The Liver Institute recently opened a new clinic in South Florida that will specialize in the evaluation, care and treatment of liver disease, hepatitis C virus (HCV), hepatitis B virus (HBV) and HIV/AIDS, the Sun Sentinel reports. This is the third clinic of its kind in the country, joining facilities in Los Angeles and New York City as one of the top places for hepatitis care in the United States.

Located in Fort Lauderdale, the new center will be among the few clinics in this country to offer FibroScan technology, a new noninvasive, painless way to measure liver damage. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the technology as an alternative to liver biopsy in 2013, but few facilities have adopted it this far.

The clinic will be led by Julia Torres, MD, a board-certified liver specialist with a degree from the University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine who completed her training at New York Medical College at Lincoln Hospital in the Bronx. Torres has been involved in HIV-related care for more nearly 20 years.


Appointments at the Liver Institute will be offered Mondays from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. and Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8 a.m. to noon. The clinic will accept most major insurance plans. For more information, visit the Liver Institute’s website here.