Richmond Magazine’s annual “Top Docs” issue recognizes four of the extraordinary hepatology specialists with the Stravitz-Sanyal Institute for Liver Disease and Metabolic Health.

Among the institute’s leadership, Director Arun Sanyal, M.D., and the institute’s chief clinical officer, Richard Sterling, M.D., professor and medical director of the HIV-Liver Disease Service, joined the nearly 250 VCU Health physicians honored on the list of 440 Richmond-area medical professionals selected by their peers using a Richmond Magazine online survey.

Sanyal, a physician whose research focuses on steatotic liver disease as well as complications of end-stage liver disease, is the world’s No. 2 specialist in liver diseases, according to ScholarGPS, which ranks researchers and their publications based on productivity, impact and quality.

In the early 2000s, Sterling, developed the FIB-4 index, now considered the gold standard used around the world as the initial screening test for most liver diseases. The FIB-4 is a simple test recommended by liver, gastroenterology and endocrinology medical societies as a first-line test to screen for liver fibrosis.

The institute’s other honored hepatologists are: M. Shadab Siddiqui, M.D., an associate professor of medicine and physician-researcher, and Scott Matherly, M.D., associate professor and medical director for the Digestive Health Service.

Sanyal, Sterling and Matherly were among those recognized in last year’s “Top Docs” list. The VCU gastroenterology-hepatology program is ranked 17th in the world by U.S. News and World Report.

The VCU Health providers named to this year's Top Docs oversee the care of patients all across the academic health system, including Children’s Hospital of Richmond at VCU, VCU Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center, VCU Hume-Lee Transplant Center and VCU Health Pauley Heart Center, in addition to the liver institute.

This special recognition highlights the compassionate care provided by VCU health care professionals as well as the innovative technology and inclusive approaches they use to treat patients. Find the entire VCU list of 2024 “Top Docs” online.