AIBD 2026 Agenda

Filters

Tracks
Experience

1:30 - 4:30 PM (EDT)

Workshop

Building an IBD Center Workshop

  • Moderator
    • David Hudesman, MD, FACG, AGAF

Introduction

Moderator

Sunday, December 06 1:30–1:35 PM
Room Northern Hemisphere A
Faculty

David Hudesman

MD, FACG, AGAF
Director, Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center
NYU Langone Health

Dr. Hudesman is Director of the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center at NYU Langone Health. He is Professor of Medicine at the NYU School of Medicine.

Dr. Hudesman specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and in the provision of integrated, seamless, patient-centered care. His research is focused on the development of biomarkers and evaluation and optimization of new medical therapies for the treatment of both Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.

Dr. Hudesman served on the Educational Affairs Committee of the American College of Gastroenterology, and the Professional Membership Committee of the Crohn’s Colitis Foundation, and is currently on the Quality Committee of the American Gastroenterological Association.

Optimizing Your Clinical Operations to Increase Patient Access, Volume, and Downstream Revenue

Presenter

Sunday, December 06 1:35–1:45 PM
Room Northern Hemisphere A
Faculty

David Hudesman

MD, FACG, AGAF
Director, Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center
NYU Langone Health

Dr. Hudesman is Director of the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center at NYU Langone Health. He is Professor of Medicine at the NYU School of Medicine.

Dr. Hudesman specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and in the provision of integrated, seamless, patient-centered care. His research is focused on the development of biomarkers and evaluation and optimization of new medical therapies for the treatment of both Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.

Dr. Hudesman served on the Educational Affairs Committee of the American College of Gastroenterology, and the Professional Membership Committee of the Crohn’s Colitis Foundation, and is currently on the Quality Committee of the American Gastroenterological Association.

The Role of IBD APPs and Nurses in Maximizing Clinical Efficiency

Presenter

Sunday, December 06 1:45–1:55 PM
Room Northern Hemisphere A
Faculty

Raymond Cross

MD, MS, AGAF, FACG
Director
Melissa L Posner Institute for Digestive Health & Liver Disease, Mercy Medical Center

Raymond K. Cross, MD, MS, AGAF, FACG completed undergraduate training at Washington and Jefferson College and attended medical school at the University of Pittsburgh. He completed internal medicine residency and gastroenterology and Hepatology fellowship training at the University of Maryland Medical Center and Baltimore Veterans Affairs. Prior to fellowship, he was a Chief Medical Resident. He obtained a Master’s Degree in Clinical Research at the University of Maryland, Baltimore. He joined the faculty at the University of Maryland and served as Director of the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Program from 2004 to 2024. In July 2024, he joined the faculty at the Melissa L. Posner Institute for Digestive Health & Liver Disease at Mercy Medical Center where he is Director of the Center for Inflammatory Bowel and Colorectal Diseases.
He has published over 200 peer reviewed manuscripts, review articles, and book chapters and has obtained research funding from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation, and the American College of Gastroenterology. He is past Chair of the Patient Education and Clinical Research Committees and Clinical Research Alliance for the Foundation. He is the Co-Chair of the Regional Advances in Inflammatory Bowel Disease Course, Scientific Co-Director of the CorEvitas Registry, and past Course Director for the American College of Gastroenterology’s Eastern Regional Course. He is Governor for Maryland for the American College of Gastroenterology, a member of the American College of Gastroenterology’s Research Committee, and Senior Associate Editor of the American Journal of Gastroenterology.

Key Steps to Integrating IUS into Your Everyday Practice

Presenter

Sunday, December 06 1:55–2:05 PM
Room Northern Hemisphere A
Co-Chair

Millie Long

MD, MPH, FACG
Professor of Medicine
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Millie D. Long MD, MPH earned her doctor of medicine degree at the University of Virginia. She completed a residency and chief residency in internal medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She then completed a gastroenterology fellowship at University of North Carolina. She also completed a fellowship in preventive medicine and a masters of public health in epidemiology at the Gillings School of Public Health. She is board certified in internal medicine, preventive medicine, and gastroenterology. She is currently Professor of Medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at the University of North Carolina, as well as Chief of the Division.

Dr. Long’s clinical practice is at the UNC Multidisciplinary Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IBD) center. Her research interests include prevention of complications of IBD, women’s health and clinical epidemiology. Dr. Long has contributed over 200 peer-reviewed publications, book chapters, and review articles to the literature. She co-authored the 2025 ACG ulcerative colitis guidelines. She serves Co-Editor in Chief of the American Journal of Gastroenterology.

Dr. Long is a fellow of the American College of Gastroenterology where she is a member of the Board of Trustees. She is also a fellow of the American Gastroenterological Association and a member of the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation. Recipient of the 2024 Sherman Prize for Excellence in Crohn’s and Colitis. She is a member of the International Organization for the Study of IBD.

Beyond the Clinic: Building an Intelligent IBD Care Model with AI and EHR Integration

Presenter

Sunday, December 06 2:05–2:15 PM
Room Northern Hemisphere A
Faculty

Sara Horst

MD, MPH, FACG, AGAF
Professor
Vanderbilt University Medical Center

Dr. Sara Horst MD, MPH, FACG, AGAF is a Professor in the division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, & Nutrition at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Dr. Horst completed her medical school and residency training at The Ohio State University and then went to Vanderbilt University Medical Center for Gastroenterology Fellowship and to obtain her Masters of Public Health. She joined the faculty at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in 2011. She is involved in clinical care of complex IBD care, complex amyloid care, clinical research, and teaching and mentoring medical students and housestaff. She is the medical director for VUMC Specialty Pharmacy, VUMC Telehealth director, and VUMC Associate Vice Chair of Clinical Affairs for Dept of Medicine. Her research interests involve enhancing EHR efficiencies in the care of IBD, telehealth in IBD, and medication adherence in IBD. She has extensively published in peer reviewed journals. She is also involved in clinical care improvement as an EPIC Physician Builder and is on the National EPIC GI Steering Board. She is an associate editor for American Journal of Gastroenterology.

Breakout Sessions: Roundtable Discussions

Presenter

Sunday, December 06 2:15–3:30 PM
Room Northern Hemisphere A
Faculty

Raymond Cross

MD, MS, AGAF, FACG
Director
Melissa L Posner Institute for Digestive Health & Liver Disease, Mercy Medical Center

Raymond K. Cross, MD, MS, AGAF, FACG completed undergraduate training at Washington and Jefferson College and attended medical school at the University of Pittsburgh. He completed internal medicine residency and gastroenterology and Hepatology fellowship training at the University of Maryland Medical Center and Baltimore Veterans Affairs. Prior to fellowship, he was a Chief Medical Resident. He obtained a Master’s Degree in Clinical Research at the University of Maryland, Baltimore. He joined the faculty at the University of Maryland and served as Director of the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Program from 2004 to 2024. In July 2024, he joined the faculty at the Melissa L. Posner Institute for Digestive Health & Liver Disease at Mercy Medical Center where he is Director of the Center for Inflammatory Bowel and Colorectal Diseases.
He has published over 200 peer reviewed manuscripts, review articles, and book chapters and has obtained research funding from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation, and the American College of Gastroenterology. He is past Chair of the Patient Education and Clinical Research Committees and Clinical Research Alliance for the Foundation. He is the Co-Chair of the Regional Advances in Inflammatory Bowel Disease Course, Scientific Co-Director of the CorEvitas Registry, and past Course Director for the American College of Gastroenterology’s Eastern Regional Course. He is Governor for Maryland for the American College of Gastroenterology, a member of the American College of Gastroenterology’s Research Committee, and Senior Associate Editor of the American Journal of Gastroenterology.

Faculty

Sara Horst

MD, MPH, FACG, AGAF
Professor
Vanderbilt University Medical Center

Dr. Sara Horst MD, MPH, FACG, AGAF is a Professor in the division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, & Nutrition at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Dr. Horst completed her medical school and residency training at The Ohio State University and then went to Vanderbilt University Medical Center for Gastroenterology Fellowship and to obtain her Masters of Public Health. She joined the faculty at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in 2011. She is involved in clinical care of complex IBD care, complex amyloid care, clinical research, and teaching and mentoring medical students and housestaff. She is the medical director for VUMC Specialty Pharmacy, VUMC Telehealth director, and VUMC Associate Vice Chair of Clinical Affairs for Dept of Medicine. Her research interests involve enhancing EHR efficiencies in the care of IBD, telehealth in IBD, and medication adherence in IBD. She has extensively published in peer reviewed journals. She is also involved in clinical care improvement as an EPIC Physician Builder and is on the National EPIC GI Steering Board. She is an associate editor for American Journal of Gastroenterology.

Faculty

David Hudesman

MD, FACG, AGAF
Director, Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center
NYU Langone Health

Dr. Hudesman is Director of the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center at NYU Langone Health. He is Professor of Medicine at the NYU School of Medicine.

Dr. Hudesman specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and in the provision of integrated, seamless, patient-centered care. His research is focused on the development of biomarkers and evaluation and optimization of new medical therapies for the treatment of both Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.

Dr. Hudesman served on the Educational Affairs Committee of the American College of Gastroenterology, and the Professional Membership Committee of the Crohn’s Colitis Foundation, and is currently on the Quality Committee of the American Gastroenterological Association.

Faculty

Kelly Issokson

MS, RD, CSDH, CNSC
Senior RD, Outpatient Nutrition
UCSF Health

Kelly Issokson, MS, RD, CSDH, LDN, CNSC is the Senior Registered Dietitian of Outpatient Nutrition at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and a nationally recognized expert in gastrointestinal nutrition. With over 17 years of clinical experience, she specializes in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and surgical nutrition. Ms. Issokson graduated magna cum laude from Johnson & Wales University and earned her MS in Nutrition from California State University, Northridge. She serves on the National Board of the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation and is a leading voice in advancing nutrition as part of multidisciplinary IBD care. She co-developed the Cedars-Sinai IBD Prehabilitation Program and nutrition education training programs for physicians, APPs, and RDs.

Co-Chair

Millie Long

MD, MPH, FACG
Professor of Medicine
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Millie D. Long MD, MPH earned her doctor of medicine degree at the University of Virginia. She completed a residency and chief residency in internal medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She then completed a gastroenterology fellowship at University of North Carolina. She also completed a fellowship in preventive medicine and a masters of public health in epidemiology at the Gillings School of Public Health. She is board certified in internal medicine, preventive medicine, and gastroenterology. She is currently Professor of Medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at the University of North Carolina, as well as Chief of the Division.

Dr. Long’s clinical practice is at the UNC Multidisciplinary Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IBD) center. Her research interests include prevention of complications of IBD, women’s health and clinical epidemiology. Dr. Long has contributed over 200 peer-reviewed publications, book chapters, and review articles to the literature. She co-authored the 2025 ACG ulcerative colitis guidelines. She serves Co-Editor in Chief of the American Journal of Gastroenterology.

Dr. Long is a fellow of the American College of Gastroenterology where she is a member of the Board of Trustees. She is also a fellow of the American Gastroenterological Association and a member of the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation. Recipient of the 2024 Sherman Prize for Excellence in Crohn’s and Colitis. She is a member of the International Organization for the Study of IBD.

Faculty

Jessica Salwen-Deremer

PhD
Associate Professor of Psychiatry & Medicine
Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center

Jessiy Salwen-Deremer, Ph.D., DBSM, is the Director of Behavioral Medicine for Digestive Health at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center and an Associate Professor of Psychiatry & Medicine at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth. Her clinical and research expertise encompasses two areas: understanding and treating sleep disorders in people with inflammatory bowel disease and improving access to gastrointestinal behavioral health care. Research initiatives have been supported by institutional, foundation, and NIH funding, with current work focusing on understanding how treatment of insomnia in IBD can impact other symptoms, such as abdominal pain and fatigue. Across areas of research and practice, she also focuses on the integration of remote technologies to enhance patient engagement and participation.

Building an IBD Center Workshop Reception

Sunday, December 06 3:30–4:30 PM
Room Northern Hemisphere A
Workshop

IBD Treatment 101 Workshop

  • Co-Moderator
    • David Choi, PharmD, BCACP
    • Parambir Dulai, MD

Mechanisms in Motion: Basics of Immunology in IBD

Presenter

Sunday, December 06 1:30–1:45 PM
Room Northern Hemisphere B
Faculty

Parambir Dulai

MD
Associate Professor of Medicine, Director of GI Clinical Trials and Precision Medicine
Northwestern University

Parambir S. Dulai, MD, is a board-certified gastroenterologist with clinical and research expertise in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Dr. Dulai is a proud recipient of the 2022 Sherman Emerging Leader Prize by The Bruce and Cynthia Sherman Charitable Foundation that recognizes outstanding achievements in IBD. He is an Associate Professor of Medicine at Northwestern University where he also serves as Director of Precision Medicine for the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology. Dr. Dulai completed his medical school training at Dayanand Medical College in Ludhiana, Punjab, India, and subsequently completed his internal medicine residency and chief residency at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Lebanon, NH, USA. He then went on to complete an NIH sponsored T32 research fellowship and IBD clinical fellowship at the University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA. He spent an additional year of advanced training in clinical trials with Robarts Clinical Trials and in 2019 he was the recipient of the American Gastroenterology Association (AGA) research scholar award focused on personalized medicine. He has a successful NIH funded research program focused on real world evidence generation, clinical trials, and integrating evolving translational technology into mechanism of action studies.

Starting Advanced Therapies: What Every Clinician Should Do

Presenter

Sunday, December 06 1:45–2:00 PM
Room Northern Hemisphere B
Faculty

Adam Cheifetz

MD
Director, Center for Inflammatory Bowel Disease
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

Dr. Cheifetz is Director of the Center for Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Medical Director of Infusion Services at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. He is also Director of the Harvard Medical School Gastroenterology Clerkship Elective and Associate Director of the Advanced Fellowship in Inflammatory Bowel Disease at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.
Dr. Cheifetz specializes in the treatment of Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, and other inflammatory bowel diseases. In addition to his clinical work, he is involved in multiple research projects relating to IBD and has published over 250 articles and chapters on the subject. His research currently focuses on optimizing the use of biologics through the proactive use of drug concentrations and antibodies, and he has published extensively in this area. Dr. Cheifetz was the first to demonstrate that proactive monitoring of infliximab and adalimumab concentrations and dosing to a therapeutic window improves outcomes when compared to standard of care. Dr. Cheifetz lectures nationally and internationally on IBD. Dr. Cheifetz is also actively involved in teaching and mentoring medical students, residents, and fellows, and is proud to have trained numerous physicians who now specialize in IBD and direct their own centers.

Panel Discussion and Q&A

Moderator

Panelist

Sunday, December 06 2:00–2:10 PM
Room Northern Hemisphere B
Faculty

David Choi

PharmD, BCACP
Associate Director
University of Chicago Medicine Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center

David Choi completed his Doctor of Pharmacy degree at the University of Colorado School of Pharmacy. He went on to complete his PGY1 Pharmacy Residency and PGY2 Ambulatory residency at The Johns Hopkins Hospital. He is currently an Associate Director at University of Chicago Medicine Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center. He is very excited about advocating for increased pharmacists’ role in gastroenterology/hepatology as well as importance for patient advocacy in receiving the care they require. He feels passionately about treat to target to improve patient care and research related to improving patient outcomes.

Faculty

Adam Cheifetz

MD
Director, Center for Inflammatory Bowel Disease
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

Dr. Cheifetz is Director of the Center for Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Medical Director of Infusion Services at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. He is also Director of the Harvard Medical School Gastroenterology Clerkship Elective and Associate Director of the Advanced Fellowship in Inflammatory Bowel Disease at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.
Dr. Cheifetz specializes in the treatment of Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, and other inflammatory bowel diseases. In addition to his clinical work, he is involved in multiple research projects relating to IBD and has published over 250 articles and chapters on the subject. His research currently focuses on optimizing the use of biologics through the proactive use of drug concentrations and antibodies, and he has published extensively in this area. Dr. Cheifetz was the first to demonstrate that proactive monitoring of infliximab and adalimumab concentrations and dosing to a therapeutic window improves outcomes when compared to standard of care. Dr. Cheifetz lectures nationally and internationally on IBD. Dr. Cheifetz is also actively involved in teaching and mentoring medical students, residents, and fellows, and is proud to have trained numerous physicians who now specialize in IBD and direct their own centers.

Faculty

Parambir Dulai

MD
Associate Professor of Medicine, Director of GI Clinical Trials and Precision Medicine
Northwestern University

Parambir S. Dulai, MD, is a board-certified gastroenterologist with clinical and research expertise in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Dr. Dulai is a proud recipient of the 2022 Sherman Emerging Leader Prize by The Bruce and Cynthia Sherman Charitable Foundation that recognizes outstanding achievements in IBD. He is an Associate Professor of Medicine at Northwestern University where he also serves as Director of Precision Medicine for the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology. Dr. Dulai completed his medical school training at Dayanand Medical College in Ludhiana, Punjab, India, and subsequently completed his internal medicine residency and chief residency at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Lebanon, NH, USA. He then went on to complete an NIH sponsored T32 research fellowship and IBD clinical fellowship at the University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA. He spent an additional year of advanced training in clinical trials with Robarts Clinical Trials and in 2019 he was the recipient of the American Gastroenterology Association (AGA) research scholar award focused on personalized medicine. He has a successful NIH funded research program focused on real world evidence generation, clinical trials, and integrating evolving translational technology into mechanism of action studies.

Managing the Acute Flare

Presenter

Sunday, December 06 2:10–2:25 PM
Room Northern Hemisphere B
Faculty

Laura Raffals

MD, MS
Vice Chair, Department of Medicine
Mayo Clinic

Laura Raffals, MD, MS, FACG is Professor of Medicine, Vice Chair, Department of Medicine at Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN. 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’ 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. She is the co-principal investigator for the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation SPARC IBD, a national prospective adult research cohort with IBD study and has published broadly on topics in inflammatory bowel disease.

Special Populations: Practical Do’s and Don’ts

Presenter

Sunday, December 06 2:25–2:40 PM
Room Northern Hemisphere B
Faculty

Remo Panaccione

MD
Director, IBD Clinic; Assistant Dean of MD Admissions. Professor of Medicine
University of Calgary

Professor Remo Panaccione is a Professor of Medicine and the Director of the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Unit at the University of Calgary, Canada. He serves as the Dean of MD Admissions and Director of the IBD Fellowship Program. He also holds the Crohn’s Colitis Canada Endowed Research Chair in Inflammatory Bowel Disease.

He is the 2020 Crohn's Colitis Canada Outstanding Physician of the Year and received the 2024 Crohn’s Colitis Canada Research Leadership Award for his contributions to the field. Since 2020 he has been a Clarivate Research Scholar for being cited in the top one percent of researchers in the world. He has co-authored over 500 manuscripts, 20 book chapters and 825 abstracts, including publications in journals such as the New England Journal of Medicine, The Lancet, JAMA, Nature, and Annals of Internal Medicine.

Prof. Panaccione’s main research interest is the design and implementation of clinical trials. He has been the principal investigator on several studies evaluating the efficacy and safety of new therapeutic agents in subjects with IBD.

Panel Discussion and Q&A

Moderator

Panelist

Sunday, December 06 2:40–2:50 PM
Room Northern Hemisphere B
Faculty

David Choi

PharmD, BCACP
Associate Director
University of Chicago Medicine Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center

David Choi completed his Doctor of Pharmacy degree at the University of Colorado School of Pharmacy. He went on to complete his PGY1 Pharmacy Residency and PGY2 Ambulatory residency at The Johns Hopkins Hospital. He is currently an Associate Director at University of Chicago Medicine Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center. He is very excited about advocating for increased pharmacists’ role in gastroenterology/hepatology as well as importance for patient advocacy in receiving the care they require. He feels passionately about treat to target to improve patient care and research related to improving patient outcomes.

Faculty

Remo Panaccione

MD
Director, IBD Clinic; Assistant Dean of MD Admissions. Professor of Medicine
University of Calgary

Professor Remo Panaccione is a Professor of Medicine and the Director of the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Unit at the University of Calgary, Canada. He serves as the Dean of MD Admissions and Director of the IBD Fellowship Program. He also holds the Crohn’s Colitis Canada Endowed Research Chair in Inflammatory Bowel Disease.

He is the 2020 Crohn's Colitis Canada Outstanding Physician of the Year and received the 2024 Crohn’s Colitis Canada Research Leadership Award for his contributions to the field. Since 2020 he has been a Clarivate Research Scholar for being cited in the top one percent of researchers in the world. He has co-authored over 500 manuscripts, 20 book chapters and 825 abstracts, including publications in journals such as the New England Journal of Medicine, The Lancet, JAMA, Nature, and Annals of Internal Medicine.

Prof. Panaccione’s main research interest is the design and implementation of clinical trials. He has been the principal investigator on several studies evaluating the efficacy and safety of new therapeutic agents in subjects with IBD.

Faculty

Laura Raffals

MD, MS
Vice Chair, Department of Medicine
Mayo Clinic

Laura Raffals, MD, MS, FACG is Professor of Medicine, Vice Chair, Department of Medicine at Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN. 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’ 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. She is the co-principal investigator for the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation SPARC IBD, a national prospective adult research cohort with IBD study and has published broadly on topics in inflammatory bowel disease.

The 7 Most Teachable Cases in IBD

Presenter

Sunday, December 06 2:50–3:05 PM
Room Northern Hemisphere B
Faculty

Edward Loftus

MD, FACP, FACG, AGAF
Maxine and Jack Zarrow Family Professor of Gastroenterology
Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science

Edward V. Loftus, Jr. is a gastroenterologist who specializes in the care of patients with complex Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. He is the Maxine and Jack Zarrow Family Professor of Gastroenterology Specifically in IBD at Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science in Rochester, Minnesota, USA. He developed a population-based cohort of inflammatory bowel disease patients which has resulted in over 50 peer-reviewed publications on the epidemiology and natural history of IBD. Professor Loftus has published over 500 original articles, book chapters, or editorials and more than 750 abstracts. He was awarded AGA’s Distinguished Clinician Award and the IMIBD section’s Research Mentor Award in 2019. He has also been awarded the Mayo Department of Medicine Laureate Award twice and the Outstanding Mentorship Award in Research. Professor Loftus has been the principal investigator on several funded studies focusing on the epidemiology and natural history of inflammatory bowel disease and has served as the local PI on multiple clinical trials of investigational agents for IBD. He serves on the steering committees of several clinical development programs in IBD. In the past he has served as Associate Editor for American Journal of Gastroenterology and Inflammatory Bowel Diseases, and currently serves as Associate Editor for Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology.

The Insurance Gauntlet: A Transparent Look at Access Barriers

Presenter

Sunday, December 06 3:05–3:20 PM
Room Northern Hemisphere B
Faculty

Payal Kakadiya

PharmD, BCPS, CPP
Clinical Pharmacist Practitioner
UNC Health

Payal Kakadiya received her Doctor of Pharmacy from the University of Georgia College of Pharmacy. She went on to complete a PGY-1 Pharmacy Practice Residency and PGY-2 Internal Medicine Pharmacy Residency at VCU Health. Payal is a board-certified pharmacotherapy specialist who started off her career practicing at VCU Health as one of the clinical pharmacy specialists on Internal Medicine services as well as the inpatient Digestive Health service and outpatient GI and Medicine Infusion Clinic. She has now transitioned into her role as the Clinical Pharmacist Practitioner in the GI/IBD Clinics at UNC Health.

Panel Discussion and Q&A

Moderator

Panelist

Sunday, December 06 3:20–3:30 PM
Room Northern Hemisphere B
Faculty

Parambir Dulai

MD
Associate Professor of Medicine, Director of GI Clinical Trials and Precision Medicine
Northwestern University

Parambir S. Dulai, MD, is a board-certified gastroenterologist with clinical and research expertise in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Dr. Dulai is a proud recipient of the 2022 Sherman Emerging Leader Prize by The Bruce and Cynthia Sherman Charitable Foundation that recognizes outstanding achievements in IBD. He is an Associate Professor of Medicine at Northwestern University where he also serves as Director of Precision Medicine for the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology. Dr. Dulai completed his medical school training at Dayanand Medical College in Ludhiana, Punjab, India, and subsequently completed his internal medicine residency and chief residency at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Lebanon, NH, USA. He then went on to complete an NIH sponsored T32 research fellowship and IBD clinical fellowship at the University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA. He spent an additional year of advanced training in clinical trials with Robarts Clinical Trials and in 2019 he was the recipient of the American Gastroenterology Association (AGA) research scholar award focused on personalized medicine. He has a successful NIH funded research program focused on real world evidence generation, clinical trials, and integrating evolving translational technology into mechanism of action studies.

Faculty

Payal Kakadiya

PharmD, BCPS, CPP
Clinical Pharmacist Practitioner
UNC Health

Payal Kakadiya received her Doctor of Pharmacy from the University of Georgia College of Pharmacy. She went on to complete a PGY-1 Pharmacy Practice Residency and PGY-2 Internal Medicine Pharmacy Residency at VCU Health. Payal is a board-certified pharmacotherapy specialist who started off her career practicing at VCU Health as one of the clinical pharmacy specialists on Internal Medicine services as well as the inpatient Digestive Health service and outpatient GI and Medicine Infusion Clinic. She has now transitioned into her role as the Clinical Pharmacist Practitioner in the GI/IBD Clinics at UNC Health.

Faculty

Edward Loftus

MD, FACP, FACG, AGAF
Maxine and Jack Zarrow Family Professor of Gastroenterology
Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science

Edward V. Loftus, Jr. is a gastroenterologist who specializes in the care of patients with complex Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. He is the Maxine and Jack Zarrow Family Professor of Gastroenterology Specifically in IBD at Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science in Rochester, Minnesota, USA. He developed a population-based cohort of inflammatory bowel disease patients which has resulted in over 50 peer-reviewed publications on the epidemiology and natural history of IBD. Professor Loftus has published over 500 original articles, book chapters, or editorials and more than 750 abstracts. He was awarded AGA’s Distinguished Clinician Award and the IMIBD section’s Research Mentor Award in 2019. He has also been awarded the Mayo Department of Medicine Laureate Award twice and the Outstanding Mentorship Award in Research. Professor Loftus has been the principal investigator on several funded studies focusing on the epidemiology and natural history of inflammatory bowel disease and has served as the local PI on multiple clinical trials of investigational agents for IBD. He serves on the steering committees of several clinical development programs in IBD. In the past he has served as Associate Editor for American Journal of Gastroenterology and Inflammatory Bowel Diseases, and currently serves as Associate Editor for Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology.

IBD Treatment 101 Workshop Reception

Sunday, December 06 3:30–4:30 PM
Room Northern Hemisphere B

4:40 - 5:40 PM (EDT)

Dinner Innovation Theater (non-accredited)

Sunday, December 06 4:40–5:40 PM

5:50 - 8:50 PM (EDT)

Workshop

Fellows Workshop

  • Co-Moderator
    • Oriana Damas, MD, MSCTI
    • Lisa Malter, MD, FACG

Welcome and Introduction

Co-Moderator

Sunday, December 06 5:50–5:55 PM
Room Northern Hemisphere A
Faculty

Oriana Damas

MD, MSCTI
Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine, Director of Translational Studies for the Crohn's and Colitis Center
University of Miami Miller School of Medicine

Oriana M. Damas, MD, MSCTI, is an Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. She also serves as the Director of Translational Studies for the Crohn’s and Colitis Center. Dr. Damas earned her medical degree from the University of Miami and completed her training in internal medicine and gastroenterology at the University of Miami and Jackson Memorial Hospital.

Her clinical practice and research focus on the care of patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Dr. Damas has conducted extensive research on environmental factors and the epidemiology of IBD. Her contributions to the field have earned her accolades, including the DREAM Award in recognition of her work with the Hispanic IBD community.

Dr. Damas has significant experience in running clinical trials, including innovative dietary trials, aimed at improving the quality of life for patients with IBD through lifestyle and dietary modifications. She is an NIH-funded researcher and currently serves as the principal investigator for a study developing an anti-inflammatory South Florida diet for IBD patients, which incorporates elements of traditional Latin foods from the region.

She has authored numerous original research articles, and she serves on the Editorial Boards of the prestigious Gastroenterology journal and Crohn’s & Colitis 360. In addition to her research, Dr. Damas is recognized as a national and international leader in her field. She is frequently invited to speak at national and international conferences and is an active member of the AGA n and the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation.

Faculty

Lisa Malter

MD, FACG
Professor of Medicine
NYU Grossman School of Medicine

Lisa Malter, MD, is a Professor of Medicine at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine, the Director of Education for the NYU IBD Center, Director of the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Clinic at the Bellevue Hospital Center and Director of the Violet Society Mentoring Program.  Dr. Malter’s academic interests include the study of inflammatory bowel disease, patient safety, fellowship education, and career mentoring.    Dr. Malter founded the advanced fellowship in IBD at NYU and has developed educational courses, conferences, and curricula including “IBD 101: A Primer for First-Year Gastroenterology Fellows” a collaboration between NYU and the American College of Gastroenterology.  She has published in The American Journal of Gastroenterology, Clinical Gastro and Hep,  Inflammatory Bowel Diseases and CC360. She is a member of ACG, AGA, and the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation. She serves as the Editor of the ACG Universe, is a member of the ACG Training Committee, the ACG Education Task Force, and is a faculty advisor for the Crohn's &Colitis Foundation's Greater New York Fellows’ Education Committee. Dr. Malter received her medical degree from Rosalind Franklin University/Chicago Medical School, completed her internal medicine internship and residency at The Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, and went on to complete a Gastroenterology fellowship at NYU Langone Medical Center.

Work Smarter, Not Harder: Mastering Your EMR Workflow

Co-Presenter

Sunday, December 06 5:55–6:05 PM
Room Northern Hemisphere A
Faculty

Sara Horst

MD, MPH, FACG, AGAF
Professor
Vanderbilt University Medical Center

Dr. Sara Horst MD, MPH, FACG, AGAF is a Professor in the division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, & Nutrition at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Dr. Horst completed her medical school and residency training at The Ohio State University and then went to Vanderbilt University Medical Center for Gastroenterology Fellowship and to obtain her Masters of Public Health. She joined the faculty at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in 2011. She is involved in clinical care of complex IBD care, complex amyloid care, clinical research, and teaching and mentoring medical students and housestaff. She is the medical director for VUMC Specialty Pharmacy, VUMC Telehealth director, and VUMC Associate Vice Chair of Clinical Affairs for Dept of Medicine. Her research interests involve enhancing EHR efficiencies in the care of IBD, telehealth in IBD, and medication adherence in IBD. She has extensively published in peer reviewed journals. She is also involved in clinical care improvement as an EPIC Physician Builder and is on the National EPIC GI Steering Board. She is an associate editor for American Journal of Gastroenterology.

Faculty

Jami Kinnucan

MD, AGAF, FACG, FCCF
Associate Professor of Medicine
Mayo Clinic Florida

Jami Kinnucan, MD, is an inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) specialist who joined the Mayo Clinic Florida practice in January 2021 as an Associate Professor of Medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology. She currently serves as the Clinical Practice Chair for the Division of Gastroenterology & Hepatology, Associate Chair for Digital Transformation and Practice Integration for the Department of Medicine and Medical Director for Plummer Chart Ambulatory Communication Solutions team. She is also the Director of the IBD Intestinal Ultrasound Program at Mayo Clinic Florida. She has been recognized as a fellow of the American College of Gastroenterology (ACG), American Gastroenterological Association (AGA), and Crohn's and Colitis Foundation. She is a former member of the ACG Board of Governors for the state of Michigan and the ACG Women in Gastroenterology Committee. She is active in the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation and previous Co-Chair for the Women in IBD Task Force and prior member of the Government and Industry Affairs Committee for the National Scientific Advisory Committee. Dr. Kinnucan is the co-founder of the Michigan GI Society in 2020 and, most recently, co-founded the Florida Women in GI (2022) and Gastro Digital Health (2024) She serves as Associate Editor for the Crohn’s and Colitis 360 Journal. She is actively involved with research looking at the impact of cannabis in IBD and received a 2024 Mayo Clinic STARDOM award to evaluate the use of virtual reality on the impact of pain in patients with abdominal pain and Crohn’s disease.

