Location:
Webinar via Zoom
Please click on the link just before the start of the webinar
Cost
Free
Contact for enquiries
Rata Joseph, +61 (2) 9385 0900 or info@kirby.unsw.edu.au
Kirby Institute Seminar Series presents
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Ms Yumi Sheehan Yumi Sheehan is a Project Officer and PhD Student in the Viral Immunology Systems Program. She is currently working across multiple research projects with a focus on enhancing access to hepatitis C testing and treatment for prisoners, including coordination of the PIVOT study, National Prisons Hepatitis Education Project, the AusHep study, the National Prisons Hepatitis Network (NPHN), and the International Network on Hepatitis in Substance Users - Prisons Network (INHSU Prisons). |
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Dr Lise Lafferty Lise Lafferty is a Research Fellow with a co-appointment across UNSW Sydney's Centre for Social Research in Health and the Kirby Institute’s Surveillance and Evaluation Research Program. Her research interests include people who inject drugs (including those in prison and in the community), blood-borne viruses (particularly hepatitis C), sexual health, and Aboriginal health. She has a community background working with diverse disadvantaged communities including people with disabilities, young people at risk of entering the criminal justice system, and Aboriginal communities. Twitter: @LiseLafferty |
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Professor Jason Grebely Jason Grebely is Head of the Hepatitis C and Drug Use Group in the Viral Hepatitis Clinical Research Program at the Kirby Institute, UNSW Sydney. Jason's training and research is based in the field of epidemiology, with a focus on clinical epidemiology. Jason has a BSc in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and a PhD in Pharmacology and Therapeutics, both from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. Jason is also the President of the International Network on Hepatitis in Substance Users. Twitter: @jasongrebely |
Abstract
Point-of-care testing offers the opportunity to fast-track hepatitis C (HCV) treatment initiation. The PIVOT study evaluated the impact of an intervention integrating point-of-care HCV RNA testing in a ‘one-stop shop’ intervention on treatment uptake compared to standard of care among people recently incarcerated in Australia. The TEMPO study evaluated a test and treat intervention integrating novel point-of-care HCV RNA testing, linkage to nursing care, and peer-supported delivery of HCV testing and treatment among current people who inject drugs with HCV attending needle and syringe programs. Remaining barriers and challenges to implementation and strategies to capitalise on this to achieve elimination will be discussed.
The ASCEND program grant (Advancing the health of people who use drugs: hepatitis C and drug dependence) is a collaboration between UNSW Sydney’s Kirby Institute and National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre (NDARC), funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council.
Chaired by:
Professor Andrew Lloyd, Program Head, Kirby Institute
With presentations:
- Ms Yumi Sheehan
A ‘one-stop shop’ point-of-care hepatitis c intervention in prison: the PIVOT study - Dr Lise Lafferty
Patient perspectives of hepatitis C point-of-care testing - Professor Jason Grebely
A test and treat intervention HCV testing and treatment among current people who inject drugs attending needle and syringe programs: the TEMPO study
Followed by a Q&A session with the speakers and:
- Mr Stuart Manoj-Margison, Director, BBV, STI and Torres Strait Health Policy Section, Australian Government Department of Health
- Ms Carrie Fowlie, Chief Executive Officer, Hepatitis Australia
- Professor Alex Thompson, Director Gastroenterology, St Vincent’s Hospital, Melbourne
Opinions expressed in the Kirby Institute Seminar Series are solely those of the speaker and do not necessarily represent the views or opinions of the Kirby Institute or UNSW.
