USC SSI PhD student publishes study on hepatitis C treatment access disparities in LA County

Jacob Gizamba’s peer-reviewed research maps where hepatitis C treatment is (and isn’t) accessible across Los Angeles County, identifying the communities most at risk of being left behind.

Jacob Gizamba, MPH, a PhD student in the USC’s Population, Health, & Place program, has published a new peer-reviewed research piece in the journal Spatial and Spatio-temporal Epidemiology. His study, “Spatial Disparities in Access to Hepatitis C Treatment Providers in Los Angeles County: An Enhanced Two-Step Floating Catchment Area Analysis,” applies geospatial methodology to a pressing public health question: Among those with Hepatitis C in Los Angeles County, who can actually reach hepatitis C care? And who can’t?

The answer, Gizamba’s research shows, is largely determined by where you live and who you are.

What the research found

Hepatitis C is curable, but only for people who can get treatment. Gizamba mapped access to HCV treatment providers across LA County at the census tract level, using a method that accounts for both provider location and the size and needs of the surrounding population. The findings reveal clear spatial disparities: Low access areas are disproportionately associated with poverty, lack of health insurance, and a higher concentration of Hispanic residents. The pattern clearly points to structural inequity rather than individual circumstance.

One finding carries direct policy weight—in areas where specialist providers are scarce; non-specialists may be key to expanding treatment reach. The research suggests that broadening who is equipped to treat HCV beyond specialist clinics could meaningfully reduce the gap in underserved communities.

The study illustrates the purposeful type of research in USC SSI’s Population, Health, & Place program. Our students are trained to use spatial tools not just to describe inequity, but to give policymakers and public health officials the precise and mappable evidence they need to act on it.

In a county as large and diverse as Los Angeles, knowing exactly where the gaps are is the first step toward closing them.