Dr. Carolyn Wester serves as the Director of the Division of Viral Hepatitis within CDC's National Center for HIV, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention. She has over 25 years of public health and clinical research experience focused on the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of viral hepatitis, HIV, and STIs in the U.S. and internationally. In her current role, Dr.
Dr. Hoofnagle served as the Director of Liver Disease Research Branch in the Division of Digestive Diseases and Nutrition for 23 years up until his retirement in 2026. He was active in liver disease research for over 50 years and has published more than 500 articles on topics in basic and clinical research on viral hepatitis, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, acute liver failure, pediatric liver disease, cirrhosis, autoimmune liver diseases and drug-induced liver disease.
Jennifer Onwochei is a Transplant Hepatologist at Northwell Health with a commitment to advancing patient care and medical education. In addition to providing specialized care for patients with complex liver diseases and those undergoing liver transplantation, she has a strong interest in public health, community outreach, and global health initiatives aimed at improving healthcare access and outcomes across diverse populations.
Medical Director, Liver Transplant Program. Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Melissa Palmer, MD has been a Hepatologist for over 35 years and is an experienced biotech/pharma executive. She is currently CEO of Liver Consulting LLC, consulting exclusively to biotech and pharmaceutical companies on hepatology-related issues such as: innovative trial designs for all liver diseases including metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic hepatitis (MASH), PBC, Hepatitis B and D, primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC), alcohol- associated liver disease and all aspects of liver disease drug development from pre-IND to NDA.
Chemical Biology PhD Candidate at the University of Michigan, working under Dr. Jonathan Sexton. Focused on using patient-derived liver organoids to model clinically significant hepatotoxicity in an in-vitro model system.
Dr. Dina Halegoua-De Marzio is a transplant hepatologist and is currently a Professor of Medicine at Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University. She completed her residency in internal medicine and fellowships in gastroenterology and transplant hepatology at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital (TJUH). She developed the first adult Fatty Liver Center in the Delaware Valley and currently serves as its director. She also serves as the Director of GI Research at TJUH and Associate Chief for the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at TJUH.
Dr. Hayashi is the Associate Director of DILI within the Division of Hepatology and Nutrition, FDA. He received his Bachelor of Arts in microbiology at UCLA and MD at University of California (UC), San Diego. After completing residency and gastroenterology fellowship at UC Davis in Sacramento, California, he completed a clinical research fellowship in the Liver Diseases Section, NIDDK, NIH. He then completed a transplant fellowship at the University of Colorado, Denver. He completed a Master of Public Health at Saint Louis University (SLU), St.
Associate Professor of Medicine. Gastroenterologist and Transplant Hepatologist. Mayo Clinic Florida
Dr. Yapali received her medical degree from Istanbul University, Cerrahpasa School of Medicine, English Curriculum. She completed her residency in Internal Medicine at Marmara University in 2008 and her Gastroenterology fellowship at Ege University, Division of Gastroenterology, in 2012. From 2012 to 2014, she pursued a Hepatology Research Fellowship at the University of Michigan, Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, under the mentorship of Professor Anna Lok.