Program Description

The program’s objective is to provide residents and fellows-in-training access to faculty from diverse practice models, academic departments, and geographic regions. We hope to foster casual dialogue between mentors and trainees, while affording mentees the opportunity to gain valuable guidance and career advice from faculty not accessible to them at their institutions. Of note, the ACG Mentoring Program is NOT to serve as a means by which mentees can obtain interviews for employment opportunities.

It is our hope that this program will be implemented as a useful tool for mentees to receive answers to questions that will help them reach their professional goals and aspirations, as well as provide them with exposure to faculty nationwide.

Pairing of Mentees and Mentors

The mentors’ profiles are posted to the ACG website for review. Mentees will submit their top three requests for mentors to the ACG office. The assignment of mentors will be performed on a first-come-first-served basis. Once a match is made, the ACG office will notify both the mentee and the mentor via e-mail.

Communication Between Mentees and Mentors

Mentees will be instructed to contact mentors via the email address provided by ACG. Mentors will be required to have contact with their trainees at least twice per year.

Feedback

The program will be assessed annually. Feedback will be obtained via questionnaires distributed to both mentees and mentors. The data will be analyzed to evaluate the success of the program and to identify areas in need of improvement. In order to continue participating in the mentoring program, mentees will be required to submit their evaluations.

Personal Reflection

In the February 2016 ACG Update Newsletter, Mohit Girotra, MD, shared his two year experience with the Mentoring Program and how it ultimately helped to shape his career path in the article entitled, “Mentorship Profile”.

Mentor Profiles – By Category

All mentors have submitted a paragraph detailing their education and training, special gastrointestinal interests, current clinical activities, and one to three sentences explaining the reasoning behind their career choices. Click on a name below to view the profile.

Private Practice

Tauseef Ali, MD, FACG
Promila Banerjee, MD, FACG
Greg S. Cohen, MD, FACG
Grigoriy E. Gurvits, MD, FACG
David J. Hass, MD, FACG
Caroll D. Koscheski, MD, FACG
Brian S. Levitt, MD, FACG
Michelle S. Nazareth, MD, FACG
Anca I. Pop, MD, MBA 		Your Sung Sang, MD, FACG
Mitchell L. Shiffman, MD, FACG
Pooja Singhal, MD, FACG
Zarema J. Singson, MD
Umair Sohail, MD
Amy N. Stratton, DO
David A. Tessler, DO, FACG
Renu Umashanker, MD, FACG

Academics

Douglas G. Adler, MD, FACG
Tauseef Ali, MD, FACG
Ashwin N. Ananthakrishnan, MD, MPH
Promila Banerjee, MD, FACG
Brian P. Bosworth, MD, FACG
Carol A. Burke, MD, FACG
Audrey H. Calderwood, MD, MS, FACG
Naga P. Chalasani, MD, FACG
Lin Chang, MD, FACG
Sita S. Chokhavatia, MD, FACG
Reezwana Chowdhury, MD
Mohit Girotra, MD
Grigoriy E. Gurvits, MD, FACG
Christine Y. Hachem, MD, FACG
Stephen B. Hanauer, MD, FACG
Lucinda A. Harris, MD, FACG
Kim L. Isaacs, MD, PhD, FACG 		Sunanda V. Kane, MD, MSPH, FACG
Priyanka Kanth, MD, MS, FACG
Tossapol Kerdsirichairat, MD
Jennifer L. Maranki, MD, MSc
Malini Mathur, MD, FACG
Paul Moayyedi, MD, FACG
Eamonn M. M. Quigley, MD, FACG
Laura E. Raffals, MD, FACG
Seth J. Richter, MD, FACG
Brijen J. Shah, MD
Mitchell L. Shiffman, MD, FACG
Pooja Singhal, MD, FACG
Amy N. Stratton, DO
Milena Gould Suarez, MD, FACG
Ronald D. Szyjkowski, MD, FACG
Veysel Tahan, MD, FACG
Patrick E. Young, MD, FACG

Research Career

Douglas G. Adler, MD, FACG
Ashwin N. Ananthakrishnan, MD, MPH
Promila Banerjee, MD, FACG
Audrey H. Calderwood, MD, MS, FACG
Naga P. Chalasani, MD, FACG
Lin Chang, MD, FACG
Grigoriy E. Gurvits, MD, FACG 		Stephen B. Hanauer, MD, FACG
Priyanka Kanth, MD, MS, FACG
Tossapol Kerdsirichairat, MD
Paul Moayyedi, MD, FACG
Eamonn M. M. Quigley, MD, FACG
Laura E. Raffals, MD, FACG
Veysel Tahan, MD, FACG

Clinical Career

Tauseef Ali, MD, FACG
Ashwin N. Ananthakrishnan, MD, MPH
Promila Banerjee, MD, FACG
Brian P. Bosworth, MD, FACG
Carol A. Burke, MD, FACG
Sita S. Chokhavatia, MD, FACG
Greg S. Cohen, MD, FACG
Mohit Girotra, MD
Grigoriy E. Gurvits, MD, FACG
Christine Y. Hachem, MD, FACG
Stephen B. Hanauer, MD, FACG
Lucinda A. Harris, MD, FACG
David J. Hass, MD, FACG
Sunanda V. Kane, MD, MSPH, FACG
Priyanka Kanth, MD, MS, FACG 		Malini Mathur, MD, FACG
Michelle S. Nazareth, MD, FACG
Anca I. Pop, MD, MBA
Laura E. Raffals, MD, FACG
Abdo Saad, MD
Brijen J. Shah, MD
Mitchell L. Shiffman, MD, FACG
Pooja Singhal, MD, FACG
Zarema J. Singson, MD
Umair Sohail, MD
Amy N. Stratton, DO
Milena Gould Suarez, MD, FACG
Veysel Tahan, MD, FACG
Renu Umashanker, MD, FACG
Lavanya Viswanathan, MD, FACG

Education Career

Promila Banerjee, MD, FACG
Brian P. Bosworth, MD, FACG
Lin Chang, MD, FACG
Greg S. Cohen, MD, FACG
Mohit Girotra, MD
Stephen B. Hanauer, MD, FACG
Lucinda A. Harris, MD, FACG
Kim L. Isaacs, MD, PhD, FACG
Tossapol Kerdsirichairat, MD
Malini Mathur, MD, FACG
Eamonn M. M. Quigley, MD, FACG 		Laura E. Raffals, MD, FACG
Seth J. Richter, MD, FACG
Abdo Saad, MD, FACG
Brijen J. Shah, MD
Amy N. Stratton, DO
Milena Gould Suarez, MD, FACG
Ronald D. Szyjkowski, MD, FACG
Veysel Tahan, MD, FACG
Lavanya Viswanathan, MD, FACG
Patrick E. Young, MD, FACG

Work-Life Balance

Tauseef Ali, MD, FACG
Promila Banerjee, MD, FACG
Brian P. Bosworth, MD, FACG
Audrey H. Calderwood, MD, MS, FACG
Lin Chang, MD, FACG
Greg S. Cohen, MD, FACG
Mohit Girotra, MD
Grigoriy E. Gurvits, MD, FACG
Christine Y. Hachem, MD, FACG
Stephen B. Hanauer, MD, FACG
Lucinda A. Harris, MD, FACG
Kim L. Isaacs, MD, PhD, FACG
Priyanka Kanth, MD, MS, FACG
Jennifer L. Maranki, MD, MSc
Malini Mathur, MD, FACG
Michelle S. Nazareth, MD, FACG 		Michelle S. Nazareth, MD, FACG
Laura E. Raffals, MD, FACG
Seth J. Richter, MD, FACG
Abdo Saad, MD, FACG
Your Sung Sang, MD, FACG
Alison Schneider, MD, FACG
Brijen J. Shah, MD
Pooja Singhal, MD, FACG
Zarema J. Singson, MD
Umair Sohail, MD
Amy N. Stratton, DO
Milena Gould Suarez, MD, FACG
David A. Tessler, DO, FACG
Renu Umashanker, MD, FACG
Lavanya Viswanathan, MD, FACG
Patrick E. Young, MD, FACG

