# Elliot B. Tapper
**Elliot Tapper** (Elliot B. Tapper; Elliot Benjamin Tapper) is an American hepatologist, a physician-scientist who studies and treats cirrhosis and its complications, including hepatic encephalopathy, at the University of Michigan. He became director of the Michigan Cirrhosis Program and Editor-in-Chief of *Hepatology Communications*, and, according to *Use of Liver Imaging and Biopsy in Clinical Practice*, he is known for work on non-invasive assessment of liver fibrosis and for national analyses of liver mortality.[1](https://www.uofmhealth.org/profile/4313/elliot-benjamin-tapper-md) • [2](https://ihpi.umich.edu/our-experts/etapper)
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Field | Hepatology and gastroenterology |
| Position | Professor, University of Michigan (listed as Associate Professor in 2025, Professor in 2026)[3](https://www.aasld.org/tlm-25/elliot-b-tapper) • [4](https://www.aasld.org/tlm-26/elliot-b-tapper) |
| Clinical roles | Director, Michigan Cirrhosis Program; hepatology clinic, Taubman Center, Ann Arbor[1](https://www.uofmhealth.org/profile/4313/elliot-benjamin-tapper-md) |
| Training | MD, Emory University School of Medicine, 2009; residency and gastroenterology fellowship, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center[1](https://www.uofmhealth.org/profile/4313/elliot-benjamin-tapper-md) |
| Signature work | "Use of Liver Imaging and Biopsy in Clinical Practice", *New England Journal of Medicine*, 2017[5](https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMra1610570) |
| Other noted work | US cirrhosis and liver-cancer mortality 1999–2016 (*BMJ*, 2018); cirrhosis diagnosis and management review (*JAMA*, 2023)[6](https://www.bmj.com/content/362/bmj.k2817) • [7](https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2804599) |
| Editorial role | Editor-in-Chief, *Hepatology Communications*[1](https://www.uofmhealth.org/profile/4313/elliot-benjamin-tapper-md) |
| Credential | Fellow of the AASLD (FAASLD)[3](https://www.aasld.org/tlm-25/elliot-b-tapper) |
## Education and training
Tapper received his medical degree from Emory University School of Medicine in 2009.[1](https://www.uofmhealth.org/profile/4313/elliot-benjamin-tapper-md) • [2](https://ihpi.umich.edu/our-experts/etapper) [Internal medicine](https://www.edgepedia.org/internal-medicine) records place his residency at [Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center](https://www.edgepedia.org/beth-israel-deaconess-medical-center) ending in 2012.[1](https://www.uofmhealth.org/profile/4313/elliot-benjamin-tapper-md) • [8](https://health.usnews.com/doctors/elliot-tapper-710205) The University of Michigan profile lists a gastroenterology fellowship completion in 2016,[1](https://www.uofmhealth.org/profile/4313/elliot-benjamin-tapper-md) while the US News doctor profile lists a fellowship spanning 2012–2013.[8](https://health.usnews.com/doctors/elliot-tapper-710205) He is board certified in gastroenterology and transplant hepatology.[1](https://www.uofmhealth.org/profile/4313/elliot-benjamin-tapper-md)
## Career and clinical roles
Tapper joined the University of Michigan faculty in 2016 as an Associate Professor in the Division of Gastroenterology and [Hepatology](https://www.edgepedia.org/hepatology).[1](https://www.uofmhealth.org/profile/4313/elliot-benjamin-tapper-md) He directs the Michigan Cirrhosis Program, where he conducts clinical trials and health services research aimed at improving outcomes and quality of life for people with cirrhosis.[1](https://www.uofmhealth.org/profile/4313/elliot-benjamin-tapper-md) • [2](https://ihpi.umich.edu/our-experts/etapper) He sees patients at the Hepatology Clinic in the Taubman Center in Ann Arbor, with practice areas in cirrhosis and hepatic encephalopathy.[1](https://www.uofmhealth.org/profile/4313/elliot-benjamin-tapper-md) His research also carries the affiliation of the Gastroenterology Section of the VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System.[6](https://www.bmj.com/content/362/bmj.k2817)
