Dr. Mahmud is a transplant hepatologist and clinical epidemiologist whose research focuses on developing risk prediction tools to improve clinical decision making for patients with chronic liver disease. He is currently the principal investigator for an American College of Gastroenterology Junior Faculty Development Grant and a recipient of a National Institutes of Health K08 Career Development Award to identify lapses in projecting surgical mortality risk for patients with end-stage liver disease. This work resulted in the VOCAL-Penn cirrhosis surgical risk score, which is now internationally used as a pre-operative risk stratification tool for patients with cirrhosis being considered for a diverse range of surgical procedures.

Dr. Mahmud has previously published widely on acute on chronic liver failure (ACLF), an extremely high-mortality condition impacting patients with cirrhosis. He has developed risk prediction tools for both the development of ACLF, as well as for ACLF short-term mortality. His research also addresses questions pertaining to national liver transplantation outcomes.