Gastroenterology and Liver

Dr. Khalil Bitars is a postdoctoral research fellow at the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine, has received the Early Career Investigators award from the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) Institute Council.

Gastroenterology

Lu Liu completed her PhD in Monash University, Australia in 1998, and received the prestigious Mollie Holman Medal for best PhD thesis. From 1998-2005, she worked as a Post-doctoral research officer and senior research fellow in the gastrointestinal pharmacology research field at UNSW Australia. In 2006, she took up an academic position, became a Lecturer in the same institution and was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2009. As a Chief Investigator, she has obtained research funding over $2.5 million from various grant bodies to support her research. She has established a track record of quality research outputs. She has published over 50 original research papers in high impact pharmacology, gastroenterology and urology journals and over 130 conference abstracts. Her research has been recognized both nationally and internationally. She received many awards and has been frequently invited to present at the conference symposia and seminars.

Pharmacology, Gastroenterology

Anil Kaul was graduated from Madras Medical College in Medicine, King Georges’ Medical College in Dentistry and in Public Health from University of Minnesota. He currently serves as the Director of High-Complexity Clinical Laboratories and a Faculty at Oklahoma State University-Center for Health Sciences. He has been awarded 6 patents and has published more than 50 scientific papers. He has served as Senior Health Advisor to the US Department of State and received “Expeditionary Service Award”. In 2014, he also received “Lifetime Achievement Award” at Global Health Summit and in 2008 he was named as Sony’s “Scientist of the Year Award”.

Global public health and Healthcare administration

Amanda Brisebois is an Internal Medicine and Palliative Care Specialist, who works in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. She undertook her undergraduate education and Master’s degree at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario Canada. She completed her medical school training in Calgary, Alberta, and her General Medicine Specialty at the Mayo Clinic Rochester Minnesota, University of Calgary in Calgary, Alberta, and University of Alberta, in Edmonton. Since 2000, she has been practicing General Internal Medicine in both inpatient and outpatient settings. She also is a certified Palliative Care Specialist. Amanda Brisebois is an Internal Medicine and Palliative Care Specialist, who works in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. She undertook her undergraduate education and Master’s degree at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario Canada. She completed her medical school training in Calgary, Alberta, and her General Medicine Specialty at the Mayo Clinic Rochester Minnesota, University of Calgary in Calgary, Alberta, and University of Alberta, in Edmonton. Since 2000, she has been practicing General Internal Medicine in both inpatient and outpatient settings. She also is a certified Palliative Care Specialist.

Gastroenterology

Dr. Willingham is a member of Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University and serves as Director of Endoscopy in Emory University's Division of Digestive Disease. He began practicing with Emory Healthcare in 2009 and is board certified in gastroenterology and internal medicine.He is a member of the American College of Physicians, the American Gastrointestinal Association, the American College of Gastroenterology, and the American Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy.

Endoscopy, enteroscopy small bowel, gallbladder disease, gastroesophageal reflux, gastrointestinal bleed, gastrointestinal motility, gastrointestinal tumors, pancreatic disease, pancreatitis, radiofrequency ablation,small bowel endoscopy

Sudha Kodali did her residency in Texas and her fellowship at UAB in Gastroenterology and Hepatology. She is currently working as an Assistant professor at UAB. She treats patients with liver diseases and her research interests include fatty liver, hepatitis C and granulomatous liver disease.

Fatty liver, hepatitis C and granulomatous liver disease

Dr. Maxwell M. Chait completed his MD degree at the age of 25 from the University of California School of Medicine at San Francisco. He is a Fellow of several prestigious organizations, including the American College of Physicians, American College of Gastroenterology, American Gastroenterological Association and the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy. He is a practicing gastroenterologist and assistant professor of medicine Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. In New York City He has authored numerous publications in reputed journals. He is the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Liver Disease and Transplantation and serves on the editorial board of the World Journal of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy.

Gastroenterology

Romany Helmy Thabet is currently working as an eminent Faculty member at Faculty of medicine, Northern Borders University, Saudi Arabia. He has published numerous research papers and articles in reputed journals and has various other achievements in the related studies. He has extended his valuable service towards the scientific community with his extensive research work.