Roundtable on EMR Workflow + Readout

Co-Presenter

Sunday, December 06 6:05–6:20 PM
Room Northern Hemisphere A
Faculty

Sara Horst

MD, MPH, FACG, AGAF
Professor
Vanderbilt University Medical Center

Dr. Sara Horst MD, MPH, FACG, AGAF is a Professor in the division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, & Nutrition at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Dr. Horst completed her medical school and residency training at The Ohio State University and then went to Vanderbilt University Medical Center for Gastroenterology Fellowship and to obtain her Masters of Public Health. She joined the faculty at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in 2011. She is involved in clinical care of complex IBD care, complex amyloid care, clinical research, and teaching and mentoring medical students and housestaff. She is the medical director for VUMC Specialty Pharmacy, VUMC Telehealth director, and VUMC Associate Vice Chair of Clinical Affairs for Dept of Medicine. Her research interests involve enhancing EHR efficiencies in the care of IBD, telehealth in IBD, and medication adherence in IBD. She has extensively published in peer reviewed journals. She is also involved in clinical care improvement as an EPIC Physician Builder and is on the National EPIC GI Steering Board. She is an associate editor for American Journal of Gastroenterology.

Faculty

Jami Kinnucan

MD, AGAF, FACG, FCCF
Associate Professor of Medicine
Mayo Clinic Florida

Jami Kinnucan, MD, is an inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) specialist who joined the Mayo Clinic Florida practice in January 2021 as an Associate Professor of Medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology. She currently serves as the Clinical Practice Chair for the Division of Gastroenterology & Hepatology, Associate Chair for Digital Transformation and Practice Integration for the Department of Medicine and Medical Director for Plummer Chart Ambulatory Communication Solutions team. She is also the Director of the IBD Intestinal Ultrasound Program at Mayo Clinic Florida. She has been recognized as a fellow of the American College of Gastroenterology (ACG), American Gastroenterological Association (AGA), and Crohn's and Colitis Foundation. She is a former member of the ACG Board of Governors for the state of Michigan and the ACG Women in Gastroenterology Committee. She is active in the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation and previous Co-Chair for the Women in IBD Task Force and prior member of the Government and Industry Affairs Committee for the National Scientific Advisory Committee. Dr. Kinnucan is the co-founder of the Michigan GI Society in 2020 and, most recently, co-founded the Florida Women in GI (2022) and Gastro Digital Health (2024) She serves as Associate Editor for the Crohn’s and Colitis 360 Journal. She is actively involved with research looking at the impact of cannabis in IBD and received a 2024 Mayo Clinic STARDOM award to evaluate the use of virtual reality on the impact of pain in patients with abdominal pain and Crohn’s disease.

Working with Industry in Academics and Private Practice

Presenter

Sunday, December 06 6:20–6:30 PM
Room Northern Hemisphere A
Faculty

Adam Cheifetz

MD
Director, Center for Inflammatory Bowel Disease
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

Dr. Cheifetz is Director of the Center for Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Medical Director of Infusion Services at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. He is also Director of the Harvard Medical School Gastroenterology Clerkship Elective and Associate Director of the Advanced Fellowship in Inflammatory Bowel Disease at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.
Dr. Cheifetz specializes in the treatment of Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, and other inflammatory bowel diseases. In addition to his clinical work, he is involved in multiple research projects relating to IBD and has published over 250 articles and chapters on the subject. His research currently focuses on optimizing the use of biologics through the proactive use of drug concentrations and antibodies, and he has published extensively in this area. Dr. Cheifetz was the first to demonstrate that proactive monitoring of infliximab and adalimumab concentrations and dosing to a therapeutic window improves outcomes when compared to standard of care. Dr. Cheifetz lectures nationally and internationally on IBD. Dr. Cheifetz is also actively involved in teaching and mentoring medical students, residents, and fellows, and is proud to have trained numerous physicians who now specialize in IBD and direct their own centers.

Roundtable on Working with Industry + Readout

Presenter

Sunday, December 06 6:30–6:45 PM
Room Northern Hemisphere A
Faculty

Adam Cheifetz

MD
Director, Center for Inflammatory Bowel Disease
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

Dr. Cheifetz is Director of the Center for Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Medical Director of Infusion Services at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. He is also Director of the Harvard Medical School Gastroenterology Clerkship Elective and Associate Director of the Advanced Fellowship in Inflammatory Bowel Disease at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.
Dr. Cheifetz specializes in the treatment of Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, and other inflammatory bowel diseases. In addition to his clinical work, he is involved in multiple research projects relating to IBD and has published over 250 articles and chapters on the subject. His research currently focuses on optimizing the use of biologics through the proactive use of drug concentrations and antibodies, and he has published extensively in this area. Dr. Cheifetz was the first to demonstrate that proactive monitoring of infliximab and adalimumab concentrations and dosing to a therapeutic window improves outcomes when compared to standard of care. Dr. Cheifetz lectures nationally and internationally on IBD. Dr. Cheifetz is also actively involved in teaching and mentoring medical students, residents, and fellows, and is proud to have trained numerous physicians who now specialize in IBD and direct their own centers.

Negotiating Your First Contract and Every One After: A Guide for IBD Fellows and Early-Career Faculty

Presenter

Sunday, December 06 6:45–6:55 PM
Room Northern Hemisphere A
Faculty

Raymond Cross

MD, MS, AGAF, FACG
Director
Melissa L Posner Institute for Digestive Health & Liver Disease, Mercy Medical Center

Raymond K. Cross, MD, MS, AGAF, FACG completed undergraduate training at Washington and Jefferson College and attended medical school at the University of Pittsburgh. He completed internal medicine residency and gastroenterology and Hepatology fellowship training at the University of Maryland Medical Center and Baltimore Veterans Affairs. Prior to fellowship, he was a Chief Medical Resident. He obtained a Master’s Degree in Clinical Research at the University of Maryland, Baltimore. He joined the faculty at the University of Maryland and served as Director of the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Program from 2004 to 2024. In July 2024, he joined the faculty at the Melissa L. Posner Institute for Digestive Health & Liver Disease at Mercy Medical Center where he is Director of the Center for Inflammatory Bowel and Colorectal Diseases.
He has published over 200 peer reviewed manuscripts, review articles, and book chapters and has obtained research funding from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation, and the American College of Gastroenterology. He is past Chair of the Patient Education and Clinical Research Committees and Clinical Research Alliance for the Foundation. He is the Co-Chair of the Regional Advances in Inflammatory Bowel Disease Course, Scientific Co-Director of the CorEvitas Registry, and past Course Director for the American College of Gastroenterology’s Eastern Regional Course. He is Governor for Maryland for the American College of Gastroenterology, a member of the American College of Gastroenterology’s Research Committee, and Senior Associate Editor of the American Journal of Gastroenterology.

Roundtable on Contract Negotiation + Readout

Presenter

Sunday, December 06 6:55–7:10 PM
Room Northern Hemisphere A
Faculty

Raymond Cross

MD, MS, AGAF, FACG
Director
Melissa L Posner Institute for Digestive Health & Liver Disease, Mercy Medical Center

Raymond K. Cross, MD, MS, AGAF, FACG completed undergraduate training at Washington and Jefferson College and attended medical school at the University of Pittsburgh. He completed internal medicine residency and gastroenterology and Hepatology fellowship training at the University of Maryland Medical Center and Baltimore Veterans Affairs. Prior to fellowship, he was a Chief Medical Resident. He obtained a Master’s Degree in Clinical Research at the University of Maryland, Baltimore. He joined the faculty at the University of Maryland and served as Director of the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Program from 2004 to 2024. In July 2024, he joined the faculty at the Melissa L. Posner Institute for Digestive Health & Liver Disease at Mercy Medical Center where he is Director of the Center for Inflammatory Bowel and Colorectal Diseases.
He has published over 200 peer reviewed manuscripts, review articles, and book chapters and has obtained research funding from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation, and the American College of Gastroenterology. He is past Chair of the Patient Education and Clinical Research Committees and Clinical Research Alliance for the Foundation. He is the Co-Chair of the Regional Advances in Inflammatory Bowel Disease Course, Scientific Co-Director of the CorEvitas Registry, and past Course Director for the American College of Gastroenterology’s Eastern Regional Course. He is Governor for Maryland for the American College of Gastroenterology, a member of the American College of Gastroenterology’s Research Committee, and Senior Associate Editor of the American Journal of Gastroenterology.

Faculty Panel with Q&A: Career Development Potpourri

Moderator

Panelist

Sunday, December 06 7:10–7:45 PM
Room Northern Hemisphere A
Faculty

Lisa Malter

MD, FACG
Professor of Medicine
NYU Grossman School of Medicine

Lisa Malter, MD, is a Professor of Medicine at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine, the Director of Education for the NYU IBD Center, Director of the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Clinic at the Bellevue Hospital Center and Director of the Violet Society Mentoring Program.  Dr. Malter’s academic interests include the study of inflammatory bowel disease, patient safety, fellowship education, and career mentoring.    Dr. Malter founded the advanced fellowship in IBD at NYU and has developed educational courses, conferences, and curricula including “IBD 101: A Primer for First-Year Gastroenterology Fellows” a collaboration between NYU and the American College of Gastroenterology.  She has published in The American Journal of Gastroenterology, Clinical Gastro and Hep,  Inflammatory Bowel Diseases and CC360. She is a member of ACG, AGA, and the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation. She serves as the Editor of the ACG Universe, is a member of the ACG Training Committee, the ACG Education Task Force, and is a faculty advisor for the Crohn's &Colitis Foundation's Greater New York Fellows’ Education Committee. Dr. Malter received her medical degree from Rosalind Franklin University/Chicago Medical School, completed her internal medicine internship and residency at The Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, and went on to complete a Gastroenterology fellowship at NYU Langone Medical Center.

Faculty

Adam Cheifetz

MD
Director, Center for Inflammatory Bowel Disease
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

Dr. Cheifetz is Director of the Center for Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Medical Director of Infusion Services at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. He is also Director of the Harvard Medical School Gastroenterology Clerkship Elective and Associate Director of the Advanced Fellowship in Inflammatory Bowel Disease at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.
Dr. Cheifetz specializes in the treatment of Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, and other inflammatory bowel diseases. In addition to his clinical work, he is involved in multiple research projects relating to IBD and has published over 250 articles and chapters on the subject. His research currently focuses on optimizing the use of biologics through the proactive use of drug concentrations and antibodies, and he has published extensively in this area. Dr. Cheifetz was the first to demonstrate that proactive monitoring of infliximab and adalimumab concentrations and dosing to a therapeutic window improves outcomes when compared to standard of care. Dr. Cheifetz lectures nationally and internationally on IBD. Dr. Cheifetz is also actively involved in teaching and mentoring medical students, residents, and fellows, and is proud to have trained numerous physicians who now specialize in IBD and direct their own centers.

Faculty

David Choi

PharmD, BCACP
Associate Director
University of Chicago Medicine Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center

David Choi completed his Doctor of Pharmacy degree at the University of Colorado School of Pharmacy. He went on to complete his PGY1 Pharmacy Residency and PGY2 Ambulatory residency at The Johns Hopkins Hospital. He is currently an Associate Director at University of Chicago Medicine Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center. He is very excited about advocating for increased pharmacists’ role in gastroenterology/hepatology as well as importance for patient advocacy in receiving the care they require. He feels passionately about treat to target to improve patient care and research related to improving patient outcomes.

Faculty

Oriana Damas

MD, MSCTI
Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine, Director of Translational Studies for the Crohn's and Colitis Center
University of Miami Miller School of Medicine

Oriana M. Damas, MD, MSCTI, is an Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. She also serves as the Director of Translational Studies for the Crohn’s and Colitis Center. Dr. Damas earned her medical degree from the University of Miami and completed her training in internal medicine and gastroenterology at the University of Miami and Jackson Memorial Hospital.

Her clinical practice and research focus on the care of patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Dr. Damas has conducted extensive research on environmental factors and the epidemiology of IBD. Her contributions to the field have earned her accolades, including the DREAM Award in recognition of her work with the Hispanic IBD community.

Dr. Damas has significant experience in running clinical trials, including innovative dietary trials, aimed at improving the quality of life for patients with IBD through lifestyle and dietary modifications. She is an NIH-funded researcher and currently serves as the principal investigator for a study developing an anti-inflammatory South Florida diet for IBD patients, which incorporates elements of traditional Latin foods from the region.

She has authored numerous original research articles, and she serves on the Editorial Boards of the prestigious Gastroenterology journal and Crohn’s & Colitis 360. In addition to her research, Dr. Damas is recognized as a national and international leader in her field. She is frequently invited to speak at national and international conferences and is an active member of the AGA n and the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation.

Faculty

Sara Horst

MD, MPH, FACG, AGAF
Professor
Vanderbilt University Medical Center

Dr. Sara Horst MD, MPH, FACG, AGAF is a Professor in the division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, & Nutrition at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Dr. Horst completed her medical school and residency training at The Ohio State University and then went to Vanderbilt University Medical Center for Gastroenterology Fellowship and to obtain her Masters of Public Health. She joined the faculty at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in 2011. She is involved in clinical care of complex IBD care, complex amyloid care, clinical research, and teaching and mentoring medical students and housestaff. She is the medical director for VUMC Specialty Pharmacy, VUMC Telehealth director, and VUMC Associate Vice Chair of Clinical Affairs for Dept of Medicine. Her research interests involve enhancing EHR efficiencies in the care of IBD, telehealth in IBD, and medication adherence in IBD. She has extensively published in peer reviewed journals. She is also involved in clinical care improvement as an EPIC Physician Builder and is on the National EPIC GI Steering Board. She is an associate editor for American Journal of Gastroenterology.

Faculty

Jami Kinnucan

MD, AGAF, FACG, FCCF
Associate Professor of Medicine
Mayo Clinic Florida

Jami Kinnucan, MD, is an inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) specialist who joined the Mayo Clinic Florida practice in January 2021 as an Associate Professor of Medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology. She currently serves as the Clinical Practice Chair for the Division of Gastroenterology & Hepatology, Associate Chair for Digital Transformation and Practice Integration for the Department of Medicine and Medical Director for Plummer Chart Ambulatory Communication Solutions team. She is also the Director of the IBD Intestinal Ultrasound Program at Mayo Clinic Florida. She has been recognized as a fellow of the American College of Gastroenterology (ACG), American Gastroenterological Association (AGA), and Crohn's and Colitis Foundation. She is a former member of the ACG Board of Governors for the state of Michigan and the ACG Women in Gastroenterology Committee. She is active in the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation and previous Co-Chair for the Women in IBD Task Force and prior member of the Government and Industry Affairs Committee for the National Scientific Advisory Committee. Dr. Kinnucan is the co-founder of the Michigan GI Society in 2020 and, most recently, co-founded the Florida Women in GI (2022) and Gastro Digital Health (2024) She serves as Associate Editor for the Crohn’s and Colitis 360 Journal. She is actively involved with research looking at the impact of cannabis in IBD and received a 2024 Mayo Clinic STARDOM award to evaluate the use of virtual reality on the impact of pain in patients with abdominal pain and Crohn’s disease.

Fellows & Ambassadors Reception

Co-Presenter

Sunday, December 06 7:50–8:50 PM
Room Northern Hemisphere A
Faculty

Sara Horst

MD, MPH, FACG, AGAF
Professor
Vanderbilt University Medical Center

Dr. Sara Horst MD, MPH, FACG, AGAF is a Professor in the division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, & Nutrition at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Dr. Horst completed her medical school and residency training at The Ohio State University and then went to Vanderbilt University Medical Center for Gastroenterology Fellowship and to obtain her Masters of Public Health. She joined the faculty at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in 2011. She is involved in clinical care of complex IBD care, complex amyloid care, clinical research, and teaching and mentoring medical students and housestaff. She is the medical director for VUMC Specialty Pharmacy, VUMC Telehealth director, and VUMC Associate Vice Chair of Clinical Affairs for Dept of Medicine. Her research interests involve enhancing EHR efficiencies in the care of IBD, telehealth in IBD, and medication adherence in IBD. She has extensively published in peer reviewed journals. She is also involved in clinical care improvement as an EPIC Physician Builder and is on the National EPIC GI Steering Board. She is an associate editor for American Journal of Gastroenterology.

Faculty

Jami Kinnucan

MD, AGAF, FACG, FCCF
Associate Professor of Medicine
Mayo Clinic Florida

Jami Kinnucan, MD, is an inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) specialist who joined the Mayo Clinic Florida practice in January 2021 as an Associate Professor of Medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology. She currently serves as the Clinical Practice Chair for the Division of Gastroenterology & Hepatology, Associate Chair for Digital Transformation and Practice Integration for the Department of Medicine and Medical Director for Plummer Chart Ambulatory Communication Solutions team. She is also the Director of the IBD Intestinal Ultrasound Program at Mayo Clinic Florida. She has been recognized as a fellow of the American College of Gastroenterology (ACG), American Gastroenterological Association (AGA), and Crohn's and Colitis Foundation. She is a former member of the ACG Board of Governors for the state of Michigan and the ACG Women in Gastroenterology Committee. She is active in the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation and previous Co-Chair for the Women in IBD Task Force and prior member of the Government and Industry Affairs Committee for the National Scientific Advisory Committee. Dr. Kinnucan is the co-founder of the Michigan GI Society in 2020 and, most recently, co-founded the Florida Women in GI (2022) and Gastro Digital Health (2024) She serves as Associate Editor for the Crohn’s and Colitis 360 Journal. She is actively involved with research looking at the impact of cannabis in IBD and received a 2024 Mayo Clinic STARDOM award to evaluate the use of virtual reality on the impact of pain in patients with abdominal pain and Crohn’s disease.
Workshop

Women in IBD Leadership Workshop

  • Co-Moderator
    • Marla Dubinsky, MD
    • Millie Long, MD, MPH, FACG

Panel Discussion: Evolution of Leadership in Gastroenterology

Co-Moderator

Panelist

Sunday, December 06 5:50–7:50 PM
Room Northern Hemisphere B
Faculty

Marla Dubinsky

MD
Chief of Pediatric GI and Nutrition
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

Marla C. Dubinsky received a medical degree from Queen’s University in Canada and completed her clinical pediatric gastroenterology training at Sainte-Justine Hospital, University of Montreal in Quebec, Canada adn her IBD training at Cedars-SInai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA. Dr. Dubinsky is a proud recipient of the 2022 Sherman Prize for Excellence in Crohn’s and Colitis and a 2024 Jacobi Medallion winner for her contibutions to Mount Sinai. Currently, Dr. Dubinsky is Chief of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition, as well as the Co-Director of the Susan and Leonard Feinstein Inflammatory Bowel Disease Clinical Center and Co-director of the Marie and Barry Lipman Preconception and Pregnancy Planning Clinic at Mount Sinai Hospital, New York, She is a Professor of both Pediatrics and Medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine, Her primary research focuses on the influence of genetics and immune responses on the variability in clinical presentations, treatment responses and prognosis of IBD. Her other interests include the impact of IBD on fertility and pregnancy. She has lectured widely both nationally and internationally and has published in over 400 peer reviewed journals including New England Journal of Medicine, Lancet, Gastroenterology, The American Journal of Gastroenterology, The Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition, Inflammatory Bowel Diseases, and of Crohn's and Colitis .

Co-Chair

Millie Long

MD, MPH, FACG
Professor of Medicine
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Millie D. Long MD, MPH earned her doctor of medicine degree at the University of Virginia. She completed a residency and chief residency in internal medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She then completed a gastroenterology fellowship at University of North Carolina. She also completed a fellowship in preventive medicine and a masters of public health in epidemiology at the Gillings School of Public Health. She is board certified in internal medicine, preventive medicine, and gastroenterology. She is currently Professor of Medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at the University of North Carolina, as well as Chief of the Division.

Dr. Long’s clinical practice is at the UNC Multidisciplinary Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IBD) center. Her research interests include prevention of complications of IBD, women’s health and clinical epidemiology. Dr. Long has contributed over 200 peer-reviewed publications, book chapters, and review articles to the literature. She co-authored the 2025 ACG ulcerative colitis guidelines. She serves Co-Editor in Chief of the American Journal of Gastroenterology.

Dr. Long is a fellow of the American College of Gastroenterology where she is a member of the Board of Trustees. She is also a fellow of the American Gastroenterological Association and a member of the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation. Recipient of the 2024 Sherman Prize for Excellence in Crohn’s and Colitis. She is a member of the International Organization for the Study of IBD.

Faculty

Aline Charabaty

MD
Professor of Medicine
University of Maryland School of Medicine

Dr. Aline Charabaty is Professor of Medicine at the University of Maryland and the Director of the IBD Program at the University of Maryland Medical center. She is the Editor-in-Chief of the Crohn’s and Colitis 360 journal, and is past Vice-Chair of the AGA Research Foundation Executive Board, and past ACG Governor for Washington DC. Her work and advocacy were recognized by the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation Excellence in Medicine Award in 2020 , the ACG Diversity Equity and Inclusion Award in 2025, and the AGA Beacon of Hope Award in 2026. Dr Charabaty uses social media to amplify medical education in IBD and is the founder of @MondayNightIBD a CME platform on twitter for which she received the Healio Disruptive Innovator Award in 2019. Dr Charabaty is a strong advocate for diversity and the professional advancement of women in GI. She is the Co-Founder of Scrubs & Heels, a foundation focused on empowering women in GI with the leadership skills, networking and mentorship to achieve professional goals and growth.

Faculty

Kara De Felice

MD
Associate Professor of Medicine
University of Cincinnati

Dr. Kara De Felice serves as an Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine and the Director of Inflammatory Bowel Diseases at the University of Cincinnati. Leading a multidisciplinary IBD team, her mission is to deliver exceptional patient care and improve long-term outcomes through clinical excellence, participation in clinical trials, and the training of the next generation of gastroenterologists. A dedicated educator, she is a frequent speaker at regional and national conferences with a specialized focus on women in GI and Advanced Practice Provider (APP) education. Outside of the clinic, she enjoys traveling, playing tennis, and hosting dinner and cocktail parties.

Faculty

Christina Ha

MD, FACG, AGAF
Director, Inflammatory Bowel Diseases Section
Mayo Clinic Arizona

Dr. Christina Ha completed her internal medicine residency and fellowship at the Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine and then received additional training as the Present-Levison Inflammatory Bowel Diseases Fellow at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine. She is Director of the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Section and Associate Professor of Medicine at Mayo Clinic Arizona. Her clinical research interests focus on the impact of aging on the natural history of the inflammatory bowel diseases, especially the pathogenesis and natural history of late-onset IBD. She is also very involved in IBD related trainee educational initiatives and has served on multiple committees within the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation, American College of Gastroenterology, and American Gastroenterological Association.

Faculty

Maia Kayal

MD, MS
Associate Professor
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

Dr. Maia Kayal is an Associate Professor in the Division of Gastroenterology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and The Susan and Leonard Feinstein IBD Center. She graduated from New York University School of Medicine Alpha Omega Alpha. She then completed her internal medicine residency at Columbia University Medical Center-New York Presbyterian Hospital and fellowship training in gastroenterology at the Mount Sinai Hospital. Dr. Kayal's research in inflammatory conditions of the ileal pouch is funded by the NIH, Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation, and Rainin Foundation. She is a former ACG Young Physicians Leadership Scholar and AGA Future Leader.

Women in IBD Leadership Workshop Reception

Sunday, December 06 7:50–8:50 PM
Room Northern Hemisphere B

6:45 - 7:45 AM (EDT)

Breakfast CME Satellite Symposia

Monday, December 07 6:45–7:45 AM

8:00 - 8:15 AM (EDT)

Welcome

Co-Chair

Monday, December 07 8:00–8:15 AM
Room Pacific Hall A-B
Co-Chair

Millie Long

MD, MPH, FACG
Professor of Medicine
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Millie D. Long MD, MPH earned her doctor of medicine degree at the University of Virginia. She completed a residency and chief residency in internal medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She then completed a gastroenterology fellowship at University of North Carolina. She also completed a fellowship in preventive medicine and a masters of public health in epidemiology at the Gillings School of Public Health. She is board certified in internal medicine, preventive medicine, and gastroenterology. She is currently Professor of Medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at the University of North Carolina, as well as Chief of the Division.

Dr. Long’s clinical practice is at the UNC Multidisciplinary Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IBD) center. Her research interests include prevention of complications of IBD, women’s health and clinical epidemiology. Dr. Long has contributed over 200 peer-reviewed publications, book chapters, and review articles to the literature. She co-authored the 2025 ACG ulcerative colitis guidelines. She serves Co-Editor in Chief of the American Journal of Gastroenterology.

Dr. Long is a fellow of the American College of Gastroenterology where she is a member of the Board of Trustees. She is also a fellow of the American Gastroenterological Association and a member of the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation. Recipient of the 2024 Sherman Prize for Excellence in Crohn’s and Colitis. She is a member of the International Organization for the Study of IBD.

Co-Chair

Miguel Regueiro

MD, FACG
Professor and Chief of Digestive Disease Institute
Cleveland Clinic

Dr. Miguel Regueiro is the Enterprise Chief of Staff and Executive Vice President at Cleveland Clinic, and Professor in the Department of Medicine, Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University.

Dr. Regueiro is the inaugural Chair holder of The Melody and Steve Golding Chair for Digestive Diseases. He served as the Global Chief for the Digestive Disease Institute from 2021 - 2026 before becoming Enterprise Chief of Staff. As Chief of Staff, he is responsible for shaping the healthcare strategy and vision for the national and international Cleveland Clinic sites. He oversees 6,000 physicians and 4.000 advanced practice providers across the enterprise.

Dr. Regueiro’s main clinical and research interest is Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IBD) with a focus on the natural course and medical-surgical management of Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. He leads research on postoperative prevention of Crohn’s disease, as well as developing new models of healthcare, including the first-of-its kind specialty medical home for IBD.

Co-Chair

Corey Siegel

MD, MS
Director, Walter and Carole Young Center for Digestive Health
Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center

Corey A. Siegel, MD, MS, is the Director of the Walter and Carole Young Center for Digestive Health at the Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, New Hampshire. He is the Constantine and Joyce Hampers Professor of Medicine and a Professor at The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth.

Dr. Siegel received his medical degree from Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston, Massachusetts. He completed his residency in internal medicine at the Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center where he also served as chief medical resident. He then completed a fellowship in Gastroenterology at Dartmouth Hitchcock followed by a fellowship in Inflammatory Bowel Disease at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.

Dr. Siegel’s research interests include understanding risk/benefit tradeoffs in IBD, developing models to predict outcomes in Crohn’s disease, creating tools to facilitate shared decision making, expanding telemedicine services to patients with IBD living in rural locations, and improving the quality of care delivered to patients with IBD. He has been funded by the NIH, AHRQ, the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation, and the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust for this work. Dr. Siegel is the founder of the BRIDGe group, an international research collaborative of IBD investigators. Dr. Siegel was inducted into the International Organization for the Study of IBD (IOIBD) in 2013 and he received the Sherman Prize in 2023. He lives in Hanover, New Hampshire with his wife and three boys.

8:15 - 10:00 AM (EDT)

Translating Science to Patients

  • Co-Moderator
    • Stephen Hanauer, MD, MACG
    • Millie Long, MD, MPH, FACG
General Session

Anti-TNFs:The Original Workhorse: Why they Still Matter

Presenter

Monday, December 07 8:15–8:30 AM
Room Pacific Hall A-B
General Session
Faculty

Jessica Allegretti

MD,MPH, FACG, AGAF
Director, Crohn's and Colitis Center; Associate Professor of Medicine, 2020 Sherman Prize Emerging Leader Recipient
Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School

Dr. Jessica Allegretti currently serves as the Medical Director of the Crohn’s and Colitis Center at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital. In 2020, she received the Sherman Emerging Leader Prize for Excellence in Crohn’s and Colitis. In addition, she developed and leads the hospital’s Fecal Microbiota Transplantation Program and has grown to become and international expert on the topic. Dr. Allegretti cares for patients with inflammatory bowel disease as well as Clostridioides difficile (c.diff) infection. Her research focuses on the intestinal microbiome and the consequences of its derangement, with the goal of understanding the role dysbiosis plays in microbial associated diseases. In addition, her lab focuses on novel therapeutic agents for IBD and she is leading multiple sponsored and investigator initiated drug trials. For more information visit www.allegrettilab.com

Anti-integrin: Targeted Where It Counts

Presenter

Monday, December 07 8:30–8:45 AM
Room Pacific Hall A-B
General Session
Faculty

Florian Rieder

MD
Vice Department Chair, Co-Section Head Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Director of IBD Research; 2019 Sherman Emerging Leader Prize Recipient
Cleveland Clinic

Dr. Rieder is Vice Chair and Co-Director of the IBD section at the Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition at the Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland. His clinical focus is patients with IBD with a special emphasis on the field of pathogenesis, prediction and therapy of intestinal fibrosis. Dr. Rieder has published more than 200 articles and book chapters and has been recognized for his expertise as indicated through invitations to clinical guideline steering committees of the European Crohn’s and Colitis Organization (ECCO). He is lead author of the ECCO guidelines on Ulcerative colitis and lead author of the first ECCO clinical consensus on ‘Diagnosis and Management of Intestinal Fibrosis’. He received multiple international invitations as a speaker, session chair or conference faculty. Dr. Rieder serves as an abstract reviewer for all major GI conferences, he is past associate editor (Clinical and Translational Gastroenterology) and on several editorial boards of medical journals. He is proud of his significant ties to the ECCO, which he served as the chair of Y-ECCO, member of the ECCO operational board, prior Y-ECCO committee member and member of the scientific committee. He is past chair of REACH-IBD and Co-Chair of the Professional Education Committee of the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation. Dr. Rieder is the leading PI on the international Stenosis Therapy and Research (STAR) Consortium with the goal to build a pathway to test anti-fibrotic medications in stricturing Crohn’s disease. He received the Sherman Emerging Leader Prize in 2019.

IL-12/23 and IL-23: Precision Without the Noise

Presenter

Monday, December 07 8:45–9:00 AM
Room Pacific Hall A-B
General Session
Faculty

Marla Dubinsky

MD
Chief of Pediatric GI and Nutrition
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

Marla C. Dubinsky received a medical degree from Queen’s University in Canada and completed her clinical pediatric gastroenterology training at Sainte-Justine Hospital, University of Montreal in Quebec, Canada adn her IBD training at Cedars-SInai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA. Dr. Dubinsky is a proud recipient of the 2022 Sherman Prize for Excellence in Crohn’s and Colitis and a 2024 Jacobi Medallion winner for her contibutions to Mount Sinai. Currently, Dr. Dubinsky is Chief of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition, as well as the Co-Director of the Susan and Leonard Feinstein Inflammatory Bowel Disease Clinical Center and Co-director of the Marie and Barry Lipman Preconception and Pregnancy Planning Clinic at Mount Sinai Hospital, New York, She is a Professor of both Pediatrics and Medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine, Her primary research focuses on the influence of genetics and immune responses on the variability in clinical presentations, treatment responses and prognosis of IBD. Her other interests include the impact of IBD on fertility and pregnancy. She has lectured widely both nationally and internationally and has published in over 400 peer reviewed journals including New England Journal of Medicine, Lancet, Gastroenterology, The American Journal of Gastroenterology, The Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition, Inflammatory Bowel Diseases, and of Crohn's and Colitis .

