Providers

Michael Fried, MD Director of Hepatology

Michael W. Fried, M.D. is Professor of Medicine and Director of Hepatology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Dr. Fried has been involved with clinical and laboratory studies of hepatitis C since 1990 when he served for three years as a medical staff fellow in the Liver Diseases Section of the National Institutes of Health. Dr Fried has been the principal investigator on numerous Phase I, II and III clinical trials of various antiviral agents for chronic hepatitis B and hepatitis C. Since his appointment to UNC in 1998, Dr. Fried continues his commitment to the development of new and more effective treatments for these and other chronic liver diseases. Dr. Fried was recently inducted into the American Society of Clinical Investigation (ASCI), an honor society for clinical investigators. He is also a recipient of a career development award from the National Institutes of Health to provide mentorship to young clinical investigators at UNC.

Paul “Skip” Hayashi, M.D. is Assistant Professor of Medicine and Medical Director of Liver Transplantation at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. After completion of a fellowship in gastroenterology at the University of California Davis, he did two additional hepatology fellowships one in clinical research at the NIH and another in transplant hepatology at the University of Colorado. He was a transplant hepatologist at Saint Louis University prior to coming to UNC in 2006. Dr. Hayashi is interested in clinical research, particularly liver transplant outcomes, organ allocation and hepatocellular carcinoma. He will complete his Masters of Public Health degree later this year. Dr. Hayashi is dedicated to the delivery of high quality service in the management of patients with chronic liver diseases and liver transplantation.

Steven Zacks, M.D., M.P.H., FRCPC is Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He received his medical degree in 1991 and completed a residency in internal medicine in 1994 at the University of Toronto. After completing a fellowship in gastroenterology at the State University of New York at Buffalo in 1996, Dr. Zacks was a senior fellow in hepatology and liver transplantation at UNC while completing a Masters of Public Health degree in epidemiology at the UNC School of Public Health. Dr. Zacks applies his training in clinical research to his interests in the epidemiology and the evaluation of treatments for chronic liver disease.

Jama M. Darling, M.D. is Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She completed a residency in internal medicine in 1999 at UT Southwestern and a fellowship in gastroenterology in 2002 at Stanford University. Dr. Darling was awarded an AASLD advanced hepatology fellowship at the University of California San Francisco in 2003 where her focus was viral hepatitis. She was an Assistant Professor of Medicine at UCSF prior to joining the UNC team in 2005. Dr. Darling maintains a busy general hepatology practice and her research interests are viral immunology and HCV/HIV co-infection.

Donna Evon, Ph.D. is Assistant Professor of Medicine and a Clinical Psychologist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Dr. Evon completed her predoctoral internship and postdoctoral fellowship in the UNC School of Medicine, with specialty training in behavioral medicine and organ transplantation. She worked with patients with end stage liver disease, hepatitis C, and alcohol abuse. She joined the UNC Liver Program in 2004 and works with the hepatitis C clinical and research programs. Dr. Evon provides psychological evaluations for patients being considered for antiviral therapy and helps to manage the neuropsychiatric side effects of interferon-based therapy. Her research interests include the bio-psycho-social issues of living with hepatitis C and undergoing antiviral therapy.

Betty Batey, P.A.-C. is Clinical Instructor in the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology. Betty has greater than ten years experience caring for patients with liver disease. Her clinical focus is the care of patients with advanced liver disease awaiting liver transplantation. She will complete a Masters of Medical Science from Emory University later this year.

Karen Dougherty MSN, APRN is Clinical Instructor in the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology. She has been a Nurse Practitioner with the UNC Liver program for more than 5 years. Karen’s primary clinical responsibility is the care of those being treated for chronic hepatitis C. She has tremendous experience in managing the side effects associated with interferon-based therapies for hepatitis C. She follows patients at the University as well as in our Greensboro office.

Luigi Troiani, MHS, P.A.-C is Clinical Instructor in the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology. Luigi recently joined the UNC Liver Program, and his major clinical responsibility is providing care for patients with chronic hepatitis C at the University and our Greensboro office. He also cares for patients with advanced liver disease awaiting liver transplantation.