The Transplant Hepatology Fellowship at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, draws trainees from across the U.S. and around the world. Meet our current fellows and learn about their focus inside and outside the clinic.

Current fellows

Vivian Ortiz, M.D.

Hometown: Union City, NJ
Medical school: Meharry Medical College, Nashville, TN
Residency: Yale-New Haven Traditional Internal Medicine Program, New Haven, CT
GI fellowship: Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
View Dr. Ortiz's publications

What attracted you to transplant hepatology? I have been interested in patients with liver disease and with this additional year of training, I wanted to get further clinical exposure in the care of patients with end-stage liver disease, further my understanding of the criteria needed for transplantation, and play a role in advocating for their health.

What attracted you to Mayo Clinic for transplant hepatology training? Mayo Clinic is a high-volume transplant center where one has had the opportunity of working with leaders in the field who are committed to the training of fellows and bringing innovation to the field of liver disease and liver transplantation through ground-breaking research. The training is rigorous and superb exposing fellows to work closely with the surgical team and in a model where patient care truly comes first.

What are your research interests and career aspirations? I aspire to be a physician-scientist understanding the mechanisms of liver tumors in patients with cirrhosis. 

What is living in Rochester like for you? It's very tranquil with great access to running trails and outdoor sports. People are amiable and it's convenient to be able to get around town without traffic.

Joseph Ahn, M.D.

Hometown: Los Angeles, CA
Medical school: UCSF School of Medicine
Residency: Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
GI fellowship: Mayo Clinic
View Dr. Ahn's publications

What attracted you to transplant hepatology? The liver is the most fascinating organ in the body with so many important roles and various diseases that can affect it. While patients with liver diseases can be extremely sick, I love the life-saving nature of the field and the satisfaction and rewards that come with it.

What attracted you to Mayo Clinic for fellowship training? I wanted to train at a fellowship program that would not only help me become a skilled transplant hepatologist but also provide me with great mentorship and research opportunities to succeed in academic medicine.

What makes this program unique? Patients come from all over the world with the most complex and challenging cases of liver diseases and we get to fix them. We work alongside the world leaders in the field of hepatology and liver transplantation who literally set the new guidelines. 

What are your research interests and career aspirations? My research interests are the application of artificial intelligence and novel machine learning techniques to improve outcomes and health disparities in patients with liver diseases. My career aspiration is to become an academic transplant hepatologist with funding for independent research.

What is living in Rochester like for you? As somebody who only lived in California's large cities like Los Angeles and San Francisco, I am surprised by how much I love living in Rochester. It is smaller and less crowded, but it is a surprisingly diverse city thanks to the presence of Mayo Clinic. The outdoor scenery is beautiful and there are plenty of hiking/biking trails. I've been through three winters here already and it was not bad at all since the city does a good job with road cleaning and you can travel through the skyways/subways on campus when it gets cold. The cost of living is much more affordable compared to bigger cities and there are lots of nice new apartments at reasonable costs.

What does your future look like right now? I plan to apply for a faculty position at a major academic institution, where I can procure funding and continue my research applying AI in the field of liver diseases.