General Mentoring Advice

Douglas G. Adler, MD, FACG
Tauseef Ali, MD, FACG
Ashwin N. Ananthakrishnan, MD, MPH
Promila Banerjee, MD, FACG
Brian P. Bosworth, MD, FACG
Carol A. Burke, MD, FACG
Audrey H. Calderwood, MD, MS, FACG
Lin Chang, MD, FACG
Sita S. Chokhavatia, MD, FACG
Greg S. Cohen, MD, FACG
Reezwana Chowdhury, MD
Mohit Girotra, MD
Grigoriy E. Gurvits, MD, FACG
Christine Y. Hachem, MD, FACG
Stephen B. Hanauer, MD, FACG
Lucinda A. Harris, MD, FACG
David J. Hass, MD, FACG
Kim L. Isaacs, MD, PhD, FACG
Sunanda V. Kane, MD, MSPH, FACG
Priyanka Kanth, MD, MS, FACG
Caroll D. Koscheski, MD, FACG 		Jennifer L. Maranki, MD, MSc
Michelle S. Nazareth, MD, FACG
Anca I. Pop, MD, MBA
Laura E. Raffals, MD, FACG
Seth J. Richter, MD, FACG
Abdo Saad, MD, FACG
Your Sung Sang, MD, FACG
Alison Schneider, MD, FACG
Brijen J. Shah, MD
Mitchell L. Shiffman, MD, FACG
Pooja Singhal, MD, FACG
Zarema J. Singson, MD
Umair Sohail, MD
Amy N. Stratton, DO
Milena Gould Suarez, MD, FACG
Ronald D. Szyjkowski, MD, FACG
Veysel Tahan, MD, FACG
David A. Tessler, DO, FACG
Renu Umashanker, MD, FACG
Lavanya Viswanathan, MD, FACG

Mentor Profiles – Alphabetical

All mentors have submitted a paragraph detailing their education and training, special gastrointestinal interests, current clinical activities, and one to three sentences explaining the reasoning behind their career choices. Click on a name below to view the profile.

Douglas G. Adler, MD, FACG
Tauseef Ali, MD, FACG
Ashwin N. Ananthakrishnan, MD, MPH
Promila Banerjee, MD, FACG
Brian P. Bosworth, MD, FACG
Carol A. Burke, MD, FACG
Audrey H. Calderwood, MD, MS, FACG
Naga P. Chalasani, MD, FACG
Lin Chang, MD, FACG
Sita S. Chokhavatia, MD, FACG
Reezwana Chowdhury, MD
Greg S. Cohen, MD, FACG
Mohit Girotra, MD
Grigoriy E. Gurvits, MD, FACG
Christine Y. Hachem, MD, FACG
Stephen B. Hanauer, MD, FACG
Lucinda A. Harris, MD, FACG
David J. Hass, MD, FACG
Kim L. Isaacs, MD, PhD, FACG
Sunanda V. Kane, MD, MSPH, FACG
Priyanka Kanth, MD, MS, FACG
Tossapol Kerdsirichairat, MD
Caroll D. Koscheski, MD, FACG
Brian S. Levitt, MD, FACG		 Jennifer L. Maranki, MD, MSc
Malini Mathur, MD, FACG
Paul Moayyedi, MD, FACG
Michelle S. Nazareth, MD, FACG
Anca I. Pop, MD, MBA
Eamonn M. M. Quigley, MD, FACG
Laura E. Raffals, MD, FACG
Seth J. Richter, MD, FACG
Abdo Saad, MD, FACG
Your Sung Sang, MD, FACG
Alison Schneider, MD, FACG
Brijen J. Shah, MD
Mitchell L. Shiffman, MD, FACG
Pooja Singhal, MD, FACG
Zarema J. Singson, MD
Umair Sohail, MD
Amy N. Stratton, DO
Milena Gould Suarez, MD, FACG
Ronald D. Szyjkowski, MD, FACG
Veysel Tahan, MD, FACG
David A. Tessler, DO, FACG
Renu Umashanker, MD, FACG
Lavanya Viswanathan, MD, FACG
Patrick E. Young, MD, FACG
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Douglas G. Adler, MD, FACG

Dr. Adler is a Professor of Medicine, Director of Therapeutic Endoscopy, and GI Fellowship Program Director at the University of Utah School of Medicine in Salt Lake City, Utah. Dr. Adler completed his internal medicine residency at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, part of Harvard Medical School, in Boston, Massachusetts. Dr. Adler was a 3-year GI fellow and 4th year ERCP fellow at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. Afterwards, Dr. Adler returned to the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center for an additional fellowship in EUS. Dr. Adler was a member of the faculty at the University of Texas-Houston and Director of Endoscopy prior to moving to Utah. Dr. Adler’s interests include the diagnosis and treatment of gastrointestinal cancers, pancreatic and biliary diseases, pancreatic and biliary endoscopy, ERCP, EUS, stents, training in endoscopy, and new endoscopic technologies. Dr. Adler has published over 400 original articles and book chapters as well as eight gastroenterology textbooks. Dr. Adler also has extensive interest in mentoring at all levels, including the mentoring of students, residents, fellows, and other faculty mentors and has conducted research and published on issues regarding training and mentoring in medicine.

Categories: Academics, Research Career and General Mentoring Advice

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Tauseef Ali, MD, FACG

Dr. Tauseef Ali is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Oklahoma in the section of Digestive Disease and Nutrition. He is the chief of the Gastroenterology Section at SSM Health Saint Anthony Hospital, where he also serves as director of IBD clinical and research program. Dr. Ali graduated from King Edward Medical College, Pakistan. He completed his residency (2006) and fellowship (2009) program from the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center. He was also selected as the CCFA visiting IBD fellow at the University of Chicago (2008). His clinical interest includes Inflammatory Bowel Disease. He was the recipient of the AGA Bridges to Excellence Award to provide quality service to IBD patients. He is the author of Crohn’s and Colitis for Dummies book by Wiley Publishers. He is a fellow member of the American College of Gastroenterology (ACG) and has served on ACG International Relations, Training, Educational Affairs, and Public Relations Committees. He has been the recipient of the ACG United States and World Gastroenterology Train the Trainers Program Travel Award. He is currently serving as section editor for Inflammatory Bowel Disease in the ACG Self-Assessment Test subcommittee. His research interest is in sleep-related disorders in IBD patients. He is on the editorial board for the World Journal of Gastroenterology and several other journals. He is an active member of ACP, AGA, and CCF. He is an active member of the Govt. and Industry Affairs Committee and Diversity and Inclusion Taskforce of Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation. He is also recognized as the community leader and moderator for the ACG and CCFA IBD Circle, an online physician discussion forum. He regularly tweets through is educational twitter accounts @ibdtweets and @ibdclub. Dr. Ali is currently serving as the American College of Gastroenterology Governor for Oklahoma Chapter.

Categories: Clinical Career, Private Practice, Work-Life Balance and General Mentoring Advice

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Ashwin N. Ananthakrishnan, MD, MPH

I obtained my medical school training at the Jawaharlal Institute of Post Graduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER) in Pondicherry, India, and subsequently obtained by a Masters in Public Health degree at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health in Baltimore. I moved to Wisconsin to complete my internal medicine residency and Gastroenterology fellowship at the Medical College of Wisconsin. I am currently an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and the Massachusetts General Hospital where I joined as faculty in the GI division in July 2010. I practice mainly at the MGH Crohn’s and Colitis center of which I am also medical co-director. Having benefited from inspiring mentors through my career, I am also committed to being a mentor to trainees and junior faculty. I split my time between patient care and clinical research and am an active member of committees in the ACG, AGA, and CCFA. I am also on the Editorial Board of several of our society journals including Gastroenterology, and Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, and Inflammatory Bowel Diseases. My clinical area of interest is Inflammatory Bowel Diseases, and my research focuses on genetics and environmental influences on IBD, risk stratification, prediction of outcomes, epidemiology, and clinical trials.

Categories: Academics, Clinical Career, Research Career and General Mentoring Advice

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Promila Banerjee, MD, FACG

Dr. Banerjee is a female GI with 4 years of private practice and over 12 years of academic and government sector experience. She has been in the field of GI since 2001. Her subspecialty interests includes women’s health, GI cancers (EUS, ERCP, EMR, stenting) and esophagus (motility, pH, endoscopic ablation of Barrett’s). Outside of work, she is passionate about outdoor activities with our two daughters, as well as yoga, Pilates, weight lifting and music.

