Symposium Faculty
Biographies of International Speakers
Mindie H. Nguyen, MD, MAS, AGAF, FAASLD
Dr. Nguyen is Associate Professor of Medicine and Director of the Hepatology Fellowship in Gastroenterology and Hepatology at Stanford University, California, USA. She obtained her M.D. degree in 1992 at the University of California, San Diego, and her Masters in Advanced Studies for Clinical Research at the University of California, San Francisco and her Gastroenterology and Hepatology Fellowship at Stanford University Medical Center. She oversees a large research program which conducts therapeutic clinical trials, epidemiology, translational and outcome research in viral hepatitis and liver cancer. Her research base includes patient cohorts at Stanford University, the San Francisco Bay Area Consortium, and collaborative cohorts with other centers nationally and internationally.
She has served on the editorial board of various journals including Gastroenterology and is currently the Liver Section Editor for the Journal of Clinical Gastroenterology and acts as a peer reviewer for over 30 scientific journals. She has published over 100 peer-reviewed articles, invited reviews, and book chapters. Dr. Nguyen is a member of the Board of Directors for Pacific Health Foundation, Asian Health Foundation, of the Steering Committee for the HepatobiliaryNeoplasia Special Interest Group and for the Hepatitis B Special Interest Group and for the Hepatitis B Special Interest Group, Education Committee and the Hepatology Associate Committee for the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases.
Dr. Andrew Aronson, MD
Dr. Aronson is an Assistant Professor of Medicine and Director of ECHO (Extension of Community Health Outcomes) at the University of Chicago. Dr. Aronson has particular expertise in treating hepatitis C and in evaluating patients for liver transplantation. He is also an expert in telemedicine. He is a member of the University of Chicago Center for Liver Diseases, a multidisciplinary center nationally known for its broad experience, research discoveries, and treatment innovations related to liver diseases and transplantation. Dr. Aronson researches and evaluates new treatments for liver disease. He is currently studying different types of therapies for elderly patients with hepatitis C.
Also a medical ethicist, Dr. Aronson is investigating the principles involved in the allocation of organs for transplantation. Dr. Aronson is also a member of the HCV Guideline Committee for the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD).
Geoffrey Dusheiko, MD, MB, BCh.
Dr. Dusheiko is Emeritus Professor of Medicine at the Royal Free Hospital and University College School of Medicine, London, United Kingdom. He earned his bachelor of medicine, bachelor of surgery degree from the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa. After graduating, he completed his internship at Baragwanath Hospital in Johannesburg and his residency at Johannesburg Hospital. His fellowships were conducted at the Johannesburg Hospital Liver Unit and the National Institutes of Health in Maryland and the University of Minnesota (United States).
Dr. Dusheiko's research interests include the management and treatment of hepatitis B and C and small hepatocellular carcinoma; he has a special interest in research in viral hepatitis, focused on viral genotyping, applied molecular virology, the natural history of chronic viral hepatitis, and antiviral therapies. He has served on editorial boards for the Journal of Viral Hepatitis, Hepatology, and Best Practice and Research: Clinical Gastroenterology, GUT among others, and is the author of more than 330 published articles. He is currently a co-editor of Alimentary Pharmacology and Therapeutics.
A member of several organizations, including IASL, AASLD, and EASL, he is a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, the Royal College of Physicians of South Africa, and the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. He served as Educational Councilor on the Governing Board of the European Association for the Study of the Liver for the past 4 years. He is a director of the Skipton Fund and is a guidelines writer for the WHO.
Adam Richards, MD, PhD, MPH
Dr. Richards is an assistant professor in the Division of General Internal Medicine and Health Services Research at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and a primary care provider for homeless veterans as part of the Homeless Patient Aligned Care Team (HPACT) in the Office of Healthcare Transformation and Innovation and Health Promotion Disease Prevention, U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs in Los Angeles.
Dr. Richards applies his training in internal medicine, epidemiology, and health services to develop clinically-oriented and population-based approaches to understand and address social determinants of health among vulnerable populations. Dr. Richards partners with community organizations in Burma to develop measurement tools and evidence-based interventions to address the double burden of infectious and chronic diseases among displaced and war-affected populations. Areas of work include malaria control and surveillance and health information systems that have quantified the health impacts of human rights violations. Dr. Richards’s domestic research aims to integrate societal values for health equity into the design, analysis, and reporting of epidemiologic, comparative- and cost effectiveness research studies.
