Project at HIAS

Impact of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease during pregnancy

During her HIAS Fellowship, Catalina Atorrasagasti will work with Sandra M. Blois and Mariana G. Garcia, who is a mentee at the Research Center for Sexual and Reproductive Health in Overweight and Obesity at the UKE. The project will assess the risk of pregnancy complications in obese women with fatty liver disease, focusing on changes in glycan–galectin networks during MASLD. As MASLD, linked to metabolic syndrome, rises among women of reproductive age, understanding its impact on pregnancy and maternal metabolic adaptation is essential.

Her Tandem Partner is Sandra M. Blois, Head of the Research Group for Glycoimmunology and Reproduction, Department of Obstetrics and Prenatal Medicine, University Medical Centre Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE).

Biography

Catalina Atorrasagasti is a molecular biologist, Associate Researcher at CONICET, and associate professor of genetics at Universidad Austral (UA), where she also serves on the doctoral program’s academic board. She earned her Biological Sciences degree from the University of Buenos Aires and completed her Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences at Universidad Austral, focusing on molecular and cellular mechanisms of acute and chronic liver diseases. Her doctoral and postdoctoral training provided a strong foundation in molecular and translational hepatology. She leads the research project “Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Fatty Liver Disease and Metabolism” within the Experimental Hepatology and Gene Therapy Program at the Institute for Translational Medicine Research (IIMT-CONICET–UA), combining basic science and translational research to understand liver disease pathogenesis and develop therapies. Since her Ph.D., she has published 33 articles (9 first author, 2 last/corresponding).

Catalina Atorrasagasti’s research focuses on metabolic dysfunction–associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD), the hepatic manifestation of metabolic syndrome and a condition strongly linked to obesity and type 2 diabetes. She studies the progression from simple steatosis to steatohepatitis (MASH) and its complications, including hepatocellular carcinoma. Working mainly with experimental models, her studies aim to generate translational knowledge that can impact human health. Her research is carried out within an interdisciplinary team including hepatologists, bariatric surgeons, nutritionists, biochemists, and bioinformaticians.

Catalina Atorragasti’s HIAS fellowship is provided by the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg and the federal and state funds acquired by the University of Hamburg in the framework of its Excellence Strategy.