Categories: Academics, Clinical Career, Education Career, Private Practice, Research Career, Work-Life Balance and General Mentoring Advice

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Brian P. Bosworth, MD, FACG

Dr. Bosworth received his undergraduate degree from Princeton University in 1995 where he graduated magna cum laude and wrote a thesis entitled “The Public Perception of Doctors in the Early Roman Empire. He was awarded his medical doctorate from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1999 and performed cardiac transplant immunology research. He subsequently completed internship and residency training in Internal Medicine in 2002 at New York Presbyterian Hospital: Columbia-Presbyterian Center where he was Chief Medical Resident. He then completed his Fellowship in Gastroenterology in 2006 at New York Presbyterian Hospital: Weill Cornell Center. He joined the Gastroenterology Division as a faculty member in the Roberts Center for Inflammatory Bowel Disease at that time and has rapidly become a nationally recognized expert in Inflammatory Bowel Disease. He has published numerous articles, abstracts and book chapters, and been the site or lead investigator on many multi-center clinical trials. He served as the Director of the Gastroenterology Fellowship Program and an Associate Program Director of the Internal Medicine Residency Program. In 2016, Dr. Bosworth changed institutions and became the Chief of Medicine of Tisch Hospital at NYU Langone Medical Center. In addition to overseeing the operations and function of the entire medicine service, he is working to reengineer the clinical learning environment of the institution. He currently sits on the Legislative and Public Policy Committee for the American College of Gastroenterology. He is a past- President of the New York Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy. Dr. Bosworth is a Fellow of the American College of Gastroenterology and the ACG Governor for Manhattan.

Categories: Academics, Clinical Career, Education Career, Work-Life Balance and General Mentoring Advice

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Carol A. Burke, MD, FACG, FASGE, FACP

Dr. Carol A. Burke is the Director of the Center for Colon Polyp and Cancer Prevention at the Cleveland Clinic. She has been a staff member in the Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at the Cleveland Clinic since graduating from her fellowship there in 1993. She holds a joint appointment in the Taussig Cancer Center and the Department of Colorectal Surgery at the Cleveland Clinic. She is internationally known for her expertise in the inherited colon cancer syndromes and the prevention of colorectal neoplasia. Her area of clinical and research interests include the prevention of colorectal neoplasia both in sporadic individuals and those with the inherited colorectal cancer syndromes. She has received funding for her research through the NCI, NIH, USDA and industry. She has been involved in the education of medical students, residents and fellows since 1991 and has developed and coordinated the digestive disease curriculum for trainees in the in and outpatient setting in the Department. She has authored or co-authored over 110 publications. She is a visiting professor, and invited speaker at national and international conferences on the prevention of colorectal neoplasia and the inherited colon cancer syndromes. She serves on the Board of Trustees for the American College of Gastroenterology and the Board of the Ohio Gastroenterology Society. She is current president of the American College of Gastroenterology, past president of the Collaborative Group of the Americas on Inherited Colorectal Cancer. She has been an associate editor for the American Journal of Gastroenterology and is a reviewer for many journals including Gut, Endoscopy, Diseases of the Colon and Rectum, Gastroenterology, Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, and the American Journal of Gastroenterology to name a few.I chose my current career because I love the stimulation of working in an academic setting with trainees and individuals in other specialties, in particular, to collaborate on research. I also like the recognition of a large institution which allows flexibility in work style, opportunities for program development and national leadership.

Categories: Academics, Clinical Career and General Mentoring Advice

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Audrey H. Calderwood, MD, MS, FACG

Dr. Calderwood is an Associate Professor of Medicine at the Geisel School of Medicine and The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice and a faculty member of the Section of Gastroenterology at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, NH. She received her medical degree from the University of Chicago’s Pritzker School of Medicine then completed her internal medicine residency at the University of Chicago and the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, followed by gastroenterology fellowship at Boston Medical Center. Dr. Calderwood integrates her clinical interests in general gastroenterology, high-risk cancer syndromes and patient-centered care with her passion for health services research focused on appropriate utilization of and quality around colon cancer screening and surveillance. She is the recipient of an NIH Career Development Award (K08), R03, and R21 grants. She is a Fellow of the American College of Gastroenterology and has served on the Practice Parameters, Women in Gastroenterology, and Research Committees. She is also an active member of the American Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy. She understands the intricacies of managing a family with another academic physician and their two school aged children and makes personal well-being a priority.

Categories: Academics, Research Career, Work-Life Balance and General Mentoring Advice

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Naga P. Chalasani, MD, FACG

Dr. Naga Chalasani is David W. Crabb Professor and Associate Dean for Clinical Research at Indiana University School of Medicine and is also the interim Chairman of the Department of Medicine at Indiana University School of Medicine. He served as the Director of its Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology from 2007 to 2020. He is a clinical hepatologist by training and in practice and is board certified in internal medicine, gastroenterology and hepatology, and transplant hepatology CAQ. He was educated at Andhra Loyola College in India (biology 1979-81) and Kakatiya Medical College (MB, BS 1988), after which he served as an internal medical resident at Emory University in Atlanta (1991-4). He followed with a fellowship in gastroenterology and hepatology at Emory (1994-7). Subsequently he relocated to Indiana University School of Medicine where he remains to date. He was elected to Alpha Omega Alpha, 1993; received the Dupont Young Investigator’s Award 1993; IUSM Young Investigator of the Year, 2002; American Society of Clinical Investigation, 2008 and American Association of Physicians, 2017. He has published over 350 original manuscripts and dozens of review articles, editorials, and text book chapters. He is the lead author for the AASLD Practice Guidance on the Diagnosis and Management of Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease as well as the ACG Practice Guideline on the Diagnosis and Management of Drug Induced Liver Injury. He has previously served the ACG as a member of its Clinical Research Committee and Board of Governors. He is a former trustee of the ACG. His passion for scholarly pursuits was stimulated by his early mentors and role models (Thomas Boyer and Charles Wilcox) and subsequently encouraged and strengthened by his colleagues at IU (Drs. Imperiale, Rex, and Crabb).

Categories: Academics and Research Career

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Lin Chang, MD, FACG

Dr. Lin Chang is a Professor of Medicine and Vice-Chief of the Vatche and Tamar Manoukian Division of Digestive Diseases, Department of Medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. She serves as the Co-Director of the G. Oppenheimer Center for Neurobiology of Stress and Resilience at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. This center is a NIH-funded interdisciplinary research and education organization, dedicated to the study of brain-body interactions in health and disease. She is also Program Director of the UCLA Gastroenterology Fellowship Program. Dr. Chang’s clinical and research expertise is in functional gastrointestinal disorders, including irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Specifically, her research is focused on the pathophysiology of IBS related to stress, early life adversity, sex differences, and genetic and epigenetic factors, and gut microbiome and the treatment of IBS.Dr. Chang is the recipient of the Janssen Award in Gastroenterology for Basic or Clinical Research and the AGA Distinguished Clinician Award. She is Past-President of the American Neurogastroenterology and Motility Society (ANMS), and is a member of the Rome Foundation Board of Directors.Dr. Chang is a fellow of the American Gastroenterological Association and American College of Gastroenterology. She previously served as Associate Editor of theAmerican Journal of Gastroenterology and is currently Associate Editor of Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology. Dr. Chang was a member of the FDA GI Drug Advisory Committee and the NIH Clinical, Integrative, Molecular Gastroenterology (CIMG) Study Section. She has authored more than 120 original research articles, 60 review articles, and 25 book chapters on her specialty interests.

Categories: Academics, Education Career, Research Career, Work-Life Balance and General Mentoring Advice

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Sita S. Chokhavatia, MD, FACG

Dr. Sita Chokhavatia is affiliated with the Valley Hospital; Valley Medical Group/Gastroenterology, in Ridgewood, New Jersey. Her major interests are in clinical gastroenterology and medical education, specifically Geriatric Gastroenterology (Geri GI), gastrointestinal dysmotility, and GERD. As an educator for over 25 years, she has played an active role as advisor and mentor to trainees and junior colleagues on faculty and in practice. She is an active member of the ACG since 1996 and has served on several ACG Committees: Practice Parameters, International Affairs, Women in Gastroenterology, Clinical Vignettes Abstract Review and the Public Relations Committees.