In addition to his general internal medicine practice, teaching responsibilities, and caring for homeless veterans in Los Angeles, Dr. Richards applies his medical skills to the treatment survivors of torture and individuals seeking asylum in the United States.
Dr. Richards is board certified in internal medicine. He holds an MD from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and the Bloomberg School of Public Health. He completed his residency at the Social Internal Medicine Program at Montefiore Medical Center/Albert Einstein School of Medicine. He holds a PhD from the UCLA School of Public Health and an AB in history and literature from Harvard College.
Yasuhito Tanaka, M.D., Ph.D.
Dr. Tanaka is a professor and director in the Department of Virology and Liver Unit at Nagoya City University Graduate School of Medical Sciences.
He is also the Director, Central Clinical Laboratory of Nagoya City University Hospital.
Dr. Tanaka was a visiting fellow at the Department of Transfusion Medicine, National Institutes of Health from 1999-2001. Dr. Tanaka is a prolific publisher, and he is a recipient of numerous awards, including the Research Advanced Award from Uehara Foundation.
Grace Lai-Hung Wong, MBChB (Hons), MD (CUHK), FRCP(Edin), FHKCP, FHKAM(Medicine)
Dr. Wong is Professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. She graduated from the Chinese University of Hong Kong in 2001 with honors and distinctions in Medicine. After graduation, she received training at the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at the Prince of Wales Hospital. In 2008, she completed her training and was recognized as Fellow of the Hong Kong College of Physicians.
In 2010, she received the Doctoral Degree of Medicine of the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Dr Grace Wong’s main research interest includes non-invasive assessment of liver fibrosis, hepatocellular carcinoma, and chronic hepatitis B. She has published over 125 articles in peer-reviewed journals including Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Gut. She is currently a reviewer of 28 biomedical journals, and an editorial board member of three journals. She has been awarded for the Young Investigator Award of the Asian Pacific Association for the Study of the Liver in 2009, and the Distinguished Research Paper Award for Young Investigators of the Hong Kong College of Physicians in 2010 and 2013.
Biographies of Myanmar Speakers
Dr. Hlaing Myat Thu
Dr. Hlaing Myat Thu is Deputy Director General of the Department of Medical Research, Yangon, Myanmar. She obtained her Bachelor of Medicine degree and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) in 1986 from the University of Medicine (1) in Yangon, Myanmar, and her Master of Medical Science (MMedSc) in microbiology from the same University in 1995. She later achieved her PhD in molecular virology from the Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia in 2005.
She has worked in the Department of Medical Research (DMR) since July 1992. Over the past two decades, she has been Principal Investigator for research projects concerned with viruses, and took part in the WHO surveillance project for rotaviruses as Principal Investigator from 2009 to 2014. From 2004 to 2010 she served as Deputy Director and Head of Virology Research Division and subsequently became the Director for Biomedical Research at the Department of Medical Research. She also currently serves as the President of the Microbiology Society of the Myanmar Medical Association and is also the Chairman of the Academic Committee in DMR. She has been a member of the Asia-Pacific Dengue Prevention Board (International Vaccine Institute) since 2009.
She has supervised many postgraduate Masters and PhD students in microbiology and also serves as external examiner in postgraduate examinations at the Universities of Medicine (1) and (2). She is also currently a member of the Institutional Ethics Review Committee (ERC) at the Department of Medical Research.
Professor Khin Maung Win
Professor Khin Maung Win obtained MB, BS, and MMedSc degrees from the University of Medicine, Mandalay, Myanmar in 1972 and 1976 respectively. He served as Registrar from 1982-1983 in the GI and Liver Service, Royal Infirmary Edinburgh, Scotland. In 1983-1984, he served as Assistant Lecturer, Liver Unit, Royal Free Hospital, London, UK, under Prof. Dame Sheilah Sherlock. He was named the WHO Research Fellow in 1990-91 at Paris Hôpital Henri Mondor in the Liver Transplant Centre.
Professor Win was Deputy Director in the Department of Medical Research, Yangon, from 1984-1995, and was Consultant Physician, Yangon General Hospital, from 1989-1990. In 1996, he was promoted to Professor and Head of the Department of Hepatology, Yangon General Hospital, and served in that capacity until 2007.