## Representative work
His 2017 review ["Use of Liver Imaging and Biopsy in Clinical Practice"](https://doi.org/10.1056/nejmra1610570), published in the *New England Journal of Medicine* on August 24, 2017 (N Engl J Med 2017;377:756-768), concluded that advances in imaging techniques such as vibration-controlled transient elastography and magnetic resonance elastography have reduced the need for liver biopsy as a means of diagnosing liver disease.[5](https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMra1610570)
Two further studies stand alongside it. In the 2018 *BMJ* observational study ["Mortality due to cirrhosis and liver cancer in the United States, 1999-2016"](https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.k2817), conducted from the University of Michigan and the VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System, annual US deaths from cirrhosis increased 65% between 1999 and 2016, to 34,174, while annual deaths from hepatocellular carcinoma doubled to 11,073.[6](https://www.bmj.com/content/362/bmj.k2817) [Cirrhosis](https://www.edgepedia.org/cirrhosis) deaths, which had been declining, began rising in 2009 at 3.4% per year (95% CI 3.1–3.8%), and people aged 25 to 34 had the highest average annual increase, 10.5% per year, driven entirely by alcohol-related liver disease.[6](https://www.bmj.com/content/362/bmj.k2817) Cirrhosis caused 460,760 deaths over the study period, about one-third attributed to hepatocellular carcinoma.[9](https://ihpi.umich.edu/news/alcohol-related-cirrhosis-deaths-skyrocket-young-adults) The study changed the picture of US liver disease by showing that the burden was rising fastest among young adults through alcohol, at a time when hepatitis C mortality was falling.[6](https://www.bmj.com/content/362/bmj.k2817) • [10](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6709988/)
## Broader research program
His research aims to improve outcomes, quality of life, and freedom from adverse events for patients with decompensated cirrhosis, with a specific focus on hepatic encephalopathy, and includes quality improvement, medical decision modeling, and cost-effectiveness studies.[1](https://www.uofmhealth.org/profile/4313/elliot-benjamin-tapper-md) Using a Veterans Administration cohort of over 1,500 patients with cirrhosis without baseline hepatic encephalopathy (Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio, 2005–2010), his group developed a risk score for hepatic encephalopathy; about 700 patients (roughly 44%) developed HE within 5 years, and in multivariable models higher bilirubin (HR 1.07) and nonselective beta-blocker use (HR 1.34) predicted HE while higher albumin (HR 0.54) and statin use (HR 0.80) were protective.[11](https://doi.org/10.1002/hep.29628) In a study of food insecurity and chronic liver disease among US adults, for which he was corresponding author, food insecurity was associated with a higher mean liver stiffness measurement (6.89±0.40 kPa vs 5.77±0.14 kPa, p=0.02) in adults aged 50 and older.[12](https://doi.org/10.1097/mcg.0000000000001741)
## Non-invasive diagnostics in context
The 2017 review's conclusion, that elastography has reduced the need for biopsy, matches the field's subsequent direction. His 2023 [JAMA review on cirrhosis diagnosis and management](https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2023.5997) reports that cirrhosis affects approximately 2.2 million US adults, that annual age-adjusted cirrhosis mortality rose from 14.9 to 21.9 per 100,000 between 2010 and 2021, and that elastography can typically confirm cirrhosis at liver-stiffness levels of 15 kPa or greater, with sequential FIB-4 (a blood-test score estimating liver fibrosis risk) followed by elastography yielding posterior probabilities of cirrhosis of 89% or greater.[7](https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2804599) A 2024 *New England Journal of Medicine* review gives the operating thresholds: FIB-4 has a negative predictive value greater than 90% to rule out advanced fibrosis in low-risk populations, VCTE values below about 6 kPa rule out advanced fibrosis with greater than 90% sensitivity, and values above about 10 kPa rule it in with greater than 90% specificity.[13](https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMra2403308)
