Infectious Disease Expert Dr. Christopher Hall Joins Molecular Testing Labs as Medical Director of Clinical Affairs

Dr. Hall to lead Molecular’s national STI program and development of innovative digital health care solutions with self-collect testing

Molecular Testing Labs (Molecular), the nation’s leading provider of diagnostic testing on patient-collected samples, announced today that leading infectious disease and public health physician Dr. Christopher Hall has joined the company to serve as the Medical Director of Clinical Affairs.

At Molecular, Dr. Hall will be responsible for the company’s clinical operations as well as the development and promotion of diagnostic initiatives focused on sexual health, wellness and chronic conditions. He will be laser-focused on ways Molecular can bridge gaps in patient care with home diagnostics and development of innovative digital healthcare solutions for infectious diseases, in particular conditions with public health significance such hepatitis C, HIV, and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among others.

“The addition of Dr. Hall to our leadership team marks another sign of Molecular’s continued growth and reaffirms our commitment to bridging gaps in healthcare due to social determinants of health,” said James York, Molecular’s Head of Business Development. “His deep experience in the public healthcare sector will help us expand our reach to offer accessible and stigma-free testing to all patients. He will help Molecular continually improve patients’ experience with self-collect testing and will spearhead our work with healthcare providers to ensure patient-collected testing seamlessly supplements traditional and digital healthcare.”

Dr. Hall began his 30-year career in HIV/AIDS research and treatment working with the National AIDS Network in Washington, D.C., and the National Hemophilia Foundation in New York City. Dr. Hall also served as Clinical Affairs Medical Director for the STD Control Branch of the California Department of Public Health and Medical Director of UCSF’s California Prevention Training Center, prior to more recent work with the National Coalition of STD Directors and two digital healthcare practices with national reach. He has served as a lead investigator for testing device studies, a COVID vaccine study, and oversaw an HIV antiviral prevention study (HPTN 083 evaluating an injectable antiretroviral for HIV PrEP). Presently he serves as the medical director of Face2Face, a legacy AIDS service organization that offers HIV prevention education and services supportive service — housing assistance, benefits counseling, information, referrals and transportation — to those living with HIV in Sonoma County, Calif., where he now resides.

Dr. Hall will work closely with Dr. Charles Sailey, Molecular’s Medical Director of Laboratories and Director of R&D, as the company works to expand the use of Molecular’s pioneering self-collect tests in clinical settings and in treatment plans that require routine, accurate testing.

“Molecular’s mission of ensuring all patients have access to testing and treatment, no matter their socioeconomic status, sexual or gender orientation, or whether or not they have insurance, was a huge draw for me,” said Dr. Hall.

“As we’ve seen throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, creating access to at-home testing has been instrumental in preventing COVID cases. Allowing patients to provide test samples from the convenience of their own home, while also offering real-time remote support from trained clinicians, will be necessary in the coming years to reduce the rate of emerging infections,” said Dr. Hall. “Using patient-collected test samples will also allow us to better stem the escalating rates of sexually transmitted infections and prevent and treat diseases for which there are new interventions available but which require accurate and timely diagnosis.”

Dr. Hall went to medical school at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore and completed internal medicine/infectious diseases training at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston and University of California San Francisco, with his final training year at the California Department of Public Health. He thereafter spent 15 years in medical leadership roles with the East Bay AIDS Center in Oakland and the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and Magnet, its pioneering sexual health clinic, in San Francisco.