Azza Karrar is a Senior Research Associate with the Forum for collaborative Research. Azza Has extensive experience working on immunopathology of liver disease. Before joining the Forum, Azza worked at Inova Health Systems, Beatty Liver Research Program as a Research Scientist/PI for 9 years. She led the translational efforts focusing on immunopathogenesis, biomarkers and therapeutic targets of NASH related-liver fibrosis. She laid the groundwork for the proposed research by developing the immunology lab, hypotheses, rationale, goals and budgets of projects. She orchestrated all the communication internally and externally with collaborators/clients and stakeholders. She then joined the FDA, CDRH as Biologist to provide regulatory consultation on premarket approval application, product development protocols and post market applications. Azza has a Doctor of Medical Science (PhD) from the Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden focusing on immunopathogenic mechanisms of autoimmune liver diseases (Autoimmune Hepatitis, Primary Biliary Cholangitis, and Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis). She studied liver peripheral tolerance, liver allograft rejection and mechanisms of endothelial/epithelial cells death during liver disease. She then focused her postdoctoral fellowship studying mechanisms of injury of biliary epithelial cells in PSC. She started her career earlier by focusing on the Public Health of infectious diseases at the Tropical Medicine Research Institute, Sudan, Africa. She will help the Forum in their mission to lead and foster collaborations, scientific innovation, and new drug development.