Neuropharmacology and Immunopharmacology

MBBS, King Saud University School of Medicine, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 1993 Internship, Department of Medicine, Pediatrics, Surgery and Obstetrics & Gynecology, Security Forces Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 1994 Residency, Internal Medicine, King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 1999 Fellowship, Gastroenterology and Hepatology, King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 2001 Fellowship, Liver Transplantation Hepatology, University of Virginia Health System, Charlottesville, VA, 2003

Exploring and conducting new HCV therapies in the post-liver transplant population,Liver transplant outcomes

Safwan AbdulRahman Taha has completed his Graduation from Basrah College of Medicine on 1983 with honors where he became Professor of Surgery, on 2000 and then founding Dean of Thi Qar College of Medicine (Iraq, 2003). He holds Fellowship of the Royal College of Physician and Surgeons of Glasgow, Fellowship of the American College of Surgeons, Diploma laparoscopic Surgery from Strasbourg University; France and Certificate of the Arab Board of Surgery. He is currently Governor of the UAE Chapter of the American College of Surgeons, Member of the Board of Governors of the American College of Surgeons, Member of the International Relations Committee of the American College of Surgeons and Vice President of the Emirates Society for Laparo-Endoscopic Surgeons. He is an international speaker and has more than 37 published papers. He is the Medical Director and Director of the Bariatric and Metabolic Surgery Center, Mediclinic Airport Road Hospital, Abu Dhabi; UAE

Bariatric Surgery

Fong Fong Chu has her expertise in gastrointestinal diseases especially in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Her team has established a mouse model of IBD which is very-early onset. These mice are deficient in two isoenzymes which reduce hydrogen peroxide named GPx1/2-double knockout (DKO). This model is a better model than chemical-induced colitis models because it is not injury based and mimic closely to human IBD. She has built this model through 20 years of research and has identified new targets for IBD therapy. She joined Beckman Research Institute of the City of Hope, Duarte CA USA (1987). She is currently associated with the Department of Gastroenterology & Hepatology and the First Affiliated Hospital and College of Clinical Medicine of Henan University of Science and Technology, Luoyang, Henan, P R China since 2016.

inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)

Dr William Alazawi is a London-based Consultant Hepatologist and Reader in Liver Medicine. He sees private patients at The London Bridge and Sloane Hospitals and at the London Digestive Centre, Princess Grace Hospital.

His main interests are abnormal liver tests, fatty liver disease, viral hepatitis and endoscopy.

Associate Professor, Consultant Physician & Gastroenterologist, Head Of Gastroenterology & Hepatology Unit.

Gastrointestinal Diseases,Liver Cirrhosis, Inflammatory Bowel Disease, Endoscopy, Ulcerative Colitis, Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, Colonoscopy, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Crohn's Disease.

Dr. Vito Annese achieved his MD in 1981 and subsequently the CCST in Internal Medicine and Gastroenterology at the Catholic University of Rome Italy. He has over 30-years of experience in gastroenterology, with specific interest in functional and inflammatory bowel disorders. He authored more than 250 peer reviewed publications. In the last 10-years he has been head of Gastroenterology at the Research Hospital of S. Giovanni Rotondo and at the University Hospital Careggi of Florence and aggregate professor at the University of Foggia and Florence in Italy. Since September 2016 is Consultant Gastroenterologist at the Valiant Clinic of Dubai

Gastroenterology, Inflammatory Bowel disorders

Dr. Maxwell M. Chait completed his MD degree at the age of 25 from the University of California School of Medicine at San Francisco. He is a Fellow of several prestigious organizations, including the American College of Physicians, American College of Gastroenterology, American Gastroenterological Association and the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy. He is a practicing gastroenterologist and assistant professor of medicine Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. In New York City He has authored numerous publications in reputed journals. He is the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Liver Disease and Transplantation and serves on the editorial board of the World Journal of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy.

