NEW YORK, Aug. 16, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Ira Jacobson, MD, an internationally renowned hepatology and liver disease expert, has joined NYU Langone Health as its new director of hepatology within the Division of Gastroenterology.

A distinguished clinician and prolific researcher, Dr. Jacobson's work has been instrumental in the global development of antiviral therapy for viral hepatitis. He has been involved in more than 100 trials of novel, direct-acting antiviral drugs for interferon-based and direct-acting antiviral therapy, including some of the field's most promising studies, such as ADVANCE (telaprevir), QUEST-1 (simeprevir), POSITRON (sofosbuvir), STARTVerso3 (faldaprevir), and POLARIS-2 (sofosbuvir/velpatasvir/voxilaprevir). He also was the national principal investigator for the WIN-R trial, which established the role of weight-based ribavirin dosing and yielded important insights into the treatment of hepatitis C infection in African Americans.

Dr. Jacobson joins NYU Langone Health from Mount Sinai Beth Israel, where he held the position of chair of the Department of Medicine. Prior to that position, he served as chief of the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology and medical director of the Center for the Study of Hepatitis C at Weill Cornell.
"Dr. Jacobson's work has had a tremendous impact on the care of patients with hepatitis C, transforming this infection from a chronic disease to one that can be cured. His recruitment to NYU Langone greatly enhances our ability to treat patients, strengthens our understanding of liver disease through research and broadens our education of the next generation of physicians," says Mark B. Pochapin, MD, the Sholtz/Leeds Professor of Gastroenterology and director of the Division of Gastroenterology. "Having someone of Dr. Jacobson's caliber join our outstanding hepatology faculty elevates the entire division, allowing us to provide the best possible care to those we serve."

At NYU Langone Health, Dr. Jacobson will maintain an active practice in hepatology, gastroenterology, and endoscopy while overseeing all of the division's hepatology service lines. He will work closely with NYU Langone's Transplant Institute to identify and treat patients in need of liver transplants. Additionally, he will build further upon the foundation of the already active clinical research program in liver diseases at NYU Langone and participate in the education of house staff and fellows.

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