Professional legacy

Her work in medicine

Sobia's professional life was defined by a rare combination of clinical excellence, research leadership, and genuine compassion for patients facing complex liver disease.

Roles & leadership

Staff Gastroenterologist & Transplant Hepatologist, Cleveland Clinic
Director, Multidisciplinary MASLD Center
Chair, MASLD Task Force
Assistant Professor, Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine

Clinical & research focus

Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD/MASH)
MASH-related cirrhosis
Post-transplant cardiometabolic complications
Multidisciplinary liver disease care

Highlights

MASLD Task Force

Co-founded and led an initiative fostering collaboration across specialties — endocrinology, primary care, bariatric surgery, and transplant surgery — to develop best practices and research for MASLD screening, management, and patient outcomes.

FLAMES Trial

Contributed to the Fibrosis Lessens After Metabolic Surgery (FLAMES) trial, a multicenter international randomized controlled trial comparing surgical and medical therapies for advanced metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis.

Research & Publications

Published and contributed to work in hepatology, liver transplantation, and metabolic liver disease. She was a sought-after expert voice on emerging treatments and clinical approaches, including contributions to Healio and the Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine.

Mentorship

Known by trainees and colleagues as an exceptional mentor — someone who made people feel seen, valued, and capable of doing meaningful work in a field she cared about deeply.