Subsequently, he established the Yangon GI & Liver Centre, and is currently Head of the Hepatology Department and a Consultant Hepatologist. He participates in many clinical trials and is currently participating in the Asia Pacific Hepatocellular Carcinoma Trials Group (AHCC 06 Trial). The Ministry of Health has appointed him an Honorary Professor, University of Medicine (1), Yangon, Myanmar.
His main interest includes treatment of viral hepatitis B and C.
Dr. Khin Pyone Kyi
Dr. Khin Pyone Kyi is currently President of the Board of Directors of the Liver Foundation and retired Director General of the Department of Medical Research, Ministry of Health, Myanmar. She is also Vice-President of the Myanmar Medical Association, and is Director of Ni Ni Diagnostics and Health Care Center. As Secretary Leader of the Support Group for Elderly Doctors (SGED), she is also a strong advocate for aged people. She was a Member of the World Health Organization Technical Advisory Group for Immunization in South-East Asia (SEAR-ITAG) (2008-2014), and is currently a member of the National Committee for Immunization Practice (NCIP).
She worked in government service for 32 years from 1978 to 2010, and pioneered the development of immunodiagnostic reagents for hepatitis by RPHA and ELISA methods. She also spearheaded the development of plasma-derived hepatitis B vaccine and recombinant hepatitis B vaccine in Myanmar, for which she was awarded the Honorary Medal of the State twice, for management in 2002, and for medicine in 2008. As one of the leaders of the Liver Foundation, a non-profit volunteer organization, she and her team have traveled all over Myanmar, carrying out vaccination programs, during which she delivered health education talks, screening for hepatitis B and C, and hepatitis B vaccination and counselling. The Liver Foundation works in close collaboration with the Ministry of Health in vaccination programs and the establishment of the National Hepatitis Program. She has been involved in the research on liver diseases and vaccines for over 33 years.
Dr. Naomi Khaing Than Hlaing
Dr. Naomi Khaing Than Hlaing is currently Head and Professor of the Department of Hepatology, Mandalay General Hospital, University of Medicine, Mandalay, Myanmar. She graduated from the Institute of Medicine 1, Yangon, Myanmar.
After working for a year in the Epidemiology Division of Department of Medical Research, Yangon, she worked for 20 years at the Department of Hepatology in the 1500-bedded Yangon General Hospital, which is the teaching hospital of University of Medicine 1, Yangon. She was a research fellow in molecular virology at the National Institute of Infectious Diseases in Tokyo in 2004. She studied Transplant Hepatology at the Penn Transplant Institute of the University of Pennsylvania in 2015. Her research interests are treatment of viral hepatitis B, viral hepatitis C and hepatocellular carcinoma.
She is a member of a number of professional associations, including the Myanmar Medical Association, the Myanmar GI and Liver Society, Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons Glasgow, the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases, the European Association for the Study of the Liver, and the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Dr. Than Tun Aung
Dr. Than Tun Aung is Deputy Director General of the Disaster & Epidemiology section of the Department of Public Health in the Ministry of Health and Sports of the government of Myanmar. He holds MBBS and MPH (Epidemiology) degrees.
He was an originator of the formulation for the Disaster Preparedness and Response Plan for Health, as well as supervised state and regional Public Health Directors, the Special Disease Control Unit Team Leaders on Disaster Management, and the Communicable Disease Surveillance and Response team. He was responsible for expanding the Programme on Immunization, as well as the adoption of international health regulations in Myanmar. He instituted capacity-building training regarding communicable disease prevention, and reviewed the current surveillance system as well as the attendant human resources and logistics operations for communicable disease surveillance and response.
Dr. Aung also strengthened the communicable diseases outbreak alert and response system. These endeavors have led to the achievement in Myanmar of both the eradication of polio and elimination of neonatal tetanus.
Dr. Win Win Swe
Dr. Win Win Swe is Professor and Head of the Hepatology Department at North Okkalapa Teaching and General Hospital in Yangon, Myanmar.
She completed her Master of Medical Science degree with a focus on internal medicine, and later specialized in hepatology while completing her Doctor of Medical Science degree at the Institute of Medicine 1 in Yangon. She currently serves as Vice President of the Myanmar Liver Foundation, as well as the Secretary of the Myanmar GI & Liver Disease Society, with additional memberships in both the Myanmar Medical Association and the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases.