Marina G. Silveira MD

Marina G. Silveira, MD, is a physician who specializes in treating general and autoimmune liver diseases. Autoimmune liver diseases, which are rare, occur when the body’s immune system damages the liver. Scientists are not sure why this occurs, though heredity and environmental factors may lead to the disease, which can be serious and even fatal.

Dr. Silveira also works with patients suffering from primary biliary cholangitis (PBC), a liver disease in which bile ducts are damaged and sometimes destroyed. Bile ducts are crucial to digestion, both in the absorption of substances like vitamins and in the expulsion of toxins.

Like other liver diseases, PBC causes fatigue, which is not addressed by some of the medications successful in treating the disease. Dr. Silveira has been involved in research studying the effects of mindfulness training on fatigue and stress in patients with PBC and other autoimmune liver diseases. Dr. Silveira’s current research includes studies of medications used to treat liver disease.