JAK Inhibitors: Small Molecules, Big Conversations

Presenter

Monday, December 07 9:00–9:15 AM
Room Pacific Hall A-B
General Session
Faculty

David Rubin

MD, FACG
Professor of Medicine; Professor of Pathology
University of Chicago Medicine

David T. Rubin is the Joseph B. Kirsner Professor of Medicine, Professor of Pathology, Chief of the Section of Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition and Director of the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center at the University of Chicago Medicine. He earned a medical degree with honors at The University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine where he also completed his residency in internal medicine and fellowships in gastroenterology and clinical medical ethics. He is associate faculty member at the MacLean Center for Clinical Medical Ethics, associate investigator at the University of Chicago Comprehensive Cancer Center and a member of the University of Chicago Committee on Clinical Pharmacology and Pharmacogenomics. He is the immediate past Chair of the National Scientific Advisory Committee of the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation and Deputy Chair of the International Organization for the Study of IBD.
Dr. Rubin’s research is focused on disease modification in IBD including clinical trial designs, novel measures of inflammation and prevention of adverse outcomes, and quality of life in IBD. In 2023, he received both the UChicago Michael Reese Lectureship Award (for outstanding faculty who have developed novel teaching and clinical research that advances healthcare) and the distinguished UChicago Arthur H. Rubenstein Mentorship in Academic Medicine Award. Dr. Rubin is currently a senior editor of the 12 edition of Sleisenger and Fordtran’s Gastrointestinal and Liver Disease, and an author on >600 articles on management of IBD, including the 2019 and 2025 ACG Guidelines for ulcerative colitis.

S1P Modulators: How to Bring Them More into the Conversation

Presenter

Monday, December 07 9:15–9:30 AM
Room Pacific Hall A-B
General Session
Faculty

Remo Panaccione

MD
Director, IBD Clinic; Assistant Dean of MD Admissions. Professor of Medicine
University of Calgary

Professor Remo Panaccione is a Professor of Medicine and the Director of the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Unit at the University of Calgary, Canada. He serves as the Dean of MD Admissions and Director of the IBD Fellowship Program. He also holds the Crohn’s Colitis Canada Endowed Research Chair in Inflammatory Bowel Disease.

He is the 2020 Crohn's Colitis Canada Outstanding Physician of the Year and received the 2024 Crohn’s Colitis Canada Research Leadership Award for his contributions to the field. Since 2020 he has been a Clarivate Research Scholar for being cited in the top one percent of researchers in the world. He has co-authored over 500 manuscripts, 20 book chapters and 825 abstracts, including publications in journals such as the New England Journal of Medicine, The Lancet, JAMA, Nature, and Annals of Internal Medicine.

Prof. Panaccione’s main research interest is the design and implementation of clinical trials. He has been the principal investigator on several studies evaluating the efficacy and safety of new therapeutic agents in subjects with IBD.

Q&A

Co-Moderator

Panelist

Monday, December 07 9:30–10:00 AM
Room Pacific Hall A-B
General Session
Faculty

Stephen Hanauer

MD, MACG
Medical Director of Digestive Health Center
Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine

Dr. Hanauer is the Clifford Joseph Barborka Professor of Medicine and Medical Director of the Digestive Health Center at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine since 2014. Dr. Hanauer received his medical degree from the University of Illinois Chicago, and he completed his residency in internal medicine and a fellowship in gastroenterology at the University of Chicago in 1982. In 2014, Dr. Hanauer was named the Medical Director of the Digestive Health Center at Northwestern Medicine and the Clifford Joseph Barborka Professor of Medicine in the Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, where he continues to treat IBD patients and conducts research into new therapies.

Dr. Hanauer is a Fellow and past President of the American College of Gastroenterology (ACG) and the former Chair of the American Gastroenterological Association’s Inflammation, Immunology, and IBD Section. In October 2020, received the Master of the American College of Gastroenterology.

Internationally recognized expert on the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), former chair of the FDA Gastrointestinal Drugs Advisory Committee and advisor on the development of multiple leading IBD drugs. Dr. Hanauer has expertise in designing and leading clinical studies for IBD related therapies and has acted as a clinical investigator and/or advisor to pharmaceutical companies in the development of most of the leading IBD therapies.

Dr. Hanauer has authored over 500 peer-reviewed journal articles and numerous books and book chapters, abstracts, monographs, and editorials. He has been a reviewer for NEJM, Annals of Internal Medicine, Lancet, Gastroenterology and numerous specialty journals.

Co-Chair

Millie Long

MD, MPH, FACG
Professor of Medicine
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Millie D. Long MD, MPH earned her doctor of medicine degree at the University of Virginia. She completed a residency and chief residency in internal medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She then completed a gastroenterology fellowship at University of North Carolina. She also completed a fellowship in preventive medicine and a masters of public health in epidemiology at the Gillings School of Public Health. She is board certified in internal medicine, preventive medicine, and gastroenterology. She is currently Professor of Medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at the University of North Carolina, as well as Chief of the Division.

Dr. Long’s clinical practice is at the UNC Multidisciplinary Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IBD) center. Her research interests include prevention of complications of IBD, women’s health and clinical epidemiology. Dr. Long has contributed over 200 peer-reviewed publications, book chapters, and review articles to the literature. She co-authored the 2025 ACG ulcerative colitis guidelines. She serves Co-Editor in Chief of the American Journal of Gastroenterology.

Dr. Long is a fellow of the American College of Gastroenterology where she is a member of the Board of Trustees. She is also a fellow of the American Gastroenterological Association and a member of the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation. Recipient of the 2024 Sherman Prize for Excellence in Crohn’s and Colitis. She is a member of the International Organization for the Study of IBD.

Faculty

Jessica Allegretti

MD,MPH, FACG, AGAF
Director, Crohn's and Colitis Center; Associate Professor of Medicine, 2020 Sherman Prize Emerging Leader Recipient
Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School

Dr. Jessica Allegretti currently serves as the Medical Director of the Crohn’s and Colitis Center at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital. In 2020, she received the Sherman Emerging Leader Prize for Excellence in Crohn’s and Colitis. In addition, she developed and leads the hospital’s Fecal Microbiota Transplantation Program and has grown to become and international expert on the topic. Dr. Allegretti cares for patients with inflammatory bowel disease as well as Clostridioides difficile (c.diff) infection. Her research focuses on the intestinal microbiome and the consequences of its derangement, with the goal of understanding the role dysbiosis plays in microbial associated diseases. In addition, her lab focuses on novel therapeutic agents for IBD and she is leading multiple sponsored and investigator initiated drug trials. For more information visit www.allegrettilab.com

Faculty

Marla Dubinsky

MD
Chief of Pediatric GI and Nutrition
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

Marla C. Dubinsky received a medical degree from Queen’s University in Canada and completed her clinical pediatric gastroenterology training at Sainte-Justine Hospital, University of Montreal in Quebec, Canada adn her IBD training at Cedars-SInai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA. Dr. Dubinsky is a proud recipient of the 2022 Sherman Prize for Excellence in Crohn’s and Colitis and a 2024 Jacobi Medallion winner for her contibutions to Mount Sinai. Currently, Dr. Dubinsky is Chief of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition, as well as the Co-Director of the Susan and Leonard Feinstein Inflammatory Bowel Disease Clinical Center and Co-director of the Marie and Barry Lipman Preconception and Pregnancy Planning Clinic at Mount Sinai Hospital, New York, She is a Professor of both Pediatrics and Medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine, Her primary research focuses on the influence of genetics and immune responses on the variability in clinical presentations, treatment responses and prognosis of IBD. Her other interests include the impact of IBD on fertility and pregnancy. She has lectured widely both nationally and internationally and has published in over 400 peer reviewed journals including New England Journal of Medicine, Lancet, Gastroenterology, The American Journal of Gastroenterology, The Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition, Inflammatory Bowel Diseases, and of Crohn's and Colitis .

Faculty

Remo Panaccione

MD
Director, IBD Clinic; Assistant Dean of MD Admissions. Professor of Medicine
University of Calgary

Professor Remo Panaccione is a Professor of Medicine and the Director of the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Unit at the University of Calgary, Canada. He serves as the Dean of MD Admissions and Director of the IBD Fellowship Program. He also holds the Crohn’s Colitis Canada Endowed Research Chair in Inflammatory Bowel Disease.

He is the 2020 Crohn's Colitis Canada Outstanding Physician of the Year and received the 2024 Crohn’s Colitis Canada Research Leadership Award for his contributions to the field. Since 2020 he has been a Clarivate Research Scholar for being cited in the top one percent of researchers in the world. He has co-authored over 500 manuscripts, 20 book chapters and 825 abstracts, including publications in journals such as the New England Journal of Medicine, The Lancet, JAMA, Nature, and Annals of Internal Medicine.

Prof. Panaccione’s main research interest is the design and implementation of clinical trials. He has been the principal investigator on several studies evaluating the efficacy and safety of new therapeutic agents in subjects with IBD.

Faculty

Florian Rieder

MD
Vice Department Chair, Co-Section Head Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Director of IBD Research; 2019 Sherman Emerging Leader Prize Recipient
Cleveland Clinic

Dr. Rieder is Vice Chair and Co-Director of the IBD section at the Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition at the Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland. His clinical focus is patients with IBD with a special emphasis on the field of pathogenesis, prediction and therapy of intestinal fibrosis. Dr. Rieder has published more than 200 articles and book chapters and has been recognized for his expertise as indicated through invitations to clinical guideline steering committees of the European Crohn’s and Colitis Organization (ECCO). He is lead author of the ECCO guidelines on Ulcerative colitis and lead author of the first ECCO clinical consensus on ‘Diagnosis and Management of Intestinal Fibrosis’. He received multiple international invitations as a speaker, session chair or conference faculty. Dr. Rieder serves as an abstract reviewer for all major GI conferences, he is past associate editor (Clinical and Translational Gastroenterology) and on several editorial boards of medical journals. He is proud of his significant ties to the ECCO, which he served as the chair of Y-ECCO, member of the ECCO operational board, prior Y-ECCO committee member and member of the scientific committee. He is past chair of REACH-IBD and Co-Chair of the Professional Education Committee of the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation. Dr. Rieder is the leading PI on the international Stenosis Therapy and Research (STAR) Consortium with the goal to build a pathway to test anti-fibrotic medications in stricturing Crohn’s disease. He received the Sherman Emerging Leader Prize in 2019.

Faculty

David Rubin

MD, FACG
Professor of Medicine; Professor of Pathology
University of Chicago Medicine

David T. Rubin is the Joseph B. Kirsner Professor of Medicine, Professor of Pathology, Chief of the Section of Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition and Director of the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center at the University of Chicago Medicine. He earned a medical degree with honors at The University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine where he also completed his residency in internal medicine and fellowships in gastroenterology and clinical medical ethics. He is associate faculty member at the MacLean Center for Clinical Medical Ethics, associate investigator at the University of Chicago Comprehensive Cancer Center and a member of the University of Chicago Committee on Clinical Pharmacology and Pharmacogenomics. He is the immediate past Chair of the National Scientific Advisory Committee of the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation and Deputy Chair of the International Organization for the Study of IBD.
Dr. Rubin’s research is focused on disease modification in IBD including clinical trial designs, novel measures of inflammation and prevention of adverse outcomes, and quality of life in IBD. In 2023, he received both the UChicago Michael Reese Lectureship Award (for outstanding faculty who have developed novel teaching and clinical research that advances healthcare) and the distinguished UChicago Arthur H. Rubenstein Mentorship in Academic Medicine Award. Dr. Rubin is currently a senior editor of the 12 edition of Sleisenger and Fordtran’s Gastrointestinal and Liver Disease, and an author on >600 articles on management of IBD, including the 2019 and 2025 ACG Guidelines for ulcerative colitis.

10:00 - 11:00 AM (EDT)

CME Satellite Symposia

CME Satellite Symposia

Supported by an educational grant from Celltrion, Inc.

Elevating IBD Treatment: Unlocking the Power of Subcutaneous Therapies to Optimize Patient Outcomes

Supported by an educational grant from Celltrion, Inc.

Symposium Chair

Symposium Speaker

Monday, December 07 10:00–11:00 AM
Room Pacific Hall A-B
Co-Chair

Corey Siegel

MD, MS
Director, Walter and Carole Young Center for Digestive Health
Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center

Corey A. Siegel, MD, MS, is the Director of the Walter and Carole Young Center for Digestive Health at the Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, New Hampshire. He is the Constantine and Joyce Hampers Professor of Medicine and a Professor at The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth.

Dr. Siegel received his medical degree from Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston, Massachusetts. He completed his residency in internal medicine at the Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center where he also served as chief medical resident. He then completed a fellowship in Gastroenterology at Dartmouth Hitchcock followed by a fellowship in Inflammatory Bowel Disease at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.

Dr. Siegel’s research interests include understanding risk/benefit tradeoffs in IBD, developing models to predict outcomes in Crohn’s disease, creating tools to facilitate shared decision making, expanding telemedicine services to patients with IBD living in rural locations, and improving the quality of care delivered to patients with IBD. He has been funded by the NIH, AHRQ, the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation, and the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust for this work. Dr. Siegel is the founder of the BRIDGe group, an international research collaborative of IBD investigators. Dr. Siegel was inducted into the International Organization for the Study of IBD (IOIBD) in 2013 and he received the Sherman Prize in 2023. He lives in Hanover, New Hampshire with his wife and three boys.

Faculty

Adam Cheifetz

MD
Director, Center for Inflammatory Bowel Disease
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

Dr. Cheifetz is Director of the Center for Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Medical Director of Infusion Services at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. He is also Director of the Harvard Medical School Gastroenterology Clerkship Elective and Associate Director of the Advanced Fellowship in Inflammatory Bowel Disease at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.
Dr. Cheifetz specializes in the treatment of Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, and other inflammatory bowel diseases. In addition to his clinical work, he is involved in multiple research projects relating to IBD and has published over 250 articles and chapters on the subject. His research currently focuses on optimizing the use of biologics through the proactive use of drug concentrations and antibodies, and he has published extensively in this area. Dr. Cheifetz was the first to demonstrate that proactive monitoring of infliximab and adalimumab concentrations and dosing to a therapeutic window improves outcomes when compared to standard of care. Dr. Cheifetz lectures nationally and internationally on IBD. Dr. Cheifetz is also actively involved in teaching and mentoring medical students, residents, and fellows, and is proud to have trained numerous physicians who now specialize in IBD and direct their own centers.

Faculty

Marla Dubinsky

MD
Chief of Pediatric GI and Nutrition
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

Marla C. Dubinsky received a medical degree from Queen’s University in Canada and completed her clinical pediatric gastroenterology training at Sainte-Justine Hospital, University of Montreal in Quebec, Canada adn her IBD training at Cedars-SInai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA. Dr. Dubinsky is a proud recipient of the 2022 Sherman Prize for Excellence in Crohn’s and Colitis and a 2024 Jacobi Medallion winner for her contibutions to Mount Sinai. Currently, Dr. Dubinsky is Chief of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition, as well as the Co-Director of the Susan and Leonard Feinstein Inflammatory Bowel Disease Clinical Center and Co-director of the Marie and Barry Lipman Preconception and Pregnancy Planning Clinic at Mount Sinai Hospital, New York, She is a Professor of both Pediatrics and Medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine, Her primary research focuses on the influence of genetics and immune responses on the variability in clinical presentations, treatment responses and prognosis of IBD. Her other interests include the impact of IBD on fertility and pregnancy. She has lectured widely both nationally and internationally and has published in over 400 peer reviewed journals including New England Journal of Medicine, Lancet, Gastroenterology, The American Journal of Gastroenterology, The Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition, Inflammatory Bowel Diseases, and of Crohn's and Colitis .

11:10 - 12:55 PM (EDT)

Positioning Our Advanced Therapies

  • Co-Moderator
    • Miguel Regueiro, MD, FACG
    • Corey Siegel, MD, MS
General Session

Luminal CD: First, Next, and Then What?

Presenter

Monday, December 07 11:10–11:25 AM
Room Pacific Hall A-B
General Session
Faculty

Sara Horst

MD, MPH, FACG, AGAF
Professor
Vanderbilt University Medical Center

Dr. Sara Horst MD, MPH, FACG, AGAF is a Professor in the division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, & Nutrition at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Dr. Horst completed her medical school and residency training at The Ohio State University and then went to Vanderbilt University Medical Center for Gastroenterology Fellowship and to obtain her Masters of Public Health. She joined the faculty at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in 2011. She is involved in clinical care of complex IBD care, complex amyloid care, clinical research, and teaching and mentoring medical students and housestaff. She is the medical director for VUMC Specialty Pharmacy, VUMC Telehealth director, and VUMC Associate Vice Chair of Clinical Affairs for Dept of Medicine. Her research interests involve enhancing EHR efficiencies in the care of IBD, telehealth in IBD, and medication adherence in IBD. She has extensively published in peer reviewed journals. She is also involved in clinical care improvement as an EPIC Physician Builder and is on the National EPIC GI Steering Board. She is an associate editor for American Journal of Gastroenterology.

UC: Does Order Matter

Presenter

Monday, December 07 11:25–11:40 AM
Room Pacific Hall A-B
General Session
Faculty

Edward Loftus

MD, FACP, FACG, AGAF
Maxine and Jack Zarrow Family Professor of Gastroenterology
Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science

Edward V. Loftus, Jr. is a gastroenterologist who specializes in the care of patients with complex Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. He is the Maxine and Jack Zarrow Family Professor of Gastroenterology Specifically in IBD at Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science in Rochester, Minnesota, USA. He developed a population-based cohort of inflammatory bowel disease patients which has resulted in over 50 peer-reviewed publications on the epidemiology and natural history of IBD. Professor Loftus has published over 500 original articles, book chapters, or editorials and more than 750 abstracts. He was awarded AGA’s Distinguished Clinician Award and the IMIBD section’s Research Mentor Award in 2019. He has also been awarded the Mayo Department of Medicine Laureate Award twice and the Outstanding Mentorship Award in Research. Professor Loftus has been the principal investigator on several funded studies focusing on the epidemiology and natural history of inflammatory bowel disease and has served as the local PI on multiple clinical trials of investigational agents for IBD. He serves on the steering committees of several clinical development programs in IBD. In the past he has served as Associate Editor for American Journal of Gastroenterology and Inflammatory Bowel Diseases, and currently serves as Associate Editor for Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology.

EIMs: Treating Beyond the Gut: When IBD Isn’t Just IBD

Presenter

Monday, December 07 11:40–11:55 AM
Room Pacific Hall A-B
General Session
Faculty

Bridget Shields

MD
Associate Professor, Department of Dermatology
University of Wisconsin

Dr. Bridget E. Shields is the Susan Nicholas Fasciano Family Foundation Professor of Inflammatory Skin Diseases, Associate Professor, and Director of the Clinical and Translational Research Program in the Department of Dermatology at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. She completed her dermatology residency at the University of Wisconsin, where she served as Chief Resident, followed by a fellowship in Complex Medical Dermatology at the University of Pennsylvania with specialized training in granulomatous skin diseases, including cutaneous Crohn disesae. Dr. Shields directs the University of Wisconsin's specialized IBD-Dermatology clinic and serves on the inpatient dermatology consultation service, caring for patients with complex inflammatory skin disorders. She also leads the University of Wisconsin Multidisciplinary Sarcoidosis Program, fostering collaboration among clinicians and scientists to improve the understanding and treatment of systemic granulomatous disease.
As a clinician-scientist, Dr. Shields' research focuses on defining the molecular mechanisms underlying skin manifestations of IBD through spatial transcriptomics, multiomics, and translational immunology, with the goal of developing precision diagnostics and targeted therapies.
Dr. Shields has authored more than 70 peer-reviewed scientific publications and numerous invited book chapters. She is a nationally recognized speaker who has delivered invited lectures on skin manifestations of IBD and other inflammatory dermatologic disorders at regional and national scientific meetings.
Her research program has been supported by the Dermatology Foundation Medical Dermatology Career Development Award and the Ann Theodore Foundation, among other competitive funding sources.

Problems Beyond Pouchitis: The Dysfuctional Pouch

Presenter

Monday, December 07 11:55–12:10 PM
Room Pacific Hall A-B
General Session
Faculty

Laura Raffals

MD, MS
Vice Chair, Department of Medicine
Mayo Clinic

Laura Raffals, MD, MS, FACG is Professor of Medicine, Vice Chair, Department of Medicine at Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN. 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’ 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. She is the co-principal investigator for the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation SPARC IBD, a national prospective adult research cohort with IBD study and has published broadly on topics in inflammatory bowel disease.

Combination Advanced Therapy: When One Isn't Enough

Presenter

Monday, December 07 12:10–12:25 PM
Room Pacific Hall A-B
General Session
Faculty

Bruce Sands

MD, MS, FACG
Chief, Division of Gastroenterology
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

Bruce Sands, MD, MS is the Dr. Burrill B. Crohn Professor of Medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY. Dr. Sands is an expert in the management of IBD and has earned an international reputation for his care of patients with complex and refractory disease. Dr. Sands was awarded his BA and MD from Boston University, and trained in internal medicine at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. After completing GI fellowship at the Massachusetts General Hospital, he joined the faculty of Harvard Medical School and served as the Acting Chief of the Gastrointestinal Unit at MGH before moving to Mount Sinai in 2010 as Chief of the Dr. Henry D. Janowitz Division of Gastroenterology. Dr. Sands is widely recognized for his innovative treatment of IBD and for his clinical investigations of new therapeutics. Dr. Sands' research also explores IBD epidemiology and includes the creation of a population-based cohort of IBD in Rhode Island. Dr. Sands is a past chair of the Clinical Research Alliance of the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of America and served as Chair of the Immunology, Microbiology and Inflammatory Bowel Disease Section of the American Gastroenterological Association. Additionally, Dr. Sands was the Chair of the International Organization for the Study of IBD (IOIBD). In 2016 Dr. Sands was awarded the Dr. Henry Janowitz Lifetime Achievement Award from the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of America, that organization’s highest honor.

Q&A

Co-Moderator

Panelist

Monday, December 07 12:25–12:55 PM
Room Pacific Hall A-B
General Session
Co-Chair

Miguel Regueiro

MD, FACG
Professor and Chief of Digestive Disease Institute
Cleveland Clinic

Dr. Miguel Regueiro is the Enterprise Chief of Staff and Executive Vice President at Cleveland Clinic, and Professor in the Department of Medicine, Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University.

Dr. Regueiro is the inaugural Chair holder of The Melody and Steve Golding Chair for Digestive Diseases. He served as the Global Chief for the Digestive Disease Institute from 2021 - 2026 before becoming Enterprise Chief of Staff. As Chief of Staff, he is responsible for shaping the healthcare strategy and vision for the national and international Cleveland Clinic sites. He oversees 6,000 physicians and 4.000 advanced practice providers across the enterprise.

Dr. Regueiro’s main clinical and research interest is Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IBD) with a focus on the natural course and medical-surgical management of Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. He leads research on postoperative prevention of Crohn’s disease, as well as developing new models of healthcare, including the first-of-its kind specialty medical home for IBD.

Co-Chair

Corey Siegel

MD, MS
Director, Walter and Carole Young Center for Digestive Health
Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center

Corey A. Siegel, MD, MS, is the Director of the Walter and Carole Young Center for Digestive Health at the Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, New Hampshire. He is the Constantine and Joyce Hampers Professor of Medicine and a Professor at The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth.

Dr. Siegel received his medical degree from Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston, Massachusetts. He completed his residency in internal medicine at the Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center where he also served as chief medical resident. He then completed a fellowship in Gastroenterology at Dartmouth Hitchcock followed by a fellowship in Inflammatory Bowel Disease at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.

Dr. Siegel’s research interests include understanding risk/benefit tradeoffs in IBD, developing models to predict outcomes in Crohn’s disease, creating tools to facilitate shared decision making, expanding telemedicine services to patients with IBD living in rural locations, and improving the quality of care delivered to patients with IBD. He has been funded by the NIH, AHRQ, the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation, and the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust for this work. Dr. Siegel is the founder of the BRIDGe group, an international research collaborative of IBD investigators. Dr. Siegel was inducted into the International Organization for the Study of IBD (IOIBD) in 2013 and he received the Sherman Prize in 2023. He lives in Hanover, New Hampshire with his wife and three boys.

Faculty

Sara Horst

MD, MPH, FACG, AGAF
Professor
Vanderbilt University Medical Center

Dr. Sara Horst MD, MPH, FACG, AGAF is a Professor in the division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, & Nutrition at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Dr. Horst completed her medical school and residency training at The Ohio State University and then went to Vanderbilt University Medical Center for Gastroenterology Fellowship and to obtain her Masters of Public Health. She joined the faculty at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in 2011. She is involved in clinical care of complex IBD care, complex amyloid care, clinical research, and teaching and mentoring medical students and housestaff. She is the medical director for VUMC Specialty Pharmacy, VUMC Telehealth director, and VUMC Associate Vice Chair of Clinical Affairs for Dept of Medicine. Her research interests involve enhancing EHR efficiencies in the care of IBD, telehealth in IBD, and medication adherence in IBD. She has extensively published in peer reviewed journals. She is also involved in clinical care improvement as an EPIC Physician Builder and is on the National EPIC GI Steering Board. She is an associate editor for American Journal of Gastroenterology.

Faculty

Edward Loftus

MD, FACP, FACG, AGAF
Maxine and Jack Zarrow Family Professor of Gastroenterology
Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science

Edward V. Loftus, Jr. is a gastroenterologist who specializes in the care of patients with complex Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. He is the Maxine and Jack Zarrow Family Professor of Gastroenterology Specifically in IBD at Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science in Rochester, Minnesota, USA. He developed a population-based cohort of inflammatory bowel disease patients which has resulted in over 50 peer-reviewed publications on the epidemiology and natural history of IBD. Professor Loftus has published over 500 original articles, book chapters, or editorials and more than 750 abstracts. He was awarded AGA’s Distinguished Clinician Award and the IMIBD section’s Research Mentor Award in 2019. He has also been awarded the Mayo Department of Medicine Laureate Award twice and the Outstanding Mentorship Award in Research. Professor Loftus has been the principal investigator on several funded studies focusing on the epidemiology and natural history of inflammatory bowel disease and has served as the local PI on multiple clinical trials of investigational agents for IBD. He serves on the steering committees of several clinical development programs in IBD. In the past he has served as Associate Editor for American Journal of Gastroenterology and Inflammatory Bowel Diseases, and currently serves as Associate Editor for Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology.

Faculty

Laura Raffals

MD, MS
Vice Chair, Department of Medicine
Mayo Clinic

Laura Raffals, MD, MS, FACG is Professor of Medicine, Vice Chair, Department of Medicine at Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN. 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’ 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. She is the co-principal investigator for the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation SPARC IBD, a national prospective adult research cohort with IBD study and has published broadly on topics in inflammatory bowel disease.

Faculty

Bruce Sands

MD, MS, FACG
Chief, Division of Gastroenterology
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

Bruce Sands, MD, MS is the Dr. Burrill B. Crohn Professor of Medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY. Dr. Sands is an expert in the management of IBD and has earned an international reputation for his care of patients with complex and refractory disease. Dr. Sands was awarded his BA and MD from Boston University, and trained in internal medicine at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. After completing GI fellowship at the Massachusetts General Hospital, he joined the faculty of Harvard Medical School and served as the Acting Chief of the Gastrointestinal Unit at MGH before moving to Mount Sinai in 2010 as Chief of the Dr. Henry D. Janowitz Division of Gastroenterology. Dr. Sands is widely recognized for his innovative treatment of IBD and for his clinical investigations of new therapeutics. Dr. Sands' research also explores IBD epidemiology and includes the creation of a population-based cohort of IBD in Rhode Island. Dr. Sands is a past chair of the Clinical Research Alliance of the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of America and served as Chair of the Immunology, Microbiology and Inflammatory Bowel Disease Section of the American Gastroenterological Association. Additionally, Dr. Sands was the Chair of the International Organization for the Study of IBD (IOIBD). In 2016 Dr. Sands was awarded the Dr. Henry Janowitz Lifetime Achievement Award from the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of America, that organization’s highest honor.

Faculty

Bridget Shields

MD
Associate Professor, Department of Dermatology
University of Wisconsin

Dr. Bridget E. Shields is the Susan Nicholas Fasciano Family Foundation Professor of Inflammatory Skin Diseases, Associate Professor, and Director of the Clinical and Translational Research Program in the Department of Dermatology at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. She completed her dermatology residency at the University of Wisconsin, where she served as Chief Resident, followed by a fellowship in Complex Medical Dermatology at the University of Pennsylvania with specialized training in granulomatous skin diseases, including cutaneous Crohn disesae. Dr. Shields directs the University of Wisconsin's specialized IBD-Dermatology clinic and serves on the inpatient dermatology consultation service, caring for patients with complex inflammatory skin disorders. She also leads the University of Wisconsin Multidisciplinary Sarcoidosis Program, fostering collaboration among clinicians and scientists to improve the understanding and treatment of systemic granulomatous disease.
As a clinician-scientist, Dr. Shields' research focuses on defining the molecular mechanisms underlying skin manifestations of IBD through spatial transcriptomics, multiomics, and translational immunology, with the goal of developing precision diagnostics and targeted therapies.
Dr. Shields has authored more than 70 peer-reviewed scientific publications and numerous invited book chapters. She is a nationally recognized speaker who has delivered invited lectures on skin manifestations of IBD and other inflammatory dermatologic disorders at regional and national scientific meetings.
Her research program has been supported by the Dermatology Foundation Medical Dermatology Career Development Award and the Ann Theodore Foundation, among other competitive funding sources.

1:05 - 2:20 PM (EDT)

CME Satellite Symposia

Lunch CME Satellite Symposia

Supported by an educational grant from Johnson & Johnson.

Innovations in the Targeted Management of IBD: A Focus on IL-23 Inhibitors

Supported by an educational grant from Johnson & Johnson.

Symposium Chair

Symposium Speaker

Monday, December 07 1:05–2:20 PM
Room Northern Ballroom A-D
Co-Chair

Millie Long

MD, MPH, FACG
Professor of Medicine
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Millie D. Long MD, MPH earned her doctor of medicine degree at the University of Virginia. She completed a residency and chief residency in internal medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She then completed a gastroenterology fellowship at University of North Carolina. She also completed a fellowship in preventive medicine and a masters of public health in epidemiology at the Gillings School of Public Health. She is board certified in internal medicine, preventive medicine, and gastroenterology. She is currently Professor of Medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at the University of North Carolina, as well as Chief of the Division.

Dr. Long’s clinical practice is at the UNC Multidisciplinary Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IBD) center. Her research interests include prevention of complications of IBD, women’s health and clinical epidemiology. Dr. Long has contributed over 200 peer-reviewed publications, book chapters, and review articles to the literature. She co-authored the 2025 ACG ulcerative colitis guidelines. She serves Co-Editor in Chief of the American Journal of Gastroenterology.

Dr. Long is a fellow of the American College of Gastroenterology where she is a member of the Board of Trustees. She is also a fellow of the American Gastroenterological Association and a member of the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation. Recipient of the 2024 Sherman Prize for Excellence in Crohn’s and Colitis. She is a member of the International Organization for the Study of IBD.

