Syndemics
The Section of Infectious Diseases conducts Sydemics research focused on the synergistic epidemics of Hepatitis C Virus, HIV, and Substance Use Disorder (SUD). Our research team assembles exceptional expertise in addictions medicine, simulation modeling, healthcare policy, and health economics, as well as a long track record of experience and focus on addictions care and research. The work centers on microsimulation and cost-effectiveness methods to perform economic evaluations of public health guidelines and policies.
Dr. Linas is a national leader in hepatitis-C virus (HCV) infection and HCV/HIV co-infection comparative- and cost-effectiveness research using computational biology, clinical epidemiology and clinical economics methods. For more information on the syndemics lab, click here.
Dr. Assoumou’s research focuses on medical complications of substance use including HIV and Hepatitis C virus (HCV).
Dr. Epstein’s current and recent work includes projects analyzing the effects of Medicaid HCV treatment restrictions on care cascade outcome achievement, HIV prevention and medication adherence, and comparing the cost-effectiveness of HCV and OUD screening, evaluation, and treatment interventions in women of reproductive age, children, and the general population.
His research focuses on improving retention in treatment with medications for opioid use disorder following serious injection related infections as well as the integration of addiction and harm reduction services with infectious disease care.
Her specific studies have focused on the content areas of infectious diseases, including HIV/AIDS and hepatitis C, as well as substance use, antibiotic prescribing and antibiotic stewardship, and integrating screening for social determinants of health into clinical practice.