The American Liver Foundation, the nation's leading nonprofit organization for liver health promotion and disease prevention, has named Dr. Ira M. Jacobson as their Physician of the Year Award Recipient. He will be honored on September 27, 2007 at the Flavors of New York Culinary Gala at the Pierre Hotel.
Dr. Jacobson, the Vincent Astor Distinguished Professor of Clinical Medicine, is Chief of the Division of Gastroenterology & Hepatology. He serves as Co-Director of the Cornell-Columbia Liver Clinical Trials Network and as Medical Director of the Cornell-Rockefeller Center for the Study of Hepatitis C, and is an Attending Physician at the NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital. A Principal Investigator on numerous clinical trials involving antiviral therapy for both hepatitis B and C, Dr. Jacobson has authored more than 150 articles in such journals as the American Journal of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and the New England Journal of Medicine. He also edited two books: ERCP and Its Applications and ERCP Diagnostic and Therapeutic Applications.
Note: It is estimated that over 5 million people are, or have been infected, with hepatitis C: approximately 70% of people infected do not know they have the virus. Hepatitis B is responsible for 5,000 deaths annually and is 100 times more infectious than HIV. Some liver diseases, such as primary biliary cirrhosis and biliary atresia, have no cure. There are currently over 17,000 people waiting for a liver for transplantation.