Sharad Wadhwani, MD, MPH
Assistant Professor
Pediatrics
School of Medicine

Dr. Wadhwani is a clinical investigator with an active research program dedicated to improving the lives of children undergoing liver transplant. His lab's primary research focus is on developing and testing interventions to improve outcomes for all children undergoing liver transplantation. His research program has been continuously supported by numerous organizations including the National Institutes of Health, American Association for the Study of Liver Disease (AASLD), American Society of Transplantation (AST), American Gastroenterological Association (AGA), and Starzl Network for Excellence in Pediatric Transplantation (SNEPT). Because of his expertise in qualitative and mixed methods, he was recently appointed director of the qualitative and mixed-methods subcore of the UCSF Liver Center.

Dr. Wadhwani earned his BA from Washington University in St. Louis and combined MD/MPH degrees from Tufts University. He completed his clinical training in Pediatrics at UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital Oakland, Gastroenterology fellowship at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, and Advanced/Transplant Hepatology fellowship at UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital San Francisco. Currently, Dr. Wadhwani holds several national leadership roles, including Vice Chair for the SPLIT Research Committee (with transition to Chair in 2026), Member-at-Large of the AST LICOP Liver-Intestinal Community of Practice, and as an Associate Editor for Hepatology Communications.

If you are interested in contributing to Dr. Wadhwani's research program, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution: https://giving.ucsf.edu/fund/dr-sharad-wadhwani-gift-fund

• Enhancing food insecurity screening in pediatric celiac disease using a quality improvement framework.
  Journal of pediatric gastroenterology and nutrition 2025 Cheung T, Setty M, Riray E, Green B, Wadhwani SI, Patel-Sanchez N
• Neighborhood Socioeconomic Deprivation Associates with Decreased Serologic Normalization Rates in Pediatric Celiac Disease.
  The Journal of pediatrics 2025 Cheung T, Setty M, Fenton C, McDonald CM, Tsai P, Lai JC, Wadhwani SI
• Central line-associated bloodstream infection rates in pediatric short bowel syndrome in the United States: A retrospective cohort study from 2016 to 2023.
  JPEN. Journal of parenteral and enteral nutrition 2025 Gutierrez SA, Raghu V, Oliveira SB, Nguyen V, Shui AM, Sudan DL, Cole C, Huang CY, Rhee S, Lai JC, Wadhwani SI
• Annual Out-of-Pocket Medical Costs and Financial Toxicity Among Transplant Recipients in the United States.
  Journal of general internal medicine 2025 Jutras G, Lin TK, Lai JC, Wadhwani SI
• Racial differences in primary sclerosing cholangitis: A retrospective cohort study leveraging a new ICD-10 code.
  Annals of hepatology 2025 Wang M, Harris A, McCulloch CE, Wadhwani SI, Lai JC, Rubin JB
• Coproducing a health advocate intervention for pediatric liver transplant recipients using a human-centered design.
  Liver transplantation : official publication of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases and the International Liver Transplantation Society 2025 Cheung T, Squires JE, Bautista B, Milionis C, Prugh J, Hsu E, Ebel NH, Campbell K, Vittorio J, Bucuvalas JC, Gottlieb LM, Lyles CR, Lai JC, Wadhwani SI
• Material economic hardships are associated with adverse 1-year outcomes after pediatric liver transplantation: Prospective cohort results from the multicenter SOCIAL-Tx Study.
  Liver transplantation : official publication of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases and the International Liver Transplantation Society 2024 Wadhwani SI, Squires JE, Hsu E, Gupta N, Campbell K, Zielsdorf S, Vittorio J, Desai DM, Ebel NH, Shui AM, Bucuvalas JC, Gottlieb LM, Lyles CR, Lai JC, Society of Pediatric Liver Transplantation
• Social Adversities Associate with Worse Disease Control in Pediatric Celiac Disease.
  The Journal of pediatrics 2024 Cheung T, McDonald C, Setty M, Tsai P, Wadhwani SI
• Adult provider role in transition of care for young adult pediatric recipients of liver transplant: An expert position statement.
  Hepatology communications 2024 Vittorio J, Kosmach-Park B, Wadhwani S, Jackson W, Kerkar N, Corbo H, Vekaria P, Gupta N, Yeh H, King LY
• Associations between hospital-level socioeconomic patient mix and rates of central line-associated bloodstream infections in short bowel syndrome: A retrospective cohort study.
