San Francisco, CA—The San Francisco Hep B Free Governance Council today announced the appointment of Arcadi Kolchak, MPH as Executive Director of San Francisco Hep B Free, a first-of-its-kind collaboration between City government, healthcare organizations, community groups, and the business community to make San Francisco the first city in the nation to be hepatitis B free and serve as a model for national and global efforts to eliminate hepatitis B and preventable liver cancer.

Arcadi Kolchak previously served as Campaign Director for Hepatitis B Free Santa Clara County. Kolchak replaces Genevieve V. Jopanda who will join the staff of Member-elect of the California Board of Equalization, District 2 and former California State Assembly Speaker Pro Tempore Fiona Ma, who also serves as Honorary Chairperson of San Francisco Hep B Free.

“Arcadi’s experience and education will build on the last seven years since we set the goal of making San Francisco the first city in the United States to be hepatitis B free, and I’m excited to work with him on this important cause in our community, engage more participants in this community coalition and provide a model for other communities around the country to eliminate hepatitis B and liver cancer,” said Dr. Stuart Fong, M.D., Chair of San Francisco Hep B Free and Chinese Hospital Community Health Outreach. “On behalf of the entire Governance Council, I would like to thank Genevieve for her dedication and leadership, and I know she will continue to work with us in a different capacity to make sure San Franciscans get screened, vaccinated and treated if necessary.”

Since January 2013, Arcadi Kolchak served as Campaign Director for Hep B Free Santa Clara County, a partner that grew out of the work of San Francisco Hep B Free. As Campaign Director, Kolchak helped to bring together Santa Clara County government, businesses and nonprofit organizations around the prevention of hepatitis B and liver cancer, and led the educational outreach effort in the Asian and Pacific Islander communities in Santa Clara County. Through community organizing and unanimous support from the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors, he successfully advocated for the first full-time Hepatitis B Prevention Coordinator position in the nation at the Santa Clara County Department of Public Health.

Arcadi Kolchak has also served as Policy Aide for the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors and Planning Commissioner for the Sunnyvale Planning Commission. He holds a Master’s Degree in Public Health from San Jose State University and a Bachelor’s Degree in Human Biology also from San Jose State University.

About San Francisco Hep B Free

Launched in April 2007, San Francisco Hep B Free promotes collaboration between government, healthcare groups, community organizations and businesses to end viral hepatitis B disease. San Francisco’s Asian and Pacific Islander residents comprise 34 percent of the City’s population and bear a disproportionate burden of liver cancer and undetected hepatitis B infection. The campaign was launched in San Francisco and serves as a model nationally for (1) creating public and healthcare provider awareness about the importance of testing & vaccinating Asian and Pacific Islanders for hepatitis B; (2) promoting routine hepatitis B screenings and vaccinations within the primary care medical community; and (3) facilitating access to treatment for chronically infected individuals. For more information, go to:sfhepbfree.org.