Therapeutic Investigation — Dr. Alain Litwin has been awarded $3.7 million over five years from the National Institute on Drug Abuse to study models of care for injection drug users infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV), a potentially lethal virus that infects the liver and is spread by blood-to-blood contact. While HCV treatment leading to a sustained viral response is associated with improved survival, injection drug users have classically had poor access to care and limited success following such regimens. Dr. Litwin will conduct a randomized control trial of three models of care that incorporate new HCV therapies -- on-site primary care, substance abuse treatment, and psychiatric care within drug treatment clinics -- to determine which model is best and most cost-effective for successfully treating HCV-infected injection drug users. Dr. Litwin is associate professor of clinical medicine and of clinical psychiatry and behavioral sciences.
Posted on: Wednesday, August 22, 2012