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Expert list · Last reviewed April 17, 2026

Best Hepatology (GI) Specialists in Ohio

Find top hepatology (GI) specialists in Ohio for fatty liver, hepatitis C, and liver transplant care. Six Ohio-based liver doctors to know.

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Ohio has a deep bench of hepatology (GI) specialists — liver doctors whose published research and hospital programs put them among the most respected in the country. Here is where to start looking.

The six hepatologists below practice in and around Cleveland and Cincinnati, mostly at Cleveland Clinic and University Hospitals. Their clinical focus spans the conditions most patients actually get referred for: non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (now often called NASH or steatotic liver disease), hepatitis C, cirrhosis, and liver transplantation. Several have led the clinical trials that changed how their own field treats these diseases.

Naim Alkhouri

Naim Alkhouri, MD

Director, Steatotic Liver Program, Northshore Gastroenterology; Director of Research, Clinical Research Institute of Ohio; Professor

Cleveland Clinic

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Dr. Alkhouri directs the Steatotic Liver Program at Northshore Gastroenterology in the Cleveland area and leads research at the Clinical Research Institute of Ohio. He treats adults with fatty liver disease, NASH, and advanced liver scarring, and runs clinical trials that give his patients early access to new drugs. He sits on the study teams for the Phase 3 resmetirom trial 1 — the work that led to the first FDA-approved medication for NASH with fibrosis — as well as the earlier Phase 2 resmetirom trial 2 and the lanifibranor Phase 2b trial 3. If you have biopsy-proven NASH or fatty liver with scarring, his program is a reasonable first call.

Melanie Green

Melanie Green, M.D.

Cleveland Clinic

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Dr. Green is a Cleveland Clinic gastroenterologist based in Cincinnati who sees patients with liver and metabolic disease. Much of her published work connects what people eat and how their bodies use protein to the liver damage that shows up decades later. A widely cited 2018 paper she co-wrote in the Journal of Hepatology argues that fructose and added sugar are major drivers of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease 6. For patients trying to understand why their liver enzymes are high, that perspective can shape the conversation about diet before it jumps to medication.

Anthony Post

Anthony Post, MD

Associate Professor of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine; Medical Director, Liver Transplantation, University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center

UH Cleveland Medical Center

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Dr. Post is the medical director of liver transplantation at University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center and an associate professor at Case Western Reserve. He takes care of patients with advanced liver disease, hepatitis C, and those waiting for or recovering from a liver transplant. His published work includes early research on hepatitis C in kidney transplant candidates 14 and a meta-analysis of heart disease risk after liver transplantation 15 — practical questions for anyone weighing transplant. He has also published on acute liver failure from mushroom poisoning 12.

Nizar Zein

Nizar Zein, MD

Cleveland Clinic

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Dr. Zein is a hepatologist at Cleveland Clinic with one of the most widely cited research records in liver disease. He was first and corresponding author on a foundational 2000 review of hepatitis C virus genotypes that clinicians still reference 20. He was also senior author on a 2010 Hepatology paper showing that liver cancer can develop in NASH patients even without cirrhosis 16 — a finding that reshaped how hepatologists screen for tumors. His group has also published extensively on blood-test markers that can stand in for a liver biopsy 1718.

Rinjal Brahmbhatt

Rinjal Brahmbhatt, MD

Cleveland Clinic

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Dr. Brahmbhatt is a Cleveland Clinic hepatologist in Westlake who treats patients with hepatitis C, advanced liver disease, and post-transplant complications. She was first author on a 2015 report showing that direct-acting antiviral pills clear hepatitis C effectively in liver transplant patients regardless of viral genotype or how scarred the liver is 26 — useful news for transplant recipients who used to face far harsher interferon-based treatment. She has also co-authored work on transplant immunosuppression 21 and on the ethics and cost of hepatitis C therapy 25.

Christina Lindenmeyer

Christina Lindenmeyer, M.D.

Associate Professor of Medicine and Staff Physician in the Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition

Hillcrest Hospital

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Dr. Lindenmeyer is an associate professor and staff hepatologist in Cleveland Clinic's Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, and sees patients at Hillcrest Hospital and the Avon campus. Her clinical focus is acute-on-chronic liver failure — when a patient with long-standing liver disease suddenly gets much sicker. She was first author on a 2017 review of how fatty liver disease progresses over time 27 and senior author on a 2021 paper on using therapeutic plasma exchange as a bridge to transplant 30. She also helped show that current transplant waitlist rules (the MELD score) may underserve the sickest patients 29.

What to look for in a hepatology (GI) specialist

  • Board certification in gastroenterology with added qualifications in transplant hepatology if your case is complex
  • Academic affiliation with a teaching hospital that has a liver transplant program
  • Specific experience with your condition — fatty liver, hepatitis B or C, autoimmune liver disease, or cirrhosis
  • Wait time for a new-patient visit and whether they are currently accepting patients
  • Whether they accept your insurance and whether their hospital is in-network

Questions to ask before your first appointment

  • How many patients with my condition do you treat each year?
  • Do you run clinical trials I might qualify for?
  • What imaging or blood tests will you want before we meet?
  • If I need a liver biopsy, how often does your team do them and what is the plan for results?
  • Who covers urgent issues when you are not in clinic?
  • If I progress to needing a transplant, is your team the one that would manage it, or would you refer me out?