Categories: Academics, Clinical Career and General Mentoring Advice

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Reezwana Chowdhury, MD

Dr. Reezwana Chowdhury is a graduate from Wellesley College where she received a BA in Neuroscience and graduated with an honors thesis, member of Phi Beta Kappa and Sigma Xi. She completed her medical school training at NYU School of Medicine where she herself was inspired to be a Gastroenterologist by her mentor, Dr. Francois. She went on to Baylor College of Medicine for her Internal Medicine Residency and her Gastroenterology Fellowship at Georgetown University Hospital. She has published journal articles, poster abstracts and book chapters. She is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine who specializes in Inflammatory Bowel Disease and has mentored medical students and residents. Her interests are in General GI including celiac disease and Liver diseases.

Categories: Academics and General Mentoring Advice

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Greg S. Cohen MD, FACG

Dr. Greg Cohen is an Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine at Northwestern University. He completed his undergraduate education at Cornell University and attended medical school in his home state at the University of Maryland. He moved to Chicago to complete residency and fellowship training at Northwestern University and the University of Chicago respectively. At the University of Chicago, Dr. Cohen completed a 4 year research fellowship, investigating Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor signaling in colon cancer under the mentorship of Dr. Marc Bissonnette. One of the most difficult decisions of his career was the decision to leave behind a career in basic research for a career as a clinician educator. He has been actively involved with educating medical students and GI fellows, and has received a number of teaching awards. He has a busy clinical practice in General Gastroenterology with a special focus in IBD. Dr. Cohen is married and has 3 children.

Categories: Clinical Career, Education Career, Private Practice, Work-Life Balance and General Mentoring Advice

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Mohit Girotra, MD

Dr. Mohit Girotra is an Associate Professor of Medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, in Miami, Florida. He completed his medical school at the Christian Medical College and Hospital in Ludhiana, India before joining the Johns Hopkins University/Sinai Internal Medicine Residency program where he served for an additional year as Chief Resident. During that time, he became invested with activities of the American College of Physicians (ACP) and served as Co-Chair for ACP-Chief Residents Association of Baltimore. He then completed a Gastroenterology and Hepatology fellowship at University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS), where he was also nominated as the Chief Fellow. He served as GI faculty at UAMS, before pursuing a therapeutic endoscopy fellowship at the Stanford University School of Medicine in Palo Alto, California. Dr. Girotra has been actively involved in education and mentoring of GI fellows, IM residents and medical students, and takes pride in helping his residents/fellows excel academically. He is a member of the ACG Training Committee and recently served as a Co-Director of the ACG 2nd Year Fellows Course in 2016. He is extremely passionate about research, having won several research recognitions including “Mendeloff award” and “ACP Maryland Chapter research award,” and extramural funding to support his clinical research. His clinical and research interests include therapeutic pancreatico-biliary endoscopy (ERCP, EUS), advanced luminal endoscopy (RFA, Stenting), emerging technologies, endoscopic innovation, fecal microbiota transplantation and general endoscopy. He considers himself fortunate for receiving several opportunities to work with wonderful investigators and mentors, which have helped him shape his career, and he strives to extend the same quality of mentorship to coming generations of gastroenterologists through this program.

Categories: Clinical Career, Education Career and General Mentoring Advice

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Grigoriy E. Gurvits, MD, FACG

Dr. Grigoriy Gurvits is a Clinical Professor of medicine in the division of Gastroenterology at New York University School of Medicine. He received his internal medicine training at St. Vincent’s Medical Center of New York Medical College in New York City, and finished his gastroenterology fellowship at The Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City. His interests include clinical research and clinical care of the patients in general gastroenterology, including gastrointestinal bleeding disorders, esophageal disease, advances in endoscopic procedures, and preventative medicine. He is actively involved with academic teaching of gastroenterology fellows, medical residents, and students on the hospital wards while maintaining a busy clinical practice. He is an ad-hoc reviewer for various gastroenterology journals and a contributing author to a number of peer-reviewed publications in the medical literature.< /p>

Categories: Academics, Clinical Career, Private Practice, Research Career, Work-Life Balance and General Mentoring Advice

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Christine Y. Hachem, MD, FACG

Dr. Christine Hachem is a professor of medicine in the division of gastroenterology at Saint Louis University. She did her internal medicine residency at Washington University in Saint Louis and her fellowship training at Baylor College of Medicine. Her clinical interests include motility disorders and esophageal disease. She is on the clinical educator track. She is in academic medicine because of her commitment to teaching, research, and collaborative care as well as the work life balance it offers. Dr. Hachem has been actively involved with ACG and American College of Physicians at the national level. She is part of a dual physician marriage and is balancing the joys of work with children./p>

Categories: Academics, Clinical Career, Work-Life Balance and General Mentoring Advice

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Stephen B. Hanauer, MD, FACG

I graduated with a B.S. from the University of Michigan and an M.D. from the University of Illinois. I was at the University of Chicago from my Residency in Medicine until the end of 2013. I completed a GI Fellowship in 1982 and rose through the academic ranks to become Professor of Medicine and subsequently was awarded the Joseph B. Kirsner Chair in Medicine and was designated Chief of the Section of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition where I served from 2000-2013. I was then recruited as the Medical Director of the Digestive Health Center at Northwestern Medicine and Professor of Medicine in the Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine where I have been since January 1, 2014. My career interests have been Clinical Research, Clinical Care and Administration. I have been involved in Academic Medicine through both the ACG (Editor of Nature Reviews and Board of Trustees) and the AGA (Chairs of IMIBD and Clinical Practice, and Governing Board for Clinical Research). I was a member of the Subspecialty Board of Gastroenterology for the ABIM and have served on the FDA advisory panel for GI and as Chair of the Panel. My clinical research has been related to epidemiology and therapeutics for IBD. I am a busy, practicing clinician and clinical trialist. I have always enjoyed involvement in Academic medicine and leadership in both my own medical center and in National/International Organized Medicine. My greatest pleasure is in mentoring and the development of future leaders in our field.

Categories: Academics, Clinical Career, Education Career, Research Career, Work-Life Balance and General Mentoring Advice

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Lucinda A. Harris, MD, FACG

Dr. Lucinda Harris is currently Associate Professor of Medicine, Mayo School of Medicine and Consultant, Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Mayo Clinic Scottsdale. She graduated from the University Of Connecticut School Of Medicine. She completed her Internal Medicine Residency at the New York Presbyterian Hospital of Columbia University and her fellowship in Gastroenterology & Hepatology at The New York Hospital /Weill Medical College of Cornell University. She had an academic practice in Gastroenterology & Hepatology 17 years before moving to her current position in 2004. At Mayo she has been a past Co-Director of the Motility Group and has led a patient support group there for IBS. She is a current member of the Gastroenterology Fellowship committee and serves as the Department Education coordinator for Gastroenterology supervising visiting GI fellows and medical students. She has actively been involved in mentoring medical students, residents and fellows over the years.Professionally, she is a Fellow of the American College of Gastroenterology, the American Gastroenterological Association as well as the American College of Internal Medicine. She is also a member of the International Foundation for Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders and the American Neurogastroenterology and Motility Society. Her special clinical and research interests are in IBS, chronic constipation and pelvic floor disorders as well as celiac disease. She has also written and lectured extensively on these topics.

