Alejandro Soza

Background

About Alejandro Soza

Dr. Soza graduated form the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile Medical School in 1994 and after doing an Internal Medicine and Gastroenterology residence, he was appointed as a Junior Faculty at the same university. Looking for research experience abroad in his areas of interest, he spent 2 years at the Liver Diseases Branch of the NIDDK, National Institutes of Health (Bethesda, MD). His mentors, Dr. Jake Liang and Dr. Jay Hoofnagle, were crucial for transmitting him not only the elements of good science, but scientific rigor and compassion with patients. His main area of research interest is viral hepatitis, specifically hepatitis C and B virus, and steatohepatitis. He was responsible for developing and conducting a pilot study in humans assessing viral kinetics and the antiviral effect of interferon gamma. He was also the principal investigator of a NIH-approved intramural study for studying better treatment algorithms of patients with hepatitis C genotypes 2 and 3. Other research lines he participated include the study of the immunogenetic determinants of hepatitis C infection natural history, HBV-HIV coinfection and treatment of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis. After returning to Chile, he continued his research interest in hepatitis C, creating and characterizing a cohort of Chilean patients, and conducting studies to determine hepatitis C incidence and prevalence in the country. In 2003 he received the “Dr. Jaime Chesta” Award for the Young Investigator from the Chilean Society of Gastroenterology in recognition of his work and projection.