Participants

LOYOLA UNIVERSITY CHICAGO (LUC)

  • Jennifer Layden, MD, PhD
    Dr Layden joined the faculty at LUC in 2012 as an assistant professor of Medicine and Public Health Sciences.  She completed her PhD in epidemiology and currently practices as an infectious disease physician.  She has conducted Hepatitis C research for over 12 years, and more recently began efforts to study HCV in West Africa.  
     
  • Richard Cooper, MD
    Dr Cooper is a well established and funded physician epidemiologist, and head of the Department of Public Health Sciences at Loyola.  He has had NIH MERIT, as well as other funding, on chronic and cardiovascular diseases, and has served as consultants for both the WHO and CDC.  He has a long track record of international based research.
     
  • Amy Luke, PhD
    Dr. Luke is a Professor in the Department of Public Health at LUC and a nutrition epidemiologist.  Her interests include primarily energy balance, physical activity and obesity. She has been actively engaged in research in Nigeria and Ghana for 19 years. She is currently PI of an NIH grant sited in Jamaica, Ghana, South Africa and the Seychelles.
     
  • Lara Dugas, PhD, MPH
    Dr Dugas is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Public Health Sciences at LUC.  Her research focuses on physical activity and obesity and more recently chronic disease epidemiology.  She is the project coordinator a large NIH funded study being conducted in 5 countries, 3 of which are situated in Africa. She therefore has valuable experience in conducting multi-country studies, with a particular focus on West Africa.
     
  • Steven Scaglione, MD
    Dr. Scaglione is a hepatologist at LUC with a secondary appointment in Public Health. His research interest is liver cancer and he is actively involved in research collaborations in Nigeria and Ghana, having just submitted for funding for a pilot grant.
     
  • Bamidele Tayo, PhD
    Dr Tayo is a genetic epidemiologist and assistant professor at LUC.  He recently received a Doris Duke Foundation grant to study sickle cell disease in West Africa, and is involved in numerous international studies.
     
  • Nallely Mora, MD, MPH
    Dr Mora completed her MD in Mexico City and her MPH at LUC.  During her time with the LU MPH program, she traveled to Kumasi, Ghana as part of the Modeling the Epidemiologic Transition study (METS) to collect data for an ancillary study.  Dr Mora is a study coordinator for HepNet projects.
     
  • Susan Uprichard, PhD
    Dr Uprichard is an Associate Professor of Medicine at LUC.  She earned her PhD in virology and has a long standing, well funded track record in HCV related research.  She has identified a novel receptor for HCV uptake in the liver, and continues studies on cell entry as well as translational HCV research.
  • Stephanie Kliethermes, PhD
    Dr Kliethermes is Biostatistician and Assistant Professor in the Public Health Sciences at LUC.  She completed her PhD at The University of Iowa and is an expert in study design, biostatistical modeling, and Bayesian analysis.
  • William Adams, MA
    Mr Adams is a doctoral student in the Research Methodology program at LUC and is a coordinator for HepNet projects.  He provides statistical and regulatory support for HepNet projects.

 

KWAME NKRUMAH UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY (KNUST), KUMASI, GHANA

KNUST was established in 1952 and is the premier university in Ghana.  It is affiliated with the KATH teaching hospital in Kumasi, Ghana. This is the site of our current Blood Bank Protocol for HCV infection, and serves as the affiliation for our investigators in Kumasi, Ghana.

  • Richard O. Phillips, MB, ChB, PhD
    Dr Phillips is on faculty at KNUST and practices medicine at KATH in Kumasi, Ghana. His PhD is in microbiology from the University of London and he heads an active funded laboratory to study Buruli Ulcer, and other infectious diseases in Ghana.  He is the lead Kumasi investigator for the Hepatitis C Blood Bank Protocol, as well as the proposed Obuasi based community study.
     
  • Ohene Kwaku Opare-Sem, MBChB, FACP, FRCP, FGCP
    Professor Opare-Sem is on faculty at KNATH and is a specialist in hematologist and oncology.  He treats patients with hepatitis infection as well as advanced liver disease and cancer.  He has been actively involved in numerous hepatitis related research projects.  He also is the current head of Medicine at KNUST.
     
  • Shirley Owusu-Ofori, MB, ChB
    Dr Owusu-Ofoi is a specialist in Transfusion Medicine. She is the Head of Transfusion Medicine Unit of the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) in Kumasi, Ghana.  She has international collaborations and has completed studies on the screening of donated blood products for hepatitis and HIV disease.
     
  • Jacob Plange-Rhule, MD, PhD
    Dr Plange-Rhule is a physician specialist and physiologist and head of the Department of Physiology at KNUST.  He is the Physician-in-Charge of the Hypertension and Renal Clinic.  He is the past president of the Ghana Medical Association.  He is a member of the West African College of Physicians and the Royal College of Physician (UK) in 1996 and 2001 respectively.  He is the Principal investigator and collaborator for the research site currently being maintained in Kumasi, Ghana, as part of the large NIH funded study being conducted in 5 countries (METS).
     
  • Roderick Larsen-Reindorf, MBChB, PhD
    Dr Larsen-Reindorf is an obstetrician-gynecologist at Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, Kumasi, Ghana.  He has a special interest in managing pregnant women with Hepatitis B infection.  He is involved in research efforts to study HBV vertical transmission, and potentially implement interventions studies. 
     