Categories: Academics, Clinical Career, Education Career, Work-Life Balance and General Mentoring Advice

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David J. Hass, MD, FACG

A native of Philadelphia, I attended medical school at the Weill Medical College of Cornell University, followed by residency training at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, and Gastroenterology and Hepatology Fellowship training at Montefiore Medical Center/Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx, NY. I have always enjoyed teaching and was fortunate to have had many opportunities throughout the course of my various stages of training to pursue this passion. I currently serve on the voluntary clinical faculty at the Yale University School of Medicine, where I regularly participate in teaching gastroenterology fellows by supervising both luminal disease and hepatology clinics, as well as perform daily rounds with residents and fellows, and help to guide the development of endoscopic skills by supervising endoscopic procedures. I have been fortunate to find a unique hybrid of clinical practice, as I am both a private practitioner as well as a clinician educator for the Division of Digestive Diseases. I have several research interests including small bowel diseases and capsule endoscopy, as well as complementary and alternative therapies in gastrointestinal and hepatic disease and diseases of the small bowel. Having recently authored the new chapter in Sleisenger and Fordtran’s Gastrointestinal and Liver Disease entitled “Complementary and Alternative Medicine,” I have been very interested in educating both patients and clinicians about the data detailing the usefulness of complementary and alternative therapies, as well as the importance of careful regulation of CAM therapies. Stemming from this interest, I am also a certified clinical hypnotherapist, as this modality has proven very useful in the treatment of functional abdominal pain and irritable bowel syndrome. I am a member of many local and national medical societies, and I am the former President of the New Haven County Medical Association and currently serve on the Connecticut State Medical Society Council. I currently serve as a member of the ACG Legislative and Public Policy Council. I truly feel fortunate to practice medicine, as it affords me the opportunity to make a difference in patients’ lives and learn something new every day.

Categories: Clinical Career, Private Practice and General Mentoring Advice

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Kim L. Isaacs, MD, PhD, FACG

I am a clinician educator at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a clinical interest in inflammatory bowel disease. I graduated from the State University of New York at Stony Brook 1976 BS, 1981 PhD 1984 MD. I completed residency and fellowship at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1987/1991. I have been on the faculty of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill since 1991. I have worked with the fellowship program in several capacities including program director for 12 years and as an associate program director over the past 4 years. I have extensive clinical trial experience and activity in the area of inflammatory bowel disease. Currently I am active in teaching, clinical care of IBD patients, endoscopy and IBD clinical trials. My family was very supportive of my career path in medicine. I have two grown children who are both military pilots.

Categories: Academics, Clinical Career, Work-Life Balance and General Mentoring Advice

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Sunanda V. Kane, MD, MSPH, FACG

Dr. Sunanda Kane received a Master’s Degree in Epidemiology and Biostatistics before going to medical school. She was a research assistant to Dr. Stephen Hanauer helping with clinical drug trials and epidemiologic studies, which was what got her interested in IBD. She trained at Rush Medical College and did her Fellowship training at the University of Chicago. She was on faculty there for 8 years then moved to Mayo Clinic. She is currently a Professor of Medicine and has always practiced in an academic setting with fellows, residents and students rotating with her in clinic and on wards. She is active with patient care, clinical research as well as administrative and leadership duties within the Division of Gastroenterology, the ACG, and the CCFA. She also serves in editorial positions for several journals. Her areas of research interest include gender issues and medication compliance.

Categories: Academics, Clinical Career and General Mentoring Advice

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Priyanka Kanth, MD, MS, FACG

I received the Medical Degree from Kasturba Medical College, Mangalore in India. After obtaining graduate training in the United Kingdom, I moved to the United States and completed Internal medicine and Chief residency from University of Connecticut. I completed the gastroenterology fellowship from the University of Utah after which I joined the faculty as an Assistant Professor of Medicine. I run the hereditary gastrointestinal cancer clinic at Huntsman Cancer Institute, Utah and sees patients with familial cancer risk. I have also supervised many GI fellows in general gastroenterology clinic for many years. My research interests include clinical and translational studies of colon polyps, sessile serrated colon polyps, colon cancer prevention and in high-risk familial colon cancer. During my fellowship I received pilot grant from ACG and later received NIH funding to study biomarkers of serrated polyps. I am also running multiple clinical trials in hereditary colon cancer. I consider mentorship as a vital component in career development and would be happy to guide trainees.

Categories: Academics, Clinical Career, Research Career, Work-Life Balance and General Mentoring Advice

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Tossapol Kerdsirichairat, MD

A scholar of the ACG Young Physician Leadership Program, Dr. Kerdsirichairat received his medical degree from Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University in Thailand with distinctions and First Class Honors. He completed his internal medicine residency at the University of Minnesota, gastroenterology fellowship at the University of Michigan, and advanced/therapeutic endoscopy fellowship at the Johns Hopkins University. He led the National Pancreas Foundation pancreatic cancer center at Geisinger, anal cancer screening program, and inherited risk GI clinic, and served as a member of the ACG Training Committee and a Co-Director for the 2019 Second Year Fellows Course. He has been awarded several teaching as well as excellence in clinical practice awards. In addition to multiple plenary presentations for three organizing societies (The American Gastroenterological Association (AGA), The Society for Surgery of the Alimentary Tract (SSAT), and The American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ASGE)) at the Digestive Disease Week conferences, he has received several awards including AGA-Gastroenterology Research Group (AGA-GRG) Fellow Abstract Prize, Best Clinical Research Award at the PancreasFest, and Poster of Distinction awarded by American Pancreatic Association. He has authored multiple peer-reviewed publications on acute pancreatitis, pancreatic cancer, cholangiocarcinoma, and immunoglobulin 4-related disease in addition to the biliary module of the Gastrointestinal Endoscopy Self-Assessment IX (GESAP IX) for the ASGE. His research focused on therapeutic endoscopy in pancreatitis and its spectrum, including walled-off necrosis, cholangiocarcinoma, pancreatic cancer, as well as the utility of post-imaging processing, molecular analyses, and scoring systems to improve management in these conditions.

Categories: Academics, Research Career and Education Career

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Caroll D. Koscheski, MD, FACG

After finishing undergraduate work at the University of Oklahoma I worked in the medical field as a Medical Technician for a few years before making the decision to apply for medical school. I then attended Louisiana State University Medical School in New Orleans where I not only completed my medical school training but stayed on through my residency and GI fellowship. The thought of private practice had always appealed to me and I began practice in a multi-specialty group in the foothills of the Blueridge Mountains in Hickory, North Carolina. Three years into practice the other gastroenterologists who joined me separated from the multi-specialty group and formed our own independent practice in gastroenterology here in Hickory. The practice has thrived as we have worked through the many decision points involved in business management including contract negotiations with insurance companies, office management and the always difficult decision of when to add a new associate. We eventually added an endoscopy ASC to our unit which is entirely owned by us as well. We currently are a practice of 8 physicians.With our sons moving on toward college and careers of their own, I have finally allowed more time to devote to my involvement in the ACG. This has included being elected North Carolina Governor. I have also been very involved with the political aspect of medicine, especially at the state and federal level and am serving on several committees by request of the North Carolina Medical Society. I was a pastchair of the ACG National Affairs Committee, which is an obvious area of great passion that I have enjoyed.

Categories: Private Practice and General Mentoring Advice

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Brian S. Levitt, MD, FACG

Dr. Brian Levitt completed his undergraduate education at the University of Pennsylvania (major: psychology, minor: biology), magna cum laude. He attended the University of Massachusetts for medical school (grad ’01, AOA society) and completed his internship/residency at New York Presbyterian/Cornell University (completed, ’04) followed by his GI fellowship in 2007 at Albert Einstein College of Medicine/Montefiore in New York City. During training, Dr. Levitt developed an interest in therapeutic endoscopy, IBD, and liver disease. Wishing to pursue a career as a clinical gastroenterologist, he joined a single specialty GI practice in San Jose, CA after fellowship, where he is delighted to practice in a stimulating and collegial environment, while providing first-rate patient-centered care. Dr. Levitt also participates in original clinical research, and has contributed multiple abstracts and published articles in peer-reviewed journals.

Categories: Private Practice

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Jennifer L. Maranki, MD, MSc

Dr. Jennifer Maranki is an Associate

Professor of Medicine and Director of Endoscopy at Penn State Hershey Medical Center in Hershey, PA. She received her undergraduate degree from the University of Pennsylvania and earned her medical degree from Temple University. She completed a residency in internal medicine at Temple University, followed by a 3-year fellowship in gastroenterology and hepatology at the University of Virginia, where she was chief fellow. While at UVA, she earned a Master’s degree in Clinical Research. She stayed on for an additional year of advanced endoscopy training at UVA, where she was trained in ERCP, endoscopic ultrasound, deep enteroscopy, endoscopic mucosal resection, and other advanced techniques.Dr. Maranki’s clinical interests include the diagnosis and management of benign and malignant pancreaticobiliary conditions, GI oncology, enteral stenting, endoscopic mucosal resection, GI bleeding, advanced imaging, and new technologies. Her research interests include GI bleeding, emerging technologies, and endoscopic innovation. She is active in clinical research, and has contributed to multiple peer-reviewed publications, as well as numerous abstracts and book chapters. She has served on the Publications Committee of the ACG, and is currently on the Editorial Board of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy. She enjoys mentoring medical students, residents, and fellows in both clinical and research environments.