Gastroenterology

Dr. Willingham is a member of Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University and serves as Director of Endoscopy in Emory University's Division of Digestive Disease. He began practicing with Emory Healthcare in 2009 and is board certified in gastroenterology and internal medicine.He is a member of the American College of Physicians, the American Gastrointestinal Association, the American College of Gastroenterology, and the American Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy.

endoscopy, enteroscopy small bowel, gallbladder disease, gastroesophageal reflux, gastrointestinal bleed, gastrointestinal motility, gastrointestinal tumors, pancreatic disease, pancreatitis, radiofrequency ablation,small bowel endoscopy

MBBS, King Saud University School of Medicine, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 1993 Internship, Department of Medicine, Pediatrics, Surgery and Obstetrics & Gynecology, Security Forces Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 1994 Residency, Internal Medicine, King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 1999 Fellowship, Gastroenterology and Hepatology, King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 2001 Fellowship, Liver Transplantation Hepatology, University of Virginia Health System, Charlottesville, VA, 2003

Exploring and conducting new HCV therapies in the post-liver transplant population,Liver transplant outcomes

Dr. Qiang Cai is one of the major therapeutic endoscopists at Emory University hospital, Director of Advanced Endoscopy Fellowship, and Professor of Medicine at the Division of Digestive Diseases at the School of Medicine. As a physician, he performs a variety of endoscopic procedures, some of which are not widely available. In addition to his procedures, he also runs several clinical trials and has several funded clinical research projects, mainly concerning pancreatobiliary diseases and therapeutic endoscopy. For his work in teaching medical students, residents and fellows, he has received the best teacher award three times. Additionally, Dr. Cai is a member of many committees of the American College of Gastroenterology, American Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy and serves on the editorial boards of various medical publications, including American Journal of Gastroenterology, Chinese Medical Journal, and etc. Dr. Cai is a graduate of Jiangxi Medical College in China. After graduating from the medical college in 1982, he attended Peking Union Medical College Hospital, one of the best hospitals in China, where he began his career in Gastroenterology under the tutorship of Drs. Xiao-Qian Zhang, Min-Zhang Chen, Shou-Po Chen and Yuan-Fang Chen. There, he obtained his master degree in gastrointestinal physiology and served as a gastroenterologist and faculty member before moving to the United States in 1987. In 1992, Dr. Cai obtained his Ph.D in gastrointestinal physiology from Cornell University, where he studied intestinal calcium absorption under the guidance of Dr, Robert H. Wasserman, the father of intestinal calcium binding protein. He completed his internal medicine residency training at Marshfield Clinic, one of the training facilities of the University of Wisconsin, and his gastroenterology fellowship at the Emory University School of Medicine. Dr. Cai joined the faculty team at the Division of Digestive Diseases, Department of Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine in July 2001. Dr. Cai’s main research interests are pancreatobiliary diseases, including diseases in the pancreas, the gallbladder and the bile duct, as well as therapeutic endoscocpy. He cooperates with several industrial companies in clinical research and has several funded clinical research projects. One of his projects is to improve the techniques of ERCP, which is an endoscopic procedure to diagnose and treat diseases in the pancreas and the bile duct system, such as pancreatic cancer, bile duct stone and bile leak after surgery. Dr. Cai is the first one to use a fatty meal before the ERCP procedure, which makes the procedure much easier to perform. A manuscript of this fatty meal-ERCP study was published in Endoscopy and has drawn significant attention from the field. Dr. Cai’s other clinical research concerns bile duct microlithiasis (small stones), which can cause pancreatitis as well as abdominal pain. Those small stones can’t be identified by routine examinations such as abdominal ultrasound or computed tomogram (CT), and only can be seen under a special microscope. Many patients who have right upper quadrant abdominal pain without an identified cause are commonly thought of as having irritable bowel syndrome, non-ulcer dyspepsia or postcholecystectomy pain syndrome when microlithiasis may be the cause. Dr. Cai’s expertise in this area can help such patients. Dr. Cai can also help patients with pancreas divisum. Pancreas divisum is the most common congenital pancreatic anomaly, occurring in about 10% of the general population. Patients with pancreas divisum may be subject to recurrent acute pancreatitis. Diagnosis and treatment of pancreas divisum requires minor papilla cannulation and stenting at ERCP. These procedures propose technical difficulties and are only performed by a few experts in the nation. Dr. Cai’s experience in this area can help patients with this condition. At Emory University Hospital and Emory Clinic, Dr. Cai is a very active and an excellent therapeutic endoscopist. On average, he performs 10 or more endoscopic procedures each weekday. In addition to some routine endoscopic procedures such as EGD and colonoscopy, he is also able to perform a variety of advanced endoscopic procedures, such as diagnostic/therapeutic ERCP, EUS with FNA. Many of the procedures that Dr. Cai performs, such as endoscopic ampullectomy, endoscopic cystogatrostomy, celiac nerve block and others, per oral endoscopic myotomy for achalasia, per oral endoscopic pyloromyotomy for gastroparesis, endoscopic submucosal resection, etc. are not widely available. In addition to his research and clinical work, Dr. Cai also teaches nursing students, medical students, internal medicine residents and Gastroenterology fellows. He has been awarded as best teacher three times, once at the University of Wisconsin and twice at Emory University. He teaches senior Gastroenterology fellows about performing advanced endoscopic procedures such as endoscopic ampullectomy, endoscopic gastrocystostomy, endoscopic stent placement and others. Dr. Cai also gives a lecture on Pancreatitis to medical students at Emory University once a year. Many of the medical students and residents that Dr. Cai has mentored in clinical research have obtained Gastroenterology fellow positions at Emory and other institutions, including Mayo Medical School and Duke University Medical School. Some of them have obtained faculty positions in medical schools. Dr. Cai also serves as a member of several committees. He has been a member of Research Committee, Training Committee of American College of Gastroenterology, which is largest clinical gastroenterology society in the nation. Currently, he serves as a member of the Nutrition and Metabolic Support Committee at Emory University Hospital, the International Affairs Committee of the American College of Gastroenterology and the Research Committee of the American Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, the largest endoscopy society in the nation. Dr. Cai also serves as editor, associate editor and member of editorial boards for several journals.

