I’m a Full Professor at the David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). The goal of my research program is to provide a better understanding of the cell-extracellular matrix (ECM) interaction dynamics in hepatic ischemia and reperfusion injury (IRI). Every year thousands of patients die while waiting for a donor organ; this serious situation has led to the use of steatotic livers in transplantation at elevated risks of dysfunction based on their high susceptibility to hepatic IRI. Along with transplantation, liver IRI remains a major limitation in various clinical settings that span from surgical procedures to hepatic pathologies where blood flow to the liver is partially or completely impeded. Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are essential mediators in defining how cells interact with their microenvironments and have emerged as promising drug-targets for a wide range of pathological conditions, including hepatic IRI. However, to impact therapeutic approaches we must distinguish from MMP targets and anti-targets (to be spared) in liver. Our overall aim is to gain critical insights into the functions of relevant MMPs and to translate them into improved therapeutic approaches to treat hepatic IRI and to enable the successful use of marginal steatotic livers in transplantation. I have been working in this field as Principal Investigator for over 25 years and supported by grants from several sources, which include the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), National Institutes of Health (NIH), American Heart Association (AHA), American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases/American Liver Foundation (ALF/AASLD), and the American Society of Transplantation (AST).