Categories: Academics, Work-Life Balance and General Mentoring Advice

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Malini Mathur, MD, FACG

Dr. Malini Mathur is an Associate Professor of Medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology at Temple University. She received her medical degree from Boston University. She completed her internal medicine residency at New York University and her fellowship at New York University where she had advanced training in Endoscopic Ultrasound. Her clinical interests include: GI oncology, pancreatic cysts and innovative uses of Endoscopic Ultrasound. She is on the Clinical Educator track and is the Associate Director of the GI fellowship program. She is in academic medicine because of her commitment to teaching, interdisciplinary care of patients, as well as the work life balance it offers. Dr. Mathur is active in the Women’s Committee of ACG. She is part of a dual physician family and has two young children.

Categories: Academics, Clinical Career, Education Career and Work-Life Balance

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Paul Moayyedi, MD, FACG

I qualified from Bristol University in 1988 and trained in Gastroenterology at Leeds’ General Infirmary, UK under the mentorship of Professor Axon. I obtained a PhD and Masters in Public Health from the University of Leeds. I also received training in Health Economics through a UK Medical Research Council Fellowship at the University of York. I was appointed Professor of Gastroenterology at the University of Birmingham in 2001 and then moved to McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada to be the first recipient of the Richard Hunt/AstraZeneca Chair of Gastroenterology in 2004.I have published over 400 peer-reviewed articles and 21 book chapters. My main research interests included population based GI research, prevention of GI cancer, H. pylori, management of dyspepsia, gastro-esophageal reflux disease and fecal transplants in inflammatory bowel disease. My clinical expertise mirrors my academic interests. I am Editor of the Cochrane Gut Review Group and I am a previous Editor-in-Chief of the American Journal of Gastroenterology. I currently am PI of a Canadian Research network that is evaluating whether diet and/or the microbiome impact on IBD or IBS and related psychological disorders. I developed a passion for research during my Bachelor of Science Degree in Anatomy where research was a heavy part of the curriculum. I find an academic career rewarding, as the working week is so varied. I have the opportunity to both care for patients and conduct research projects.

Categories: Academics and Research Career

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Michelle S. Nazareth, MD, FACG

Dr. Michelle Nazareth graduated from St. John’s National Academy of Health Sciences in India. Following this, she completed her residency at Rochester General Hospital, University of Rochester, NY. She then pursued and completed her fellowship in Gastroenterology at UCSF, San Francisco, CA. Dr. Nazareth has been working with the Kaiser Permanente Medical group in a large multispecialty group practice in California. She is a general gastroenterologist with a focus in inflammatory bowel diseases and advanced endoscopic procedures such as ERCP and EMR. She has always enjoyed teaching and mentoring. Though in private practice, she is always interested in learning and being challenged. Throughout her career, Dr. Nazareth has found several ways to pursue this interest. She currently serves on the Training Committee and the Patient Care Committee of the American College of Gastroenterology. In addition, she has accepted a role of Assistant Professor of Medicine at North State University where she has the opportunity to teach medical students. In addition, Dr. Nazareth has been involved in the Kaiser Permanente Gastroenterology fellowship program where in she gets to teach and mentor gastroenterology fellows. Dr. Nazareth feels very privileged to be able to practice medicine and make a difference in the lives of the people she meets. Outside of work, she enjoys traveling, art work and learning new languages. With this unique opportunity that ACG offers, she looks forward to mentoring and working with you as you transition into the next exciting phase of your career.

Categories: Private Practice, Clinical Career, Work-Life Balance and General Mentoring Advice

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Anca I. Pop, MD, MBA

Dr. Anca Pop is a Board Certified Gastroenterologist currently working in the Pharma Industry as the Head of Medical Affairs Gastroenterology US at UCB. Dr. Pop has academic experience with previous appointments as Chief of Gastroenterology Division at James H. Quillen VAMC and Clinical Assistant 2001-2003 and then Associate Professor at James H. Quillen VAMC 2003-2005. She was Chairperson for the Research & Development Committee, James H. Quillen VAMC 11/2001 through 10/2002 and the Hepatitis C Lead Clinician at Mountain Home VAMC/VISN9 (VHA Directive 2001-2009). She received the Department of Veterans Affairs Performance Award-Executive Career Field Appraisal in January 2005. After 2005, she entered private practice becoming Shareholder/ Partner in Gastro ONE- single specialty Gastroenterology group in Memphis TN, clinical position that she held for eight years. Dr. Pop completed a Business of Medicine MBA degree training at Kelley School of Business Indianapolis, IN in 2015 and obtained a Certificate of Strategy and Innovation from Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sloane School of Management in January 2016.She is a Fellow of American Gastroenterology Association and a Fellow of American Society of GI Endoscopy.

Categories: Private Practice, Clinical Career, Work-Life Balance and General Mentoring Advice

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Eamonn M. M. Quigley, MD, FACG

I currently serve as Chief of the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at Houston Methodist Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical College in Houston Texas and co-director of the Underwood Center for Digestive Diseases. My career has seen me cross the Atlantic several times, beginning with Medical School in my native city of Cork, Ireland and residency in Glasgow,Scotland, followed by research fellowship at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester MN, then back to the other side of the ocean to Manchester, UK where I completed my clinical training in GI. I returned to the US for 12 years as faculty and eventually Section Chief at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, NE, followed by 14 years in Cork, including two terms as Dean of the Medical School, where I also became involved in microbiome and probiotic research. The latest transatlantic sortie to Houston took place in 2013. Throughout this complicated career,I have also been involved in clinical and translational research in motility, functional bowel disease and GERD. Clinically, I would regard myself as a general gastroenterologist with some focus on the areas of clinical research interest. I also have a long-standing interest in Medical Education and have been particularly involved in medical student, GI fellowship and program director education, the latter through the World Gastroenterology Organization (and ACG supported) Train-the-Trainers program, as well as the ACG young faculty program. I served as Editor-in-Chief of the American Journal of Gastroenterology and maintain an active role on editorial boards and manuscript reviewing.

I am happy to share my experiences and learning gained over the years in clinical research, education and medical publishing with potential mentees.

Categories: Academics, Education Career and Research Career

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Laura E. Raffals, MD, FACG

Dr. Laura Raffals is Professor of Medicine, Department of Medicine Associate Chair of Faculty Development, and Program Director of the Gastroenterology and Hepatology fellowship and subspecialty fellowship programs at Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN. Dr. Raffals graduated from Indiana University School of Medicine and completed her residency and chief residency at Rush Presbyterian St. Luke’s Medical Center. She received her Masters in Health Studies and completed her gastroenterology fellowship training at the University of Chicago, and for six years was a member of the faculty. In 2011, she joined the Gastroenterology and Hepatology Division at Mayo Clinic. Dr. Raffals has held numerous leadership positions with the Crohn’s Colitis Foundation and American College of Gastroenterology. She currently serves as the Vice Chair of the Operations Coordinating Group for the Mayo Clinic Midwest practice. She has received many teaching awards and was recently the first woman to receive the Mayo Fellows’ Association Gastroenterology Teacher of the Year Award. Dr. Raffals’ clinical and research interests have focused on inflammatory bowel disease with a focus on pouch disorders, exploring the intersection of pouch motility disorders and pouch inflammation. Raffals enjoys spending her spare time with her husband Reeghan and two young daughters, ages 8 and 10. Her hobbies include reading, exercising, cooking, and hiking.

