Diagnostic assay will be developed to assess risk of NASH.

Geisinger Health System and Celera are partnering to develop a diagnostic assay to ascertain the increased risk of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). The collaboration will evaluate Celera’s genetic findings in liver diseases, including the Cirrhosis Risk Score™, in the Geisinger bank of more than 600 liver tissue and blood case-control samples donated from patients who have undergone bariatric weight loss surgery.


Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a condition in which there is accumulation of excess fat in the liver. NASH represents an advanced stage of the disease when the accumulated fat results in significant inflammation and scarring.


“Even though there are no approved medications for the treatment of NAFLD/ NASH, clinicians strongly encourage patients to lose weight by adopting a low-carbohydrate, low-fat diet and recommend more aggressive control of the often coincident diabetes, dyslipidemia, and hypertension,” says Geisinger scientist Glenn S. Gerhard, M.D.

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