  • Mary Afihene, MBChB
    Dr Arihene is a senior physician specialist at Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, Kumasi, Ghana, specializing in gastroenterology / hepatology.  She runs the Hepatitis Clinic at KATH, caring for a large population of individuals infected with hepatitis.
     
  • Stephen Sarfo, MBChB, PhD
    Dr Sarfo is a senior physician specialist at Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, Kumasi, Ghana.  He has been involved in numerous research studies, including the Buruli Ulcer projects, HIV, and hepatitis studies.  He has developed a database on HIV/HBV infected patients and has conducted studies to examine the sero-prevalence of HBV and HEV. 
     
  • Elliot Koranteng Tannor, MBChB
    Dr Tannor is a Physician Specialist of the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital and also the Chief Resident of the Department of Medicine. He is  also A Clinical Demonstrator of the KNUST School Of Medical Sciences, Kumasi. He works on the Buruli Ulcer Research Project, and has received numerous awards as a student in the school of medical Sciences. He also hold an MBA in strategic management and consulting from Kwame Nkrumah University Of Science and Technology.
  • Dorcas Owusu, MS
    Mrs Owusu graduated with her master’s in microbiology in 2010 and intends to pursue a doctorate degree. She has been a research team member in Dr Phillip’s lab.  She is the project coordinator for the Hepatitis Network studies.
     
  • Albert Kwansa
    Mr Kwansa is completing his master’s degrees at KNUST and has served as the project coordinator for the METS study.

UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN, NIGERIA

The University of Ibadan is the oldest university in Nigeria, created in 1948.   We have conducted a pilot study here, enrolling 200 subjects.

  • Babatunde Salako, MD
    Dr. Salako is a Consultant Nephrologist and Head of Department of Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan and the University College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria. He is a co-investigator on 3 NIH grants and an active collaborator with the LU Department of Public Health Sciences. He is a Co-investigator in the H3Africa Kidney Disease Research Network in collaboration with the University of Ghana and University of Michigan. He has been instrumental in collecting pilot samples and data for the hepatitis studies.
     
  • Adegboyega Akere, MD
    Dr Akere is a gastroenterologist and Professor in the Department of Medicine.  He has been actively involved with the hepatitis pilot study in Ibadan.

IGBINEDION UNIVERSITY OKADA, EDO STATE.

  • Bankole Henry Oladeine, M.Sc.
    Dr Oladeinde, is a Nigerian medical laboratory scientist, presently with the Department of Medical Microbiology, Igbinedion University Okada Nigeria. His is currently undertaking a post graduate program (PhD) in Medical Microbiology, at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Nigeria. His research interest is in Viral hepatitis, and now is conducting a research study titled- Molecular characterization of Hepatitis C Virus among HIV infected patients in Benin City, Nigeria.

 

UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE

  • JP Allain, MD, PhD
    Dr Allain most recently was the Principal Investigator and Head of Transfusion Medicine, the University Chair at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge and a honorary Professor at the Medical University of South China.  He is devoted to the molecular study of blood borne viruses significant in blood safety and transfusion medicine. His research has included studies on hepatitis B and C screening in West Africa.

JOHNS HOPKINS SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH

  • Kenrad Nelson, MD
    Professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.  He has a joint appointment in the department of Epidemiology and Global Health.  His research interests include hepatitis B, C, and E, HIV/AIDS, tropical medicine, leprosy, and nosocomial infections.  He is a world renowned expert on global hepatitis epidemiology.
     
  • Stephan Ehrhardt, PhD,
    Associate Professor in the department of Epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.  His research interests include topics in infectious diseases and tropical medicine. His research methodology focuses on exploring evidence for clinical interventions, particularly clinical trials and comparative effectiveness research.  He has recently focused on intervention trials in the study of Hepatitis B vertical transmission.

CENTER FOR DISEASE CONTROL, CDC

  • Joseph Forbi, PhD
    Dr. Forbi, is a molecular epidemiologist / public health virologist in the Molecular Epidemiology and Bioinformatics Laboratory at the Division of the Viral Hepatitis, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta-GA. His interest involves understanding of the molecular epidemiology and population dynamics associated with the transmission viral hepatitis in Africa. He is versed in conducting viral genomic studies.
  • Yury Khudyakov, PhD
    Dr. Khudyakov is the head of the Molecular Epidemiology and Bioinformatics Laboratory at the Division of Viral Hepatitis, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta-GA. He has pioneered numerous studies on the molecular dynamics, host interactions and evolution of Viral Hepatitis.

  • Francisco Averhoff, MD, MPH
    Dr Averhoff is the associate director for global health within the Viral Hepatitis Branch and has been involved in numerous hepatitis related international projects.  

DUKE UNIVERSITY, CENTER FOR HUMAN GENOMIC VARIATION

  • Thomas Urban, PharmD, PhD
    Dr Urban earned his PharmD degree from the University of North Carolina in 2001, and his PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences and Pharmacogenomics from the University of California San Francisco in 2007. He is currently an assistant professor in the Center for Human Genome Variation at Duke University Medical Center and has been an integral player in the large HCV genome projects that Duke has led.

MAYO CLINIC

  • Lewis Roberts, MBCHhB, PhD
    Dr Roberts is a Professor of Medicine at the Mayo Clinic and a practicing hepatologist with active research in liver cancer, focusing on the molecular pathogenesis of early detection.  Originally from Ghana, he has been involved in numerous projects focusing on hepatitis and liver cancer in this region.