September has started, and we already have a screening scheduled for nearly each weekend this month! We have a new class of phlebotomy-trained students who are doing well under the guidance of mentors like Dr. Lee (shown in the picture). We're also starting to have more new MS1 students volunteering. They haven't officially learned about viral hepatitis in class yet, but through our screening events, they get an informative sneak peek.

We started the month with a screening for a largely Egyptian immigrant population out at the Egyptian Orthodox Church in Euless. Did you know--Egypt had the highest prevalence of hepatitis C in the world but has since made the news in the past couple of years for how quickly and how successful their government-led effort was at eliminating the disease. While it's seen as a huge success story, it's also a reminder that government funding and public awareness are key players in the fight against disease.

This weekend was really rainy, but we were able to make it out for a screening event at Grace Chinese Baptist Church in Plano. Sometimes we'll post to our Facebook story, so stay tuned for live updates and selfies!

It's been super great to partner with local ethnic churches, but we are also hoping to reach out to other populations, too. We've been looking into working with Indian temples and/or mosques, but we have fewer leads in those directions... If you have any ideas or would like to work with us, please email us ([email protected]) or message us on Facebook.