Faculty

Angelina Collins

MSN, ANP-BC
Nurse Practitioner
UC San Diego Health

Angelina Collins is a Board Certified Adult Nurse Practitioner at the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center at the University of California, San Diego. Angelina completed her nursing and master's degree in nursing from the University of San Diego. She is passionate about delivering comprehensive, patient centered care for those with all stages of Crohn’s Disease and Ulcerative Colitis and is dedicated to empowering NPs and PAs through education. Angelina is the co-director of the Crohn's & Colitis Congress APP track, APP director for the American Gastroenterology Association (AGA) Principles in GI for the NP/PA course, serves on the NP/PA Task force for the AGA, and the Nurse & Advanced Practice Provider subcommittee of the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation's National Scientific Advisory Committee, and is co-director of ChatAPP, a monthly IBD case series for APPs.

Co-Chair

Miguel Regueiro

MD, FACG
Professor and Chief of Digestive Disease Institute
Cleveland Clinic

Dr. Miguel Regueiro is the Enterprise Chief of Staff and Executive Vice President at Cleveland Clinic, and Professor in the Department of Medicine, Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University.

Dr. Regueiro is the inaugural Chair holder of The Melody and Steve Golding Chair for Digestive Diseases. He served as the Global Chief for the Digestive Disease Institute from 2021 - 2026 before becoming Enterprise Chief of Staff. As Chief of Staff, he is responsible for shaping the healthcare strategy and vision for the national and international Cleveland Clinic sites. He oversees 6,000 physicians and 4.000 advanced practice providers across the enterprise.

Dr. Regueiro’s main clinical and research interest is Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IBD) with a focus on the natural course and medical-surgical management of Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. He leads research on postoperative prevention of Crohn’s disease, as well as developing new models of healthcare, including the first-of-its kind specialty medical home for IBD.

2:30 - 3:10 PM (EDT)

Clinical Breakout: Rotation 1

Clinical Breakout

Endoscopic but Not Clinical Remission

Invited Co-Team Leader

Panelist

Monday, December 07 2:30–3:10 PM
Room Southern Hemisphere IV-V
Clinical Breakout
Faculty

David Hudesman

MD, FACG, AGAF
Director, Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center
NYU Langone Health

Dr. Hudesman is Director of the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center at NYU Langone Health. He is Professor of Medicine at the NYU School of Medicine.

Dr. Hudesman specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and in the provision of integrated, seamless, patient-centered care. His research is focused on the development of biomarkers and evaluation and optimization of new medical therapies for the treatment of both Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.

Dr. Hudesman served on the Educational Affairs Committee of the American College of Gastroenterology, and the Professional Membership Committee of the Crohn’s Colitis Foundation, and is currently on the Quality Committee of the American Gastroenterological Association.

Faculty

Gil Melmed

MD, MS, FACG, AGAF
Director, IBD Clinical Research, F. Widjadja IBD Institute
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center

Gil Y. Melmed, MD, MS, is the Clinical Director of the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Program and Associate Director of the Karsh Division of Digestive and Liver Diseases at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California. He earned his medical degree from Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx, New York, and master of science in clinical research from UCLA School of Medicine, Los Angeles. Dr Melmed completed his gastroenterology fellowship at the University of California, Los Angeles.
He has authored or coauthored more than 250 articles in peer-reviewed journals and several book chapters. Dr Melmed has served as Associate Editor of the American Journal of Gastroenterology, an ad hoc reviewer for several journals, and clinical research editor for Inflammatory Bowel Disease. His research interests include clinical outcomes and quality of care in IBD. He has given invited lectures and presentations nationally and internationally on several clinical topics in inflammatory bowel disease, including quality of care and clinical outcomes. He is a committee member of several professional organizations, including the American College of Gastroenterology and the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation, where he serves as co-chair of the IBD Quality of Care committee. He has led or participated in the development of quality measures for IBD with the American Gastroenterology Association, the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation, and the Canadian Crohn’s and Colitis organizations.

Faculty

Kofi Clarke

MD,FACP,FRCP,AGAF
Professor, Chief, Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Penn State College of Medicine
Penn State Hershey

Dr. Clarke is Professor and Chief of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, at The College of Medicine at Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center. He is also the Graham Jeffries Endowed Professor of Medicine
Fellowships:
-Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition; University of Pittsburgh
-Research Fellowship; Michigan State University
Post Graduate:
-Medicine and Gastroenterology- Imperial College, Royal College of Physicians, London, UK

Additional Qualifications
-Certificate for Leadership Training for Physicians in Academic Medical Centers-
Harvard School of Public Health.
-Certificate of Completion, Penn State Leadership Academy

Clinical and Research Interests:
-Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Celiac Disease.
-Graduate Medical Education.

Faculty

Lisa Malter

MD, FACG
Professor of Medicine
NYU Grossman School of Medicine

Lisa Malter, MD, is a Professor of Medicine at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine, the Director of Education for the NYU IBD Center, Director of the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Clinic at the Bellevue Hospital Center and Director of the Violet Society Mentoring Program.  Dr. Malter’s academic interests include the study of inflammatory bowel disease, patient safety, fellowship education, and career mentoring.    Dr. Malter founded the advanced fellowship in IBD at NYU and has developed educational courses, conferences, and curricula including “IBD 101: A Primer for First-Year Gastroenterology Fellows” a collaboration between NYU and the American College of Gastroenterology.  She has published in The American Journal of Gastroenterology, Clinical Gastro and Hep,  Inflammatory Bowel Diseases and CC360. She is a member of ACG, AGA, and the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation. She serves as the Editor of the ACG Universe, is a member of the ACG Training Committee, the ACG Education Task Force, and is a faculty advisor for the Crohn's &Colitis Foundation's Greater New York Fellows’ Education Committee. Dr. Malter received her medical degree from Rosalind Franklin University/Chicago Medical School, completed her internal medicine internship and residency at The Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, and went on to complete a Gastroenterology fellowship at NYU Langone Medical Center.

Faculty

Nuru Noor

MD PhD
Clinical Lecturer in Gastroenterology
University of Cambridge

Dr Nuru Noor is a Clinical Lecturer in Gastroenterology based at the University of Cambridge in the UK. He also works as a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Medical Research Council Clinical Trials Unit - the largest academic clinical trials unit in Europe. He has a particular interest in novel clinical trial designs, having completed his PhD on this topic. He is keen to bring novel methodological approaches to the field of Gastroenterology, and in particular to IBD - which is his main area of clinical interest and expertise.

Inflammatory Conditions of the Pouch

Invited Co-Team Leader

Panelist

Monday, December 07 2:30–3:10 PM
Room Southern Hemisphere I
Clinical Breakout
Faculty

Hans Herfarth

MD, PhD
Professor of Medicine
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Hans Herfarth is Director of the Multidisciplinary IBD Center at the University of North Carolina. His primary research interests focus on the development and evaluation of novel diagnostic and therapeutic approaches for patients with inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). His work is particularly centered on the conceptualization and conduct of investigator-initiated clinical studies in IBD, supported by funding from the NIH, the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation, and private and industry-associated foundations. Dr. Herfarth has authored more than 350 journal articles, book chapters, and review articles related to IBD.

Faculty

Laura Raffals

MD, MS
Vice Chair, Department of Medicine
Mayo Clinic

Laura Raffals, MD, MS, FACG is Professor of Medicine, Vice Chair, Department of Medicine at Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN. 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’ 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. She is the co-principal investigator for the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation SPARC IBD, a national prospective adult research cohort with IBD study and has published broadly on topics in inflammatory bowel disease.

Faculty

Bincy Abraham

MD, MS, FACG
Professor of Clinical Medicine
Houston Methodist Hospital, Weill Cornell Medical College; Texas A&M University College of Medicine

Bincy P. Abraham, M.D., M.S., AGAF, FACG, FASGE, FCCF is the Distinguished Professor and Director of the Fondren Inflammatory Bowel Disease Program at the Underwood Digestive Diseases Center of Houston Methodist Hospital. She is also the Program Director for the Gastroenterology Fellowship and Associate Program Director of the Advanced IBD Fellowship at Houston Methodist Hospital. She earned her medical degree from University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX, where she continued with residency training in internal medicine and fellowship in gastroenterology. During fellowship, she received specialized training in inflammatory bowel disease and earned her degree in Masters of Clinical Investigation. She also completed a National Visiting Fellow Inflammatory Bowel Disease Rotation program through the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation in Cedars Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles. She has chaired the Southern Regional chapter of the CCFA Medical Advisory Committee, served as president of the Texas Gulf Coast Gastroenterology Society, is involved in national committees for and is a Fellow of the American College of Gastroenterology, American Gastroenterology Association, American Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, and Crohn's and Colitis Foundation. She is trained in and passionate about intestinal ultrasound in IBD patient care.

Faculty

Edward Barnes

MD, MPH
Associate Professor of Medicine; 2021 Sherman Emerging Leader Prize Recipient
University of North Carolina School of Medicine

Edward L. Barnes, MD, MPH is an Associate Professor of Medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology & Hepatology and Co-Director of the Multidisciplinary Inflammatory Bowel Diseases Center at the University of North Carolina of Chapel Hill. Dr. Barnes received his undergraduate and medical degrees from the University of South Carolina. He completed his internship, residency, and chief residency in internal medicine at the University of North Carolina. He completed his gastroenterology fellowship at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts. During his gastroenterology fellowship, Dr. Barnes received a Master of Public Health from the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health. Following his gastroenterology fellowship, Dr. Barnes completed a one year advanced fellowship in inflammatory bowel disease at the University of North Carolina.

Dr. Barnes has a research interest in the epidemiology and clinical outcomes of patients with inflammatory bowel disease. He has a particular interest in improving our understanding of inflammatory conditions of the pouch after restorative proctocolectomy with ileal pouch-anal anastomosis (IPAA). He has received funding from the National Institutes of Health, Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation, American College of Gastroenterology, and American Gastroenterological Association to study clinical outcomes of patients with pouchitis and other pouch-related conditions and to investigate predictors of a complicated disease course after IPAA. Dr. Barnes is the 2021 Sherman Emerging Leader Prize recipient.

Faculty

Alessandro Fichera

FACS, FASCRS
Division Chief Colon and Rectal Surgery
Weill Cornell Medicine NY Presbyterian

Dr. Fichera earned his M.D. from the Catholic University of Rome, completed a General Surgery Residency at the University of Chicago, and a two-year fellowship in laparoscopic and colorectal surgery at Mt. Sinai School of Medicine in New York. He returned to the University of Chicago, where he started and became the first Program Director of the Colon and Rectal Surgery Training Program. He moved to the University of Washington in July 2012 as chief of colorectal surgery and was appointed chief of the section of Gastrointestinal Surgery in 2014 and, in 2016, clinical director of Gastrointestinal Oncology at the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance. In November 2017, he moved to the University of North Carolina as division chief of Gastrointestinal Surgery. In September 2019, he became the Division Chief of Colorectal Surgery at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas, Texas, and, in July 2020, the Surgery Safety and Quality Officer. In October 2024, he joined the Department of Surgery at Weill Cornell Medicine as the Division Chief of Colon and Rectal Surgery. His clinical and research interests include colorectal cancer and inflammatory bowel disease

Let's Talk About Sex and IBD

Invited Co-Team Leader

Panelist

Monday, December 07 2:30–3:10 PM
Room Southern Hemisphere III
Clinical Breakout
Faculty

Raymond Cross

MD, MS, AGAF, FACG
Director
Melissa L Posner Institute for Digestive Health & Liver Disease, Mercy Medical Center

Raymond K. Cross, MD, MS, AGAF, FACG completed undergraduate training at Washington and Jefferson College and attended medical school at the University of Pittsburgh. He completed internal medicine residency and gastroenterology and Hepatology fellowship training at the University of Maryland Medical Center and Baltimore Veterans Affairs. Prior to fellowship, he was a Chief Medical Resident. He obtained a Master’s Degree in Clinical Research at the University of Maryland, Baltimore. He joined the faculty at the University of Maryland and served as Director of the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Program from 2004 to 2024. In July 2024, he joined the faculty at the Melissa L. Posner Institute for Digestive Health & Liver Disease at Mercy Medical Center where he is Director of the Center for Inflammatory Bowel and Colorectal Diseases.
He has published over 200 peer reviewed manuscripts, review articles, and book chapters and has obtained research funding from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation, and the American College of Gastroenterology. He is past Chair of the Patient Education and Clinical Research Committees and Clinical Research Alliance for the Foundation. He is the Co-Chair of the Regional Advances in Inflammatory Bowel Disease Course, Scientific Co-Director of the CorEvitas Registry, and past Course Director for the American College of Gastroenterology’s Eastern Regional Course. He is Governor for Maryland for the American College of Gastroenterology, a member of the American College of Gastroenterology’s Research Committee, and Senior Associate Editor of the American Journal of Gastroenterology.

Faculty

Jessica Salwen-Deremer

PhD
Associate Professor of Psychiatry & Medicine
Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center

Jessiy Salwen-Deremer, Ph.D., DBSM, is the Director of Behavioral Medicine for Digestive Health at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center and an Associate Professor of Psychiatry & Medicine at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth. Her clinical and research expertise encompasses two areas: understanding and treating sleep disorders in people with inflammatory bowel disease and improving access to gastrointestinal behavioral health care. Research initiatives have been supported by institutional, foundation, and NIH funding, with current work focusing on understanding how treatment of insomnia in IBD can impact other symptoms, such as abdominal pain and fatigue. Across areas of research and practice, she also focuses on the integration of remote technologies to enhance patient engagement and participation.

Faculty

Audrey Bennett

MD
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Vanderbilt University Medical Center

Dr. Audrey Bennett is an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee. She earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Minnesota Duluth and her medical degree from the University of Minnesota. She completed Internal Medicine residency, Gastroenterology fellowship, and Advanced Inflammatory Bowel Disease fellowship at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. During her residency and fellowship, she also received additional training certificates in biomedical ethics and LGBTQ+ health. She specializes in the care of patients with IBD and started as faculty at the Vanderbilt IBD Clinic in 2023.

Faculty

Jessica Caron

MEd., M.S.
Patient Advocate
Chronically-Jess.com

Jessica Caron, MEd, MS is a healthcare and human services professional and patient advocate in the Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) community. As a nationally-recognized speaker on patient advocacy, Jessica shares her experience as a patient living with Crohn’s disease, advocating for a co-facilitated approach to advancing medical care. Jessica was a consensus conference member for the IBDParenthood project, was one of the first patient leaders with the IBD Qorus Project, and has served as an advisor for many organizations and projects within the IBD space. Through social media and her blog, Chronically-Jess.com, she supports patients across the globe. Jessica works within healthcare to connect patient community voices to treatment and service decision-makers through patient engagement research and strategy, focusing on treatment development in advanced and challenging to treatment medical spaces. She has a Psychology degree from the University of Maine, a Master of Education in Human Relations from Plymouth State University, and earned her master’s in Health Care Delivery Science (MHCDS) from Dartmouth College. Jessica currently lives and works in New Hampshire with her husband and two sons.

Faculty

Marla Dubinsky

MD
Chief of Pediatric GI and Nutrition
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

Marla C. Dubinsky received a medical degree from Queen’s University in Canada and completed her clinical pediatric gastroenterology training at Sainte-Justine Hospital, University of Montreal in Quebec, Canada adn her IBD training at Cedars-SInai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA. Dr. Dubinsky is a proud recipient of the 2022 Sherman Prize for Excellence in Crohn’s and Colitis and a 2024 Jacobi Medallion winner for her contibutions to Mount Sinai. Currently, Dr. Dubinsky is Chief of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition, as well as the Co-Director of the Susan and Leonard Feinstein Inflammatory Bowel Disease Clinical Center and Co-director of the Marie and Barry Lipman Preconception and Pregnancy Planning Clinic at Mount Sinai Hospital, New York, She is a Professor of both Pediatrics and Medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine, Her primary research focuses on the influence of genetics and immune responses on the variability in clinical presentations, treatment responses and prognosis of IBD. Her other interests include the impact of IBD on fertility and pregnancy. She has lectured widely both nationally and internationally and has published in over 400 peer reviewed journals including New England Journal of Medicine, Lancet, Gastroenterology, The American Journal of Gastroenterology, The Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition, Inflammatory Bowel Diseases, and of Crohn's and Colitis .

Dermatology in IBD: Real Cases, Real Decisions

Invited Co-Team Leader

Panelist

Monday, December 07 2:30–3:10 PM
Room Southern Hemisphere II
Clinical Breakout
Faculty

Adam Cheifetz

MD
Director, Center for Inflammatory Bowel Disease
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

Dr. Cheifetz is Director of the Center for Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Medical Director of Infusion Services at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. He is also Director of the Harvard Medical School Gastroenterology Clerkship Elective and Associate Director of the Advanced Fellowship in Inflammatory Bowel Disease at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.
Dr. Cheifetz specializes in the treatment of Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, and other inflammatory bowel diseases. In addition to his clinical work, he is involved in multiple research projects relating to IBD and has published over 250 articles and chapters on the subject. His research currently focuses on optimizing the use of biologics through the proactive use of drug concentrations and antibodies, and he has published extensively in this area. Dr. Cheifetz was the first to demonstrate that proactive monitoring of infliximab and adalimumab concentrations and dosing to a therapeutic window improves outcomes when compared to standard of care. Dr. Cheifetz lectures nationally and internationally on IBD. Dr. Cheifetz is also actively involved in teaching and mentoring medical students, residents, and fellows, and is proud to have trained numerous physicians who now specialize in IBD and direct their own centers.

Faculty

Bridget Shields

MD
Associate Professor, Department of Dermatology
University of Wisconsin

Dr. Bridget E. Shields is the Susan Nicholas Fasciano Family Foundation Professor of Inflammatory Skin Diseases, Associate Professor, and Director of the Clinical and Translational Research Program in the Department of Dermatology at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. She completed her dermatology residency at the University of Wisconsin, where she served as Chief Resident, followed by a fellowship in Complex Medical Dermatology at the University of Pennsylvania with specialized training in granulomatous skin diseases, including cutaneous Crohn disesae. Dr. Shields directs the University of Wisconsin's specialized IBD-Dermatology clinic and serves on the inpatient dermatology consultation service, caring for patients with complex inflammatory skin disorders. She also leads the University of Wisconsin Multidisciplinary Sarcoidosis Program, fostering collaboration among clinicians and scientists to improve the understanding and treatment of systemic granulomatous disease.
As a clinician-scientist, Dr. Shields' research focuses on defining the molecular mechanisms underlying skin manifestations of IBD through spatial transcriptomics, multiomics, and translational immunology, with the goal of developing precision diagnostics and targeted therapies.
Dr. Shields has authored more than 70 peer-reviewed scientific publications and numerous invited book chapters. She is a nationally recognized speaker who has delivered invited lectures on skin manifestations of IBD and other inflammatory dermatologic disorders at regional and national scientific meetings.
Her research program has been supported by the Dermatology Foundation Medical Dermatology Career Development Award and the Ann Theodore Foundation, among other competitive funding sources.

Faculty

Oriana Damas

MD, MSCTI
Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine, Director of Translational Studies for the Crohn's and Colitis Center
University of Miami Miller School of Medicine

Oriana M. Damas, MD, MSCTI, is an Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. She also serves as the Director of Translational Studies for the Crohn’s and Colitis Center. Dr. Damas earned her medical degree from the University of Miami and completed her training in internal medicine and gastroenterology at the University of Miami and Jackson Memorial Hospital.

Her clinical practice and research focus on the care of patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Dr. Damas has conducted extensive research on environmental factors and the epidemiology of IBD. Her contributions to the field have earned her accolades, including the DREAM Award in recognition of her work with the Hispanic IBD community.

Dr. Damas has significant experience in running clinical trials, including innovative dietary trials, aimed at improving the quality of life for patients with IBD through lifestyle and dietary modifications. She is an NIH-funded researcher and currently serves as the principal investigator for a study developing an anti-inflammatory South Florida diet for IBD patients, which incorporates elements of traditional Latin foods from the region.

She has authored numerous original research articles, and she serves on the Editorial Boards of the prestigious Gastroenterology journal and Crohn’s & Colitis 360. In addition to her research, Dr. Damas is recognized as a national and international leader in her field. She is frequently invited to speak at national and international conferences and is an active member of the AGA n and the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation.

Co-Chair

Millie Long

MD, MPH, FACG
Professor of Medicine
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Millie D. Long MD, MPH earned her doctor of medicine degree at the University of Virginia. She completed a residency and chief residency in internal medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She then completed a gastroenterology fellowship at University of North Carolina. She also completed a fellowship in preventive medicine and a masters of public health in epidemiology at the Gillings School of Public Health. She is board certified in internal medicine, preventive medicine, and gastroenterology. She is currently Professor of Medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at the University of North Carolina, as well as Chief of the Division.

Dr. Long’s clinical practice is at the UNC Multidisciplinary Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IBD) center. Her research interests include prevention of complications of IBD, women’s health and clinical epidemiology. Dr. Long has contributed over 200 peer-reviewed publications, book chapters, and review articles to the literature. She co-authored the 2025 ACG ulcerative colitis guidelines. She serves Co-Editor in Chief of the American Journal of Gastroenterology.

Dr. Long is a fellow of the American College of Gastroenterology where she is a member of the Board of Trustees. She is also a fellow of the American Gastroenterological Association and a member of the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation. Recipient of the 2024 Sherman Prize for Excellence in Crohn’s and Colitis. She is a member of the International Organization for the Study of IBD.

Faculty

Jason Schairer

MD
Director of the Henry Ford IBD Center
Henry Ford Health

Jason Schairer is the Co-Director of the Henry Ford IBD Center in Michigan. His interests include Interventional IBD with a focus on stricturotomy, addressing health care inequity, intimacy and sex in IBD, and improving medical education for providers of all levels. He received his medical degree from Wayne Statue University, and went on to complete a fellowship in gastroenterology at Providence Hospital in Michigan. He previously served as the Associate Program Director of the Henry Ford Gastroenterology and Hepatology fellowship, and continues to be involved in fellow education of IBD across the state of Michigan. He has been recognized for his teaching efforts, high quality care of IBD patients and contributions to patient education.

2:30 - 4:00 PM (EDT)

Nursing Track

  • Co-Moderator
    • Jordan Axelrad, MD, MPH
    • Laurie Powers Yopp, RN
Nursing

IBD Education 101: Understanding Side Effects of IBD Medications

Presenter

Monday, December 07 2:30–2:50 PM
Room Northern Hemisphere E-4
Faculty

Marina Ivanov

PharmD, BCPS, BCACP
Inflammatory Bowel Disease Clinical Specialist Pharmacist
Mayo Clinic Arizona

Marina Ivanov, Pharm.D., BCACP, BCPS, is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science and an Inflammatory Bowel Disease Clinical Pharmacist Specialist at Mayo Clinic–Arizona. She is a clinical leader within a multidisciplinary IBD care team, practicing under a Collaborative Practice Agreement and specializing in the management of complex and severe IBD, with a focus on treat‑to‑target strategies and expanding patient access to advanced therapies. Dr. Ivanov plays a key role in graduate medical education as a residency program developer and preceptor and was recognized with the 2023 Joe L. Rogers Allied Health Teacher of the Year Award. Locally and nationally, she is actively engaged in advancing the role of pharmacists in IBD care, promoting their integration within IBD teams to enhance medication safety, and patient outcomes.

When the Patient Calls Post Procedure: Understanding Procedural Complications

Presenter

Monday, December 07 2:50–3:10 PM
Room Northern Hemisphere E-4
Faculty

Nayantara Coelho-Prabhu

MD
Professor of Medicine
Mayo Clinic Rochester

Dr Nayantara Coelho-Prabhu is Professor of Medicine at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester MN. She also currently serves as the ACG Governor for MN. Her research and clinical interests are in the detection and management of dysplasia in inflammatory bowel disease including advanced endoscopic imaging and resection techniques. She has extensive experience in management of gastrointestinal bleeding and advanced endoscopic therapies in the management of complications of IBD. She has published extensively in this field and mentored mutliple trainees. She also co-leads the artificial intelligence in endoscopy program at the Mayo Clinic Rochester, and is actively involved in the development and validation of endoscopy AI algorithms. The team she leads has developed a first-of its-kind digital endoscopy platform upon which further internal and external projects will exist. One of these already developed is a CADe for dysplastic lesions in IBD. She has spoken at multiple national and international meetings on these topics.

Best Practices in IBD Triage: How to Prioritize Urgent from Non-urgent

Presenter

Monday, December 07 3:10–3:30 PM
Room Northern Hemisphere E-4
Faculty

Laurie Powers Yopp

RN
IBD Nurse Coordinator
University of North Carolina Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center

Laurie Powers Yopp is a Registered Nurse in the role of Inflammatory Bowel Disease Nurse Coordinator at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where she has held that role since 2007. She graduated from the University of North Carolina with a BSN and Highest Honors in 2004. She also holds B.A. degrees in psychology and communications from UNC Chapel Hill. For fun she enjoys tennis and playing with her dogs; Ducky her fluffy samoyed and her mini daschund named Peanut Butter.

Panel: Team Based Care in IBD: A Case-based Approach

Panelist

Team Leader

Monday, December 07 3:30–3:55 PM
Room Northern Hemisphere E-4
Faculty

David Gardinier

RD, CSDH, LD
Registered Dietitian
Cleveland Clinic

David Gardinier, RD, CSDH, LD is an advanced practice registered dietitian specializing in nutrition care for individiuals with Inflammatory Bowel Disease. As a part of the Cleveland Clinic IBD medical home, he works collaboratively within a multidisciplinary care team to support patient with IBD. David's clinical and research interests include peri-operative nutrition in elective Crohn's disease and use of computed tomography as tool to assess nutritional status. He is honored to serve as a member of the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation National Scientific Advisory Committee.

Faculty

Marina Ivanov

PharmD, BCPS, BCACP
Inflammatory Bowel Disease Clinical Specialist Pharmacist
Mayo Clinic Arizona

Marina Ivanov, Pharm.D., BCACP, BCPS, is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science and an Inflammatory Bowel Disease Clinical Pharmacist Specialist at Mayo Clinic–Arizona. She is a clinical leader within a multidisciplinary IBD care team, practicing under a Collaborative Practice Agreement and specializing in the management of complex and severe IBD, with a focus on treat‑to‑target strategies and expanding patient access to advanced therapies. Dr. Ivanov plays a key role in graduate medical education as a residency program developer and preceptor and was recognized with the 2023 Joe L. Rogers Allied Health Teacher of the Year Award. Locally and nationally, she is actively engaged in advancing the role of pharmacists in IBD care, promoting their integration within IBD teams to enhance medication safety, and patient outcomes.

Faculty

Laurie Powers Yopp

RN
IBD Nurse Coordinator
University of North Carolina Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center

Laurie Powers Yopp is a Registered Nurse in the role of Inflammatory Bowel Disease Nurse Coordinator at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where she has held that role since 2007. She graduated from the University of North Carolina with a BSN and Highest Honors in 2004. She also holds B.A. degrees in psychology and communications from UNC Chapel Hill. For fun she enjoys tennis and playing with her dogs; Ducky her fluffy samoyed and her mini daschund named Peanut Butter.

Faculty

Jordan Axelrad

MD, MPH
Associate Professor; Co-Director, Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center at NYU Langone Health
NYU Grossman School of Medicine

Jordan E. Axelrad, MD, MPH, AGAF, FACG, FCCF, is Co- Director of the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center at NYU Langone Health, and an Associate Professor of Medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Medicine, at NYU Grossman School of Medicine. Dr. Axelrad also directs the Clostridioides difficile and immunotherapy- related bowel diseases programs at NYU Langone Health. He received his medical and public health degrees from Tufts University School of Medicine. He completed his internal medicine training at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and fellowship training in gastroenterology at Columbia University Medical Center, serving as chief fellow. Dr. Axelrad is involved in inflammatory bowel disease guideline development and educational programs, and serves on the editorial board of multiple journals. His current research, funded by the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation, the Colton Center for Autoimmunity, and the National Institutes of Health, focuses on inflammatory bowel disease epidemiology, malignant and infectious complications of inflammatory bowel disease, triggers of inflammatory bowel disease onset and flare, and models for predicting responsiveness to inflammatory bowel disease therapies. Dr. Axelrad has also received several awards for his work including the Auxiliary of the American College of Gastroenterology Award, the Dr. Philip Moskowitz Prize in Autoimmunity, and the Sherman Emerging Leader Prize for Excellence in Crohn’s and Colitis.

Wrap Up

Presenter

Monday, December 07 3:55–4:00 PM
Room Northern Hemisphere E-4
Faculty

Laurie Powers Yopp

RN
IBD Nurse Coordinator
University of North Carolina Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center

Laurie Powers Yopp is a Registered Nurse in the role of Inflammatory Bowel Disease Nurse Coordinator at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where she has held that role since 2007. She graduated from the University of North Carolina with a BSN and Highest Honors in 2004. She also holds B.A. degrees in psychology and communications from UNC Chapel Hill. For fun she enjoys tennis and playing with her dogs; Ducky her fluffy samoyed and her mini daschund named Peanut Butter.

Pediatric Track

  • Co-Moderator
    • Eric Benchimol, MD, PhD, FRCPC
    • Trusha Patel, MD
Pediatric

Prediction and Prevention of Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Presenter

Monday, December 07 2:30–2:50 PM
Room Northern Hemisphere E-3
Faculty

Elizabeth Spencer

MD, MS
Associate Professor of Pediatric Gastroenterology
Associate Program Director, Pediatric Research Residency
Director, Pediatric IBD Translational Research Program
Co-Director, IBD-Dermatology Multidisciplinary Clinic
Co-Director, IBD Prevention Clinic
Mount Sinai, Icahn School of Medicine, New York, NY

Elizabeth A. Spencer, MD, MS is a pediatric gastroenterologist and Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, specializing in IBD in children and adolescents with a focus on early detection, precision care, and noninvasive monitoring.

Dr. Spencer directs the Pediatric IBD Translational Medicine Program and co-directs the Mount Sinai IBD-Dermatology Clinic, a multidisciplinary program for patients with overlapping IBD and dermatologic immune-mediated diseases. She also co-founded and co-directs the Mount Sinai IBD Prevention Program, which provides proactive care to children and adults at high risk of developing IBD.

Her research leverages large-scale biorepositories and real-world data to evaluate treatment effectiveness and safety in pediatric IBD and to define the preclinical phase of disease. She is Principal Investigator of an NIH K23 award studying multiplex IBD families and an investigator on PCORI- and Helmsley-funded studies, including as Site Principal Investigator and Northeast Region Lead for COMPARE. A certified guideline methodologist, she contributes to ACG and NASPGHAN guideline development and leads national efforts to standardize intestinal ultrasound training and care pathways.

Dr. Spencer received her MD with honors (AOA, GHHS) from Eastern Virginia Medical School and completed pediatric residency at UCLA, followed by pediatric gastroenterology and advanced IBD fellowships and a master's in clinical research at Mount Sinai. Recent honors include consecutive Cullman Family Awards for physician communication and two Team Science Awards. An IBD patient herself, diagnosed at 15, she is deeply committed to advancing pediatric-centered innovation in IBD prevention, diagnosis, and treatment.

Liver Disease in IBD

Presenter

Monday, December 07 2:50–3:10 PM
Room Northern Hemisphere E-3
Faculty

Amanda Ricciuto

MD, PhD, FRCPC
Gastroenterologist
The Hospital for Sick Children

Dr. Amanda Ricciuto completed her medical degree and General Paediatrics training in Montreal at McGill University. She then moved to Toronto to complete fellowship training in Paediatric Gastroenterology at SickKids, including advanced training in the management of paediatric inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). During that time, she obtained a PhD in Clinical Epidemiology and Health Care Research at the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation at the University of Toronto. Her PhD focused on IBD-associated liver disease, with an emphasis on primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC).

