People

Benjamin Eckhardt
Benjamin J. Eckhardt, MD, MS
NYU School of Medicine, Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases and Immunology - Assistant Professor Medicine
Bellevue Hospital, Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases and Immunology
Email: benjamin.eckhardt@gmail.com
Education
MD, Albert Einstein College of Medicine
MS, Clinical Epidemiology and Health Services Research, Cornell University Graduate School of Medical Sciences
BS, Biological and Environmental Engineering, Cornell University
Research Interests
Hepatitis C, HIV, People who inject drugs, Harm reduction
BIO
Benjamin Eckhardt received his MD degree from Albert Einstein College of Medicine and  Internal Medicine training at NYU within the Primary Care Program. After completing residency, he worked in Rwanda for Partners In Health/Inshuti Mu Buzima with a clinical appointment at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School. He returned to New York to complete his fellowship training in Infectious Diseases at Weill Cornell Medical College while concurrently receiving a MS in Clinical Epidemiology and Health Services Research. He joined the faculty at NYU/Bellevue in 2016 with a clinical focus in HIV and hepatitis management.

Dr. Eckhardt’s research interest focuses on evaluating models of care to facilitate access, engagement, and retention of active injection drug users in HCV treatment and care.
Projects
Principal Investigator, HCV – Source Patient Identification and Group Overlap Treatment. Completed
Publications

Recent

Lee CSJ, Mateu-Gelabert P, Aponte-Melendez Y, Fong C, Kapadia SN, Smith M, Marks KM, Eckhardt B (2024).
Reduced injection risk behavior with co-located hepatitis C treatment at a syringe service program: The accessible care model
PLoS One, 19 (8), e0308102. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0308102. PMCID: PMC11361571.

Mateu-Gelabert P, Pratt S, Guarino H, Hallack R, Fong C, Eckhardt B (2024).
HCV prevalence and phylogenetic characteristics in a cross-sectional, community study of young people who inject drugs in New York City: Opportunity for and threats to HCV elimination
Health Science Reports, 7 (7), e2211. doi: 10.1002/hsr2.2211. PMCID: PMC11217018.

Kapadia SN, Jordan AE, Eckhardt BJ, Perlman DC (2024).
The urgent need to implement point-of-care RNA testing for hepatitis C virus to support elimination
Clinical Infectious Diseases, 78 (5), 1235-1239. doi: 10.1093/cid/ciad503. PMCID: PMC11093654.

Aponte-Melendez Y, Eckhardt B, Fong C, Padilla A, Trinidad-Martinez W, Maldonado-Rodriguez E, Agront N, Mateu-Gelabert P (2024).
Prevalence and associated risk factors of hepatitis C antibody and RNA among people who inject drugs in Puerto Rico
Journal of Substance Use and Addiction Treatment, 160, 209308. doi: 10.1016/j.josat.2024.209308.

Aponte-Melendez Y, Mateu-Gelabert P, Eckhardt B, Fong C, Padilla A, Trinidad-Martinez W, Maldonado-Rodriguez E, Agront N (2023).
Hepatitis C virus care cascade among people who inject drugs in Puerto Rico: Minimal HCV treatment and substantial barriers to HCV care
Drug and Alcohol Dependence Reports, 8, 100178. doi: 10.1016/j.dadr.2023.100178. PMCID: PMC10404601.

Dr. Eckhardt's NYU Langone Profile