Francis V. Chisari, M.D.
Dr. Chisari is Professor of Virology and head of the Division of Experimental Pathology, Scripps Research Institute (La Jolla, CA). Dr. Chisari is well known for his work on Hepatitis B and C virus infections and carcinogenesis. He is widely recognized for a series of discoveries that defined the immunological basis for HBV clearance, persistence and pathogenesis, and for establishing the rationale for the development of therapeutic immunization for these chronic infections. Recently, he and his colleagues have used RNA interference to suppress the replication of these viruses in cell culture and in experimental animals. He has written over 300 papers on these subjects and has received numerous honors and awards for his work, including election to the National Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Medicine.

Jules L. Dienstag, M.D.
Dr. Dienstag serves presently as the Carl W. Walter Professor of Medicine and Dean for Medical Education, Harvard Medical School; he is a physician and member of the Gastrointestinal Unit at the Massachusetts General Hospital. As a hepatologist, clinical investigator, and teacher, Dr. Dienstag has devoted his career to understanding, prevention, and management of viral hepatitis, and the evaluation of novel antiviral agents for the treatment of Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C. He participated in early studies to define the virology and epidemiology of hepatitis A; his studies on hepatitis B spanned epidemiology, immunology, vaccine development, and antiviral therapy, including leadership of clinical trials of the first successful oral antiviral nucleoside analog (lamivudine) for its treatment; and he has participated in the clinical trials that established contemporary therapy for chronic hepatitis C. Dr. Dienstag's current research continues to focus on the development of antiviral therapy for chronic viral hepatitis, and he is the Principal Investigator at the Massachusetts General Hospital of a national, randomized, controlled trial of maintenance antiviral therapy for patients refractory to treatment for chronic hepatitis C.

W. Thomas London, M.D.
Dr. London, who served as Director of the Liver Cancer Prevention Center until 2004, is a senior member and Chairman of the Institutional Review Board (IRB) at the Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia. He received the Distinguished Scientist Award in 1998 from the Hepatitis B Foundation and the Distinguished Interdisciplinary Research Award in 1999 from the American Cancer Society, Southeast Region. Dr. London's research interest concerns the relationships of viral infections, environmental factors, genetic events and gene-environment interactions to the etiology and pathogenesis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). He is the author of many articles and book chapters on the association of chronic hepatitis B virus infection with HCC.

John G. McHutchison, M.D.
Dr. McHutchison currently holds the position of Professor of Medicine at Duke University and Medical Director, Gastroenterology & Hepatology Research, Duke Clinical Research Institute, Duke University. He is a Fellow of the Royal Australian College of Physicians and is a member of several professional organizations including the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases and the American Gastroenterology Association. Dr. McHutchison has published over 200 papers in the field of liver diseases and hepatitis. He has played a lead role in many key HCV drug development programs and clinical trials both nationally and internationally.

Robert Perrillo, M.D.
Dr. Perrillo is the Assistant Director of Hepatology at Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas and Director of the Hepatology Fellowship Program. He is also a practicing clinician with Liver Consultants of Texas. Previously Dr. Perrillo was Director of Academic Affairs, Section of Gastroenterology & Hepatology, Ochsner Clinic Foundation in New Orleans. Dr. Perrillo is an internationally recognized clinical investigator in the areas of antiviral therapy and epidemiology. He is an opinion leader best known for his contributions as a key clinical investigator in the areas of alpha interferon treatment of chronic hepatitis and has been a major contributor to the medical literature on the use of nucleoside analogue therapy in patients with advanced hepatitis B.

Stephen Udem, M.D., Ph.D.
Dr. Stephen Udem currently serves as the Senior Vice President of Vaccine Development and Chief Scientific Officer for the International Aids Vaccine Initiative ("IAVI") where he manages the IAVI's vaccine development programs and also provides strategic leadership across all scientific programs. Prior to joining the IAVI, Dr. Udem held senior research and development positions in Wyeth's vaccine division. He is an internationally recognized virologist and vaccinologist, considered especially expert in the fields of negative-strand RNA viruses and the design and development of viral vectors. While his focus at Wyeth was Vaccine Discovery Research for which he led a department of 150 researchers, his activities and responsibilities were far broader and included vaccine candidate development, regulatory submission, intellectual property assessment, and occasionally product licensure. Prior to joining the pharmaceutical industry, Dr. Udem held senior academic positions at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and the New Jersey Medical School. His scientific efforts in academia as well as in industry have been supported by extramural grants and contracts, and his teaching talent has been repeatedly recognized in awards and honors. In addition, Dr. Udem's contributions have been extensively published in the scientific literature and many of his creative technology inventions have been patented. He received his undergraduate degree from City College of New York and his Ph.D. and M.D. from Albert Einstein College of Medicine.