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The Hepatitis B Foundation recently honored three area college students for their special achievements while participating in the Foundation’s Summer College Research Internship Program.

The Hepatitis B Foundation piloted a two-week “High School Science Enrichment Program” this summer for talented students interested in gaining hands-on research experience and learning more about biotechnology and public health in the context of hepatitis B and liver cancer. The Central Bucks School District Science Department offered encouragement, support and specific ideas for the Foundation’s exciting new initiative.

The Hepatitis B Foundation’s advocacy efforts to raise hepatitis B as a national health priority has successfully resulted in the House Appropriations Committee’s recent approval of a $1 million budget increase for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Division of Viral Hepatitis for 2008. Congressman Mike Honda spoke publicly on July 17 during the first session of the 110th Congress to express his commitment to increased funding for hepatitis B. “The budget for this Division [of Viral Hepatitis] has remained almost flat since fiscal year 2002 and Asian Americans face a near epidemic, with 1 out of 10 infected with chronic hepatitis B. This appropriation begins a long overdue reversal of the inadequate budgets given to this Division,” Honda said.

The Hepatitis B Foundation, announced the promotion of Chari Cohen, MPH, from Program Coordinator to Senior Research Associate in its newly created Public Health Research Department.

The Hepatitis B Foundation presented its first-ever Hepatitis B Foundation Science Awards to three graduating students of the Central Bucks School District.

The Hepatitis B Foundation held its annual Crystal Ball Gala on Saturday April 28, 2007 at the new Pennsylvania Biotechnology Center, which it created to expand and accelerate its research mission. Almost 200 guests and community leaders attended the Foundation’s signature fundraising event. The evening was highlighted by a special presentation of its prestigious “Distinguished Scientist Award” to Francis V. Chisari, M.D., Professor and Head of the Division of Experimental Pathology in the Department of Molecular and Experimental Medicine at The Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, CA. He was honored with the Foundation’s highest scientific award in recognition of his extraordinary contributions to the science and medicine of hepatitis B.

Distinguished health and medical experts from the Hepatitis B Foundation in Bucks County, Pa., will participate in a symposium addressing critical issues on the challenges of developing an HIV vaccine and ensuring the eradication of Hepatitis B, on May 10 at the Library of Congress.

The Hepatitis B Foundation will sponsor the May 4, 2007 First Friday Doylestown in support of National Hepatitis Awareness Month for a second year.

The Central Bucks Chamber of Commerce has selected Bucks County scientist and community leader Dr. Timothy Block as its 2007 Lifetime Achievement Humanitarian Award recipient. As the co-founder and volunteer president of the Hepatitis B Foundation, Dr. Block has touched immeasurable lives locally, nationally and internationally. Through Dr. Block’s unparalleled devotion to helping others, individuals and families affected by hepatitis B now have access to resources, support and information that simply did not exist prior to the Foundation’s creation. The Foundation also offers hope to those suffering from this deadly liver disease in the form of a new $15 million research center located in Doylestown, Pa.

The Hepatitis B Foundation is proud to announce that Nobel Laureate Baruch Blumberg, M.D., Ph.D., has joined the organization as the first “Hepatitis B Foundation Trustee Distinguished Scholar.”