  JPEN. Journal of parenteral and enteral nutrition 2024 Gutierrez SA, Chiou SH, Raghu V, Cole CR, Rhee S, Lai JC, Wadhwani SI
• Caregiver-reported symptom burden and preferences for therapeutic goals in pediatric primary sclerosing cholangitis.
  Journal of pediatric gastroenterology and nutrition 2024 Shifman HP, Hatchett J, Pai RA, Safer R, Gomel R, Vyas M, Li M, Lai JC, Wadhwani SI
• Implementation of a multicomponent medication adherence promotion system is associated with a decrease in late T-cell-mediated rejection.
  Liver transplantation : official publication of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases and the International Liver Transplantation Society 2024 Bonn J, Ambrosino T, Rich K, Taylor A, Wadhwani SI
• Pragmatic strategies to address health disparities along the continuum of care in chronic liver disease.
  Hepatology communications 2024 Brahmania M, Rogal S, Serper M, Patel A, Goldberg D, Mathur A, Wilder J, Vittorio J, Yeoman A, Rich NE, Lazo M, Kardashian A, Asrani S, Spann A, Ufere N, Verma M, Verna E, Simpson D, Schold JD, …
• The influence of neighborhood income on healthcare utilization in pediatric liver transplant.
  Journal of pediatric gastroenterology and nutrition 2024 Gutierrez SA, Chiou SH, Rhee S, Lai JC, Wadhwani SI
• Caregiver Perceptions of Social Risk Screening in Pediatric Liver Transplantation: From the Multicenter SOCIAL-Tx Study.
  Transplantation 2024 Wadhwani SI, Kruse G, Squires J, Ebel N, Gupta N, Campbell K, Hsu E, Zielsdorf S, Vittorio J, Desai DM, Bucuvalas JC, Gottlieb LM, Lai JC
• Association between neighborhood-based material deprivation and liver transplant waitlist registrants demographics and mortality.
  Clinical transplantation 2023 Cullaro G, Ge J, Lee BP, Lai JC, Wadhwani SI
• Neighborhood Income Is Associated with Health Care Use in Pediatric Short Bowel Syndrome.
  The Journal of pediatrics 2023 Gutierrez SA, Pathak S, Raghu V, Shui A, Huang CY, Rhee S, McKenzie-Sampson S, Lai JC, Wadhwani SI
• Ambient air pollution is associated with graft failure/death in pediatric liver transplant recipients.
  American journal of transplantation : official journal of the American Society of Transplantation and the American Society of Transplant Surgeons 2023 Yalung JE, Shifman HP, Manning ER, Beck A, Bucuvalas J, Lai JC, Wadhwani SI
• Association of state Medicaid expansion policies with pediatric liver transplant outcomes.
  American journal of transplantation : official journal of the American Society of Transplantation and the American Society of Transplant Surgeons 2023 Shifman HP, Huang CY, Beck AF, Bucuvalas J, Perito ER, Hsu EK, Ebel NH, Lai JC, Wadhwani SI
• Variation in skeletal muscle mass among patients with cirrhosis of different self-identified race/ethnicity.
  JGH open : an open access journal of gastroenterology and hepatology 2023 Ha NB, Fan B, Seetharaman S, Kent DS, Yao F, Shui AM, Huang CY, Wadhwani SI, Lai JC
• Racial and Ethnic Disparities Among Patients Hospitalized for Acute Cholangitis in the United States.
  Journal of clinical gastroenterology 2023 Wang M, Wadhwani SI, Cullaro G, Lai JC, Rubin JB
• Subspecialty Pediatrics: An Unmet Opportunity to Address Unmet Social Risks.
  Academic pediatrics 2023 Wadhwani SI, Pantell MS, Winestone LE
• Effects of social determinants of health on mortality and incident liver-related events and cardiovascular disease in steatotic liver disease.
  Alimentary pharmacology & therapeutics 2023 Chen VL, Song MW, Suresh D, Wadhwani SI, Perumalswami P
• Towards equity in paediatric liver transplantation: improving access and long-term outcomes.
  The lancet. Gastroenterology & hepatology 2023 Wadhwani SI, Kumar WM, Hsu EK
• Geographic disparities in access to liver transplantation.
  Liver transplantation : official publication of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases and the International Liver Transplantation Society 2023 Yilma M, Dalal N, Wadhwani SI, Hirose R, Mehta N
• Novel approaches are needed to study social determinants of health in liver transplantation.
  Liver transplantation : official publication of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases and the International Liver Transplantation Society 2022 Ge J, Lai JC, Wadhwani SI
• Medical Need and Transplant Accessibility-Reply.
