The HBV Refresher: Screen, Diagnose, Treat

Dr. Kowdley received his BS in Biology and Anthropology as a member of the Dean’s List at Columbia University, and his medical degree from Mount Sinai School of Medicine. He completed his internship and residency at Oregon Health Science University and a Fellowship in Gastroenterology and Hepatology at Tufts University School of Medicine.

Dr. Kowdley is internationally recognized as a clinician, educator, and researcher in the area of liver disease and has presented his research on liver diseases at more than 165 national and international meetings and scientific symposia. He is the author of over 450 articles, book chapters, reviews, and commentaries in this area, with publications in the Annals of Internal Medicine, Archives of Surgery, Gastroenterology, Hepatology, American Journal of Physiology, and New England Journal of Medicine, among other professional publications.

Dr. Kowdley has extensive experience in clinical trials in all areas of liver disease, including hepatitis C, cholestatic liver disease, primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC), primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC), nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, and hepatitis B. He has been a principal investigator in several NIDDK-sponsored clinical trials in PBC and PSC and is a member of executive committee of the nonalcoholic steatohepatitis clinical research network (NASH CRN). Dr. Kowdley has also served as the lead investigator of several major international clinical trials in hepatitis C.

Dr. Kowdley’s laboratory program is focused on the role of iron as a co-factor in many liver diseases, including hepatitis C, hemochromatosis, and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). He has developed murine models for NASH and is currently exploring the contribution of hepatic iron deposition on the severity of NASH.

Dr. Kowdley’s research program has been continuously funded by the NIDDK since 1999 in addition to several grants from foundations and scientific societies.

Su Wang, MD, MPH, FACP is the Medical Director of Viral Hepatitis Programs and the Center for Asian Health at Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center and a member of the RWJBarnabas Health Medical Group. She is Past President of the World Hepatitis Alliance, a non-governmental organization (NGO) committed to viral hepatitis elimination.

Dr. Wang is an internist and has served as primary investigator for a number of viral hepatitis screening and linkage-to-care grants sponsored by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other funders. She has led primary care-based hepatitis B and C programs, community outreach efforts, patient-based advocacy, and community-based research initiatives.

Dr. Wang has served on a number of World Health Organization (WHO) guideline development committees producing “Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission of Hepatitis B Virus: Guidelines on Antiviral Prophylaxis in Pregnancy” and “Interim Guidance for Country Validation of Viral Hepatitis Elimination.” She is a member of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) and serves on the steering committee for the HBV Special Interest Group and the Viral Hepatitis Elimination Taskforce, and is on the Patient Advisory Group.

She received her medical degree from the University of Miami and her Masters of Public Health from Johns Hopkins School of Public Health. Dr. Wang completed a combined Internal Medicine and Pediatric residency at Georgetown University Hospital and then served as an Epidemic Intelligence Service officer for the CDC at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). She was previously the Director of Hepatitis Programs at the Charles B. Wang Community Health Center in New York City.