Categories: Academics, Clinical Career, Education Career, Research Career, Work-Life Balance and General Mentoring Advice

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Seth J. Richter, MD, FACG

I received by medical degree from New York Medical College in Valhalla, New York. I then went on to complete my Internal medicine residency at New York University, and GI fellowship at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York. I am currently an Associate Professor of Medicine at Albany Medical center in Albany New York where I have served as the fellowship program director since 2007. I have been an active member of the American College of Gastroenterology serving on the Training committee as a member for 6 years, including as serving as its chairman until 2016. My career focus has been on education of GI fellows and medical residents. My clinical interests are in colorectal cancer screening, GERD, and ablation of Barrett’s esophagus.

Categories: Academics, Clinical Career, Education Career, Work Life Balance and General Mentoring Advice

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Abdo Saad, MD, FACG

I completed my medical degree at the American University of Beirut in Lebanon. I moved in the Midwest for my medical training: Internal medicine at IU-Indianapolis, Geriatric fellowship at UW-Madison and Gastroenterology fellowship at Mizzou-Columbia. The advanced fellowship in inflammatory bowel disease was completed at the University of Chicago. For the past 7 years, I have been practicing at Presbyterian Healthcare System, a statewide health system in New Mexico. I am in charge of the inflammatory bowel disease clinic. I am working to establish a model of a clinically comprehensive IBD center. While similar endeavors are usually undertaken in academic centers, the challenge of expanding advances in IBD care to the community has been rewarding. From my position, I continue scholarly work such as lecturing house staff, speaking for pharmaceutical industry and reviewing articles submitted to peer journals. It will be a pleasure to share this experience with future leaders in our field and to enhance expanding medical care where it is needed the most.

Categories: Clinical Career, Private Practice, Work-Life Balance and General Mentoring Advice

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You Sung Sang, MD, FACG

Dr. You Sung Sang graduated cum laude from Columbia University and earned his degree from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, NY. He further trained at Beth Israel Medical Center and Nassau County Medical Center, where he completed his gastroenterology fellowship. In 2015, he and his partner Dr. Kolala Sridhar merged their practice with Connecticut GI, P.C. and Dr. Sang sits on the Board for the practice.

Categories: Private Practice, Work-Life Balance and General Mentoring Advice

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Alison Schneider, MD, FACG

I work at a community hospital associated with Cleveland Clinic – Cleveland Clinic Florida in Weston, FL. I mostly do general gastroenterology, as well as motility work and run the motility lab at our clinic. It is a branch of the main hospital in Ohio. We do have fellows and residents here so I stay involved with education and some research, mostly clinical research. I would describe this practice as a blend of academic and clinical. I have been working at this hospital since I completed fellowship training (~ 10 years ago). Some of the initial reasons I chose to work at this institution were for personal/family reasons. This is close to where I grew up and my husband and I decided to return to Florida to be close to my parents. I have 2 children- ages 11 and 13 now and so had to do the work-life balance (or dance like I sometimes call it) throughout my career.

Categories: Work-Life Balance and General Mentoring Advice

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Brijen J. Shah, MD

Dr. Brijen Shah is a board certified internist, gastroenterologist and geriatrician who is an associate professor at Ichan School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Medical Center and the chief medical officer at Mount Sinai Queens. He is the former director of GME for faculty development, QI and Patient Safety. Brijen is a graduate of the Warren Alpert School of Medicine and Beth-Israel Deaconess Medical Center Internal Medicine Residency. He recently completed the Greater New York Hospital Association Clinical Quality Fellowship Program. Clinically, he provides GI consultation in the Faculty Practice focused on older adults and functional GI disorders. His academic interests include teaching students, residents and fellows in both geriatrics and Quality Improvement and Patient Safety and curriculum development in these topics. Brijen is interested in helping to teach and better understand shared decision making in the older population for colon cancer screening. He is the recipient of a Hartford Center of Excellence grant and a Hearst Foundation grant to train chief resident in Geriatric principles. He is also actively in involved as a volunteer preceptor in the East Harlem Health Outreach Project. He has published review articles and textbook chapters on fecal incontinence, constipation, and colon cancer screening in the geriatric population.

Categories: Academics, Education Career and General Mentoring Advice

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Mitchell L. Shiffman, MD, FACG

Dr. Mitchell L. Shiffman is the Director of the Liver Institute Virginia at the Bon Secours Virginia Health System with offices in Richmond and Newport News, Virginia. He is also a Professor of Medicine at the Eastern Virginia Medical School, Norfolk, Virginia. Between 1990-2009, Dr. Shiffman was the Chief of the Hepatology Section and Medical Director of the Liver Transplant Program at the Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center in Richmond, Virginia. Dr Shiffman received his MD degree from the State University of New York Upstate Medical Center in Syracuse, completed an internship and residency in Internal Medicine and a fellowship in Gastroenterology and Hepatology at the VCU-Medical College of Virginia. At the Liver Institute of Virginia, Dr. Shiffman and his staff care for patients with all types of liver disorders. Liver Institute has arrangements with several liver transplant programs. Patients can undergo evaluation testing, pre and post liver transplant care at the Liver Institute, which prevents the need for patients to travel long distances for transplant care. The Liver Institute at Bon Secours Health System also offers multi-modality treatment for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma including surgical resection, chemoembolization, radioembolization, radio frequency ablation, and chemotherapy and works with several transplant programs to offer liver transplantation. Dr. Shiffman supervises a large clinical trials research program which conducts trials at both Liver Institute offices in the area of chronic HCV, chronic HBV, fatty liver disease, primary biliary cirrhosis and primary sclerosing cholangitis. Dr. Shiffman has edited 3 books on liver disease and has published over 275 peer reviewed articles, invited reviews and/or book chapters. His writing and clinical research have focused primarily on viral hepatitis C and B where he is considered an international key opinion leader.

Categories: Academics, Clinical Career, Private Practice and General Mentoring Advice

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Pooja Singhal, MD, FACG

Dr. Pooja Singhal currently works at the Saint Anthony Hospital Gastroenterology. Her areas of interest include Inflammatory Bowel Disease, Women’s Gastrointestinal health, and Esophageal disorders. She graduated from the University of Oklahoma Medical School in Oklahoma. She completed her residency in 2008 from Georgetown University Hospital in Washington DC where she was selected to serve as a chief resident. She then completed her Gastroenterology fellowship at Georgetown University Hospital (2015) where she also served as a chief GI fellow. She currently serves on Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation National Scientific Advisory Committee. She has been awarded ACG SCOPY awards twice for her efforts to raise CRC awareness in her community, and state. She was also a ANMS visiting Motility fellow at the Cedars Sinai Hospital. Dr. Singhal is actively involved in the ACG, and currently serves on the Women’s GI committee. She has been the recipient of the ACG United States Train the Trainers Program Travel Award. She is available via email (poojasinghalou@gmail.com), and twitter account (@gastrohealthdoc). She is excited to guide trainees on different career tracks, and work-life balance.

Categories: Academics, Clinical Career, Private Practice, Work-Life Balance and General Mentoring Advice

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Zarema Singson, MD

Dr. Zarema Singson is a graduate of Rice University. After receiving her medical degree from the UT Health Science Center in San Antonio, Dr. Singson went on to complete her residency and fellowship training at the University of California Irvine where she also served as Chief Resident. She has also been an active member in the American College of Gastroenterology and has served on the Minority Affairs and Cultural Diversity Committee as well as the Women in GI Committee. She is currently in private practice in San Antonio, Texas. She and her husband are the proud parents of two children.

Categories: Private Practice, Clinical Career, Work-Life Balance and General Mentoring Advice

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Umair Sohail, MD, FACG

Dr. Umair Sohail is a board-certified internist and a Gastroenterologist who practices at University of Texas Health at Tyler, Texas. He received his medical degree from Rawalpindi Medical College, Pakistan. He completed his internal medicine residency from St. Luke’s Hospital, St. Louis, Missouri, where he worked as a chief resident (2012). He did a Transplant Hepatology Fellowship at University of Tennessee, Memphis (2013). Following this he came back to Midwest to complete his 3 year Gastroenterology fellowship at University of Missouri-Columbia, where he was a chief GI Fellow (2016). Having benefited from inspiring mentors throughout his career, he is also committed to being a mentor to trainees and junior faculty. He has been fortunate to find a unique hybrid of clinical practice, as he is both a private practitioner as well as a clinical educator for the Division of Gastroenterology – Hepatology. UT Health at Tyler has trauma surgery residents rotating from Methodist Hospital, Dallas, so he stays involved with education and proctors the resident in the development of endoscopic skills by supervising endoscopic procedures. He is also involved in training and educating internal medicine residents at UT Health East Texas, Tyler. He describes his practice as a blend of academic and clinical. He is also Board certified in Obesity Medicine (ABOM). He is a Fellow of American College of Physicians (FACP) and actively involved in the ASGE and ACG, and currently serves on the ACG Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee. His areas of interest include inflammatory bowel disease and hepatology. His interests in endoscopy include quality in endoscopy, patient preparation, GERD, colon cancer screening and prevention.

