KHEIR and Gilead Sciences Co-Host Seminar with Renowned Hepatologist/Gastroenterologist Dr. Ho Bae

(LOS ANGELES, CA - December 4, 2009) - On Wednesday, December 9th, KHEIR Center has the pleasure of co-hosting renowned Hepatologist/Gastroenterologist Dr. Ho Bae with Gilead Sciences. Please join us in learning about Hepatitis B and how it affects most of us and our families!

Location:

KHEIR Center 3727 W. 6th Street, 2nd Floor Conference Room Los Angeles, CA 90020 (Northeast corner of Harvard & 6th Street)

Time:

Wednesday, December 9th 12:15 - 1:30 p.m. (Lunch will be provided)

Quick Facts About Hepatitis B & Liver Cancer

	About 1/3 of people infected with Hepatitis B do not know how they were infected.
	It is often referred to as a "silent killer" because 70% of its victims are asymptomatic.
	Half of the mortalities caused by this disease are people of Asian descent.
	Korean Americans have 8 times the risk of liver cancer compared to their Caucasian counterparts.
	1 out of 4 chronic carriers will die from cirrhosis or liver cancer later in life.
	Liver cancer is the 4th most common cause of cancer among Korean Americans.
	Liver cancer rates among males are 13 times higher for Vietnamese Americans, 8 times higher for Chinese Americans and 6 times higher for Korean Americans than Caucasians.
	The greatest health disparity between Asian Americans and Caucasians is liver cancer, 80% of which is caused by chronic Hepatitis B.

About Dr. Ho Bae
Dr. Bae earned his medical degree at and completed a residency in internal medicine at LAC/USC Medical Center. Along the way, he received several awards, including the Brautbar Resident Teaching Award and the award for best senior resident. He completed fellowships in hepatology at LAC/USC Medical Center and in gastroenterology at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center/UCLA. A trailblazer in eradicating Hepatitis B, Dr. Bae, along with his dedicated volunteers, has screened thousands of at-risk members of the Asian American community. Dr. Bae is actively involved in patient and physician education regarding chronic hepatitis B and other aspects of the liver disease. Dr. Bae currently serves as the Medical Director of the Asian Pacific Liver Center at St. Vincent Medical Center.

About KHEIR
KHEIR Center, a 501(c)(3) non-profit agency founded in 1986, offers culturally and linguistically appropriate health care and social services to the low income, limited-English speaking Korean and Latino residents of Southern California. In addition to operating the only full-time community clinic with majority Korean patient base in the United States to offer assistance in English, Spanish and Korean, the organization maintains a Social Services Department and two Adult Day Health Care (ADHC) centers that render more than 80,000 service visits and 100,000 hot meals on an annual basis. http://www.lakheir.org