Areas of Specialty
Dr. Ricciuto’s areas of specialty include paediatric inflammatory bowel disease and IBD-associated liver disease, particularly primary sclerosing cholangitis.

Research Interests
Dr. Ricciuto’s research interests include paediatric IBD generally, as well as the complex inter-relationship between IBD and primary sclerosing cholangitis. Her work has served to better delineate the phenotype of PSC-associated IBD in children and to guide monitoring strategies in this population. From a methodologic standpoint, she has expertise in longitudinal data analysis.

2026 Pediatric IBD Year in Review

Presenter

Monday, December 07 3:10–3:40 PM
Room Northern Hemisphere E-3
Faculty

Eric Benchimol

MD, PhD, FRCPC
Northbridge Chair in Inflammatory Bowel Disease, Professor of Paediatrics and Clinical Epidemiology
SickKids Inflammatory Bowel Disease Centre, The Hospital for Sick Children, University of Toronto

Eric Benchimol is the co-Chair of the Pediatric Track of Advances in Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (AIBD). He holds the Northbridge Chair of Inflammatory Bowel Disease at the SickKids Inflammatory Bowel Disease Centre. He is a Professor of Paediatrics and Clinical Epidemiology at University of Toronto. He is a pediatric gastroenterologist and Associate Program Director of the GI Fellowship program at SickKids Hospital in Toronto. Dr. Benchimol is also an epidemiologist, and chairs the Canadian Gastro-Intestinal Epidemiology Consortium (CanGIEC), which conducts epidemiology, pharmaco-epidemiology, outcomes, and health services research using the health administrative data from multiple provinces. He also has an interest in improving the research methodology and transparency of research using routinely collected health data. In that capacity, he co-Chairs the RECORD (REporting of studies Conducted using Observational Routinely collected data) Steering Committee which has produced multiple reporting guidelines. Dr. Benchimol is Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of the Canadian Association of Gastroenterology.

Q&A and Key Take-away Points

Moderator

Panelist

Monday, December 07 3:40–4:00 PM
Room Northern Hemisphere E-3
Faculty

Trusha Patel

MD
Attending Physician/Assistant Professor of Pediatrics
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia/University of Pennsylvania

Trusha Patel, MD, is an attending pediatric gastroenterologist in the Very Early Onset Inflammatory Bowel Disease (VEO-IBD) Program and the Center for Pediatric IBD at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and is an Assistant Professor of Clinical Pediatrics at The University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Patel completed her undergraduate education at The Pennsylvania State University and her medical education at Duke University School of Medicine. She completed her general pediatrics residency and pediatric gastroenterology fellowship at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Her clinical practice and academic work focus on VEO-IBD and pediatric IBD. She is a physician leader in the quality improvement group in the IBD Center at CHOP and is an active member of the North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition (NASPGHAN) and ImproveCareNow (ICN). She has co-authored multiple peer-reviewed research publications and book chapters about IBD and VEO-IBD. Dr. Patel is dedicated to providing personalized, comprehensive and compassionate care for children and young adults living with VEO-IBD and IBD.

Faculty

Eric Benchimol

MD, PhD, FRCPC
Northbridge Chair in Inflammatory Bowel Disease, Professor of Paediatrics and Clinical Epidemiology
SickKids Inflammatory Bowel Disease Centre, The Hospital for Sick Children, University of Toronto

Eric Benchimol is the co-Chair of the Pediatric Track of Advances in Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (AIBD). He holds the Northbridge Chair of Inflammatory Bowel Disease at the SickKids Inflammatory Bowel Disease Centre. He is a Professor of Paediatrics and Clinical Epidemiology at University of Toronto. He is a pediatric gastroenterologist and Associate Program Director of the GI Fellowship program at SickKids Hospital in Toronto. Dr. Benchimol is also an epidemiologist, and chairs the Canadian Gastro-Intestinal Epidemiology Consortium (CanGIEC), which conducts epidemiology, pharmaco-epidemiology, outcomes, and health services research using the health administrative data from multiple provinces. He also has an interest in improving the research methodology and transparency of research using routinely collected health data. In that capacity, he co-Chairs the RECORD (REporting of studies Conducted using Observational Routinely collected data) Steering Committee which has produced multiple reporting guidelines. Dr. Benchimol is Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of the Canadian Association of Gastroenterology.

Faculty

Amanda Ricciuto

MD, PhD, FRCPC
Gastroenterologist
The Hospital for Sick Children

Dr. Amanda Ricciuto completed her medical degree and General Paediatrics training in Montreal at McGill University. She then moved to Toronto to complete fellowship training in Paediatric Gastroenterology at SickKids, including advanced training in the management of paediatric inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). During that time, she obtained a PhD in Clinical Epidemiology and Health Care Research at the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation at the University of Toronto. Her PhD focused on IBD-associated liver disease, with an emphasis on primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC).

Areas of Specialty
Dr. Ricciuto’s areas of specialty include paediatric inflammatory bowel disease and IBD-associated liver disease, particularly primary sclerosing cholangitis.

Research Interests
Dr. Ricciuto’s research interests include paediatric IBD generally, as well as the complex inter-relationship between IBD and primary sclerosing cholangitis. Her work has served to better delineate the phenotype of PSC-associated IBD in children and to guide monitoring strategies in this population. From a methodologic standpoint, she has expertise in longitudinal data analysis.

Faculty

Elizabeth Spencer

MD, MS
Associate Professor of Pediatric Gastroenterology
Associate Program Director, Pediatric Research Residency
Director, Pediatric IBD Translational Research Program
Co-Director, IBD-Dermatology Multidisciplinary Clinic
Co-Director, IBD Prevention Clinic
Mount Sinai, Icahn School of Medicine, New York, NY

Elizabeth A. Spencer, MD, MS is a pediatric gastroenterologist and Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, specializing in IBD in children and adolescents with a focus on early detection, precision care, and noninvasive monitoring.

Dr. Spencer directs the Pediatric IBD Translational Medicine Program and co-directs the Mount Sinai IBD-Dermatology Clinic, a multidisciplinary program for patients with overlapping IBD and dermatologic immune-mediated diseases. She also co-founded and co-directs the Mount Sinai IBD Prevention Program, which provides proactive care to children and adults at high risk of developing IBD.

Her research leverages large-scale biorepositories and real-world data to evaluate treatment effectiveness and safety in pediatric IBD and to define the preclinical phase of disease. She is Principal Investigator of an NIH K23 award studying multiplex IBD families and an investigator on PCORI- and Helmsley-funded studies, including as Site Principal Investigator and Northeast Region Lead for COMPARE. A certified guideline methodologist, she contributes to ACG and NASPGHAN guideline development and leads national efforts to standardize intestinal ultrasound training and care pathways.

Dr. Spencer received her MD with honors (AOA, GHHS) from Eastern Virginia Medical School and completed pediatric residency at UCLA, followed by pediatric gastroenterology and advanced IBD fellowships and a master's in clinical research at Mount Sinai. Recent honors include consecutive Cullman Family Awards for physician communication and two Team Science Awards. An IBD patient herself, diagnosed at 15, she is deeply committed to advancing pediatric-centered innovation in IBD prevention, diagnosis, and treatment.

Surgery Track

  • Co-Moderator
    • Jean Ashburn, MD, FACS, FASCRS
    • Anthony de Buck van Overstraeten, MD, MSc
Surgery

Debate: The Little Organ with a Big Debate: Appendectomy in UC—Friend or Foe?

Co-Presenter

Monday, December 07 2:30–3:00 PM
Room Northern Hemisphere E-2
Faculty

Asher Kornbluth

MD
Clinical Professor of Medicine
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

Asher Kornbluth, MD, is a Clinical Professor of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York. He was elected to the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society for which he was selected as an Honored Educator and again as an Honored Clinician. He has been awarded the Solomon Berson Award at Mount Sinai for “Outstanding Physician, Teacher and Role Model”. He has been selected as Teacher of the Year for 6 consecutive years at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine. He is the recipient of the William Dock Award Lifetime Teaching Award by the State University of New York Downstate. He has been recognized by his peers annually among the Best Doctors and Top Doctors for over 30 years. He is been the Founder and Co-Director for the last 18 years of the annual “Mount Sinai IBD Consultant’s Course: The Evidence and the Experience” and has been an Associate Editor for the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Journal, and is on the Editorial Board of Gastroenterology and Hepatology. He is the Principal Author of the first 3 editions of the American College of Gastroenterology Ulcerative Practice Guidelines and has published over 100 papers, abstracts, and book chapters, and is an investigator on multiple clinical trials of novel agents. His recent research interests involve the role of overweight and obesity, visceral adiposity, and response to therapies in IBD.

Faculty

Paulo Kotze

MD, MSc, PhD
Professor of Health Sciences
Catholic University of Paraná - PUCPR

Paulo Gustavo Kotze is Adjunct Senior Professor of Surgery at the Catholic University in Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil. He rcompleted his General Surgery training at the Evangelical University Hospital in Curitiba (2000). He also completed his senior Fellowship in Colorectal Surgery at the Clinics Hospital from the Federal University of Parana (2002). Dr. Kotze achieved his Masters' Degree on Surgery at the Catholic University in 2008 and joined the faculty of medicine at the same university in 2011. He achieved his PhD degree studying the influence of biological therapy on surgical outcomes in Crohn´s disease, in the University of Campinas, in São Paulo, Brazil (UNICAMP) in 2015. Dr. Kotze was also an IBD advanced visiting fellow in the IBD unit at the University of Calgary (Cumming school of medicine), Canada, for the period of 2017-2018. Dr. Kotze is an experienced IBD surgeon and author of 3 books, 250+ pubmed peer-reviewed articles and multiple book chapters focused on Crohn´s disease and ulcerative colitis. He has special interest in the fields of biological therapy, epidemiology and surgery in IBD. Dr. Kotze was formely a committee member of S-ECCO (surgeons of ECCO) from 2015-2018 and a member of the ECCO EduCOM (educational committee), 2018-2021. He is an active member from the International Organization of Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IOIBD). Currently, he is Professor of the Health Sciences Postgraduate Program at the Catholic University of Paraná, in Curitiba, Brazil. Dr Kotze is also a senior researcher for the National Brazilian Council of Research (CNPq).

When a Pouch Isn’t the Only Answer: Alternative Surgical Approaches in Ulcerative Colitis

Invited Co-Team Leader

Panelist

Monday, December 07 3:00–3:30 PM
Room Northern Hemisphere E-2
Faculty

Jean Ashburn

MD, FACS, FASCRS
Associate Professor of Surgery
Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist

Dr. Jean Ashburn is an Associate Professor of Surgery and a Faculty Colorectal surgeon at Atrium Health Wake Forest in Winston-Salem, NC. She is a graduate of Wake Forest University School of Medicine and finished her residency in General Surgery at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She then completed a fellowship in Colorectal Surgery at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation in Cleveland, Ohio, where she was a staff surgeon prior to joining the Department of Surgery at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center. She has particular clinical and research interests in complex inflammatory bowel disease and J pouch surgery, reoperative pelvic surgery, and corrective/restorative surgery of the lower gastrointestinal tract.

Faculty

Anthony de Buck van Overstraeten

MD, MSc
Colorectal Surgeon
Cleveland Clinic Ohio

Dr. Anthony de Buck, MD, MSc, is a colorectal surgeon and internationally recognized expert in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). He currently practices at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, where he serves as colorectal surgeon and Lead of the IBD Section within the Department of Colorectal Surgery. He also holds an academic appointment as Visiting Associate Professor of Surgery at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University.
Dr. de Buck recently transitioned from Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto, where he was a colorectal surgeon and Associate Professor of Surgery at the University of Toronto.
He earned his medical degree at the University of Leuven, where he also completed his surgical and colorectal training. In 2013, he completed a colorectal fellowship at the University of Toronto, refining his expertise under the mentorship of leading experts in the field. He also holds a Master’s Degree in Clinical Epidemiology from the University of Toronto, equipping him with advanced research methodology skills.
Dr. de Buck’s research focuses on clinical outcomes in IBD, particularly functional results and quality of life. He has led and contributed to several multi-institutional studies and randomized controlled trials, supported by peer-reviewed funding. His work continues to shape surgical care for patients with IBD.
An engaged educator and academic leader, Dr. de Buck remains actively involved in teaching and mentorship. He is widely recognized for his contributions to patient-centered innovation in colorectal surgery.

Faculty

Maia Kayal

MD, MS
Associate Professor
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

Dr. Maia Kayal is an Associate Professor in the Division of Gastroenterology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and The Susan and Leonard Feinstein IBD Center. She graduated from New York University School of Medicine Alpha Omega Alpha. She then completed her internal medicine residency at Columbia University Medical Center-New York Presbyterian Hospital and fellowship training in gastroenterology at the Mount Sinai Hospital. Dr. Kayal's research in inflammatory conditions of the ileal pouch is funded by the NIH, Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation, and Rainin Foundation. She is a former ACG Young Physicians Leadership Scholar and AGA Future Leader.

Faculty

Paulo Kotze

MD, MSc, PhD
Professor of Health Sciences
Catholic University of Paraná - PUCPR

Paulo Gustavo Kotze is Adjunct Senior Professor of Surgery at the Catholic University in Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil. He rcompleted his General Surgery training at the Evangelical University Hospital in Curitiba (2000). He also completed his senior Fellowship in Colorectal Surgery at the Clinics Hospital from the Federal University of Parana (2002). Dr. Kotze achieved his Masters' Degree on Surgery at the Catholic University in 2008 and joined the faculty of medicine at the same university in 2011. He achieved his PhD degree studying the influence of biological therapy on surgical outcomes in Crohn´s disease, in the University of Campinas, in São Paulo, Brazil (UNICAMP) in 2015. Dr. Kotze was also an IBD advanced visiting fellow in the IBD unit at the University of Calgary (Cumming school of medicine), Canada, for the period of 2017-2018. Dr. Kotze is an experienced IBD surgeon and author of 3 books, 250+ pubmed peer-reviewed articles and multiple book chapters focused on Crohn´s disease and ulcerative colitis. He has special interest in the fields of biological therapy, epidemiology and surgery in IBD. Dr. Kotze was formely a committee member of S-ECCO (surgeons of ECCO) from 2015-2018 and a member of the ECCO EduCOM (educational committee), 2018-2021. He is an active member from the International Organization of Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IOIBD). Currently, he is Professor of the Health Sciences Postgraduate Program at the Catholic University of Paraná, in Curitiba, Brazil. Dr Kotze is also a senior researcher for the National Brazilian Council of Research (CNPq).

Faculty

Nicholas McKenna

MD, MS
Assistant Professor of Surgery
Mayo Clinic

Nicholas P. McKenna, MD, MS, is an Assistant Professor of Surgery at the Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine and a colorectal surgeon in the Division of Colon and Rectal Surgery at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. He completed his general surgery residency and colon and rectal surgery fellowship at Mayo Clinic. Dr. McKenna’s clinical and research interests focus on inflammatory bowel disease and quality improvement in colorectal surgery. He is also actively involved in education as an Associate Program Director of the Mayo Clinic Colon and Rectal Surgery Fellowship Program.

Perianal Crohn’s Disease: Surgical Management Revealed Through Video (Short Video Session)

Co-Presenter

Monday, December 07 3:30–4:00 PM
Room Northern Hemisphere E-2
Faculty

Phillip Fleshner

MD, FASCRS
Director, Colorectal Surgery Research
Cedars Sinai Medical Center

Phillip R. Fleshner, MD is the Director of Colorectal Surgery Research at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. He holds the Shierley, Jesslyne, and Emmeline Widjaja Chair in Colorectal Surgery.

Dr. Fleshner's main clinical and research interests are directed towards optimizing outcomes and techniques in the surgical management of Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis.

Dr. Fleshner has written numerous articles for peer-reviewed publications, including the Annals of Surgery, Journal of the American College of Surgeons, Diseases of the Colon and Rectum, Gut and the American Journal of Surgery.

Dr. Fleshner received his bachelor's degree from McGill University and his medical degree from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. He completed his General Surgery Residency at the Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York and his Colorectal Surgery Fellowship at the Lahey Clinic in Boston.

He received the Sherman Prize in 2021.

Faculty

Nicholas McKenna

MD, MS
Assistant Professor of Surgery
Mayo Clinic

Nicholas P. McKenna, MD, MS, is an Assistant Professor of Surgery at the Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine and a colorectal surgeon in the Division of Colon and Rectal Surgery at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. He completed his general surgery residency and colon and rectal surgery fellowship at Mayo Clinic. Dr. McKenna’s clinical and research interests focus on inflammatory bowel disease and quality improvement in colorectal surgery. He is also actively involved in education as an Associate Program Director of the Mayo Clinic Colon and Rectal Surgery Fellowship Program.

Faculty

David Schwartzberg

MD
Associate Professor of Surgery
Hofstra Zucker School of Medicine.

David Schwartzberg, MD is a double-board certified colorectal surgeon who specializes in the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease, including redo/corrective pelvic pouch surgery in the Center for Advanced IBD at Northwell Health. He completed his general surgery training at NYU & Bellevue Hospital, a colorectal fellowship at Cleveland Clinic and an complex IBD & J-pouch surgery fellowship at NYU's IBD Center.
He is currently at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City and serves as the director of reoperative surgery & the intestinal fistula center.

3:20 - 4:00 PM (EDT)

Clinical Breakout: Rotation 2

Clinical Breakout

Let's Talk About Sex and IBD

Invited Co-Team Leader

Panelist

Monday, December 07 3:20–4:00 PM
Room Southern Hemisphere III
Clinical Breakout
Faculty

Raymond Cross

MD, MS, AGAF, FACG
Director
Melissa L Posner Institute for Digestive Health & Liver Disease, Mercy Medical Center

Raymond K. Cross, MD, MS, AGAF, FACG completed undergraduate training at Washington and Jefferson College and attended medical school at the University of Pittsburgh. He completed internal medicine residency and gastroenterology and Hepatology fellowship training at the University of Maryland Medical Center and Baltimore Veterans Affairs. Prior to fellowship, he was a Chief Medical Resident. He obtained a Master’s Degree in Clinical Research at the University of Maryland, Baltimore. He joined the faculty at the University of Maryland and served as Director of the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Program from 2004 to 2024. In July 2024, he joined the faculty at the Melissa L. Posner Institute for Digestive Health & Liver Disease at Mercy Medical Center where he is Director of the Center for Inflammatory Bowel and Colorectal Diseases.
He has published over 200 peer reviewed manuscripts, review articles, and book chapters and has obtained research funding from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation, and the American College of Gastroenterology. He is past Chair of the Patient Education and Clinical Research Committees and Clinical Research Alliance for the Foundation. He is the Co-Chair of the Regional Advances in Inflammatory Bowel Disease Course, Scientific Co-Director of the CorEvitas Registry, and past Course Director for the American College of Gastroenterology’s Eastern Regional Course. He is Governor for Maryland for the American College of Gastroenterology, a member of the American College of Gastroenterology’s Research Committee, and Senior Associate Editor of the American Journal of Gastroenterology.

Faculty

Jessica Salwen-Deremer

PhD
Associate Professor of Psychiatry & Medicine
Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center

Jessiy Salwen-Deremer, Ph.D., DBSM, is the Director of Behavioral Medicine for Digestive Health at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center and an Associate Professor of Psychiatry & Medicine at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth. Her clinical and research expertise encompasses two areas: understanding and treating sleep disorders in people with inflammatory bowel disease and improving access to gastrointestinal behavioral health care. Research initiatives have been supported by institutional, foundation, and NIH funding, with current work focusing on understanding how treatment of insomnia in IBD can impact other symptoms, such as abdominal pain and fatigue. Across areas of research and practice, she also focuses on the integration of remote technologies to enhance patient engagement and participation.

Faculty

Audrey Bennett

MD
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Vanderbilt University Medical Center

Dr. Audrey Bennett is an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee. She earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Minnesota Duluth and her medical degree from the University of Minnesota. She completed Internal Medicine residency, Gastroenterology fellowship, and Advanced Inflammatory Bowel Disease fellowship at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. During her residency and fellowship, she also received additional training certificates in biomedical ethics and LGBTQ+ health. She specializes in the care of patients with IBD and started as faculty at the Vanderbilt IBD Clinic in 2023.

Faculty

Jessica Caron

MEd., M.S.
Patient Advocate
Chronically-Jess.com

Jessica Caron, MEd, MS is a healthcare and human services professional and patient advocate in the Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) community. As a nationally-recognized speaker on patient advocacy, Jessica shares her experience as a patient living with Crohn’s disease, advocating for a co-facilitated approach to advancing medical care. Jessica was a consensus conference member for the IBDParenthood project, was one of the first patient leaders with the IBD Qorus Project, and has served as an advisor for many organizations and projects within the IBD space. Through social media and her blog, Chronically-Jess.com, she supports patients across the globe. Jessica works within healthcare to connect patient community voices to treatment and service decision-makers through patient engagement research and strategy, focusing on treatment development in advanced and challenging to treatment medical spaces. She has a Psychology degree from the University of Maine, a Master of Education in Human Relations from Plymouth State University, and earned her master’s in Health Care Delivery Science (MHCDS) from Dartmouth College. Jessica currently lives and works in New Hampshire with her husband and two sons.

Faculty

Marla Dubinsky

MD
Chief of Pediatric GI and Nutrition
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

Marla C. Dubinsky received a medical degree from Queen’s University in Canada and completed her clinical pediatric gastroenterology training at Sainte-Justine Hospital, University of Montreal in Quebec, Canada adn her IBD training at Cedars-SInai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA. Dr. Dubinsky is a proud recipient of the 2022 Sherman Prize for Excellence in Crohn’s and Colitis and a 2024 Jacobi Medallion winner for her contibutions to Mount Sinai. Currently, Dr. Dubinsky is Chief of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition, as well as the Co-Director of the Susan and Leonard Feinstein Inflammatory Bowel Disease Clinical Center and Co-director of the Marie and Barry Lipman Preconception and Pregnancy Planning Clinic at Mount Sinai Hospital, New York, She is a Professor of both Pediatrics and Medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine, Her primary research focuses on the influence of genetics and immune responses on the variability in clinical presentations, treatment responses and prognosis of IBD. Her other interests include the impact of IBD on fertility and pregnancy. She has lectured widely both nationally and internationally and has published in over 400 peer reviewed journals including New England Journal of Medicine, Lancet, Gastroenterology, The American Journal of Gastroenterology, The Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition, Inflammatory Bowel Diseases, and of Crohn's and Colitis .

Dermatology in IBD: Real Cases, Real Decisions

Invited Co-Team Leader

Panelist

Monday, December 07 3:20–4:00 PM
Room Southern Hemisphere II
Clinical Breakout
Faculty

Adam Cheifetz

MD
Director, Center for Inflammatory Bowel Disease
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

Dr. Cheifetz is Director of the Center for Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Medical Director of Infusion Services at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. He is also Director of the Harvard Medical School Gastroenterology Clerkship Elective and Associate Director of the Advanced Fellowship in Inflammatory Bowel Disease at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.
Dr. Cheifetz specializes in the treatment of Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, and other inflammatory bowel diseases. In addition to his clinical work, he is involved in multiple research projects relating to IBD and has published over 250 articles and chapters on the subject. His research currently focuses on optimizing the use of biologics through the proactive use of drug concentrations and antibodies, and he has published extensively in this area. Dr. Cheifetz was the first to demonstrate that proactive monitoring of infliximab and adalimumab concentrations and dosing to a therapeutic window improves outcomes when compared to standard of care. Dr. Cheifetz lectures nationally and internationally on IBD. Dr. Cheifetz is also actively involved in teaching and mentoring medical students, residents, and fellows, and is proud to have trained numerous physicians who now specialize in IBD and direct their own centers.

Faculty

Bridget Shields

MD
Associate Professor, Department of Dermatology
University of Wisconsin

Dr. Bridget E. Shields is the Susan Nicholas Fasciano Family Foundation Professor of Inflammatory Skin Diseases, Associate Professor, and Director of the Clinical and Translational Research Program in the Department of Dermatology at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. She completed her dermatology residency at the University of Wisconsin, where she served as Chief Resident, followed by a fellowship in Complex Medical Dermatology at the University of Pennsylvania with specialized training in granulomatous skin diseases, including cutaneous Crohn disesae. Dr. Shields directs the University of Wisconsin's specialized IBD-Dermatology clinic and serves on the inpatient dermatology consultation service, caring for patients with complex inflammatory skin disorders. She also leads the University of Wisconsin Multidisciplinary Sarcoidosis Program, fostering collaboration among clinicians and scientists to improve the understanding and treatment of systemic granulomatous disease.
As a clinician-scientist, Dr. Shields' research focuses on defining the molecular mechanisms underlying skin manifestations of IBD through spatial transcriptomics, multiomics, and translational immunology, with the goal of developing precision diagnostics and targeted therapies.
Dr. Shields has authored more than 70 peer-reviewed scientific publications and numerous invited book chapters. She is a nationally recognized speaker who has delivered invited lectures on skin manifestations of IBD and other inflammatory dermatologic disorders at regional and national scientific meetings.
Her research program has been supported by the Dermatology Foundation Medical Dermatology Career Development Award and the Ann Theodore Foundation, among other competitive funding sources.

Faculty

Oriana Damas

MD, MSCTI
Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine, Director of Translational Studies for the Crohn's and Colitis Center
University of Miami Miller School of Medicine

Oriana M. Damas, MD, MSCTI, is an Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. She also serves as the Director of Translational Studies for the Crohn’s and Colitis Center. Dr. Damas earned her medical degree from the University of Miami and completed her training in internal medicine and gastroenterology at the University of Miami and Jackson Memorial Hospital.

Her clinical practice and research focus on the care of patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Dr. Damas has conducted extensive research on environmental factors and the epidemiology of IBD. Her contributions to the field have earned her accolades, including the DREAM Award in recognition of her work with the Hispanic IBD community.

Dr. Damas has significant experience in running clinical trials, including innovative dietary trials, aimed at improving the quality of life for patients with IBD through lifestyle and dietary modifications. She is an NIH-funded researcher and currently serves as the principal investigator for a study developing an anti-inflammatory South Florida diet for IBD patients, which incorporates elements of traditional Latin foods from the region.

She has authored numerous original research articles, and she serves on the Editorial Boards of the prestigious Gastroenterology journal and Crohn’s & Colitis 360. In addition to her research, Dr. Damas is recognized as a national and international leader in her field. She is frequently invited to speak at national and international conferences and is an active member of the AGA n and the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation.

Co-Chair

Millie Long

MD, MPH, FACG
Professor of Medicine
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Millie D. Long MD, MPH earned her doctor of medicine degree at the University of Virginia. She completed a residency and chief residency in internal medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She then completed a gastroenterology fellowship at University of North Carolina. She also completed a fellowship in preventive medicine and a masters of public health in epidemiology at the Gillings School of Public Health. She is board certified in internal medicine, preventive medicine, and gastroenterology. She is currently Professor of Medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at the University of North Carolina, as well as Chief of the Division.

Dr. Long’s clinical practice is at the UNC Multidisciplinary Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IBD) center. Her research interests include prevention of complications of IBD, women’s health and clinical epidemiology. Dr. Long has contributed over 200 peer-reviewed publications, book chapters, and review articles to the literature. She co-authored the 2025 ACG ulcerative colitis guidelines. She serves Co-Editor in Chief of the American Journal of Gastroenterology.

Dr. Long is a fellow of the American College of Gastroenterology where she is a member of the Board of Trustees. She is also a fellow of the American Gastroenterological Association and a member of the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation. Recipient of the 2024 Sherman Prize for Excellence in Crohn’s and Colitis. She is a member of the International Organization for the Study of IBD.

Faculty

Jason Schairer

MD
Director of the Henry Ford IBD Center
Henry Ford Health

Jason Schairer is the Co-Director of the Henry Ford IBD Center in Michigan. His interests include Interventional IBD with a focus on stricturotomy, addressing health care inequity, intimacy and sex in IBD, and improving medical education for providers of all levels. He received his medical degree from Wayne Statue University, and went on to complete a fellowship in gastroenterology at Providence Hospital in Michigan. He previously served as the Associate Program Director of the Henry Ford Gastroenterology and Hepatology fellowship, and continues to be involved in fellow education of IBD across the state of Michigan. He has been recognized for his teaching efforts, high quality care of IBD patients and contributions to patient education.

Inflammatory Conditions of the Pouch

Invited Co-Team Leader

Panelist

Monday, December 07 3:20–4:00 PM
Room Southern Hemisphere I
Clinical Breakout
Faculty

Hans Herfarth

MD, PhD
Professor of Medicine
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Hans Herfarth is Director of the Multidisciplinary IBD Center at the University of North Carolina. His primary research interests focus on the development and evaluation of novel diagnostic and therapeutic approaches for patients with inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). His work is particularly centered on the conceptualization and conduct of investigator-initiated clinical studies in IBD, supported by funding from the NIH, the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation, and private and industry-associated foundations. Dr. Herfarth has authored more than 350 journal articles, book chapters, and review articles related to IBD.

Faculty

Laura Raffals

MD, MS
Vice Chair, Department of Medicine
Mayo Clinic

Laura Raffals, MD, MS, FACG is Professor of Medicine, Vice Chair, Department of Medicine at Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN. 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’ 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. She is the co-principal investigator for the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation SPARC IBD, a national prospective adult research cohort with IBD study and has published broadly on topics in inflammatory bowel disease.

Faculty

Bincy Abraham

MD, MS, FACG
Professor of Clinical Medicine
Houston Methodist Hospital, Weill Cornell Medical College; Texas A&M University College of Medicine

Bincy P. Abraham, M.D., M.S., AGAF, FACG, FASGE, FCCF is the Distinguished Professor and Director of the Fondren Inflammatory Bowel Disease Program at the Underwood Digestive Diseases Center of Houston Methodist Hospital. She is also the Program Director for the Gastroenterology Fellowship and Associate Program Director of the Advanced IBD Fellowship at Houston Methodist Hospital. She earned her medical degree from University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX, where she continued with residency training in internal medicine and fellowship in gastroenterology. During fellowship, she received specialized training in inflammatory bowel disease and earned her degree in Masters of Clinical Investigation. She also completed a National Visiting Fellow Inflammatory Bowel Disease Rotation program through the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation in Cedars Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles. She has chaired the Southern Regional chapter of the CCFA Medical Advisory Committee, served as president of the Texas Gulf Coast Gastroenterology Society, is involved in national committees for and is a Fellow of the American College of Gastroenterology, American Gastroenterology Association, American Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, and Crohn's and Colitis Foundation. She is trained in and passionate about intestinal ultrasound in IBD patient care.

Faculty

Edward Barnes

MD, MPH
Associate Professor of Medicine; 2021 Sherman Emerging Leader Prize Recipient
University of North Carolina School of Medicine

Edward L. Barnes, MD, MPH is an Associate Professor of Medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology & Hepatology and Co-Director of the Multidisciplinary Inflammatory Bowel Diseases Center at the University of North Carolina of Chapel Hill. Dr. Barnes received his undergraduate and medical degrees from the University of South Carolina. He completed his internship, residency, and chief residency in internal medicine at the University of North Carolina. He completed his gastroenterology fellowship at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts. During his gastroenterology fellowship, Dr. Barnes received a Master of Public Health from the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health. Following his gastroenterology fellowship, Dr. Barnes completed a one year advanced fellowship in inflammatory bowel disease at the University of North Carolina.