Categories: Clinical Career, Private Practice, Work-Life Balance and General Mentoring Advice

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Amy N. Stratton, DO

I am currently part of a physician run private practice in Reno NV. Previously, I served as the Director of the GI Motility Lab at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas. As one of a few motility experts in the military, I managed one of the largest motility labs within the Department of Defense. I graduated with honors with a BS and BA degree from the University of Nevada Reno. I completed medical school at Touro University College of Osteopathic Medicine Nevada with a Doctorate of Osteopathy. I completed my IM residency at Tripler Army Medical Center and completed my GI fellowship at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. I am involved in the American College of Gastroenterology and serve on the women’s committee. My clinical interests include esophageal motility disorders, reflux disease, and endoscopic management of these disorders. I am passionate about medical student, resident, and fellow education/mentorship. I want to help trainees progress through their careers and achieve their goals and aspirations, both personally and professionally. I am an avid scuba diver and my other interest include underwater and wildlife photography.

Categories: Private Practice, Academics, Clinical Career, Education Career, Work-Life Balance and General Mentoring Advice

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Milena Gould Suarez, MD, FACG

Dr. Milena Suarez is an Associate Professor of Medicine and Associate GI Fellowship Program Director at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, TX. She did her internal medicine residency at Tufts Medical Center and her fellowship training at the University of Pennsylvania. Her clinical and research interests include colon cancer screening, GERD, health disparities and heritable colon cancer syndromes. She is actively involved in the training of GI fellows, residents and medical students. She is currently serving on the ACG Patient Care Committee. She is in a dual physician marriage and has 2 young children.

Categories: Academics, Clinical Career, Education Career, Work-Life Balance and General Mentoring Advice

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Ronald D. Szyjkowski, MD, FACG

As a student, the physiology of achalasia fascinated me and sparked my interest in gastrointestinal diseases and having rotated on GI doing my first colonoscopy with one of our surgical staff at Loyola in Chicago, I was hooked. It seemed to me that gastroenterology was a perfect fit for a Med-Peds graduate. After finishing my training in El Paso at William Beaumont Army Medical Center, I pursued fellowship training and was lucky enough to receive great training and exposure to both adult and pediatric patients and fished my fellowship at Brooke Army Medical Center. After completing my 14 years of Army service, my family and I relocated to our home area of Upstate New York where I presently am lucky enough to serve as Training Director and Division Chair of gastroenterology. At each stop along this journey I remained very active in medical education, holding many different positions, but throughout, my passion lies in diseases of the foregut and esophagus with emphasis on the care and treatment of patients with Barrett’s and achalasia. Procedurally, I enjoy diagnostic and therapeutic EUS as well as endoluminal therapy of Barrett’s and adenocarcinoma.

Categories: Academics, Education Career and General Mentoring Advice

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Veysel Tahan, MD, FACG

Dr. Veysel Tahan is an Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at the University of Missouri-Columbia. He received his medical degree from Akdeniz University Faculty of Medicine, Turkiye. He completed his IM residency at Istanbul University Cerrahpasa Medical Faculty and GI fellowship at Marmara University. He moved to Pittsburgh, PA in 2008 for a 4-year of “Hepatocyte and Stem Cell Transplantation for Hepatology Diseases” program at the University of Pittsburgh. He completed a second GI fellowship program at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. He is also a Fellow of American College of Gastroenterology (FACG), American College of Physicians (FACP), and the European Section and Board of Gastroenterology and Hepatology (FESBGH) and a member of ACP, AGA, ASGE, ACP, AASLD, Cell Transplantation Society and Turkish Gastroenterology and Liver Societies. Dr. Tahan has published numerous articles (>160) and abstracts (>190) with his colleagues and/or mentees and serves on the editorial boards of multiple Gastroenterology/Hepatology Journals. He is also actively involved in mentoring fellows, residents, and medical students in both clinical and research environments.

Categories: Academics, Research Career, Clinical Career, Education Career and Research Career

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David A. Tessler, DO, FACG

Following graduation from the University of Michigan, I attended Midwestern University/Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine. I completed my Internal Medicine Residency at Botsford General Hospital (now a Beaumont Hospital) followed by a fellowship in Gastroenterology at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit. Currently, I practice in the Phoenix area, where I have worked for the past 15 years. Along with my partners, we are a community-oriented GI practice treating everything from Hepatitis C to IBD, from IBS to GERD and everything in between. I perform all routine endoscopic procedures, including upper and lower endoscopy, ERCP and hemorrhoid band ligation. Our practice is also involved in clinical research in various areas of gastroenterology. I am the Co-Chair of the local Chapter Medical Advisory Committee for the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation, an Adjunct Clinical Professor at Midwestern University/Arizona College of Osteopathic Medicine and I currently serve as the Medical Director of Central Arizona Endoscopy.

Categories: Private Practice, Work-Life Balance and General Mentoring Advice

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Renu Umashanker, MD, FACG

Currently, I am in private practice in a 14 member GI group. I have been in practice since 1998 in New Haven, Connecticut. I am a graduate from the Health Science Center in Brooklyn-SUNY. My medical residency is from Robert Wood Johnson Medical Center and I completed my Gastroenterology fellowship from University of Vermont. I went on and did my advanced fellowship in Hepatology at the Beth Israel-Deaconess Hospital in Boston. My current position also gives me the opportunity to work with GI fellows and medical students from Yale New Haven Hospital and the Yale medical school as I am also an assistant professor at Yale Medical School. I am also assistant professor at the Netter School of Medicine and actively involved in developing their GI curriculum for incoming students. Currently, I am chair of the American Liver foundation – CT chapter.

Categories: Clinical Career, Private Practice, Work-Life Balance and General Mentoring Advice

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Lavanya Viswanathan, MD, MS, Maj, USAF

Dr. Lavanya Viswanathan received her undergraduate education at the University of Maryland, College Park, her Master’s degree in Complementary and Alternative Medicine at Georgetown University, and her medical training at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS). She went on to complete her Internal Medicine military residency at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, TX and her GI fellowship at Augusta University Medical Center (formerly MCG) in Augusta, GA. She has contributed to several book chapters and peer-reviewed publications, with a particular emphasis on motility disorders. She is currently Chief of the Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at David Grant Medical Center in California where she is also a Neurogastroenterology and Motility specialist. She is also an Associate Professor of Medicine at USUHS and UC Davis. She serves as a GI manuscript reviewer for Annals of Internal Medicine. In addition to clinical medicine, she is active in health policy within both the American College of Physicians (ACP) and ACG where she was recently recognized as a Young Physician Leadership Scholar. She serves on the ACG Women in GI and Educational Affairs committees. She is also an active member of AGA. In her spare time, she enjoys traveling, running, singing and writing (though not all at once). She is interested in mentoring fellows with respect to career and education guidance and work/life balance. Twitter: @LavanyaMD

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Patrick E. Young, MD, FACG

Dr. Pat Young is the Director of the Division of Digestive Diseases at the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences in Bethesda, MD. He has a diverse range of clinical leadership and teaching experiences including academic medicine, humanitarian assistance, and leadersip development. He currently serves as the Vice Chair for the ACG’s Board of Governors. His research interests include medical education, emotional intelligence, ergonomics, and pre-cancerous conditions of the GI tract. He loves helping fellows learn to be the best gastroenterologists they can be. As the husband of a busy practicing gynecologist and the father of two active children, he is keenly aware of the importance of work-life balance!

Categories: Academics, Education Career, Work-Life Balance and General Mentoring Advice