Top Gastroenterologists for Hepatitis B in New Jersey

Dr. Gaglio directs hepatology and the liver transplantation program at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School in Newark, with additional appointments at NewYork-Presbyterian and Hackensack University Medical Center. He treats patients with chronic hepatitis B, cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma, and he is one of the few physicians in the state who manages both the medical side of hepatitis B and the transplant evaluation under the same roof. Patients who have been told their hepatitis B is "advanced" or who have been flagged for a liver mass often end up in his clinic.

Dr. Pyrsopoulos directs Regional Liver Disease for New Jersey and is a clinical professor at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, with hospital affiliations at NYU Langone, Overlook, and Morristown Medical Center. His clinical work focuses on chronic viral hepatitis (B and C), fatty liver disease, and decompensated cirrhosis. His research on liver biopsy sampling in chronic hepatitis patients ¹ showed that biopsies taken from different parts of the liver can produce different fibrosis scores, which helped push hepatologists toward more careful staging. He has also written on the extrahepatic manifestations of chronic viral hepatitis ³ — the kidney, skin, and joint problems that hepatitis B and C can cause outside the liver.

Dr. Bains is a gastroenterologist affiliated with Clara Maass Medical Center, Jersey City Medical Center, and Saint Michael's Medical Center, with his office in Millburn. He handles the long tail of chronic hepatitis B care: yearly labs, imaging for liver cancer screening, and referrals upstream when a patient's hepatitis progresses. For people who want a community-based specialist close to Essex or Union County rather than a university hospital, he is a straightforward option.

Dr. Turtel is Chief of Gastroenterology at Jersey Shore University Medical Center and also practices at Monmouth Medical Center. Her practice covers the common GI conditions plus viral hepatitis monitoring, and she is the senior gastroenterologist most Jersey Shore primary care offices refer to when a patient tests positive for hepatitis B surface antigen. If you live along the shore and want a hepatitis B specialist without commuting to Newark or New Brunswick, she is a reasonable first call.

Dr. Meininger is Associate Medical Director of the Institute for Patient Blood Management and Bloodless Medicine and Surgery at Englewood Hospital, and a clinical instructor at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. He treats patients with chronic liver disease, including hepatitis B, and has a particular focus on managing procedures — biopsies, endoscopies, surgeries — for patients with coagulation problems or who decline blood transfusions for religious reasons. That subspecialty matters for hepatitis B patients whose livers have started making fewer clotting factors.

Dr. Rustgi is Distinguished Professor of Medicine and Director of Hepatology at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, practicing at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick. His clinic handles hepatitis B, hepatitis C, autoimmune hepatitis, and cirrhosis. He is the senior hepatologist in central New Jersey and a common second-opinion destination for patients who have been on antiviral therapy for years and want to reassess whether to continue, switch, or stop.