Dr. Barnes has a research interest in the epidemiology and clinical outcomes of patients with inflammatory bowel disease. He has a particular interest in improving our understanding of inflammatory conditions of the pouch after restorative proctocolectomy with ileal pouch-anal anastomosis (IPAA). He has received funding from the National Institutes of Health, Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation, American College of Gastroenterology, and American Gastroenterological Association to study clinical outcomes of patients with pouchitis and other pouch-related conditions and to investigate predictors of a complicated disease course after IPAA. Dr. Barnes is the 2021 Sherman Emerging Leader Prize recipient.

Faculty

Alessandro Fichera

FACS, FASCRS
Division Chief Colon and Rectal Surgery
Weill Cornell Medicine NY Presbyterian

Dr. Fichera earned his M.D. from the Catholic University of Rome, completed a General Surgery Residency at the University of Chicago, and a two-year fellowship in laparoscopic and colorectal surgery at Mt. Sinai School of Medicine in New York. He returned to the University of Chicago, where he started and became the first Program Director of the Colon and Rectal Surgery Training Program. He moved to the University of Washington in July 2012 as chief of colorectal surgery and was appointed chief of the section of Gastrointestinal Surgery in 2014 and, in 2016, clinical director of Gastrointestinal Oncology at the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance. In November 2017, he moved to the University of North Carolina as division chief of Gastrointestinal Surgery. In September 2019, he became the Division Chief of Colorectal Surgery at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas, Texas, and, in July 2020, the Surgery Safety and Quality Officer. In October 2024, he joined the Department of Surgery at Weill Cornell Medicine as the Division Chief of Colon and Rectal Surgery. His clinical and research interests include colorectal cancer and inflammatory bowel disease

Endoscopic but Not Clinical Remission

Invited Co-Team Leader

Panelist

Monday, December 07 3:20–4:00 PM
Room Southern Hemisphere IV-V
Clinical Breakout
Faculty

David Hudesman

MD, FACG, AGAF
Director, Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center
NYU Langone Health

Dr. Hudesman is Director of the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center at NYU Langone Health. He is Professor of Medicine at the NYU School of Medicine.

Dr. Hudesman specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and in the provision of integrated, seamless, patient-centered care. His research is focused on the development of biomarkers and evaluation and optimization of new medical therapies for the treatment of both Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.

Dr. Hudesman served on the Educational Affairs Committee of the American College of Gastroenterology, and the Professional Membership Committee of the Crohn’s Colitis Foundation, and is currently on the Quality Committee of the American Gastroenterological Association.

Faculty

Gil Melmed

MD, MS, FACG, AGAF
Director, IBD Clinical Research, F. Widjadja IBD Institute
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center

Gil Y. Melmed, MD, MS, is the Clinical Director of the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Program and Associate Director of the Karsh Division of Digestive and Liver Diseases at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California. He earned his medical degree from Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx, New York, and master of science in clinical research from UCLA School of Medicine, Los Angeles. Dr Melmed completed his gastroenterology fellowship at the University of California, Los Angeles.
He has authored or coauthored more than 250 articles in peer-reviewed journals and several book chapters. Dr Melmed has served as Associate Editor of the American Journal of Gastroenterology, an ad hoc reviewer for several journals, and clinical research editor for Inflammatory Bowel Disease. His research interests include clinical outcomes and quality of care in IBD. He has given invited lectures and presentations nationally and internationally on several clinical topics in inflammatory bowel disease, including quality of care and clinical outcomes. He is a committee member of several professional organizations, including the American College of Gastroenterology and the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation, where he serves as co-chair of the IBD Quality of Care committee. He has led or participated in the development of quality measures for IBD with the American Gastroenterology Association, the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation, and the Canadian Crohn’s and Colitis organizations.

Faculty

Kofi Clarke

MD,FACP,FRCP,AGAF
Professor, Chief, Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Penn State College of Medicine
Penn State Hershey

Dr. Clarke is Professor and Chief of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, at The College of Medicine at Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center. He is also the Graham Jeffries Endowed Professor of Medicine
Fellowships:
-Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition; University of Pittsburgh
-Research Fellowship; Michigan State University
Post Graduate:
-Medicine and Gastroenterology- Imperial College, Royal College of Physicians, London, UK

Additional Qualifications
-Certificate for Leadership Training for Physicians in Academic Medical Centers-
Harvard School of Public Health.
-Certificate of Completion, Penn State Leadership Academy

Clinical and Research Interests:
-Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Celiac Disease.
-Graduate Medical Education.

Faculty

Lisa Malter

MD, FACG
Professor of Medicine
NYU Grossman School of Medicine

Lisa Malter, MD, is a Professor of Medicine at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine, the Director of Education for the NYU IBD Center, Director of the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Clinic at the Bellevue Hospital Center and Director of the Violet Society Mentoring Program.  Dr. Malter’s academic interests include the study of inflammatory bowel disease, patient safety, fellowship education, and career mentoring.    Dr. Malter founded the advanced fellowship in IBD at NYU and has developed educational courses, conferences, and curricula including “IBD 101: A Primer for First-Year Gastroenterology Fellows” a collaboration between NYU and the American College of Gastroenterology.  She has published in The American Journal of Gastroenterology, Clinical Gastro and Hep,  Inflammatory Bowel Diseases and CC360. She is a member of ACG, AGA, and the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation. She serves as the Editor of the ACG Universe, is a member of the ACG Training Committee, the ACG Education Task Force, and is a faculty advisor for the Crohn's &Colitis Foundation's Greater New York Fellows’ Education Committee. Dr. Malter received her medical degree from Rosalind Franklin University/Chicago Medical School, completed her internal medicine internship and residency at The Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, and went on to complete a Gastroenterology fellowship at NYU Langone Medical Center.

Faculty

Nuru Noor

MD PhD
Clinical Lecturer in Gastroenterology
University of Cambridge

Dr Nuru Noor is a Clinical Lecturer in Gastroenterology based at the University of Cambridge in the UK. He also works as a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Medical Research Council Clinical Trials Unit - the largest academic clinical trials unit in Europe. He has a particular interest in novel clinical trial designs, having completed his PhD on this topic. He is keen to bring novel methodological approaches to the field of Gastroenterology, and in particular to IBD - which is his main area of clinical interest and expertise.

4:10 - 5:10 PM (EDT)

CME Satellite Symposia

CME Satellite Symposia

Supported by educational grants from Abivax and Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ, USA.

TL1A and Novel Therapies in IBD

Supported by educational grants from Abivax and Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ, USA.

Symposium Chair

Symposium Speaker

Monday, December 07 4:10–5:10 PM
Room Pacific Hall A-B
Faculty

Jessica Allegretti

MD,MPH, FACG, AGAF
Director, Crohn's and Colitis Center; Associate Professor of Medicine, 2020 Sherman Prize Emerging Leader Recipient
Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School

Dr. Jessica Allegretti currently serves as the Medical Director of the Crohn’s and Colitis Center at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital. In 2020, she received the Sherman Emerging Leader Prize for Excellence in Crohn’s and Colitis. In addition, she developed and leads the hospital’s Fecal Microbiota Transplantation Program and has grown to become and international expert on the topic. Dr. Allegretti cares for patients with inflammatory bowel disease as well as Clostridioides difficile (c.diff) infection. Her research focuses on the intestinal microbiome and the consequences of its derangement, with the goal of understanding the role dysbiosis plays in microbial associated diseases. In addition, her lab focuses on novel therapeutic agents for IBD and she is leading multiple sponsored and investigator initiated drug trials. For more information visit www.allegrettilab.com

Faculty

Florian Rieder

MD
Vice Department Chair, Co-Section Head Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Director of IBD Research; 2019 Sherman Emerging Leader Prize Recipient
Cleveland Clinic

Dr. Rieder is Vice Chair and Co-Director of the IBD section at the Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition at the Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland. His clinical focus is patients with IBD with a special emphasis on the field of pathogenesis, prediction and therapy of intestinal fibrosis. Dr. Rieder has published more than 200 articles and book chapters and has been recognized for his expertise as indicated through invitations to clinical guideline steering committees of the European Crohn’s and Colitis Organization (ECCO). He is lead author of the ECCO guidelines on Ulcerative colitis and lead author of the first ECCO clinical consensus on ‘Diagnosis and Management of Intestinal Fibrosis’. He received multiple international invitations as a speaker, session chair or conference faculty. Dr. Rieder serves as an abstract reviewer for all major GI conferences, he is past associate editor (Clinical and Translational Gastroenterology) and on several editorial boards of medical journals. He is proud of his significant ties to the ECCO, which he served as the chair of Y-ECCO, member of the ECCO operational board, prior Y-ECCO committee member and member of the scientific committee. He is past chair of REACH-IBD and Co-Chair of the Professional Education Committee of the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation. Dr. Rieder is the leading PI on the international Stenosis Therapy and Research (STAR) Consortium with the goal to build a pathway to test anti-fibrotic medications in stricturing Crohn’s disease. He received the Sherman Emerging Leader Prize in 2019.

Co-Chair

Corey Siegel

MD, MS
Director, Walter and Carole Young Center for Digestive Health
Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center

Corey A. Siegel, MD, MS, is the Director of the Walter and Carole Young Center for Digestive Health at the Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, New Hampshire. He is the Constantine and Joyce Hampers Professor of Medicine and a Professor at The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth.

Dr. Siegel received his medical degree from Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston, Massachusetts. He completed his residency in internal medicine at the Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center where he also served as chief medical resident. He then completed a fellowship in Gastroenterology at Dartmouth Hitchcock followed by a fellowship in Inflammatory Bowel Disease at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.

Dr. Siegel’s research interests include understanding risk/benefit tradeoffs in IBD, developing models to predict outcomes in Crohn’s disease, creating tools to facilitate shared decision making, expanding telemedicine services to patients with IBD living in rural locations, and improving the quality of care delivered to patients with IBD. He has been funded by the NIH, AHRQ, the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation, and the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust for this work. Dr. Siegel is the founder of the BRIDGe group, an international research collaborative of IBD investigators. Dr. Siegel was inducted into the International Organization for the Study of IBD (IOIBD) in 2013 and he received the Sherman Prize in 2023. He lives in Hanover, New Hampshire with his wife and three boys.

5:20 - 6:50 PM (EDT)

25 Years of Lessons in IBD

  • Co-Moderator
    • Millie Long, MD, MPH, FACG
    • Corey Siegel, MD, MS
General Session

Lessons from Pediatrics: What Pediatric IBD Taught Us All

Presenter

Monday, December 07 5:20–5:35 PM
Room Pacific Hall A-B
General Session
Faculty

Andrew Grossman

MD
Associate Clinical Chief, Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

Dr. Grossman is the Associate Clinic Chief of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition and Co-Director of the Center for Pediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and the Robert N. Baldassano MD Professor of Clinical Pediatrics at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Grossman has dedicated his career to advancing the quality of clinical care and promoting a multidisciplinary approach for children and adolescents with IBD. He has led national committees for the North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition (NASPGHAN) and ImproveCareNow (ICN). He has been involved with the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation for years, serving on the Board of Directors and the Chapter Medical Advisory Committee for the Philadelphia/Delaware Valley chapter, as well as serving as chair of the Pediatric Affairs Committee on the National Scientific Advisory Committee (NSAC). He has co-authored multiple research publications, is an editor of the Pediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease textbook, and frequently lectures at national scientific meetings.

Lessons from Surgery: Yes We Can Teach the Gastroeterologist Something

Presenter

Monday, December 07 5:35–5:50 PM
Room Pacific Hall A-B
General Session
Faculty

Paulo Kotze

MD, MSc, PhD
Professor of Health Sciences
Catholic University of Paraná - PUCPR

Paulo Gustavo Kotze is Adjunct Senior Professor of Surgery at the Catholic University in Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil. He rcompleted his General Surgery training at the Evangelical University Hospital in Curitiba (2000). He also completed his senior Fellowship in Colorectal Surgery at the Clinics Hospital from the Federal University of Parana (2002). Dr. Kotze achieved his Masters' Degree on Surgery at the Catholic University in 2008 and joined the faculty of medicine at the same university in 2011. He achieved his PhD degree studying the influence of biological therapy on surgical outcomes in Crohn´s disease, in the University of Campinas, in São Paulo, Brazil (UNICAMP) in 2015. Dr. Kotze was also an IBD advanced visiting fellow in the IBD unit at the University of Calgary (Cumming school of medicine), Canada, for the period of 2017-2018. Dr. Kotze is an experienced IBD surgeon and author of 3 books, 250+ pubmed peer-reviewed articles and multiple book chapters focused on Crohn´s disease and ulcerative colitis. He has special interest in the fields of biological therapy, epidemiology and surgery in IBD. Dr. Kotze was formely a committee member of S-ECCO (surgeons of ECCO) from 2015-2018 and a member of the ECCO EduCOM (educational committee), 2018-2021. He is an active member from the International Organization of Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IOIBD). Currently, he is Professor of the Health Sciences Postgraduate Program at the Catholic University of Paraná, in Curitiba, Brazil. Dr Kotze is also a senior researcher for the National Brazilian Council of Research (CNPq).

Lessons from Endoscopy: The Scope Tells the Story

Presenter

Monday, December 07 5:50–6:05 PM
Room Pacific Hall A-B
General Session
Faculty

Nayantara Coelho-Prabhu

MD
Professor of Medicine
Mayo Clinic Rochester

Dr Nayantara Coelho-Prabhu is Professor of Medicine at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester MN. She also currently serves as the ACG Governor for MN. Her research and clinical interests are in the detection and management of dysplasia in inflammatory bowel disease including advanced endoscopic imaging and resection techniques. She has extensive experience in management of gastrointestinal bleeding and advanced endoscopic therapies in the management of complications of IBD. She has published extensively in this field and mentored mutliple trainees. She also co-leads the artificial intelligence in endoscopy program at the Mayo Clinic Rochester, and is actively involved in the development and validation of endoscopy AI algorithms. The team she leads has developed a first-of its-kind digital endoscopy platform upon which further internal and external projects will exist. One of these already developed is a CADe for dysplastic lesions in IBD. She has spoken at multiple national and international meetings on these topics.

Keynote: Lessons in Medical Management: From Trial and Error to Treat-to-Target

Presenter

Monday, December 07 6:05–6:25 PM
Room Pacific Hall A-B
General Session
Faculty

Stephen Hanauer

MD, MACG
Medical Director of Digestive Health Center
Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine

Dr. Hanauer is the Clifford Joseph Barborka Professor of Medicine and Medical Director of the Digestive Health Center at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine since 2014. Dr. Hanauer received his medical degree from the University of Illinois Chicago, and he completed his residency in internal medicine and a fellowship in gastroenterology at the University of Chicago in 1982. In 2014, Dr. Hanauer was named the Medical Director of the Digestive Health Center at Northwestern Medicine and the Clifford Joseph Barborka Professor of Medicine in the Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, where he continues to treat IBD patients and conducts research into new therapies.

Dr. Hanauer is a Fellow and past President of the American College of Gastroenterology (ACG) and the former Chair of the American Gastroenterological Association’s Inflammation, Immunology, and IBD Section. In October 2020, received the Master of the American College of Gastroenterology.

Internationally recognized expert on the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), former chair of the FDA Gastrointestinal Drugs Advisory Committee and advisor on the development of multiple leading IBD drugs. Dr. Hanauer has expertise in designing and leading clinical studies for IBD related therapies and has acted as a clinical investigator and/or advisor to pharmaceutical companies in the development of most of the leading IBD therapies.

Dr. Hanauer has authored over 500 peer-reviewed journal articles and numerous books and book chapters, abstracts, monographs, and editorials. He has been a reviewer for NEJM, Annals of Internal Medicine, Lancet, Gastroenterology and numerous specialty journals.

Q&A

Co-Moderator

Panelist

Monday, December 07 6:25–6:50 PM
Room Pacific Hall A-B
General Session
Co-Chair

Millie Long

MD, MPH, FACG
Professor of Medicine
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Millie D. Long MD, MPH earned her doctor of medicine degree at the University of Virginia. She completed a residency and chief residency in internal medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She then completed a gastroenterology fellowship at University of North Carolina. She also completed a fellowship in preventive medicine and a masters of public health in epidemiology at the Gillings School of Public Health. She is board certified in internal medicine, preventive medicine, and gastroenterology. She is currently Professor of Medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at the University of North Carolina, as well as Chief of the Division.

Dr. Long’s clinical practice is at the UNC Multidisciplinary Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IBD) center. Her research interests include prevention of complications of IBD, women’s health and clinical epidemiology. Dr. Long has contributed over 200 peer-reviewed publications, book chapters, and review articles to the literature. She co-authored the 2025 ACG ulcerative colitis guidelines. She serves Co-Editor in Chief of the American Journal of Gastroenterology.

Dr. Long is a fellow of the American College of Gastroenterology where she is a member of the Board of Trustees. She is also a fellow of the American Gastroenterological Association and a member of the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation. Recipient of the 2024 Sherman Prize for Excellence in Crohn’s and Colitis. She is a member of the International Organization for the Study of IBD.

Co-Chair

Corey Siegel

MD, MS
Director, Walter and Carole Young Center for Digestive Health
Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center

Corey A. Siegel, MD, MS, is the Director of the Walter and Carole Young Center for Digestive Health at the Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, New Hampshire. He is the Constantine and Joyce Hampers Professor of Medicine and a Professor at The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth.

Dr. Siegel received his medical degree from Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston, Massachusetts. He completed his residency in internal medicine at the Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center where he also served as chief medical resident. He then completed a fellowship in Gastroenterology at Dartmouth Hitchcock followed by a fellowship in Inflammatory Bowel Disease at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.

Dr. Siegel’s research interests include understanding risk/benefit tradeoffs in IBD, developing models to predict outcomes in Crohn’s disease, creating tools to facilitate shared decision making, expanding telemedicine services to patients with IBD living in rural locations, and improving the quality of care delivered to patients with IBD. He has been funded by the NIH, AHRQ, the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation, and the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust for this work. Dr. Siegel is the founder of the BRIDGe group, an international research collaborative of IBD investigators. Dr. Siegel was inducted into the International Organization for the Study of IBD (IOIBD) in 2013 and he received the Sherman Prize in 2023. He lives in Hanover, New Hampshire with his wife and three boys.

Faculty

Nayantara Coelho-Prabhu

MD
Professor of Medicine
Mayo Clinic Rochester

Dr Nayantara Coelho-Prabhu is Professor of Medicine at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester MN. She also currently serves as the ACG Governor for MN. Her research and clinical interests are in the detection and management of dysplasia in inflammatory bowel disease including advanced endoscopic imaging and resection techniques. She has extensive experience in management of gastrointestinal bleeding and advanced endoscopic therapies in the management of complications of IBD. She has published extensively in this field and mentored mutliple trainees. She also co-leads the artificial intelligence in endoscopy program at the Mayo Clinic Rochester, and is actively involved in the development and validation of endoscopy AI algorithms. The team she leads has developed a first-of its-kind digital endoscopy platform upon which further internal and external projects will exist. One of these already developed is a CADe for dysplastic lesions in IBD. She has spoken at multiple national and international meetings on these topics.

Faculty

Andrew Grossman

MD
Associate Clinical Chief, Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

Dr. Grossman is the Associate Clinic Chief of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition and Co-Director of the Center for Pediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and the Robert N. Baldassano MD Professor of Clinical Pediatrics at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Grossman has dedicated his career to advancing the quality of clinical care and promoting a multidisciplinary approach for children and adolescents with IBD. He has led national committees for the North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition (NASPGHAN) and ImproveCareNow (ICN). He has been involved with the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation for years, serving on the Board of Directors and the Chapter Medical Advisory Committee for the Philadelphia/Delaware Valley chapter, as well as serving as chair of the Pediatric Affairs Committee on the National Scientific Advisory Committee (NSAC). He has co-authored multiple research publications, is an editor of the Pediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease textbook, and frequently lectures at national scientific meetings.

Faculty

Stephen Hanauer

MD, MACG
Medical Director of Digestive Health Center
Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine

Dr. Hanauer is the Clifford Joseph Barborka Professor of Medicine and Medical Director of the Digestive Health Center at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine since 2014. Dr. Hanauer received his medical degree from the University of Illinois Chicago, and he completed his residency in internal medicine and a fellowship in gastroenterology at the University of Chicago in 1982. In 2014, Dr. Hanauer was named the Medical Director of the Digestive Health Center at Northwestern Medicine and the Clifford Joseph Barborka Professor of Medicine in the Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, where he continues to treat IBD patients and conducts research into new therapies.

Dr. Hanauer is a Fellow and past President of the American College of Gastroenterology (ACG) and the former Chair of the American Gastroenterological Association’s Inflammation, Immunology, and IBD Section. In October 2020, received the Master of the American College of Gastroenterology.

Internationally recognized expert on the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), former chair of the FDA Gastrointestinal Drugs Advisory Committee and advisor on the development of multiple leading IBD drugs. Dr. Hanauer has expertise in designing and leading clinical studies for IBD related therapies and has acted as a clinical investigator and/or advisor to pharmaceutical companies in the development of most of the leading IBD therapies.

Dr. Hanauer has authored over 500 peer-reviewed journal articles and numerous books and book chapters, abstracts, monographs, and editorials. He has been a reviewer for NEJM, Annals of Internal Medicine, Lancet, Gastroenterology and numerous specialty journals.

Faculty

Paulo Kotze

MD, MSc, PhD
Professor of Health Sciences
Catholic University of Paraná - PUCPR

Paulo Gustavo Kotze is Adjunct Senior Professor of Surgery at the Catholic University in Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil. He rcompleted his General Surgery training at the Evangelical University Hospital in Curitiba (2000). He also completed his senior Fellowship in Colorectal Surgery at the Clinics Hospital from the Federal University of Parana (2002). Dr. Kotze achieved his Masters' Degree on Surgery at the Catholic University in 2008 and joined the faculty of medicine at the same university in 2011. He achieved his PhD degree studying the influence of biological therapy on surgical outcomes in Crohn´s disease, in the University of Campinas, in São Paulo, Brazil (UNICAMP) in 2015. Dr. Kotze was also an IBD advanced visiting fellow in the IBD unit at the University of Calgary (Cumming school of medicine), Canada, for the period of 2017-2018. Dr. Kotze is an experienced IBD surgeon and author of 3 books, 250+ pubmed peer-reviewed articles and multiple book chapters focused on Crohn´s disease and ulcerative colitis. He has special interest in the fields of biological therapy, epidemiology and surgery in IBD. Dr. Kotze was formely a committee member of S-ECCO (surgeons of ECCO) from 2015-2018 and a member of the ECCO EduCOM (educational committee), 2018-2021. He is an active member from the International Organization of Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IOIBD). Currently, he is Professor of the Health Sciences Postgraduate Program at the Catholic University of Paraná, in Curitiba, Brazil. Dr Kotze is also a senior researcher for the National Brazilian Council of Research (CNPq).

6:50 - 8:20 PM (EDT)

Welcome Reception

Monday, December 07 6:50–8:20 PM
Room Atlantic Hall B-C

6:30 - 7:30 AM (EDT)

5k Glow Run

Tuesday, December 08 6:30–7:30 AM

6:45 - 7:45 AM (EDT)

Breakfast Innovation Theater (non-accredited)

Tuesday, December 08 6:45–7:45 AM
Room Northern Ballroom C

8:00 - 8:15 AM (EDT)

Welcome

Co-Chair

Tuesday, December 08 8:00–8:15 AM
Room Pacific Hall A-B
Co-Chair

Millie Long

MD, MPH, FACG
Professor of Medicine
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Millie D. Long MD, MPH earned her doctor of medicine degree at the University of Virginia. She completed a residency and chief residency in internal medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She then completed a gastroenterology fellowship at University of North Carolina. She also completed a fellowship in preventive medicine and a masters of public health in epidemiology at the Gillings School of Public Health. She is board certified in internal medicine, preventive medicine, and gastroenterology. She is currently Professor of Medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at the University of North Carolina, as well as Chief of the Division.

Dr. Long’s clinical practice is at the UNC Multidisciplinary Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IBD) center. Her research interests include prevention of complications of IBD, women’s health and clinical epidemiology. Dr. Long has contributed over 200 peer-reviewed publications, book chapters, and review articles to the literature. She co-authored the 2025 ACG ulcerative colitis guidelines. She serves Co-Editor in Chief of the American Journal of Gastroenterology.

Dr. Long is a fellow of the American College of Gastroenterology where she is a member of the Board of Trustees. She is also a fellow of the American Gastroenterological Association and a member of the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation. Recipient of the 2024 Sherman Prize for Excellence in Crohn’s and Colitis. She is a member of the International Organization for the Study of IBD.

Co-Chair

Miguel Regueiro

MD, FACG
Professor and Chief of Digestive Disease Institute
Cleveland Clinic

Dr. Miguel Regueiro is the Enterprise Chief of Staff and Executive Vice President at Cleveland Clinic, and Professor in the Department of Medicine, Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University.

Dr. Regueiro is the inaugural Chair holder of The Melody and Steve Golding Chair for Digestive Diseases. He served as the Global Chief for the Digestive Disease Institute from 2021 - 2026 before becoming Enterprise Chief of Staff. As Chief of Staff, he is responsible for shaping the healthcare strategy and vision for the national and international Cleveland Clinic sites. He oversees 6,000 physicians and 4.000 advanced practice providers across the enterprise.

Dr. Regueiro’s main clinical and research interest is Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IBD) with a focus on the natural course and medical-surgical management of Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. He leads research on postoperative prevention of Crohn’s disease, as well as developing new models of healthcare, including the first-of-its kind specialty medical home for IBD.

Co-Chair

Corey Siegel

MD, MS
Director, Walter and Carole Young Center for Digestive Health
Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center

Corey A. Siegel, MD, MS, is the Director of the Walter and Carole Young Center for Digestive Health at the Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, New Hampshire. He is the Constantine and Joyce Hampers Professor of Medicine and a Professor at The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth.

Dr. Siegel received his medical degree from Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston, Massachusetts. He completed his residency in internal medicine at the Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center where he also served as chief medical resident. He then completed a fellowship in Gastroenterology at Dartmouth Hitchcock followed by a fellowship in Inflammatory Bowel Disease at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.

Dr. Siegel’s research interests include understanding risk/benefit tradeoffs in IBD, developing models to predict outcomes in Crohn’s disease, creating tools to facilitate shared decision making, expanding telemedicine services to patients with IBD living in rural locations, and improving the quality of care delivered to patients with IBD. He has been funded by the NIH, AHRQ, the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation, and the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust for this work. Dr. Siegel is the founder of the BRIDGe group, an international research collaborative of IBD investigators. Dr. Siegel was inducted into the International Organization for the Study of IBD (IOIBD) in 2013 and he received the Sherman Prize in 2023. He lives in Hanover, New Hampshire with his wife and three boys.

8:15 - 10:15 AM (EDT)

Navigating the Hospitalized IBD Patient

  • Co-Moderator
    • Andrew Grossman, MD
    • Miguel Regueiro, MD, FACG
General Session

Admitting Crohn’s Disease: The GI Playbook for Crohn’s in Crisis

Presenter

Tuesday, December 08 8:15–8:30 AM
Room Pacific Hall A-B
General Session
Faculty

Benjamin Cohen

MD, MAS, AGAF, FCCF
Vice Chair, Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition
Co-Section Head IBD
Cleveland Clinic

Dr. Cohen is a Vice Chair and Co-Section Head and Clinical Director for Inflammatory Bowel Diseases in the Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition at the Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH. Throughout his career, Dr. Cohen has merged clinical care with participation in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) clinical research. His primary research interest has been centered on the safety of biologic medications in the peri-operative period for which he led PUCCINI, a large multi-center clinical study. Dr. Cohen has also been a site primary investigator on Phase 3 IBD pharmaceutical clinical trials and collaborative investigator initiated studies. In addition to his research interests, Dr. Cohen also has a strong commitment to IBD education. He has been a member of the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation Professional Education Committee and a co-founder and former chair of Rising Educators Academics and Clinicians Helping IBD (REACH-IBD); a special committee within the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of America for trainees and junior faculty to promote collaboration, mentorship, and career advancement. The Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation recognized him for his leadership with the Rising Star award in 2018. He currently serves on the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation NSAC as the Chair of Professional Membership. Dr. Cohen has also been an active member of the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) serving on both the Education and Training Committee and Clinical Guidelines Committee.

When Medicine Isn’t Enough for Crohn’s Disease: The Surgeon’s View from the Inpatient Floor

Presenter

Tuesday, December 08 8:30–8:45 AM
Room Pacific Hall A-B
General Session
Faculty

Phillip Fleshner

MD, FASCRS
Director, Colorectal Surgery Research
Cedars Sinai Medical Center

Phillip R. Fleshner, MD is the Director of Colorectal Surgery Research at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. He holds the Shierley, Jesslyne, and Emmeline Widjaja Chair in Colorectal Surgery.

Dr. Fleshner's main clinical and research interests are directed towards optimizing outcomes and techniques in the surgical management of Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis.

Dr. Fleshner has written numerous articles for peer-reviewed publications, including the Annals of Surgery, Journal of the American College of Surgeons, Diseases of the Colon and Rectum, Gut and the American Journal of Surgery.

Dr. Fleshner received his bachelor's degree from McGill University and his medical degree from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. He completed his General Surgery Residency at the Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York and his Colorectal Surgery Fellowship at the Lahey Clinic in Boston.

He received the Sherman Prize in 2021.

Sherman Prize Presentation - Bruce Sands, MD

Tuesday, December 08 8:45–9:00 AM
Room Pacific Hall A-B
General Session

Admitting Acute Severe UC: Taking off in a Storm

Presenter

Tuesday, December 08 9:00–9:15 AM
Room Pacific Hall A-B
General Session
Faculty

Christina Ha

MD, FACG, AGAF
Director, Inflammatory Bowel Diseases Section
Mayo Clinic Arizona

Dr. Christina Ha completed her internal medicine residency and fellowship at the Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine and then received additional training as the Present-Levison Inflammatory Bowel Diseases Fellow at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine. She is Director of the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Section and Associate Professor of Medicine at Mayo Clinic Arizona. Her clinical research interests focus on the impact of aging on the natural history of the inflammatory bowel diseases, especially the pathogenesis and natural history of late-onset IBD. She is also very involved in IBD related trainee educational initiatives and has served on multiple committees within the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation, American College of Gastroenterology, and American Gastroenterological Association.

Acute Severe UC Discharge: Guiding to a Safe Landing

Presenter

Tuesday, December 08 9:15–9:30 AM
Room Pacific Hall A-B
General Session
Faculty

Parambir Dulai

MD
Associate Professor of Medicine, Director of GI Clinical Trials and Precision Medicine
Northwestern University

Parambir S. Dulai, MD, is a board-certified gastroenterologist with clinical and research expertise in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Dr. Dulai is a proud recipient of the 2022 Sherman Emerging Leader Prize by The Bruce and Cynthia Sherman Charitable Foundation that recognizes outstanding achievements in IBD. He is an Associate Professor of Medicine at Northwestern University where he also serves as Director of Precision Medicine for the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology. Dr. Dulai completed his medical school training at Dayanand Medical College in Ludhiana, Punjab, India, and subsequently completed his internal medicine residency and chief residency at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Lebanon, NH, USA. He then went on to complete an NIH sponsored T32 research fellowship and IBD clinical fellowship at the University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA. He spent an additional year of advanced training in clinical trials with Robarts Clinical Trials and in 2019 he was the recipient of the American Gastroenterology Association (AGA) research scholar award focused on personalized medicine. He has a successful NIH funded research program focused on real world evidence generation, clinical trials, and integrating evolving translational technology into mechanism of action studies.

