Globally prominent advocate and physician chosen for Hepatitis B Foundation’s 2023 Community Commitment Award

Su Wang, MD, MPH, who is a practicing physician in New Jersey, is one of the leading voices in the global hepatitis B community.

DOYLESTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA, UNITED STATES, January 12, 2023 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The Hepatitis B Foundation, a global nonprofit organization based in Doylestown, Pa., has chosen Su Wang, MD, MPH, FACP, dedicated physician and advocate, to receive the Foundation’s 2023 Community Commitment Award.

Dr. Wang is the medical director of Viral Hepatitis Programs and the Center for Asian Health at Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston, N.J. She is a practicing internist and also living with hepatitis B, having been diagnosed when she donated blood in college.

A dedicated advocate to improving awareness, screening and linkage-to-care and treatment for people living with hepatitis B, Dr. Wang is a member of the Hepatitis B Foundation Board of Directors. She is immediate past president of the World Hepatitis Alliance, a patient-led international organization whose mission is to harness the power of people living with viral hepatitis to achieve its elimination.

“We have never had another advocate like Su Wang, who merges her clinical expertise with her lived experience to elevate the voices of those most impacted by hepatitis B,” Chari A. Cohen, DrPH, MPH, Hepatitis B Foundation president, said. “She has been leading the global charge to motivate patients, community leaders, clinicians and policy makers to prioritize hepatitis B elimination efforts. Su has a global reach, and a local impact – changing lives for her own patients, her local community and around the world.”

Dr. Wang has had remarkable impact in the field of hepatitis B. She has created hepatitis B screening and linkage-to-care initiatives in the Asian and foreign-born communities in New York City and Northern New Jersey. She leads primary care-based hepatitis care programs and advocates for simplification and expansion of treatment guidelines. As a mother herself, she has been passionate about EMTCT (elimination of mother-to-child transmission) and has designed the HepB Moms programs for pregnant women and their infants. She has served on several World Health Organization committees, including for guideline development and for the triple elimination of mother-to-child -transmission of HIV, syphilis and hepatitis B. She amplifies the voice of people living with viral hepatitis and affected communities locally and globally. She was recognized as a Hep B Champion in 2014 by the Hepatitis B United National Coalition, a HepB Hero by the San Francisco Hep B Free in 2020, and as a 2022 Elimination Champion by the Coalition for Global Hepatitis Elimination.

“I am humbled to receive HBF’s 2023 Community Commitment Award,” Dr. Wang said. “I strongly believe that many of my accomplishments would not have been possible without the work that HBF has done in laying the groundwork for hepatitis B. Together, we will continue to be the voice for those living with hepatitis B around the world- many who do not have a voice.”

Dr. Wang received her medical degree from the University of Miami School of Medicine and her Master of Public Health from the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health. After completing internal medicine and pediatric residencies at Georgetown University Medical Center in Washington, D.C., she worked for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as an Epidemic Intelligence Service officer based at the FDA.

Dr. Wang lives in North Jersey with her husband, Daniel Chen, four children ages 7, 10, 13 and 15, and they have three chickens, one gecko and Sir Charles the cat.

The Community Commitment Award is presented annually at the Hepatitis B Foundation Gala, which will be held next on March 10, 2023. The 12 previous recipients include a wide range of advocates including #justB storytellers, dedicated philanthropists and valued advisors to the Foundation.

About Hepatitis B: Hepatitis B is the most common serious liver infection in the world. It is caused by the hepatitis B virus that attacks and injures the liver. Each year up to 1 million people die from hepatitis B worldwide, even though it is preventable and treatable. Hepatitis B is a “silent epidemic” because most people do not have symptoms when they are newly or chronically infected. Thus, they can unknowingly infect others and continue the spread of hepatitis B. For people who are chronically infected but don’t have any symptoms, their livers are still being silently damaged, which can develop into serious liver disease such as cirrhosis or liver cancer.

About the Hepatitis B Foundation: We are the nation’s leading nonprofit organization solely dedicated to finding a cure for hepatitis B and improving the quality of life for those affected worldwide through research, education and patient advocacy. Founded in 1991, the Hepatitis B Foundation is based in Doylestown, Pa., with offices in Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia. To learn more, go to www.hepb.org, read our blog at hepb.org/blog, follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook (@hepbfoundation) or call us at 215-489-4900. To donate, contact Jean Holmes at 215-489-4900 or jean.holmes@hepb.org.

Edward Tate
Hepatitis B Foundation
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