Sergio Verboonen is serving as an Lead Surgeon at Bariatric Mexico, Department of Bariatric Surgery at International Patient Facilitators and Lead Surgeon at Obesity Solutions and Hope Paradise and Lead Surgeon at Obesity Good Bye Center and Obesity Solutions. His international experience includes various programs, contributions to reputed journals and participation in different international conferences in diverse fields of study. He is the recipient of numerous awards for her expert research works in related fields.

Bariatric Surgery

Amy is a PTSD peer-peer specialist, artist, author, speaker for RAINN, writer for The Huffington Post, award-winning health advocate, actress and playwright. In 2012, she wrote, directed and starred in a one woman musical about her life, Gutless & Grateful, touring theatres across the country for three years, earning rave reviews and accolades since it’s BroadwayWorld Award-nominated NYC debut. As an visual artist, her art has won accolades in multiple galleries and in dozens of solo art shows. Her mixed media creativity workshops emphasize creativity as an essential mindset. Amy’s “beautiful detour” has inspire her passionate desire to create and help others. As a health advocate, she's written feature articles for Phoenix Magazine, and has spoken to hundreds of nurses and doctors as the Eastern Regional Recipient of the Great Comebacks Award. Her Washington Post and On Being with Krista Tippet, and is a regular contributor for numerous

Singal joined the UAB after completing AASLD sponsored advanced fellowship in Transplant Hepatology at the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN. His clinical and research interests include steatohepatitis (due to alcohol use as well as due to non-alcohol fatty liver disease), simultaneous liver-kidney transplantation, and porphyria cutanea tarda. His research is currently funded from UAB, ACG, and NIH. Dr. Singal has long standing relationship with AASLD and has published over 100 papers in various reputed journals with over 140 presentations at national and international meetings. He has also edited two books on hepatitis B.

Sudha Kodali did her residency in Texas and her fellowship at UAB in Gastroenterology and Hepatology. She is currently working as an Assistant professor at UAB. She treats patients with liver diseases and her research interests include fatty liver, hepatitis C and granulomatous liver disease.

fatty liver, hepatitis C and granulomatous liver disease

Ahmed E. Lasheen is currently working as a professor at Department of General Surgery, Zagazig University, Egypt