Q&A

Co-Moderator

Panelist

Tuesday, December 08 9:30–10:00 AM
Room Pacific Hall A-B
General Session
Faculty

Andrew Grossman

MD
Associate Clinical Chief, Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

Dr. Grossman is the Associate Clinic Chief of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition and Co-Director of the Center for Pediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and the Robert N. Baldassano MD Professor of Clinical Pediatrics at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Grossman has dedicated his career to advancing the quality of clinical care and promoting a multidisciplinary approach for children and adolescents with IBD. He has led national committees for the North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition (NASPGHAN) and ImproveCareNow (ICN). He has been involved with the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation for years, serving on the Board of Directors and the Chapter Medical Advisory Committee for the Philadelphia/Delaware Valley chapter, as well as serving as chair of the Pediatric Affairs Committee on the National Scientific Advisory Committee (NSAC). He has co-authored multiple research publications, is an editor of the Pediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease textbook, and frequently lectures at national scientific meetings.

Co-Chair

Miguel Regueiro

MD, FACG
Professor and Chief of Digestive Disease Institute
Cleveland Clinic

Dr. Miguel Regueiro is the Enterprise Chief of Staff and Executive Vice President at Cleveland Clinic, and Professor in the Department of Medicine, Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University.

Dr. Regueiro is the inaugural Chair holder of The Melody and Steve Golding Chair for Digestive Diseases. He served as the Global Chief for the Digestive Disease Institute from 2021 - 2026 before becoming Enterprise Chief of Staff. As Chief of Staff, he is responsible for shaping the healthcare strategy and vision for the national and international Cleveland Clinic sites. He oversees 6,000 physicians and 4.000 advanced practice providers across the enterprise.

Dr. Regueiro’s main clinical and research interest is Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IBD) with a focus on the natural course and medical-surgical management of Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. He leads research on postoperative prevention of Crohn’s disease, as well as developing new models of healthcare, including the first-of-its kind specialty medical home for IBD.

Faculty

Benjamin Cohen

MD, MAS, AGAF, FCCF
Vice Chair, Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition
Co-Section Head IBD
Cleveland Clinic

Dr. Cohen is a Vice Chair and Co-Section Head and Clinical Director for Inflammatory Bowel Diseases in the Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition at the Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH. Throughout his career, Dr. Cohen has merged clinical care with participation in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) clinical research. His primary research interest has been centered on the safety of biologic medications in the peri-operative period for which he led PUCCINI, a large multi-center clinical study. Dr. Cohen has also been a site primary investigator on Phase 3 IBD pharmaceutical clinical trials and collaborative investigator initiated studies. In addition to his research interests, Dr. Cohen also has a strong commitment to IBD education. He has been a member of the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation Professional Education Committee and a co-founder and former chair of Rising Educators Academics and Clinicians Helping IBD (REACH-IBD); a special committee within the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of America for trainees and junior faculty to promote collaboration, mentorship, and career advancement. The Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation recognized him for his leadership with the Rising Star award in 2018. He currently serves on the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation NSAC as the Chair of Professional Membership. Dr. Cohen has also been an active member of the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) serving on both the Education and Training Committee and Clinical Guidelines Committee.

Faculty

Parambir Dulai

MD
Associate Professor of Medicine, Director of GI Clinical Trials and Precision Medicine
Northwestern University

Parambir S. Dulai, MD, is a board-certified gastroenterologist with clinical and research expertise in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Dr. Dulai is a proud recipient of the 2022 Sherman Emerging Leader Prize by The Bruce and Cynthia Sherman Charitable Foundation that recognizes outstanding achievements in IBD. He is an Associate Professor of Medicine at Northwestern University where he also serves as Director of Precision Medicine for the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology. Dr. Dulai completed his medical school training at Dayanand Medical College in Ludhiana, Punjab, India, and subsequently completed his internal medicine residency and chief residency at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Lebanon, NH, USA. He then went on to complete an NIH sponsored T32 research fellowship and IBD clinical fellowship at the University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA. He spent an additional year of advanced training in clinical trials with Robarts Clinical Trials and in 2019 he was the recipient of the American Gastroenterology Association (AGA) research scholar award focused on personalized medicine. He has a successful NIH funded research program focused on real world evidence generation, clinical trials, and integrating evolving translational technology into mechanism of action studies.

Faculty

Phillip Fleshner

MD, FASCRS
Director, Colorectal Surgery Research
Cedars Sinai Medical Center

Phillip R. Fleshner, MD is the Director of Colorectal Surgery Research at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. He holds the Shierley, Jesslyne, and Emmeline Widjaja Chair in Colorectal Surgery.

Dr. Fleshner's main clinical and research interests are directed towards optimizing outcomes and techniques in the surgical management of Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis.

Dr. Fleshner has written numerous articles for peer-reviewed publications, including the Annals of Surgery, Journal of the American College of Surgeons, Diseases of the Colon and Rectum, Gut and the American Journal of Surgery.

Dr. Fleshner received his bachelor's degree from McGill University and his medical degree from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. He completed his General Surgery Residency at the Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York and his Colorectal Surgery Fellowship at the Lahey Clinic in Boston.

He received the Sherman Prize in 2021.

Faculty

Christina Ha

MD, FACG, AGAF
Director, Inflammatory Bowel Diseases Section
Mayo Clinic Arizona

Dr. Christina Ha completed her internal medicine residency and fellowship at the Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine and then received additional training as the Present-Levison Inflammatory Bowel Diseases Fellow at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine. She is Director of the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Section and Associate Professor of Medicine at Mayo Clinic Arizona. Her clinical research interests focus on the impact of aging on the natural history of the inflammatory bowel diseases, especially the pathogenesis and natural history of late-onset IBD. She is also very involved in IBD related trainee educational initiatives and has served on multiple committees within the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation, American College of Gastroenterology, and American Gastroenterological Association.

Sherman Emerging Leader Prize Presentation - Sidhartha Sinha, MD

Tuesday, December 08 10:00–10:15 AM
Room Pacific Hall A-B
Sherman Prize

11:15 - 12:15 PM (EDT)

CME Satellite Symposia

CME Satellite Symposia

Supported by an educational grant from Takeda Pharmaceuticals, U.S.A.

Advancing Crohn's Disease Care: Bridging Gaps Through Early Intervention, Monitoring, and Patient-Centered Strategies

Supported by an educational grant from Takeda Pharmaceuticals, U.S.A.

Symposium Chair

Symposium Speaker

Tuesday, December 08 11:15–12:15 PM
Room Pacific Hall A-B
Co-Chair

Millie Long

MD, MPH, FACG
Professor of Medicine
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Millie D. Long MD, MPH earned her doctor of medicine degree at the University of Virginia. She completed a residency and chief residency in internal medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She then completed a gastroenterology fellowship at University of North Carolina. She also completed a fellowship in preventive medicine and a masters of public health in epidemiology at the Gillings School of Public Health. She is board certified in internal medicine, preventive medicine, and gastroenterology. She is currently Professor of Medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at the University of North Carolina, as well as Chief of the Division.

Dr. Long’s clinical practice is at the UNC Multidisciplinary Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IBD) center. Her research interests include prevention of complications of IBD, women’s health and clinical epidemiology. Dr. Long has contributed over 200 peer-reviewed publications, book chapters, and review articles to the literature. She co-authored the 2025 ACG ulcerative colitis guidelines. She serves Co-Editor in Chief of the American Journal of Gastroenterology.

Dr. Long is a fellow of the American College of Gastroenterology where she is a member of the Board of Trustees. She is also a fellow of the American Gastroenterological Association and a member of the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation. Recipient of the 2024 Sherman Prize for Excellence in Crohn’s and Colitis. She is a member of the International Organization for the Study of IBD.

Faculty

Raymond Cross

MD, MS, AGAF, FACG
Director
Melissa L Posner Institute for Digestive Health & Liver Disease, Mercy Medical Center

Raymond K. Cross, MD, MS, AGAF, FACG completed undergraduate training at Washington and Jefferson College and attended medical school at the University of Pittsburgh. He completed internal medicine residency and gastroenterology and Hepatology fellowship training at the University of Maryland Medical Center and Baltimore Veterans Affairs. Prior to fellowship, he was a Chief Medical Resident. He obtained a Master’s Degree in Clinical Research at the University of Maryland, Baltimore. He joined the faculty at the University of Maryland and served as Director of the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Program from 2004 to 2024. In July 2024, he joined the faculty at the Melissa L. Posner Institute for Digestive Health & Liver Disease at Mercy Medical Center where he is Director of the Center for Inflammatory Bowel and Colorectal Diseases.
He has published over 200 peer reviewed manuscripts, review articles, and book chapters and has obtained research funding from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation, and the American College of Gastroenterology. He is past Chair of the Patient Education and Clinical Research Committees and Clinical Research Alliance for the Foundation. He is the Co-Chair of the Regional Advances in Inflammatory Bowel Disease Course, Scientific Co-Director of the CorEvitas Registry, and past Course Director for the American College of Gastroenterology’s Eastern Regional Course. He is Governor for Maryland for the American College of Gastroenterology, a member of the American College of Gastroenterology’s Research Committee, and Senior Associate Editor of the American Journal of Gastroenterology.

Co-Chair

Miguel Regueiro

MD, FACG
Professor and Chief of Digestive Disease Institute
Cleveland Clinic

Dr. Miguel Regueiro is the Enterprise Chief of Staff and Executive Vice President at Cleveland Clinic, and Professor in the Department of Medicine, Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University.

Dr. Regueiro is the inaugural Chair holder of The Melody and Steve Golding Chair for Digestive Diseases. He served as the Global Chief for the Digestive Disease Institute from 2021 - 2026 before becoming Enterprise Chief of Staff. As Chief of Staff, he is responsible for shaping the healthcare strategy and vision for the national and international Cleveland Clinic sites. He oversees 6,000 physicians and 4.000 advanced practice providers across the enterprise.

Dr. Regueiro’s main clinical and research interest is Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IBD) with a focus on the natural course and medical-surgical management of Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. He leads research on postoperative prevention of Crohn’s disease, as well as developing new models of healthcare, including the first-of-its kind specialty medical home for IBD.

12:25 - 1:25 PM (EDT)

Lunch Innovation Theater (non-accredited)

Tuesday, December 08 12:25–1:25 PM

1:35 - 3:20 PM (EDT)

The Spectrum of IBD

  • Co-Moderator
    • Miguel Regueiro, MD, FACG
    • Corey Siegel, MD, MS
General Session

The Art of Talking to the Newly Diagnosed Patient

Presenter

Tuesday, December 08 1:35–1:55 PM
Room Pacific Hall A-B
General Session
Co-Chair

Corey Siegel

MD, MS
Director, Walter and Carole Young Center for Digestive Health
Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center

Corey A. Siegel, MD, MS, is the Director of the Walter and Carole Young Center for Digestive Health at the Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, New Hampshire. He is the Constantine and Joyce Hampers Professor of Medicine and a Professor at The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth.

Dr. Siegel received his medical degree from Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston, Massachusetts. He completed his residency in internal medicine at the Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center where he also served as chief medical resident. He then completed a fellowship in Gastroenterology at Dartmouth Hitchcock followed by a fellowship in Inflammatory Bowel Disease at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.

Dr. Siegel’s research interests include understanding risk/benefit tradeoffs in IBD, developing models to predict outcomes in Crohn’s disease, creating tools to facilitate shared decision making, expanding telemedicine services to patients with IBD living in rural locations, and improving the quality of care delivered to patients with IBD. He has been funded by the NIH, AHRQ, the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation, and the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust for this work. Dr. Siegel is the founder of the BRIDGe group, an international research collaborative of IBD investigators. Dr. Siegel was inducted into the International Organization for the Study of IBD (IOIBD) in 2013 and he received the Sherman Prize in 2023. He lives in Hanover, New Hampshire with his wife and three boys.

Case Discussion: Ostomy Complications

Panelist

Team Leader

Tuesday, December 08 1:55–2:20 PM
Room Pacific Hall A-B
General Session
Faculty

Stephen Hanauer

MD, MACG
Medical Director of Digestive Health Center
Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine

Dr. Hanauer is the Clifford Joseph Barborka Professor of Medicine and Medical Director of the Digestive Health Center at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine since 2014. Dr. Hanauer received his medical degree from the University of Illinois Chicago, and he completed his residency in internal medicine and a fellowship in gastroenterology at the University of Chicago in 1982. In 2014, Dr. Hanauer was named the Medical Director of the Digestive Health Center at Northwestern Medicine and the Clifford Joseph Barborka Professor of Medicine in the Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, where he continues to treat IBD patients and conducts research into new therapies.

Dr. Hanauer is a Fellow and past President of the American College of Gastroenterology (ACG) and the former Chair of the American Gastroenterological Association’s Inflammation, Immunology, and IBD Section. In October 2020, received the Master of the American College of Gastroenterology.

Internationally recognized expert on the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), former chair of the FDA Gastrointestinal Drugs Advisory Committee and advisor on the development of multiple leading IBD drugs. Dr. Hanauer has expertise in designing and leading clinical studies for IBD related therapies and has acted as a clinical investigator and/or advisor to pharmaceutical companies in the development of most of the leading IBD therapies.

Dr. Hanauer has authored over 500 peer-reviewed journal articles and numerous books and book chapters, abstracts, monographs, and editorials. He has been a reviewer for NEJM, Annals of Internal Medicine, Lancet, Gastroenterology and numerous specialty journals.

Faculty

Olga Lavryk

MD, PhD
Colorectal Surgeon
Cleveland Clinic
Faculty

Neilanjan Nandi

MD, FACG, AGAF, FCCF, FACP
Professor of Clinical Medicine, Co-Section Head, Director of Clinical Operations, Penn IBD Program
University of Pennsylvania

Neilanjan Nandi, MD, FACG, AGAF, FCCF, FACP is an Professor of Clinical Medicine at the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania and is the Co-Section Head and Direcotr of Clinical Operations of the University of Pennsylvania Inflammatory Bowel Disease Program. Dr. Nandi specializes in the complex management of Crohn's disease, Ulcerative Colitis and recurrent C. difficile infection (C difficile). He has also authored numerous abstracts, publications and book chapters on the diagnosis and management of IBD, C difficile and various viral, parasitic, mycobacterial and bacterial infections of the GI tract. Aligning with his interests, Dr. Nandi has conducted several clinical trials focused on the clinical impact of stool derived microbiome therapies in C difficile and IBD. Dr. Nandi servies on the Philadelphia/Delaware Valley Crohn's & Colitis Foundation (CCF) Executive Council and on the Medical Advisory Board of the United Ostomy Associates of America (UOAA). He is a founding non-profit board member and Chair of the South Asian IBD Alliance (SAIA) which elevates culturally competent care in South Asian IBD. He has been recognized with the 2019 Philly Take STeps Physician Hero, the 2022 CCF's National Chairman’s Citation Award and the 2024 CCF's Gold Medallion Physician Award. He is the honored recipient of the 2023 Sidney Cohen GI Faculty Teaching Award and the 2024 Radhika Srinivasan GI Faculty award for Professionalism and Humanism at the Perelman School of Medicine.

Faculty

Bridget Shields

MD
Associate Professor, Department of Dermatology
University of Wisconsin

Dr. Bridget E. Shields is the Susan Nicholas Fasciano Family Foundation Professor of Inflammatory Skin Diseases, Associate Professor, and Director of the Clinical and Translational Research Program in the Department of Dermatology at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. She completed her dermatology residency at the University of Wisconsin, where she served as Chief Resident, followed by a fellowship in Complex Medical Dermatology at the University of Pennsylvania with specialized training in granulomatous skin diseases, including cutaneous Crohn disesae. Dr. Shields directs the University of Wisconsin's specialized IBD-Dermatology clinic and serves on the inpatient dermatology consultation service, caring for patients with complex inflammatory skin disorders. She also leads the University of Wisconsin Multidisciplinary Sarcoidosis Program, fostering collaboration among clinicians and scientists to improve the understanding and treatment of systemic granulomatous disease.
As a clinician-scientist, Dr. Shields' research focuses on defining the molecular mechanisms underlying skin manifestations of IBD through spatial transcriptomics, multiomics, and translational immunology, with the goal of developing precision diagnostics and targeted therapies.
Dr. Shields has authored more than 70 peer-reviewed scientific publications and numerous invited book chapters. She is a nationally recognized speaker who has delivered invited lectures on skin manifestations of IBD and other inflammatory dermatologic disorders at regional and national scientific meetings.
Her research program has been supported by the Dermatology Foundation Medical Dermatology Career Development Award and the Ann Theodore Foundation, among other competitive funding sources.

Co-Chair

Miguel Regueiro

MD, FACG
Professor and Chief of Digestive Disease Institute
Cleveland Clinic

Dr. Miguel Regueiro is the Enterprise Chief of Staff and Executive Vice President at Cleveland Clinic, and Professor in the Department of Medicine, Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University.

Dr. Regueiro is the inaugural Chair holder of The Melody and Steve Golding Chair for Digestive Diseases. He served as the Global Chief for the Digestive Disease Institute from 2021 - 2026 before becoming Enterprise Chief of Staff. As Chief of Staff, he is responsible for shaping the healthcare strategy and vision for the national and international Cleveland Clinic sites. He oversees 6,000 physicians and 4.000 advanced practice providers across the enterprise.

Dr. Regueiro’s main clinical and research interest is Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IBD) with a focus on the natural course and medical-surgical management of Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. He leads research on postoperative prevention of Crohn’s disease, as well as developing new models of healthcare, including the first-of-its kind specialty medical home for IBD.

Sherman Prize Presentation - Miguel Regueiro, MD

Tuesday, December 08 2:20–2:35 PM
Room Pacific Hall A-B
General Session

Case Discussion: Mild IBD Not as Easy as You Think

Panelist

Team Leader

Tuesday, December 08 2:35–3:00 PM
Room Pacific Hall A-B
General Session
Faculty

Maria Abreu

MD
Executive Director, F. Widjaja Inflammatory Bowel Disease Institite
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center

Maria T. Abreu, MD, is a physician-scientist and gastroenterologist who specializes in inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). She received her medical degree from the University of Miami School of Medicine and completed a residency in medicine at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital. She served as an Associate Professor of Medicine at Mount Sinai School of Medicine (and head of their IBD Center), a Professor of Medicine and Microbiology & Immunology at the University of Miami School of Medicine (and Director of the Crohn’s and Colitis Center), and currently is the Executive Director of the F. Widjaja IBD Institute at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center; in past years, she has served as the President of the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) and the Chair of the International Organization for the Study of Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IOIBD). Dr. Abreu has 30 years of leadership experience in basic, translational, and clinical research, and has authored almost 300 peer-reviewed articles, book chapters, and reviews. Her work has received multiple awards, including the 2019 Sherman Prize from the Bruce and Cynthia Sherman Charitable Foundation for outstanding achievements in IBD and Healio’s Lifetime Disruptor Award for addressing critical unmet needs in IBD. Her research focuses on interactions between the gut microbiome and the innate immune system in the development of IBD and IBD-associated colon cancer. Currently, Dr. Abreu’s team is investigating how diet may shape the gut microbiome and alleviate IBD symptoms. Understand the underlying mechanisms can help us develop targeted treatment strategies to help patients live their best lives.

Faculty

Adam Cheifetz

MD
Director, Center for Inflammatory Bowel Disease
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

Dr. Cheifetz is Director of the Center for Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Medical Director of Infusion Services at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. He is also Director of the Harvard Medical School Gastroenterology Clerkship Elective and Associate Director of the Advanced Fellowship in Inflammatory Bowel Disease at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.
Dr. Cheifetz specializes in the treatment of Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, and other inflammatory bowel diseases. In addition to his clinical work, he is involved in multiple research projects relating to IBD and has published over 250 articles and chapters on the subject. His research currently focuses on optimizing the use of biologics through the proactive use of drug concentrations and antibodies, and he has published extensively in this area. Dr. Cheifetz was the first to demonstrate that proactive monitoring of infliximab and adalimumab concentrations and dosing to a therapeutic window improves outcomes when compared to standard of care. Dr. Cheifetz lectures nationally and internationally on IBD. Dr. Cheifetz is also actively involved in teaching and mentoring medical students, residents, and fellows, and is proud to have trained numerous physicians who now specialize in IBD and direct their own centers.

Faculty

Alessandro Fichera

FACS, FASCRS
Division Chief Colon and Rectal Surgery
Weill Cornell Medicine NY Presbyterian

Dr. Fichera earned his M.D. from the Catholic University of Rome, completed a General Surgery Residency at the University of Chicago, and a two-year fellowship in laparoscopic and colorectal surgery at Mt. Sinai School of Medicine in New York. He returned to the University of Chicago, where he started and became the first Program Director of the Colon and Rectal Surgery Training Program. He moved to the University of Washington in July 2012 as chief of colorectal surgery and was appointed chief of the section of Gastrointestinal Surgery in 2014 and, in 2016, clinical director of Gastrointestinal Oncology at the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance. In November 2017, he moved to the University of North Carolina as division chief of Gastrointestinal Surgery. In September 2019, he became the Division Chief of Colorectal Surgery at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas, Texas, and, in July 2020, the Surgery Safety and Quality Officer. In October 2024, he joined the Department of Surgery at Weill Cornell Medicine as the Division Chief of Colon and Rectal Surgery. His clinical and research interests include colorectal cancer and inflammatory bowel disease

Faculty

Kelly Issokson

MS, RD, CSDH, CNSC
Senior RD, Outpatient Nutrition
UCSF Health

Kelly Issokson, MS, RD, CSDH, LDN, CNSC is the Senior Registered Dietitian of Outpatient Nutrition at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and a nationally recognized expert in gastrointestinal nutrition. With over 17 years of clinical experience, she specializes in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and surgical nutrition. Ms. Issokson graduated magna cum laude from Johnson & Wales University and earned her MS in Nutrition from California State University, Northridge. She serves on the National Board of the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation and is a leading voice in advancing nutrition as part of multidisciplinary IBD care. She co-developed the Cedars-Sinai IBD Prehabilitation Program and nutrition education training programs for physicians, APPs, and RDs.

Faculty

Amanda Ricciuto

MD, PhD, FRCPC
Gastroenterologist
The Hospital for Sick Children

Dr. Amanda Ricciuto completed her medical degree and General Paediatrics training in Montreal at McGill University. She then moved to Toronto to complete fellowship training in Paediatric Gastroenterology at SickKids, including advanced training in the management of paediatric inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). During that time, she obtained a PhD in Clinical Epidemiology and Health Care Research at the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation at the University of Toronto. Her PhD focused on IBD-associated liver disease, with an emphasis on primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC).

Areas of Specialty
Dr. Ricciuto’s areas of specialty include paediatric inflammatory bowel disease and IBD-associated liver disease, particularly primary sclerosing cholangitis.

Research Interests
Dr. Ricciuto’s research interests include paediatric IBD generally, as well as the complex inter-relationship between IBD and primary sclerosing cholangitis. Her work has served to better delineate the phenotype of PSC-associated IBD in children and to guide monitoring strategies in this population. From a methodologic standpoint, she has expertise in longitudinal data analysis.

Co-Chair

Corey Siegel

MD, MS
Director, Walter and Carole Young Center for Digestive Health
Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center

Corey A. Siegel, MD, MS, is the Director of the Walter and Carole Young Center for Digestive Health at the Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, New Hampshire. He is the Constantine and Joyce Hampers Professor of Medicine and a Professor at The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth.

Dr. Siegel received his medical degree from Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston, Massachusetts. He completed his residency in internal medicine at the Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center where he also served as chief medical resident. He then completed a fellowship in Gastroenterology at Dartmouth Hitchcock followed by a fellowship in Inflammatory Bowel Disease at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.

Dr. Siegel’s research interests include understanding risk/benefit tradeoffs in IBD, developing models to predict outcomes in Crohn’s disease, creating tools to facilitate shared decision making, expanding telemedicine services to patients with IBD living in rural locations, and improving the quality of care delivered to patients with IBD. He has been funded by the NIH, AHRQ, the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation, and the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust for this work. Dr. Siegel is the founder of the BRIDGe group, an international research collaborative of IBD investigators. Dr. Siegel was inducted into the International Organization for the Study of IBD (IOIBD) in 2013 and he received the Sherman Prize in 2023. He lives in Hanover, New Hampshire with his wife and three boys.

Debate: Moderate to Severe Ileocolonic Crohn's IL23 V TNF First

Co-Presenter

Tuesday, December 08 3:00–3:20 PM
Room Pacific Hall A-B
General Session
Co-Chair

Miguel Regueiro

MD, FACG
Professor and Chief of Digestive Disease Institute
Cleveland Clinic

Dr. Miguel Regueiro is the Enterprise Chief of Staff and Executive Vice President at Cleveland Clinic, and Professor in the Department of Medicine, Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University.

Dr. Regueiro is the inaugural Chair holder of The Melody and Steve Golding Chair for Digestive Diseases. He served as the Global Chief for the Digestive Disease Institute from 2021 - 2026 before becoming Enterprise Chief of Staff. As Chief of Staff, he is responsible for shaping the healthcare strategy and vision for the national and international Cleveland Clinic sites. He oversees 6,000 physicians and 4.000 advanced practice providers across the enterprise.

Dr. Regueiro’s main clinical and research interest is Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IBD) with a focus on the natural course and medical-surgical management of Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. He leads research on postoperative prevention of Crohn’s disease, as well as developing new models of healthcare, including the first-of-its kind specialty medical home for IBD.

Co-Chair

Corey Siegel

MD, MS
Director, Walter and Carole Young Center for Digestive Health
Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center

Corey A. Siegel, MD, MS, is the Director of the Walter and Carole Young Center for Digestive Health at the Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, New Hampshire. He is the Constantine and Joyce Hampers Professor of Medicine and a Professor at The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth.

Dr. Siegel received his medical degree from Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston, Massachusetts. He completed his residency in internal medicine at the Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center where he also served as chief medical resident. He then completed a fellowship in Gastroenterology at Dartmouth Hitchcock followed by a fellowship in Inflammatory Bowel Disease at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.

Dr. Siegel’s research interests include understanding risk/benefit tradeoffs in IBD, developing models to predict outcomes in Crohn’s disease, creating tools to facilitate shared decision making, expanding telemedicine services to patients with IBD living in rural locations, and improving the quality of care delivered to patients with IBD. He has been funded by the NIH, AHRQ, the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation, and the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust for this work. Dr. Siegel is the founder of the BRIDGe group, an international research collaborative of IBD investigators. Dr. Siegel was inducted into the International Organization for the Study of IBD (IOIBD) in 2013 and he received the Sherman Prize in 2023. He lives in Hanover, New Hampshire with his wife and three boys.

3:20 - 4:20 PM (EDT)

Exhibit Hall Break

Tuesday, December 08 3:20–4:20 PM
Room Atlantic Hall B-C

4:20 - 5:50 PM (EDT)

IBD in Clinical Practice Today and Tomorrow

  • Co-Moderator
    • James Lewis, MD, MSCE
    • Millie Long, MD, MPH, FACG
General Session

Are We Headed Towards an IBD Epidemic?

Presenter

Tuesday, December 08 4:20–4:35 PM
Room Pacific Hall A-B
General Session
Faculty

Gilaad Kaplan

MD, MPH, FCAHS
Professor, Gastroenterologist
University of Calgary

Dr. Kaplan is a Professor in the Cumming School of Medicine at the University of Calgary. Dr. Kaplan is a gastroenterologist who is internationally renowned for studying the global epidemiology of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). As the corresponding author, he has published in prestigious journals such as Nature, The Lancet and JAMA. He is an Associate Editor of Gastroenterology and an Academic Editor of PLOS Med. Between 2020 and 2025 Clarivate, Web of Science named Dr. Kaplan a Highly Cited Researcher in recognition of being in the top one percent of cited researchers. Dr. Kaplan is a member of the International Organization for the study of IBD (IOIBD). Dr. Kaplan received Canadian Association of Gastroenterology’s Research Leader Award and was inducted into the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences.

AI in Your Practice Today and Are We out of a Job Tomorrow

Presenter

Tuesday, December 08 4:35–4:50 PM
Room Pacific Hall A-B
General Session
Faculty

Prateek Sharma

MD, MASGE, FACP, FACG
Professor of Medicine
University of Kansas School of Medicine

Prateek Sharma, MD, MASGE is currently Professor of Medicine at the University of Kansas School of Medicine. He completed his internal medicine residency at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee and his gastroenterology fellowship at the University of Arizona in Tucson. Dr. Sharma has been at the forefront in improving diagnosis and management of GI diseases and cancer, specifically in advanced imaging and endoscopic treatments. He is a world-renowned physician, teacher, and educator who has been interviewed by the Wall Street Journal and Newsweek.

Dr. Sharma's research has focused on upper gastrointestinal diseases including Barrett's esophagus, esophageal cancer, and gastroesophageal reflux disease. He received the ACG Governors Award for Excellence in Clinical Research. He has over 400 publications, including original articles and book chapters, and is regularly invited to present at major national and international meetings. In addition, he has co-edited several important books. Dr. Sharma has and continues to publish in several high-profile national and international journals, including the New England Journal of Medicine, Annals of Internal Medicine, Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, Gastroenterology, and American Journal of Gastroenterology. Dr. Sharma is currently a Governing Board Member and Treasurer of the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy.

Should All Patients Start Advanced Therapy at Diagnosis?

Presenter

Tuesday, December 08 4:50–5:05 PM
Room Pacific Hall A-B
General Session
Faculty

Nuru Noor

MD PhD
Clinical Lecturer in Gastroenterology
University of Cambridge

Dr Nuru Noor is a Clinical Lecturer in Gastroenterology based at the University of Cambridge in the UK. He also works as a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Medical Research Council Clinical Trials Unit - the largest academic clinical trials unit in Europe. He has a particular interest in novel clinical trial designs, having completed his PhD on this topic. He is keen to bring novel methodological approaches to the field of Gastroenterology, and in particular to IBD - which is his main area of clinical interest and expertise.

Coming Soon: Clinical Trials Today Headed to Your Practice Tomorrow

Presenter

Tuesday, December 08 5:05–5:20 PM
Room Pacific Hall A-B
General Session
Faculty

Bruce Sands

MD, MS, FACG
Chief, Division of Gastroenterology
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

Bruce Sands, MD, MS is the Dr. Burrill B. Crohn Professor of Medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY. Dr. Sands is an expert in the management of IBD and has earned an international reputation for his care of patients with complex and refractory disease. Dr. Sands was awarded his BA and MD from Boston University, and trained in internal medicine at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. After completing GI fellowship at the Massachusetts General Hospital, he joined the faculty of Harvard Medical School and served as the Acting Chief of the Gastrointestinal Unit at MGH before moving to Mount Sinai in 2010 as Chief of the Dr. Henry D. Janowitz Division of Gastroenterology. Dr. Sands is widely recognized for his innovative treatment of IBD and for his clinical investigations of new therapeutics. Dr. Sands' research also explores IBD epidemiology and includes the creation of a population-based cohort of IBD in Rhode Island. Dr. Sands is a past chair of the Clinical Research Alliance of the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of America and served as Chair of the Immunology, Microbiology and Inflammatory Bowel Disease Section of the American Gastroenterological Association. Additionally, Dr. Sands was the Chair of the International Organization for the Study of IBD (IOIBD). In 2016 Dr. Sands was awarded the Dr. Henry Janowitz Lifetime Achievement Award from the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of America, that organization’s highest honor.