The bottom line

Use this list as a starting point, not a ranking. Call two or three offices, ask about wait times and insurance, and bring your most recent labs and imaging to the first visit. If your primary care doctor or a current gastroenterologist has not mentioned referral to a hepatologist and you have persistent abnormal liver tests, unexplained fatigue with known liver disease, or a positive hepatitis B or C test, that is a reasonable time to ask for one.

Sources

  1. 1.
    A Phase 3, Randomized, Controlled Trial of Resmetirom in NASH with Liver Fibrosis — New England Journal of Medicine, 2024. DOI
  2. 2.
    Resmetirom (MGL-3196) for the treatment of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis: a multicentre, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase 2 trial — The Lancet, 2019. DOI
  3. 3.
    A Randomized, Controlled Trial of the Pan-PPAR Agonist Lanifibranor in NASH — New England Journal of Medicine, 2021. DOI
  4. 4.
    NASH Leading Cause of Liver Transplant in Women: Updated Analysis of Indications For Liver Transplant and Ethnic and Gender Variances — The American Journal of Gastroenterology, 2018. DOI
  5. 5.
    Selonsertib for patients with bridging fibrosis or compensated cirrhosis due to NASH: Results from randomized phase III STELLAR trials — Journal of Hepatology, 2020. DOI
  6. 6.
    Fructose and sugar: A major mediator of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease — Journal of Hepatology, 2018. DOI
  7. 7.
    Ingestion of Casein and Whey Proteins Result in Muscle Anabolism after Resistance Exercise — Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 2004. DOI
  8. 8.
    Stimulation of net muscle protein synthesis by whey protein ingestion before and after exercise — American Journal of Physiology-Endocrinology and Metabolism, 2006. DOI
  9. 9.
    Intramuscular and Liver Triglycerides Are Increased in the Elderly — The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, 2004. DOI
  10. 10.
    Atrophy and Impaired Muscle Protein Synthesis during Prolonged Inactivity and Stress — The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, 2006. DOI
  11. 11.
    Negative regulation of the interferon response by an interferon-induced long non-coding RNA — Nucleic Acids Research, 2014. DOI
  12. 12.
    Mushroom poisoning-from diarrhea to liver transplantation — The American Journal of Gastroenterology, 2001. DOI
  13. 13.
    Selective Impairments in Dendritic Cell-Associated Function Distinguish Hepatitis C Virus and HIV Infection — The Journal of Immunology, 2004. DOI
  14. 14.
    Chronic Hepatitis C Infection in Patients With End Stage Renal Disease: Characterization of Liver Histology and Viral Load in Patients Awaiting Renal Transplantation — The American Journal of Gastroenterology, 1999. DOI
  15. 15.
    Is liver transplantation a risk factor for cardiovascular disease? a meta-analysis of observational studies — Liver Transplantation, 2012. DOI
  16. 16.
    the Incidence and Risk Factors of Hepatocellular Carcinoma in Patients With Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis — Hepatology, 2010. DOI
  17. 17.
    Cytokeratin-18 Fragment Levels as Noninvasive Biomarkers for Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis — Hepatology, 2009. DOI
  18. 18.
    In vivo assessment of liver cell apoptosis as a novel biomarker of disease severity in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease — Hepatology, 2006. DOI
  19. 19.
    Increased Hepatic and Circulating Interleukin-6 Levels in Human Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis — The American Journal of Gastroenterology, 2008. DOI
  20. 20.
    Clinical Significance of Hepatitis C Virus Genotypes — Clinical Microbiology Reviews, 2000. DOI
  21. 21.
    Calcineurin Inhibitor Withdrawal After Renal Transplantation with Alemtuzumab: Clinical Outcomes and Effect on T-Regulatory Cells — American Journal of Transplantation, 2008. DOI
  22. 22.
    Successful Radiofrequency Ablation Therapy for Intractable Ventricular Tachycardia With a Ventricular Assist Device — The Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation, 2008. DOI
  23. 23.
    Sa1567 60 Consecutive Incidental Pancreatic Cysts Referred to Endoscopic Ultrasound: Cost of Evaluation and Outcome — Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, 2012. DOI
  24. 24.
    Article Commentary: Beyond the Direct Costs of Hepatitis C Treatment: The Balance between Costs and Ethics — Antiviral Therapy, 2015. DOI
  25. 25.
    Su1060 DAA-Containing Regimens for the Treatment of Recurrent HCV Infection After Liver Transplantation Are Safe and Effective Regardless of Genotype and Fibrosis Stage — Gastroenterology, 2015. DOI
  26. 26.
    The Natural History of Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease—An Evolving View — Clinics in Liver Disease, 2017. DOI
  27. 27.
    Hepatitis C Virus NAT‐Positive Solid Organ Allografts Transplanted Into Hepatitis C Virus–Negative Recipients: A Real‐World Experience — Hepatology, 2019. DOI
  28. 28.
    Patients with severe acute‐on‐chronic liver failure are disadvantaged by model for end‐stage liver disease‐based organ allocation policy — Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics, 2020. DOI
  29. 29.
    Therapeutic plasma exchange in liver failure — World Journal of Hepatology, 2021. DOI
  30. 30.
    Increased rates of pregnancy complications in women with celiac disease. — PubMed, 2015.

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