Project Connect: Bridging the Gap Between Hepatitis C Diagnosis and Care in LA
Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) is a significant public health problem nationally and in Los Angeles County (LAC). From 2019-2023, 27,678 Los Angeles County residents have tested positive for Hepatitis C. Nearly 60% of those cases remain untreated, even though HCV is now curable with new direct acting antiviral medications.
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Project HCV Connect is a community outreach and linkage to cure program that started in 2023. This is a collaboration between USC and the Viral Hepatitis Unit of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. Trained USC students and staff act as community case workers reaching out to people with Hepatitis C infection offer education, and help with linkage to treatment.
Students in Action
Publications
COVID-19 Pandemic Associated Declines and Subsequent Increases in Hepatitis C Virus Treatment Prescriptions in Los Angeles County
Hernandez-Tamayo, C., Stafylis, C., & Klausner, J. D. (2023). Open forum infectious diseases, 10(4), ofad125.
Mapping the Required Reporting of Hepatitis C Virus Ribonucleic Acid Test Results in the United States
Vij AP, Tamayo CH, Stafylis C, Klausner JD (2023) . J Infect Dis Epidemiol 9:306.
Lack of Hepatitis C Virus Elimination by 2030 in Los Angeles County at Current Treatment Rate
Hernandez-Tamayo, C., Stafylis, C., & Klausner, J. D. (2023). Open forum infectious diseases, 10(4), ofad125
Insights into the spatial epidemiology of hepatitis C infection: systematic synthesis of area-level determinants and spatiotemporal analyses
Gizamba, J.M., Finch, B.K., Wang, S. et al. (2025).
Letter to the Editor: Bridging the gap between HCV diagnosis and treatment to achieve elimination in the United States
Stafylis C, Vij AP, Klausner JD. (2025)
Project HCV Connect: Using a County Surveillance Registry to Link Hepatitis C Virus-Infected Residents to Cure-Los Angeles County, April 2023 to March 2024
Stafylis C, Hernandez-Tamayo C, Bhardwaj L, Shah R, Becerra T, Bruce D, Saini R, Saremi N, Thomas I, Manansala-Tan K, Vij AP, Li A, Sudeep N, Gizamba J, Hosseini B, Navarro S, Ufret-Rivera S, Jewell MP, Gounder P, Klausner JD. (2025)
Barriers to Hepatitis C Treatment Among Los Angeles County Residents
Bruce D, Shah R, Stafylis C, Hernandez-Tamayo C, Gounder P, Klausner JD; HCV Project Connect Team.
Determinants of hepatitis C virus treatment completion among Los Angeles County residents
Cassidy Hernandez-Tamayo, Chrysovalantis Stafylis, Lokesh Bhardwaj, Riya K Shah, Tatiana Becerra, Dara Bruce, Roopkamal Saini, Natalie Saremi, Immanuel Thomas, Krzel Manansala-Tan, Arjun P Vij, Alison Li, Nathan Sudeep, Jacob Gizamba, Bijan Hosseini, Sabrina Navarro, Sofia Ufret-Rivera, Albert J Farias, Jeffrey D Klausner (2025). BMC Infectious Disease
Forums
Hepatitis C Community Forum – May 8, 2024
Abstracts
Hepatitis-C Linkage to Treatment Cascade in Los Angeles County by Heritage
Conference: Global Hepatitis Summit 2025
Suboptimal geographic access to Hepatitis C treatment providers: urban-rural disparities across census tracts in California
Conference: Global Hepatitis Summit 2025
Hepatitis C Linkage to Cure in Los Angeles County
Conference: Global Hepatitis Summit 2025
Understanding Barriers and Facilitators to Treatment for Hepatitis C Infection: A Qualitative Study in Los Angeles County
Conference: Global Hepatitis Summit 2025
Hepatitis-C Linkage to Treatment Cascade in Los Angeles County by Heritage
Conference: Global Hepatitis Summit 2025
Treatment Disparities Among Minorities Living with Hepatitis C in Los Angeles County
Conference: Minority Health Conference 2023 (Keck)
Results From a Patient Navigation Program to Link HCV-Infected LA County Residents to Care
Conference: 2023 California Acute Communicable Disease Control Conference
Using County Notification Data To Characterize Recently Reported Hepatitis C Cases, Los Angeles
Conference: Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI)
HIV-HCV syndemic in California: Spatial epidemiological approach
Conference: APHA 2023 Annual Meeting and Expo
Insights into the spatial epidemiology of Hepatitis C infection: Systematic synthesis of Area- Level Determinants and Spatiotemporal Analyses
Conference: World Congress of Epidemiology 2024
Project Connect: Using County Notification Data to Guide Hepatitis C Virus-Infected Residents of Los Angeles County to Care
Conference: National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) 360
PATIENT-REPORTED BARRIERS TO HCV TREATMENT IN LOS ANGELES
Conference: XULA 17th Health Disparities Conference
Determinants of Hepatitis C Virus Treatment Completion Among Los Angeles County Residents Diagnosed Between January 1, 2021 and April 30, 2022
Conference: Society for Epidemiologic Research Annual Meeting
HEPATITIS C AMONG LATINX IN LOS ANGELES: DISPARITY AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR PREVENTION
Conference: Consortium of Universities for Global Health
USC Leads and Staff
Jeffrey Klausner, MD, MPH
Clinical Professor of Medicine, Infectious Diseases, Population and Public Health Sciences
LACDPH Leads
Mirna Ponce Jewell, MA, MPH
Supervising Epidemiologist in Los Angeles County Department of Public Health
Student Researchers
Amanda Williams
Master’s Student
Alyssa Mae Bien
Master’s Student
Jon-Marc Burgess
Undergraduate Student
Faith Kim
Master’s Student
Sierra Coleman
Undergraduate Student
Sherie Agcaoili
Undergraduate Student
Cassidy Samovar
Case Manager
Madison Ward
Undergraduate Student
Preston Nguyen
Undergraduate Student
Ellie Zuniga
Undergraduate Student
Sylvia Silver
Master’s Student
Bhuvi Kedia
Undergraduate Student
Reid Narciso
Undergraduate Student
Olivia Rajan
Undergraduate Student
Sahana Donepudi
Undergraduate Student
Ananya Verma
Undergraduate Student
Christy Anyiam
Master’s Student
Oluchi Ibe
Master’s Student
Monelli Esfandiary
Master’s Student
Avaneesh Wazarkar
Undergraduate Student
Princess Johanna Eusantos
Undergraduate Student
Past Members
Riya Shah
Master’s Student
Lokesh Bhardwaj
Master’s Student
Roopkamal Saini
Master’s Student
Patrick Casanas
Master’s Student
Emelia Behnan
Master’s Student
