The following Infectious Diseases Division physicians have been selected as Pittsburgh Magazine’s 2023 Top Doctors in the region: Karin E. Byers, MD, MS, and, Ken S. Ho, MD, MPH. Castle Connolly Medical, Ltd., surveys thousands of health professionals in the region and asks them to nominate the doctors to whom they would entrust a family member when faced with a specific medical problem.
Please join us in congratulating Karin and Ken on this well-deserved recognition!
Karin E. Byers, MD, MS, serves as the Associate Chief of Clinical Care and holds the academic rank of Professor of Medicine. Dr. Byers joined the Division of Infectious Diseases in 2001 as the Director of Surgical Infections Unit and was appointed Clinical Director of the ID Division in 2003. She was promoted to the rank of Associate Professor of Medicine in 2016. Dr. Byers was appointed Associate Chief of Clinical Care for the ID Division in 2019. Karin was promoted to the rank of Professor in 2021. She holds a secondary appointment in the Department of Neurosurgical Surgery in the School of Medicine. Karin is an exceptional clinician and a highly effective manager of the clinical services for the Division. She is responsible for oversight of services at three different hospitals and scheduling for nine different services. Additionally, she is responsible for the recruitment and orientation of new physicians as well as faculty evaluations for the in-person clinicians. Karin is dedicated to her patients and to ensuring the delivery of high- quality care by herself and all physicians in the ID Division.
Ken S. Ho, MD, MPH, serves as the Medical Director of the Pitt Men’s Study. He joined the ID Division in 2011 as a Faculty Instructor and was promoted to the rank of Assistant Professor of Medicine in 2013. Dr. Ho was promoted to the rank of Associate Professor of Medicine in 2022. He is dedicated to the patients and community he serves. Dr. Ho was critically involved in efforts to mobilize monkeypox (Mpox) vaccination and treatment for individuals with Mpox during the 2022 outbreak. He is considered a national expert on HIV prevention. Through his work with the pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) subcommittee with AIDS Free Pittsburgh, Dr. Ho has worked to improve community and health care provider knowledge of HIV biomedical prevention options. He spearheaded the creation of a “PrEP Provider Toolkit”, a resource for providers interested in learning about HIV PrEP. Dr. Ho has been instrumental in increasing community and provider awareness of biomedical HIV prevention strategies such as PrEP and expanding PrEP across Allegheny County.