Ly6CLo Non-Classical Monocytes Have Increased Nr4a1 (Nur77) in Murine Biliary Atresia.
  Journal of clinical medicine 2022 Mohamedaly S, Levy CS, Korsholm C, Alkhani A, Rosenberg K, Ashouri JF, Nijagal A
• The need for early Kasai portoenterostomy: a Western Pediatric Surgery Research Consortium study.
  Pediatric surgery international 2021 Kelley-Quon LI, Shue E, Burke RV, Smith C, Kling K, Mahdi E, Ourshalimian S, Fenlon M, Dellinger M, Shew SB, Lee J, Padilla B, Inge T, Roach J, Marwan AI, Russell KW, Ignacio R, Fialkowski E, Nijagal …
• Neutrophils are important for the development of pro-reparative macrophages after irreversible electroporation of the liver in mice.
  Scientific reports 2021 Lopez-Ichikawa M, Vu NK, Nijagal A, Rubinsky B, Chang TT
• The Role of Myeloid Populations during Perinatal Liver Injury and Repair.
  Journal of cellular immunology 2021 Alkhani A, Mohamedaly S, Nijagal A
• The natural history of fetal gallstones: a case series and updated literature review.
  The journal of maternal-fetal & neonatal medicine : the official journal of the European Association of Perinatal Medicine, the Federation of Asia and Oceania Perinatal Societies, the International Society of Perinatal Obstetricians 2020 Schwab ME, Braun HJ, Feldstein VA, Nijagal A
• The relative abundance of monocyte subsets determines susceptibility to perinatal hepatic inflammation.
  Journal of clinical & cellular immunology 2020 Mohamedaly S, Alkhani A, Nijagal A
• Natural history of acute pediatric iliofemoral artery thrombosis treated with anticoagulation.
  Journal of vascular surgery 2020 Ramirez JL, Kuhrau CR, Wu B, Zarkowsky DS, Conte MS, Oskowitz AZ, Nijagal A, Vartanian SM
• Congenital superior mesenteric artery aneurysm in a 6-week-old infant presenting with upper gastrointestinal bleeding.
  Journal of vascular surgery 2019 Subbaraj L, Beleniski F, Courtier J, Vartanian S, Nijagal A
• Treating Biliary Atresia: The Challenge Continues.
  Journal of pediatric gastroenterology and nutrition 2019 Nijagal A, Perito ER
• Editorial: Treating Biliary Atresia: The Challenge Continues.
  Journal of pediatric gastroenterology and nutrition 2019 Nijagal A, Perito ER
• Late-onset hypertrophic pyloric stenosis with gastric outlet obstruction: case report and review of the literature.
  Pediatric surgery international 2016 Wolf LL, Nijagal A, Flores A, Buchmiller TL
• Clinical implications of maternal-fetal cellular trafficking.
  Seminars in pediatric surgery 2013 Nijagal A, MacKenzie TC
• The diagnosis and management of intradiaphragmatic extralobar pulmonary sequestrations: a report of 4 cases.
  Journal of pediatric surgery 2012 Nijagal A, Jelin E, Feldstein VA, Courtier J, Urisman A, Jones KD, Lee H, Hirose S, MacKenzie TC
• Alterations in maternal-fetal cellular trafficking after fetal surgery.
  Journal of pediatric surgery 2012 Saadai P, Lee TH, Bautista G, Gonzales KD, Nijagal A, Busch MP, Kim CJ, Romero R, Lee H, Hirose S, Rand L, Miniati D, Farmer DL, MacKenzie TC
• Long-term outcomes after fetal therapy for congenital high airway obstructive syndrome.
  Journal of pediatric surgery 2012 Saadai P, Jelin EB, Nijagal A, Schecter SC, Hirose S, MacKenzie TC, Rand L, Goldstein R, Farrell J, Harrison M, Lee H
• In utero hematopoietic cell transplantation for the treatment of congenital anomalies.
  Clinics in perinatology 2012 Nijagal A, Flake AW, MacKenzie TC
• Maternal microchimerism in patients with biliary atresia: Implications for allograft tolerance.
  Chimerism 2012 Nijagal A, Fleck S, MacKenzie TC
• Pancreatic mesenchyme regulates epithelial organogenesis throughout development.
  PLoS biology 2011 Landsman L, Nijagal A, Whitchurch TJ, Vanderlaan RL, Zimmer WE, Mackenzie TC, Hebrok M
• Dynamic tracheal occlusion improves lung morphometrics and function in the fetal lamb model of congenital diaphragmatic hernia.
  Journal of pediatric surgery 2011 Jelin EB, Etemadi M, Encinas J, Schecter SC, Chapin C, Wu J, Guevara-Gallardo S, Nijagal A, Gonzales KD, Ferrier WT, Roy S, Miniati D
• The maternal immune response inhibits the success of in utero hematopoietic cell transplantation.
  Chimerism 2011 Nijagal A, Wegorzewska M, Le T, Tang Q, Mackenzie TC
• A mouse model of in utero transplantation.
  Journal of visualized experiments : JoVE 2011 Nijagal A, Le T, Wegorzewska M, Mackenzie TC
• Intrauterine umbilical cord hemorrhage with associated jejunal atresia captured by real-time ultrasound.
  American journal of obstetrics and gynecology 2008 Nijagal A, Rand L, Goldstein R, Poder L, Miniati D
• Colonic atresia and choledochal cyst: a rare combination.
  Pediatric surgery international 2008 Nijagal A, Ozgediz D, Feldstein VA, Lee H, Harrison MR
• Molecular markers for gastric adenocarcinoma: an update.
  Molecular diagnosis & therapy 2006 Anderson C, Nijagal A, Kim J
• Normal immune development and glucocorticoid-induced thymocyte apoptosis in mice deficient for the T-cell death-associated gene 8 receptor.
  Molecular and cellular biology 2006 Radu CG, Cheng D, Nijagal A, Riedinger M, McLaughlin J, Yang LV, Johnson J, Witte ON
• Visualization of a primary anti-tumor immune response by positron emission tomography.
  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 2005 Shu CJ, Guo S, Kim YJ, Shelly SM, Nijagal A, Ray P, Gambhir SS, Radu CG, Witte ON
• Differential proton sensitivity of related G protein-coupled receptors T cell death-associated gene 8 and G2A expressed in immune cells.
  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 2005 Radu CG, Nijagal A, McLaughlin J, Wang L, Witte ON
• Spontaneous resolution of prenatal megalourethra.
  Journal of pediatric surgery 2004 Nijagal A, Sydorak RM, Feldstein VA, Hirose S, Albanese CT
• Gastroschisis: small hole, big cost.
  Journal of pediatric surgery 2002 Sydorak RM, Nijagal A, Sbragia L, Hirose S, Tsao K, Phibbs RH, Schmitt SK, Lee H, Farmer DL, Harrison MR, Albanese CT
• Endoscopic techniques in fetal surgery.
  Yonsei medical journal 2001 Sydorak RM, Nijagal A, Albanese CT