  JAMA 2022 Wadhwani SI, Lai JC, Gottlieb L
• The digital determinants of liver disease.
  Hepatology (Baltimore, Md.) 2022 Wadhwani SI, Lai JC
• Caregiver perspectives on the everyday medical and social needs of long-term pediatric liver transplant patients.
  Liver transplantation : official publication of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases and the International Liver Transplantation Society 2022 Wadhwani SI, Barrera AG, Shifman HP, Baker E, Bucuvalas J, Gottlieb LM, Kotagal U, Rhee SJ, Lai JC, Lyles CR
• Loneliness in adults awaiting liver transplantation at 7 U.S. transplant centers.
  Annals of hepatology 2022 Berry KA, Kent D, Seetharaman S, Wong R, Mohamad Y, Yao F, Nunez-Duarte M, Wadhwani SI, Boyarsky BJ, Rahimi RS, Duarte-Rojo A, Kappus MR, Volk ML, Ladner DP, Segev DL, McAdams-DeMarco M, Verna EC, …
• A review of racial, socioeconomic, and geographic disparities in pediatric liver transplantation.
  Liver transplantation : official publication of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases and the International Liver Transplantation Society 2022 Ebel NH, Lai JC, Bucuvalas JC, Wadhwani SI
• Association of Primary Care Shortage Areas with Adverse Outcomes after Pediatric Liver Transplant.
  The Journal of pediatrics 2022 Shifman HP, Rasnick E, Huang CY, Beck AF, Bucuvalas J, Lai JC, Wadhwani SI
• Racial/ethnic disparities in wait-list outcomes are only partly explained by socioeconomic deprivation among children awaiting liver transplantation.
  Hepatology (Baltimore, Md.) 2021 Wadhwani SI, Ge J, Gottlieb L, Lyles C, Beck AF, Bucuvalas J, Neuhaus J, Kotagal U, Lai JC
• Center variation in long-term outcomes for socioeconomically deprived children.
  American journal of transplantation : official journal of the American Society of Transplantation and the American Society of Transplant Surgeons 2021 Wadhwani SI, Huang CY, Gottlieb L, Beck AF, Bucuvalas J, Kotagal U, Lyles C, Lai JC
• Association Between Neighborhood-level Socioeconomic Deprivation and the Medication Level Variability Index for Children Following Liver Transplantation.
  Transplantation 2020 Wadhwani SI, Bucuvalas JC, Brokamp C, Anand R, Gupta A, Taylor S, Shemesh E, Beck AF
• Neighborhood socioeconomic deprivation, racial segregation, and organ donation across 5 states.
  American journal of transplantation : official journal of the American Society of Transplantation and the American Society of Transplant Surgeons 2020 Wadhwani SI, Brokamp C, Rasnick E, Bucuvalas JC, Lai JC, Beck AF
• Implementing a Process to Systematically Identify and Address Poor Medication Adherence in Pediatric Liver Transplant Recipients.
  Pediatric quality & safety 2020 Wadhwani SI, Nichols M, Klosterkemper J, Cirincione R, Whitesell K, Owen D, Rengering R, Walz B, Heubi J, Hooper DK
• Methamphetamine-induced Acute Esophagitis in a 16-Year-old Girl.
  Journal of pediatric gastroenterology and nutrition 2020 Lyles JL, Wadhwani SI, Bolton SM, Mouzaki M
• 50 Years Ago in TheJournalofPediatrics: The Diagnostic Value of Gamma Glutamyl Transpeptidase in Children and Adolescents with Liver Disease.
  The Journal of pediatrics 2019 Wadhwani SI
• Predicting ideal outcome after pediatric liver transplantation: An exploratory study using machine learning analyses to leverage Studies of Pediatric Liver Transplantation Data.
  Pediatric transplantation 2019 Wadhwani SI, Hsu EK, Shaffer ML, Anand R, Ng VL, Bucuvalas JC
• Predictive Value of Fecal Calprotectin in Pediatric Graft-Versus-Host Disease.
  Journal of pediatric gastroenterology and nutrition 2016 Wadhwani SI, Nakayuenyongsuk W, Shinn L, Chase P, Kharbanda S, Bass D, Park KT
• Prolonged neonatal jaundice and the diagnosis of biliary atresia: a single-center analysis of trends in age at diagnosis and outcomes.
  Pediatrics 2008 Wadhwani SI, Turmelle YP, Nagy R, Lowell J, Dillon P, Shepherd RW