Priorities and Barriers to Achieve Hepatitis C Elimination in the United States
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Priorities and Barriers to Achieve Hepatitis C Elimination in the United States
October 8, 2024
Faculty Biographies
Nathan Furukawa, MD, MPH
Dr. Furukawa is the Senior Advisor for Hepatitis C Elimination in the Division of Viral Hepatitis and works to develop the strategies, programs, and partnerships necessary to advance the elimination of hepatis C. He served as the CDC focal point for the acceleration of FDA authorization of Cepheid’s Xpert HCV point-of-care HCV RNA test in collaboration with the NIH Independent Test Assessment Program (ITAP). He is currently guiding the development and implementation of strategies supporting the adoption of point-of-care testing in the United States.
Ponni Perumalswami, MD, FAASLD
Dr. Ponni Perumalswami is an associate professor of medicine at University of Michigan and Director of the Liver Clinic at the Ann Arbor VA Healthcare System. She is a health services researcher focused on improving access to care for patients with liver disease. Her research focuses on the development of integrated care models to improve viral hepatitis and alcohol-associated liver care within underserved and vulnerable communities. She has directed a community health worker lead model of viral hepatitis and liver cancer outreach for West African in New York City and is now adapting the model to Asian American communities in Michigan. In 2020, Perumalswami joined the steering committee of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services’ Hepatitis C Virus Elimination Plan and is co-leader of the We Treat Hep C Initiative in Michigan. She also works with the Michigan Opioid Collaborative on outreach and training initiatives aimed at increasing hepatitis C screening and treatment by primary care providers in rural areas of the state.
Jennifer Price, MD, PhD
Dr. Price is an Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine and Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and Director of the UCSF Viral Hepatitis Center. Her research examines the contributions of novel and traditional factors associated with liver disease and fibrosis progression in large observational HIV cohorts, with or without viral hepatitis. Dr. Price is a PI of the San Francisco Bay Area site of the Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study (MACS)/Women’s Interagency HIV Study (WIHS) Combined Cohort Study (MWCCS), which integrates two of the largest and longest running NIH-funded prospective cohorts of men and women with and at risk for HIV in the U.S. She also serves as co-Chair of the MWCCS Liver Working Group and Vice Chair of the AASLD HCV SIG. Dr. Price is a member of the End Hep C SF Coordinating Committee and leads the UCSF HCV Project Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes (ECHO), a collaborative model of medical education and care management focused on building capacity for HCV care among primary care providers throughout Northern California. She is the founding director of the DeLIVER Care Van, a mobile unit aimed at improving access to HCV screening and high-quality liver-related health care among marginalized communities.
Harrys Torres, MD, FACP, FIDSA, FAASLD Dr. Torres is an Ashbel Smith Distinguished Professor, and Professor of Medicine in the Department of Infectious Diseases, Infection Control, and Employee Health and an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas. He is board-certified in internal medicine, and infectious disease, with additional accreditations in HIV/AIDS and Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. He is a co-author of almost 140 articles published in peer-reviewed journals. His work on viral hepatitis has received multiple awards from the AASLD and the American Society of Clinical Oncology, among others.