## Recent developments
The 2023 JAMA review reported that approximately 40% of people with cirrhosis are diagnosed only when they present with complications such as hepatic encephalopathy or ascites, with median survival after onset of roughly 0.7 and 0.9 years respectively.[7](https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2804599) AASLD listed Tapper as an Associate Professor and speaker at The Liver Meeting on November 9, 2025, and as a Professor at the University of Michigan Medical Center at The Liver Meeting 2026, where he took part in a community conversation with AASLD journal editors and a career-development session for budding hepatologists.[3](https://www.aasld.org/tlm-25/elliot-b-tapper) • [4](https://www.aasld.org/tlm-26/elliot-b-tapper)
## Honors, funding, and industry roles
AASLD lists him as MD, FAASLD, its fellowship credential.[3](https://www.aasld.org/tlm-25/elliot-b-tapper) His disclosed conflicts of interest include consultancy for Novartis, Axcella, and Allergan; advisory boards for Mallinckrodt, Bausch Health, Kaleido, and [Novo Nordisk](https://www.edgepedia.org/novo-nordisk); and unrestricted research grants from Gilead and Valeant.[12](https://doi.org/10.1097/mcg.0000000000001741)
## References
1. Elliot Benjamin Tapper, MD, University of Michigan Health provider profile. https://www.uofmhealth.org/profile/4313/elliot-benjamin-tapper-md
2. Elliot Tapper, M.D., University of Michigan IHPI. https://ihpi.umich.edu/our-experts/etapper
3. Elliot B. Tapper, MD, FAASLD, AASLD, The Liver Meeting 2025. https://www.aasld.org/tlm-25/elliot-b-tapper
4. Elliot B. Tapper, MD, FAASLD, AASLD, The Liver Meeting 2026. https://www.aasld.org/tlm-26/elliot-b-tapper
5. Tapper EB, Lok AS-F. Use of Liver Imaging and Biopsy in Clinical Practice. N Engl J Med. 2017;377:756-768. https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMra1610570
6. Mortality due to cirrhosis and liver cancer in the United States, 1999-2016: observational study. BMJ. 2018. https://www.bmj.com/content/362/bmj.k2817
7. Diagnosis and Management of Cirrhosis and Its Complications: A Review. JAMA. 2023;329(18):1589-1602. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2804599
8. Dr. Elliot B. Tapper, MD, US News doctor profile. https://health.usnews.com/doctors/elliot-tapper-710205
9. Alcohol-related cirrhosis deaths skyrocket in young adults. University of Michigan IHPI news. https://ihpi.umich.edu/news/alcohol-related-cirrhosis-deaths-skyrocket-young-adults
10. Changing Trends in Etiology-Based and Ethnicity-Based Annual Mortality Rates of Cirrhosis and HCC in the United States. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6709988/
11. A Risk Score to Predict the Development of Hepatic Encephalopathy in a Population-Based Cohort of Patients with Cirrhosis. Hepatology. 2017. https://doi.org/10.1002/hep.29628
12. Food Insecurity Is Associated With Chronic Liver Disease Among US Adults. J Clin Gastroenterol. https://doi.org/10.1097/mcg.0000000000001741
13. Noninvasive Assessment of Liver Fibrosis. N Engl J Med. 2024. https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMra2403308
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Life and health › Life and health scientists › Medical and health researchers › Gastroenterology and hepatology researchers › Hepatologists › Cirrhosis and portal hypertension researchers*
*Initially written Sep 21, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 25, 2026; Sep 30, 2026 · Edited: Sep 25, 2026; Sep 30, 2026; Oct 11, 2026; Oct 15, 2026 · Last review: Sep 30, 2026*
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