Our Advisors

Steven-Huy Han, MD is the Director of the Hepatology Clinical Research Center and Assistant Director of the UCLA Asian Liver Center. His research interests have focused on the treatment of chronic viral hepatitis B and C, the prevention of recurrent viral hepatitis after liver transplantation, and the prevention and treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma. He is the Principal Investigator of the National Institute of Health (NIH) Hepatitis B Clinical Research Network in Los Angeles and multiple clinical studies involving treatment of chronic hepatitis B and C. Dr. Han also serves on the editorial boards of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology and is a Guest Associate Editor for Gastroenterology and Digestive Diseases and Science. He has published many articles in the area of viral hepatitis, liver transplantation, and liver cancer and is an active speaker, lecturing on these subjects both nationally and internationally. He has been recognized by Best Doctors every year since 2003. He is a past president of the Southern California Society of Gastroenterology and an ongoing council member.
Dr. Han received his undergraduate degree in biochemistry from the University of California, Berkeley and then attended medical school at Albany Medical College in Albany, New York where he received his M.D. degree. Following a residency in Internal Medicine at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center and Stanford University, Dr. Han completed a clinical fellowship in hepatology at the University of Southern California under the guidance of Dr. Telfer B. Reynolds. He then trained at the University of California, Los Angeles where he completed a clinical fellowship in gastroenterology and transplant hepatology. Since then, Dr. Han has remained at UCLA, where he is now Professor of Medicine and Surgery in the Division of Digestive Diseases and the Division of Liver and Pancreas Transplantation. In addition to his patient care responsibilities in hepatology and liver transplantation, Dr. Han plays an active role in the clinical training of medical students, medical residents, and subspecialty fellows and is the current Program Director of the Advanced Transplant Hepatology Fellowship at UCLA. Most recently, Dr. Han has been working with the UCLA Foundation to establish the Philip L. Palumbo Endowed Chair in Clinical Hepatology to honor the Chair’s donor. With this endowed chair, the first hepatology chair at UCLA, Dr. Han hopes to further UCLA’s mission to advance research in liver diseases and to help educate future liver scholars.

Mimi Chang, DNP is the Program Manager and Co-Founder of the Asian Pacific Liver Center (APLC). She has extensive experience in the specialty of liver disease including testing, treatment, monitoring, outreach, and education of hepatitis in the Asian American community. Her practicum is composed of the scores of non-profit, community-based and public health agencies she coordinates to mobilize behind the APLC programs. Working with APLC staff and volunteers, many communities at risk have rallied behind her to eradicate the hepatitis virus in Southern California. She has worked as a critical care nurse, nurse coordinator, and nurse practitioner in the Los Angeles area for over 30 years. She has participated in approximately 20 research projects over the past 10 years through funding from various organizations. She has worked as Sub-PI and study coordinator in several clinical trials in the area of liver diseases including chronic hepatitis B, chronic hepatitis C, and liver cancer. Dr. Chang’s research has appeared in publications such as the Journal of Viral Hepatitis, Digestive Diseases & Science, and Oncotarget. A native of South Korea, Dr. Chang holds a bachelor of science degree in nursing from Yonsei University in Seoul, a master of science in nursing and family nurse practitioner degree from UCLA, and a doctorate degree in nursing practice from Chamberlain College of Nursing.