Santiago Munoz, MD, FACP, was born in Chile and graduated at the top of his class in 1978 from the University of Chile School of Medicine. He came to the US in 1981 and completed a Medicine and Experimental Pharmacology fellowship at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland, under the direction of Drs. Willis Maddrey and Mackenzie Walser. During those years, Dr. Munoz became acquainted with the basic aspects of biochemistry and molecular biology of liver cells. Subsequently, he completed his clinical training, including a Hepatology and Gastroenterology fellowship at Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia under the mentorship of Dr. Willis Maddrey. In 1986, Dr. Munoz was awarded the Millie Caskie Memorial Postdoctoral Research award by the American Liver Foundation, which allowed him to complete a series of research projects dealing with metabolic reactions within the liver cells.
Dr. Munoz joined the faculty at Jefferson Medical College and was a partner with Dr. Maddrey in the practice of Hepatology for an additional five years. Dr. Munoz was the Medical Director of the Jefferson Liver Transplant Program and Hepatology Section Chief until 1995, when he moved to the Albert Einstein Medical Center to develop a new liver center and transplant program, working together with Dr. Cosme Manzarbeitia. Under Dr. Munoz’s leadership, the Albert Einstein Center for Liver Diseases and Liver Transplantation Program has blossomed as a center of excellence and successful liver transplant program. His main research interests include acute liver failure, chronic viral hepatitis C and B, and primary biliary cirrhosis.
Dr. Munoz has published more than 100 peer-reviewed scientific articles and more than 40 book chapters, reviews, and invited articles. He has delivered over 300 lectures on liver diseases in the US and abroad. He is a reviewer for a number of hepatology scientific journals, a long-term abstract reviewer for the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) and the American Gastroenterological Association, and he is a member of the editorial board of the journal Liver Transplantation. The Delaware Valley Chapter of the American Liver Foundation selected Dr. Munoz for the Investigator of the Year award in 1992 for his outstanding accomplishments in liver research. He received the Physician of the Year Award by the American Liver Foundation in 2003, and recently was again named a Top Doctor by Philadelphia Magazine.
Dr. Munoz remains committed to the advancement in the knowledge on mechanisms and treatments for patients with liver diseases. He has served as the Chair, Moderator, Lecturer, and Meet-the-Professor figure on several occasions for the AASLD and other liver-related professional organizations.
Statement on Conflict of Interest
It is the policy of The France Foundation that faculty are expected to disclose to activity participants any real or perceived conflict of interest related to the content of their presentations.
Disclosure
Dr. Munoz serves on the speakers bureau for Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, Intermune, Schering Corporation, and Roche Laboratories. Patient cases may include discussion of unapproved uses of pharmaceuticals and devices.
