07May 2020 by admin

Dr. Thomas is helping lead the HCV Elimination Program in Florida.

The FL HCV elimination group convened national and local experts in August 2019 in Orlando, FL for its inaugural meeting to address screening, treatment-level barriers and liver cancer prevention. The meeting goal was to support a statewide HCV elimination program and it was attended by stakeholders including representatives from the FL DOH, patients, medical and social service providers, researchers, policymakers and others from private organizations. This followed an earlier HCV elimination meeting in February 2019, held in Miami, FL by the major liver disease societies (AASLD/EASL). Planned activities will strengthen and be synergistic with the current efforts from the FL DOH viral hepatitis program and include involvement of four major academic centers in FL. Stakeholders will continue to meet in 2020 with the goal of producing a guidance document with…
Read More
21Apr 2020 by admin

The University of Miami Miller School of Medicine was awarded the Gilead Sciences “FOCUS Grant” to support identifying HIV and Hepatitis C infected patients, HIV and Hepatitis C testing, and testing-related services.

The University of Miami Miller School of Medicine has been awarded a $299,220 grant from Gilead Sciences, Inc., to develop a replicable model program that embodies best practices in HIV and/or hepatitis screening and linkage to care. The award is provided through Gilead’s Frontlines of Communities in the United States (FOCUS) Program. The grant application described that a growing body of research has shown that opt-out testing can play a strong role in getting more individuals tested, extending earlier and better care to people who have been infected, improving their quality of life and promoting better disease management. The FOCUS program will support local initiatives to identify and link to care patients infected with HIV and hepatitis C (HCV) at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine Emergency Room while developing and…
Read More
20Apr 2020 by admin

Dr. Thomas has received a $2 million dollar grant from the FL Department of Health to study virus infection and progression of liver disease to liver cancer.

The Florida Department of Health has awarded Dr. Thomas the Bankhead-Coley Florida Clinical Cancer Research Grant to lead a research project titled "Identifying Infection and Molecular Determinants of Health Disparities in HCV Infected Minority Populations for the Prevention of HCC". The project is designed to address health disparities in minority populations with HCV-attributable liver disease in order to increase the early detection of HCC. The study aims to aid in the detection of high-risk subgroups and improve understanding of the progression of HCV disease after infection.
Read More
20Apr 2020 by admin

Dr. Thomas has received a $2 million dollar grant from the NIH to study acute & chronic viral infections.

The NIH funded project titled "A Multifaceted Approach to Study Tissue and Cell Type Specific Molecular Mechanisms of the Host Response to Acute/ Chronic Viral Infection" is lead by Dr. Thomas and awarded to the University of Miami School of Medicine. The project is intended to elucidate the tissue specific molecular mechanisms that drive disease progression in patients with chronic viral infections, as these patients are susceptible to high morbidity and mortality rates due to progressive organ damage. The project findings would subsequently be used to identify new targets for therapeutic intervention. Very few viruses are able to manifest as chronic infections in humans. The intrinsic innate immune response provides a first line of defense against invading viruses; however, in the case of chronic viral infections, these initial responses that…
Read More