Viral Hepatitis Program

General Info

The Yale Viral Hepatitis Program (YVHP) is a multidisciplinary group of physicians and health providers who are committed to the care and management of acute and chronic viral hepatitis by integrating the breadth of Yale's expertise in patient care, education, and clinical and laboratory research. Since its origins, Yale Digestive Diseases has sustained a 50-year tradition of excellence in liver research and patient care, and continues to bear a national and international influence on the study and treatment of liver disorders. As a partner of the Yale Liver Center (YLC) - one of only four NIH-sponsored liver research centers in the United States - it is the only center in Connecticut that offers comprehensive patient care for individuals with viral hepatitis.

The key to effective disease management of acute and chronic viral hepatitis is coordinated care among specialty trained physicians. The YVHP has close relationships with specialists in adult and pediatric gastroenterology, transplant hepatology, medical and transplant nephrology, transplant surgery, gastrointestinal pathology, diagnostic and interventional radiology, gastrointestinal surgery, rheumatology, OB/GYN, medical and surgical oncology, infectious diseases, the AIDS Care Program, psychiatry, and addiction medicine.

The Gastrointestinal Pathology program at Yale is the only subspecialty program in Connecticut, and provides expert consultative services for the most challenging liver pathology examinations in the region. The YVHP partners with Yale's Nathan Smith Clinic in the management of patients with HBV/HIV and HCV/HIV co-infections, and with the Yale Liver Transplant Program in the pre- and post-transplant evaluation and management of patients with liver cirrhosis and end-stage liver disease.

The YVHP has four strategic arms:

Education - providing formal education classes and individualized instruction sessions for patients with chronic hepatitis C infection prior to the initiation of antiviral therapy
Treatment - maintaining strict standards of practice in treatment protocols and close coordination of care with referring physicians to provide the most advanced and scientifically based approaches to the management of viral hepatitis
Research - ensuring the opportunity for patient access to novel approaches in the treatment of viral hepatitis and liver disorders through clinical trials
Community Outreach - building relationships with the surrounding communities of Greater New Haven and Connecticut to raise awareness about viral hepatitis, and to promote screening and education

Special services offered by the Yale Viral Hepatitis Program include:

Weekly multidisciplinary patient care conferences
Weekly multidisciplinary liver pathology conferences
Coordination with the liver and kidney transplant programs
Comprehensive procedural services for diagnostic and interventional GI endoscopy, percutaneous and transjugular liver biopsy, paracentesis and transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt
Formal mental health assessment for monitoring of co-morbid psychiatric disease before and during treatment
Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy
Coordinated, individualized care of pediatric and adolescent patients
Non-invasive approaches to the assessment of liver fibrosis

Altice, Frederick Lewis, MD, MA	Professor of Medicine (Infectious Diseases) and of Epidemiology (Microbial Diseases); Director, Clinical and Community Research; Director, HIV in Prisons Program; Director, Community Health Care Van; Icon Professor of Medicine, University of Malaya-Centre of Excellence for Research in AIDS (CERiA); Professor of Epidemiology and Public Health, Division of Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases
Bruce, Robert Douglas, MD, MA	Assistant Professor of Medicine (AIDS) and of Epidemiology (Microbial Diseases)
Eggers, Carol Andrea, APRN	Clinical Instructor in Nursing
Garcia-Tsao, Guadalupe, MD	Professor of Medicine (Digestive Diseases); Chief, Digestive Diseases, VA-CT Healthcare System; Director, Clinical and Translational Core, Yale Liver Center; Program Director, VA-CT Hepatitis C Resource Center	(203) 785-4138 Appts (203) 785-7273 Fax
Jakab, Simona, MD	Assistant Professor of Medicine (Digestive Diseases)	(203) 785-4138 Appts (203) 737-1345 Fax
Kozal, Michael J, MD	Professor of Medicine (AIDS); Chief Section of Infectious Diseases VA CT Healthcare System ; Director Yale HIV Clinical Trials	(203) 937-3446 Appts (203) 737-4051 Fax
Lim, Joseph K, MD	Associate Professor of Medicine (Digestive Diseases); Director, Yale Viral Hepatitis Program	(203) 785-4138 Appts (203) 737-1345 Fax
Mehal, Wajahat Zafar, PhD, MD	Associate Professor of Medicine (Digestive Diseases)	(203) 785-4138 Appts (203) 785-7273 Fax
Mistry, Pramod Kumar, MBBS, PhD, F.R.C.P.	Professor of Pediatrics (Gastroenterology) and of Medicine (Digestive Diseases); Chief, Pediatric Gastroenterology & Hepatology; Director, National Gaucher Disease Treatment Center	(203) 785-4081 Appts (203) 737-1384 Fax
Robert, Marie E, MD	Professor of Pathology and of Medicine; Associate Director, Fellowship in Gastrointestinal Pathology
Sanchez, Mayra Janet, MD	Assistant Professor of Medicine (Digestive Diseases)	(203) 785-4138 Appts (203) 737-1345 Fax
Schilsky, Michael, MD	Associate Professor of Medicine (Digestive Diseases) and of Surgery (Transplant); Medical Director, Adult Liver Transplant at Yale-New Haven Transplantation Center	(203) 785-2565 Appts (203) 785-6645 Fax
Strazzabosco, Mario, MD, PhD	Professor (Adjunct) of Medicine (Digestive Diseases); Director, Transplant Hepatology	(203) 785-4138 Appts (203) 785-7273 Fax
Taddei, Tamar Hamosh, MD	Assistant Professor of Medicine (Digestive Diseases)	(203) 737-6060 Appts (203) 785-7273 Fax
Villanueva, Merceditas Santos, MD	Associate Professor of Medicine (AIDS)	(203) 688-5303 Appts (203) 688-3216 Fax