Q&A

Co-Moderator

Panelist

Tuesday, December 08 5:20–5:50 PM
Room Pacific Hall A-B
General Session
Faculty

James Lewis

MD, MSCE
Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology
University of Pennsylvania

James Lewis, MD, MSCE, is Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology, Senior Scholar in the Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, LDI Senior Fellow, Vice-Chief for Research (Clinical) in the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine and Chief of Gastroenterology at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Dr. Lewis is a gastroenterologist with a focus on caring for patients with inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) and has conducted clinical research related to IBD for nearly 30 years. His reserach includes epidemiology studies focusing on optimal choice of therapies and treatment patterns and investigator-initiated multicenter clinical trials of medications and behavioral interventions, particulalry related to dietary patterns. His work has been funded by the NIH, AHRQ, CDC, PCORI, and numerous foundations and corporate sponsors. Dr. Lewis is the lead scientist for the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation’s IBD Plexus Research Program. He is an elected member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation and the Association of American Physicians. In 2016, he received the Sherman Prize for Excellence in Crohn’s and Colitis.

Co-Chair

Millie Long

MD, MPH, FACG
Professor of Medicine
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Millie D. Long MD, MPH earned her doctor of medicine degree at the University of Virginia. She completed a residency and chief residency in internal medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She then completed a gastroenterology fellowship at University of North Carolina. She also completed a fellowship in preventive medicine and a masters of public health in epidemiology at the Gillings School of Public Health. She is board certified in internal medicine, preventive medicine, and gastroenterology. She is currently Professor of Medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at the University of North Carolina, as well as Chief of the Division.

Dr. Long’s clinical practice is at the UNC Multidisciplinary Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IBD) center. Her research interests include prevention of complications of IBD, women’s health and clinical epidemiology. Dr. Long has contributed over 200 peer-reviewed publications, book chapters, and review articles to the literature. She co-authored the 2025 ACG ulcerative colitis guidelines. She serves Co-Editor in Chief of the American Journal of Gastroenterology.

Dr. Long is a fellow of the American College of Gastroenterology where she is a member of the Board of Trustees. She is also a fellow of the American Gastroenterological Association and a member of the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation. Recipient of the 2024 Sherman Prize for Excellence in Crohn’s and Colitis. She is a member of the International Organization for the Study of IBD.

Faculty

Gilaad Kaplan

MD, MPH, FCAHS
Professor, Gastroenterologist
University of Calgary

Dr. Kaplan is a Professor in the Cumming School of Medicine at the University of Calgary. Dr. Kaplan is a gastroenterologist who is internationally renowned for studying the global epidemiology of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). As the corresponding author, he has published in prestigious journals such as Nature, The Lancet and JAMA. He is an Associate Editor of Gastroenterology and an Academic Editor of PLOS Med. Between 2020 and 2025 Clarivate, Web of Science named Dr. Kaplan a Highly Cited Researcher in recognition of being in the top one percent of cited researchers. Dr. Kaplan is a member of the International Organization for the study of IBD (IOIBD). Dr. Kaplan received Canadian Association of Gastroenterology’s Research Leader Award and was inducted into the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences.

Faculty

Nuru Noor

MD PhD
Clinical Lecturer in Gastroenterology
University of Cambridge

Dr Nuru Noor is a Clinical Lecturer in Gastroenterology based at the University of Cambridge in the UK. He also works as a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Medical Research Council Clinical Trials Unit - the largest academic clinical trials unit in Europe. He has a particular interest in novel clinical trial designs, having completed his PhD on this topic. He is keen to bring novel methodological approaches to the field of Gastroenterology, and in particular to IBD - which is his main area of clinical interest and expertise.

Faculty

Bruce Sands

MD, MS, FACG
Chief, Division of Gastroenterology
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

Bruce Sands, MD, MS is the Dr. Burrill B. Crohn Professor of Medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY. Dr. Sands is an expert in the management of IBD and has earned an international reputation for his care of patients with complex and refractory disease. Dr. Sands was awarded his BA and MD from Boston University, and trained in internal medicine at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. After completing GI fellowship at the Massachusetts General Hospital, he joined the faculty of Harvard Medical School and served as the Acting Chief of the Gastrointestinal Unit at MGH before moving to Mount Sinai in 2010 as Chief of the Dr. Henry D. Janowitz Division of Gastroenterology. Dr. Sands is widely recognized for his innovative treatment of IBD and for his clinical investigations of new therapeutics. Dr. Sands' research also explores IBD epidemiology and includes the creation of a population-based cohort of IBD in Rhode Island. Dr. Sands is a past chair of the Clinical Research Alliance of the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of America and served as Chair of the Immunology, Microbiology and Inflammatory Bowel Disease Section of the American Gastroenterological Association. Additionally, Dr. Sands was the Chair of the International Organization for the Study of IBD (IOIBD). In 2016 Dr. Sands was awarded the Dr. Henry Janowitz Lifetime Achievement Award from the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of America, that organization’s highest honor.

Faculty

Prateek Sharma

MD, MASGE, FACP, FACG
Professor of Medicine
University of Kansas School of Medicine

Prateek Sharma, MD, MASGE is currently Professor of Medicine at the University of Kansas School of Medicine. He completed his internal medicine residency at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee and his gastroenterology fellowship at the University of Arizona in Tucson. Dr. Sharma has been at the forefront in improving diagnosis and management of GI diseases and cancer, specifically in advanced imaging and endoscopic treatments. He is a world-renowned physician, teacher, and educator who has been interviewed by the Wall Street Journal and Newsweek.

Dr. Sharma's research has focused on upper gastrointestinal diseases including Barrett's esophagus, esophageal cancer, and gastroesophageal reflux disease. He received the ACG Governors Award for Excellence in Clinical Research. He has over 400 publications, including original articles and book chapters, and is regularly invited to present at major national and international meetings. In addition, he has co-edited several important books. Dr. Sharma has and continues to publish in several high-profile national and international journals, including the New England Journal of Medicine, Annals of Internal Medicine, Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, Gastroenterology, and American Journal of Gastroenterology. Dr. Sharma is currently a Governing Board Member and Treasurer of the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy.

6:00 - 6:40 PM (EDT)

Clinical Breakout: Rotation 1

Clinical Breakout

IBD Above the Ligament of Treitz

Invited Co-Team Leader

Panelist

Tuesday, December 08 6:00–6:40 PM
Room Southern Hemisphere IV-V
Clinical Breakout
Faculty

Maia Kayal

MD, MS
Associate Professor
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

Dr. Maia Kayal is an Associate Professor in the Division of Gastroenterology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and The Susan and Leonard Feinstein IBD Center. She graduated from New York University School of Medicine Alpha Omega Alpha. She then completed her internal medicine residency at Columbia University Medical Center-New York Presbyterian Hospital and fellowship training in gastroenterology at the Mount Sinai Hospital. Dr. Kayal's research in inflammatory conditions of the ileal pouch is funded by the NIH, Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation, and Rainin Foundation. She is a former ACG Young Physicians Leadership Scholar and AGA Future Leader.

Faculty

Edward Loftus

MD, FACP, FACG, AGAF
Maxine and Jack Zarrow Family Professor of Gastroenterology
Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science

Edward V. Loftus, Jr. is a gastroenterologist who specializes in the care of patients with complex Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. He is the Maxine and Jack Zarrow Family Professor of Gastroenterology Specifically in IBD at Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science in Rochester, Minnesota, USA. He developed a population-based cohort of inflammatory bowel disease patients which has resulted in over 50 peer-reviewed publications on the epidemiology and natural history of IBD. Professor Loftus has published over 500 original articles, book chapters, or editorials and more than 750 abstracts. He was awarded AGA’s Distinguished Clinician Award and the IMIBD section’s Research Mentor Award in 2019. He has also been awarded the Mayo Department of Medicine Laureate Award twice and the Outstanding Mentorship Award in Research. Professor Loftus has been the principal investigator on several funded studies focusing on the epidemiology and natural history of inflammatory bowel disease and has served as the local PI on multiple clinical trials of investigational agents for IBD. He serves on the steering committees of several clinical development programs in IBD. In the past he has served as Associate Editor for American Journal of Gastroenterology and Inflammatory Bowel Diseases, and currently serves as Associate Editor for Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology.

Faculty

Jordan Axelrad

MD, MPH
Associate Professor; Co-Director, Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center at NYU Langone Health
NYU Grossman School of Medicine

Jordan E. Axelrad, MD, MPH, AGAF, FACG, FCCF, is Co- Director of the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center at NYU Langone Health, and an Associate Professor of Medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Medicine, at NYU Grossman School of Medicine. Dr. Axelrad also directs the Clostridioides difficile and immunotherapy- related bowel diseases programs at NYU Langone Health. He received his medical and public health degrees from Tufts University School of Medicine. He completed his internal medicine training at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and fellowship training in gastroenterology at Columbia University Medical Center, serving as chief fellow. Dr. Axelrad is involved in inflammatory bowel disease guideline development and educational programs, and serves on the editorial board of multiple journals. His current research, funded by the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation, the Colton Center for Autoimmunity, and the National Institutes of Health, focuses on inflammatory bowel disease epidemiology, malignant and infectious complications of inflammatory bowel disease, triggers of inflammatory bowel disease onset and flare, and models for predicting responsiveness to inflammatory bowel disease therapies. Dr. Axelrad has also received several awards for his work including the Auxiliary of the American College of Gastroenterology Award, the Dr. Philip Moskowitz Prize in Autoimmunity, and the Sherman Emerging Leader Prize for Excellence in Crohn’s and Colitis.

Faculty

Asher Kornbluth

MD
Clinical Professor of Medicine
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

Asher Kornbluth, MD, is a Clinical Professor of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York. He was elected to the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society for which he was selected as an Honored Educator and again as an Honored Clinician. He has been awarded the Solomon Berson Award at Mount Sinai for “Outstanding Physician, Teacher and Role Model”. He has been selected as Teacher of the Year for 6 consecutive years at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine. He is the recipient of the William Dock Award Lifetime Teaching Award by the State University of New York Downstate. He has been recognized by his peers annually among the Best Doctors and Top Doctors for over 30 years. He is been the Founder and Co-Director for the last 18 years of the annual “Mount Sinai IBD Consultant’s Course: The Evidence and the Experience” and has been an Associate Editor for the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Journal, and is on the Editorial Board of Gastroenterology and Hepatology. He is the Principal Author of the first 3 editions of the American College of Gastroenterology Ulcerative Practice Guidelines and has published over 100 papers, abstracts, and book chapters, and is an investigator on multiple clinical trials of novel agents. His recent research interests involve the role of overweight and obesity, visceral adiposity, and response to therapies in IBD.

Faculty

Elizabeth Spencer

MD, MS
Associate Professor of Pediatric Gastroenterology
Associate Program Director, Pediatric Research Residency
Director, Pediatric IBD Translational Research Program
Co-Director, IBD-Dermatology Multidisciplinary Clinic
Co-Director, IBD Prevention Clinic
Mount Sinai, Icahn School of Medicine, New York, NY

Elizabeth A. Spencer, MD, MS is a pediatric gastroenterologist and Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, specializing in IBD in children and adolescents with a focus on early detection, precision care, and noninvasive monitoring.

Dr. Spencer directs the Pediatric IBD Translational Medicine Program and co-directs the Mount Sinai IBD-Dermatology Clinic, a multidisciplinary program for patients with overlapping IBD and dermatologic immune-mediated diseases. She also co-founded and co-directs the Mount Sinai IBD Prevention Program, which provides proactive care to children and adults at high risk of developing IBD.

Her research leverages large-scale biorepositories and real-world data to evaluate treatment effectiveness and safety in pediatric IBD and to define the preclinical phase of disease. She is Principal Investigator of an NIH K23 award studying multiplex IBD families and an investigator on PCORI- and Helmsley-funded studies, including as Site Principal Investigator and Northeast Region Lead for COMPARE. A certified guideline methodologist, she contributes to ACG and NASPGHAN guideline development and leads national efforts to standardize intestinal ultrasound training and care pathways.

Dr. Spencer received her MD with honors (AOA, GHHS) from Eastern Virginia Medical School and completed pediatric residency at UCLA, followed by pediatric gastroenterology and advanced IBD fellowships and a master's in clinical research at Mount Sinai. Recent honors include consecutive Cullman Family Awards for physician communication and two Team Science Awards. An IBD patient herself, diagnosed at 15, she is deeply committed to advancing pediatric-centered innovation in IBD prevention, diagnosis, and treatment.

Understanding the Mimics of IBD

Invited Co-Team Leader

Panelist

Tuesday, December 08 6:00–6:40 PM
Room Southern Hemisphere I
Clinical Breakout
Faculty

Jessica Allegretti

MD,MPH, FACG, AGAF
Director, Crohn's and Colitis Center; Associate Professor of Medicine, 2020 Sherman Prize Emerging Leader Recipient
Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School

Dr. Jessica Allegretti currently serves as the Medical Director of the Crohn’s and Colitis Center at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital. In 2020, she received the Sherman Emerging Leader Prize for Excellence in Crohn’s and Colitis. In addition, she developed and leads the hospital’s Fecal Microbiota Transplantation Program and has grown to become and international expert on the topic. Dr. Allegretti cares for patients with inflammatory bowel disease as well as Clostridioides difficile (c.diff) infection. Her research focuses on the intestinal microbiome and the consequences of its derangement, with the goal of understanding the role dysbiosis plays in microbial associated diseases. In addition, her lab focuses on novel therapeutic agents for IBD and she is leading multiple sponsored and investigator initiated drug trials. For more information visit www.allegrettilab.com

Faculty

Hans Herfarth

MD, PhD
Professor of Medicine
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Hans Herfarth is Director of the Multidisciplinary IBD Center at the University of North Carolina. His primary research interests focus on the development and evaluation of novel diagnostic and therapeutic approaches for patients with inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). His work is particularly centered on the conceptualization and conduct of investigator-initiated clinical studies in IBD, supported by funding from the NIH, the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation, and private and industry-associated foundations. Dr. Herfarth has authored more than 350 journal articles, book chapters, and review articles related to IBD.

Faculty

Maria Abreu

MD
Executive Director, F. Widjaja Inflammatory Bowel Disease Institite
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center

Maria T. Abreu, MD, is a physician-scientist and gastroenterologist who specializes in inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). She received her medical degree from the University of Miami School of Medicine and completed a residency in medicine at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital. She served as an Associate Professor of Medicine at Mount Sinai School of Medicine (and head of their IBD Center), a Professor of Medicine and Microbiology & Immunology at the University of Miami School of Medicine (and Director of the Crohn’s and Colitis Center), and currently is the Executive Director of the F. Widjaja IBD Institute at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center; in past years, she has served as the President of the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) and the Chair of the International Organization for the Study of Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IOIBD). Dr. Abreu has 30 years of leadership experience in basic, translational, and clinical research, and has authored almost 300 peer-reviewed articles, book chapters, and reviews. Her work has received multiple awards, including the 2019 Sherman Prize from the Bruce and Cynthia Sherman Charitable Foundation for outstanding achievements in IBD and Healio’s Lifetime Disruptor Award for addressing critical unmet needs in IBD. Her research focuses on interactions between the gut microbiome and the innate immune system in the development of IBD and IBD-associated colon cancer. Currently, Dr. Abreu’s team is investigating how diet may shape the gut microbiome and alleviate IBD symptoms. Understand the underlying mechanisms can help us develop targeted treatment strategies to help patients live their best lives.

Faculty

Jana Al Hashash

MD, MSc
Associate Professor of Medicine
Mayo Clinic

Jana G. Al Hashash, MD, MSc is an Associate Professor of Medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at Mayo Clinic, FL.

She completed her internal medicine residency and fellowship in gastroenterology, hepatology, and nutrition at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center where she then served as an Assistant Professor of Medicine for a number of years before joining Mayo Clinic in FL.

Jana is a physician scientist conducting cutting edge clinical and translational research related to IBD. She is spearheading the stem cell transplant program for Crohn’s disease at Mayo Clinic. She has published over 290 peer-reviewed scientific manuscripts, a number of book chapters, and is the Section Editor and author for several UpToDate chapters related to the diagnosis and management of IBD. Jana serves as Chair of the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) Clinical Practice Update Committee. She has received funding for several of her studies.

Jana is Fellow of the AGA and ACG. She serves on the Professional Membership Committee of the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation and is also a member of the ACG Education Affairs Committee. She is on the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) task force LKA Approval Committee.

She has received numerous prestigious awards and honors for her teaching, research, innovation, and clinical care including the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society award, ACG Clinical Research Award, Mayo Clinic’s Early Career Investigator award, Teacher of the Year Award, Faculty of Medicine Humanism and Professionalism Physician Award, among many other recognitions.

Faculty

David Hudesman

MD, FACG, AGAF
Director, Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center
NYU Langone Health

Dr. Hudesman is Director of the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center at NYU Langone Health. He is Professor of Medicine at the NYU School of Medicine.

Dr. Hudesman specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and in the provision of integrated, seamless, patient-centered care. His research is focused on the development of biomarkers and evaluation and optimization of new medical therapies for the treatment of both Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.

Dr. Hudesman served on the Educational Affairs Committee of the American College of Gastroenterology, and the Professional Membership Committee of the Crohn’s Colitis Foundation, and is currently on the Quality Committee of the American Gastroenterological Association.

Mental Health in IBD: What to Do If You Don't Have a Psychiatrist

Invited Co-Team Leader

Panelist

Tuesday, December 08 6:00–6:40 PM
Room Southern Hemisphere III
Clinical Breakout
Faculty

Neilanjan Nandi

MD, FACG, AGAF, FCCF, FACP
Professor of Clinical Medicine, Co-Section Head, Director of Clinical Operations, Penn IBD Program
University of Pennsylvania

Neilanjan Nandi, MD, FACG, AGAF, FCCF, FACP is an Professor of Clinical Medicine at the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania and is the Co-Section Head and Direcotr of Clinical Operations of the University of Pennsylvania Inflammatory Bowel Disease Program. Dr. Nandi specializes in the complex management of Crohn's disease, Ulcerative Colitis and recurrent C. difficile infection (C difficile). He has also authored numerous abstracts, publications and book chapters on the diagnosis and management of IBD, C difficile and various viral, parasitic, mycobacterial and bacterial infections of the GI tract. Aligning with his interests, Dr. Nandi has conducted several clinical trials focused on the clinical impact of stool derived microbiome therapies in C difficile and IBD. Dr. Nandi servies on the Philadelphia/Delaware Valley Crohn's & Colitis Foundation (CCF) Executive Council and on the Medical Advisory Board of the United Ostomy Associates of America (UOAA). He is a founding non-profit board member and Chair of the South Asian IBD Alliance (SAIA) which elevates culturally competent care in South Asian IBD. He has been recognized with the 2019 Philly Take STeps Physician Hero, the 2022 CCF's National Chairman’s Citation Award and the 2024 CCF's Gold Medallion Physician Award. He is the honored recipient of the 2023 Sidney Cohen GI Faculty Teaching Award and the 2024 Radhika Srinivasan GI Faculty award for Professionalism and Humanism at the Perelman School of Medicine.

Faculty

Jessica Salwen-Deremer

PhD
Associate Professor of Psychiatry & Medicine
Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center

Jessiy Salwen-Deremer, Ph.D., DBSM, is the Director of Behavioral Medicine for Digestive Health at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center and an Associate Professor of Psychiatry & Medicine at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth. Her clinical and research expertise encompasses two areas: understanding and treating sleep disorders in people with inflammatory bowel disease and improving access to gastrointestinal behavioral health care. Research initiatives have been supported by institutional, foundation, and NIH funding, with current work focusing on understanding how treatment of insomnia in IBD can impact other symptoms, such as abdominal pain and fatigue. Across areas of research and practice, she also focuses on the integration of remote technologies to enhance patient engagement and participation.

Faculty

Aline Charabaty

MD
Professor of Medicine
University of Maryland School of Medicine

Dr. Aline Charabaty is Professor of Medicine at the University of Maryland and the Director of the IBD Program at the University of Maryland Medical center. She is the Editor-in-Chief of the Crohn’s and Colitis 360 journal, and is past Vice-Chair of the AGA Research Foundation Executive Board, and past ACG Governor for Washington DC. Her work and advocacy were recognized by the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation Excellence in Medicine Award in 2020 , the ACG Diversity Equity and Inclusion Award in 2025, and the AGA Beacon of Hope Award in 2026. Dr Charabaty uses social media to amplify medical education in IBD and is the founder of @MondayNightIBD a CME platform on twitter for which she received the Healio Disruptive Innovator Award in 2019. Dr Charabaty is a strong advocate for diversity and the professional advancement of women in GI. She is the Co-Founder of Scrubs & Heels, a foundation focused on empowering women in GI with the leadership skills, networking and mentorship to achieve professional goals and growth.

Faculty

Kelly Issokson

MS, RD, CSDH, CNSC
Senior RD, Outpatient Nutrition
UCSF Health

Kelly Issokson, MS, RD, CSDH, LDN, CNSC is the Senior Registered Dietitian of Outpatient Nutrition at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and a nationally recognized expert in gastrointestinal nutrition. With over 17 years of clinical experience, she specializes in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and surgical nutrition. Ms. Issokson graduated magna cum laude from Johnson & Wales University and earned her MS in Nutrition from California State University, Northridge. She serves on the National Board of the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation and is a leading voice in advancing nutrition as part of multidisciplinary IBD care. She co-developed the Cedars-Sinai IBD Prehabilitation Program and nutrition education training programs for physicians, APPs, and RDs.

Faculty

Gil Melmed

MD, MS, FACG, AGAF
Director, IBD Clinical Research, F. Widjadja IBD Institute
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center

Gil Y. Melmed, MD, MS, is the Clinical Director of the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Program and Associate Director of the Karsh Division of Digestive and Liver Diseases at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California. He earned his medical degree from Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx, New York, and master of science in clinical research from UCLA School of Medicine, Los Angeles. Dr Melmed completed his gastroenterology fellowship at the University of California, Los Angeles.
He has authored or coauthored more than 250 articles in peer-reviewed journals and several book chapters. Dr Melmed has served as Associate Editor of the American Journal of Gastroenterology, an ad hoc reviewer for several journals, and clinical research editor for Inflammatory Bowel Disease. His research interests include clinical outcomes and quality of care in IBD. He has given invited lectures and presentations nationally and internationally on several clinical topics in inflammatory bowel disease, including quality of care and clinical outcomes. He is a committee member of several professional organizations, including the American College of Gastroenterology and the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation, where he serves as co-chair of the IBD Quality of Care committee. He has led or participated in the development of quality measures for IBD with the American Gastroenterology Association, the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation, and the Canadian Crohn’s and Colitis organizations.

Not Your Typical EIMs

Invited Co-Team Leader

Panelist

Tuesday, December 08 6:00–6:40 PM
Room Southern Hemisphere II
Clinical Breakout
Faculty

Jami Kinnucan

MD, AGAF, FACG, FCCF
Associate Professor of Medicine
Mayo Clinic Florida

Jami Kinnucan, MD, is an inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) specialist who joined the Mayo Clinic Florida practice in January 2021 as an Associate Professor of Medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology. She currently serves as the Clinical Practice Chair for the Division of Gastroenterology & Hepatology, Associate Chair for Digital Transformation and Practice Integration for the Department of Medicine and Medical Director for Plummer Chart Ambulatory Communication Solutions team. She is also the Director of the IBD Intestinal Ultrasound Program at Mayo Clinic Florida. She has been recognized as a fellow of the American College of Gastroenterology (ACG), American Gastroenterological Association (AGA), and Crohn's and Colitis Foundation. She is a former member of the ACG Board of Governors for the state of Michigan and the ACG Women in Gastroenterology Committee. She is active in the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation and previous Co-Chair for the Women in IBD Task Force and prior member of the Government and Industry Affairs Committee for the National Scientific Advisory Committee. Dr. Kinnucan is the co-founder of the Michigan GI Society in 2020 and, most recently, co-founded the Florida Women in GI (2022) and Gastro Digital Health (2024) She serves as Associate Editor for the Crohn’s and Colitis 360 Journal. She is actively involved with research looking at the impact of cannabis in IBD and received a 2024 Mayo Clinic STARDOM award to evaluate the use of virtual reality on the impact of pain in patients with abdominal pain and Crohn’s disease.

Faculty

Remo Panaccione

MD
Director, IBD Clinic; Assistant Dean of MD Admissions. Professor of Medicine
University of Calgary

Professor Remo Panaccione is a Professor of Medicine and the Director of the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Unit at the University of Calgary, Canada. He serves as the Dean of MD Admissions and Director of the IBD Fellowship Program. He also holds the Crohn’s Colitis Canada Endowed Research Chair in Inflammatory Bowel Disease.

He is the 2020 Crohn's Colitis Canada Outstanding Physician of the Year and received the 2024 Crohn’s Colitis Canada Research Leadership Award for his contributions to the field. Since 2020 he has been a Clarivate Research Scholar for being cited in the top one percent of researchers in the world. He has co-authored over 500 manuscripts, 20 book chapters and 825 abstracts, including publications in journals such as the New England Journal of Medicine, The Lancet, JAMA, Nature, and Annals of Internal Medicine.

Prof. Panaccione’s main research interest is the design and implementation of clinical trials. He has been the principal investigator on several studies evaluating the efficacy and safety of new therapeutic agents in subjects with IBD.

Faculty

Kofi Clarke

MD,FACP,FRCP,AGAF
Professor, Chief, Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Penn State College of Medicine
Penn State Hershey

Dr. Clarke is Professor and Chief of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, at The College of Medicine at Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center. He is also the Graham Jeffries Endowed Professor of Medicine
Fellowships:
-Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition; University of Pittsburgh
-Research Fellowship; Michigan State University
Post Graduate:
-Medicine and Gastroenterology- Imperial College, Royal College of Physicians, London, UK

Additional Qualifications
-Certificate for Leadership Training for Physicians in Academic Medical Centers-
Harvard School of Public Health.
-Certificate of Completion, Penn State Leadership Academy

Clinical and Research Interests:
-Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Celiac Disease.
-Graduate Medical Education.

Faculty

Katherine Falloon

MD
Assistant Professor
Cleveland Clinic

Katherine Falloon, MD, is a staff gastroenterologist at the Digestive Disease and Surgery Institute at the Cleveland Clinic and an assistant professor of medicine at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine. She is also the co-director of the intestinal ultrasound program at the Cleveland Clinic. Her clinical focus is in caring for patients in inflammatory bowel disease and her research interest is in extra-intestinal manifestations of inflammatory bowel disease. She is currently leading the Cohort for Healing Skin, Eye, and Extra-Intestinal Manifestations (CHASE-EIM), a multi-disciplinary research consortia related to extra-intestinal manifestations of inflammatory bowel disease. She has received funding from the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation, Pfizer, and the Digestive Disease and Surgery Institute's Chief Innovation and Research Award.

Faculty

Jason Schairer

MD
Director of the Henry Ford IBD Center
Henry Ford Health

Jason Schairer is the Co-Director of the Henry Ford IBD Center in Michigan. His interests include Interventional IBD with a focus on stricturotomy, addressing health care inequity, intimacy and sex in IBD, and improving medical education for providers of all levels. He received his medical degree from Wayne Statue University, and went on to complete a fellowship in gastroenterology at Providence Hospital in Michigan. He previously served as the Associate Program Director of the Henry Ford Gastroenterology and Hepatology fellowship, and continues to be involved in fellow education of IBD across the state of Michigan. He has been recognized for his teaching efforts, high quality care of IBD patients and contributions to patient education.

6:00 - 7:30 PM (EDT)

Pediatric Track

  • Co-Moderator
    • Eric Benchimol, MD, PhD, FRCPC
    • Trusha Patel, MD
Pediatric

Combination Advanced Therapy in Pediatric IBD

Presenter

Tuesday, December 08 6:00–6:20 PM
Room Northern Hemisphere E-3
Faculty

Trusha Patel

MD
Attending Physician/Assistant Professor of Pediatrics
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia/University of Pennsylvania

Trusha Patel, MD, is an attending pediatric gastroenterologist in the Very Early Onset Inflammatory Bowel Disease (VEO-IBD) Program and the Center for Pediatric IBD at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and is an Assistant Professor of Clinical Pediatrics at The University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Patel completed her undergraduate education at The Pennsylvania State University and her medical education at Duke University School of Medicine. She completed her general pediatrics residency and pediatric gastroenterology fellowship at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Her clinical practice and academic work focus on VEO-IBD and pediatric IBD. She is a physician leader in the quality improvement group in the IBD Center at CHOP and is an active member of the North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition (NASPGHAN) and ImproveCareNow (ICN). She has co-authored multiple peer-reviewed research publications and book chapters about IBD and VEO-IBD. Dr. Patel is dedicated to providing personalized, comprehensive and compassionate care for children and young adults living with VEO-IBD and IBD.

Safety of Advanced Therapies in Pediatric IBD

Presenter

Tuesday, December 08 6:20–6:40 PM
Room Northern Hemisphere E-3
Faculty

Edwin de Zoeten

MD, PhD
Director of Pediatric IBD Center
Children's Hospital Colorado

Dr. de Zoeten is a Professor of Pediatrics at the Univeristy of Colorado Anschutz School of Medicine and the Director of the Pediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center at the Children's Hospital Colorado. He is a physician scientist, who has been funded by the NIH, DoD, NASPGHAN and Crohn's and Colitis Foundation. He has studies both basic and clinical immunologic mechanisms, focusing on the evaluation of regulatory processes and specifically how the immune system regulates itself in the intestine. All with the goal of developing safe and effective therapies for Pediatri IBD patients.

Q&A

Moderator

Panelist

Tuesday, December 08 6:40–6:50 PM
Room Northern Hemisphere E-3
Faculty

Eric Benchimol

MD, PhD, FRCPC
Northbridge Chair in Inflammatory Bowel Disease, Professor of Paediatrics and Clinical Epidemiology
SickKids Inflammatory Bowel Disease Centre, The Hospital for Sick Children, University of Toronto

Eric Benchimol is the co-Chair of the Pediatric Track of Advances in Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (AIBD). He holds the Northbridge Chair of Inflammatory Bowel Disease at the SickKids Inflammatory Bowel Disease Centre. He is a Professor of Paediatrics and Clinical Epidemiology at University of Toronto. He is a pediatric gastroenterologist and Associate Program Director of the GI Fellowship program at SickKids Hospital in Toronto. Dr. Benchimol is also an epidemiologist, and chairs the Canadian Gastro-Intestinal Epidemiology Consortium (CanGIEC), which conducts epidemiology, pharmaco-epidemiology, outcomes, and health services research using the health administrative data from multiple provinces. He also has an interest in improving the research methodology and transparency of research using routinely collected health data. In that capacity, he co-Chairs the RECORD (REporting of studies Conducted using Observational Routinely collected data) Steering Committee which has produced multiple reporting guidelines. Dr. Benchimol is Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of the Canadian Association of Gastroenterology.

Faculty

Trusha Patel

MD
Attending Physician/Assistant Professor of Pediatrics
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia/University of Pennsylvania

Trusha Patel, MD, is an attending pediatric gastroenterologist in the Very Early Onset Inflammatory Bowel Disease (VEO-IBD) Program and the Center for Pediatric IBD at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and is an Assistant Professor of Clinical Pediatrics at The University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Patel completed her undergraduate education at The Pennsylvania State University and her medical education at Duke University School of Medicine. She completed her general pediatrics residency and pediatric gastroenterology fellowship at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Her clinical practice and academic work focus on VEO-IBD and pediatric IBD. She is a physician leader in the quality improvement group in the IBD Center at CHOP and is an active member of the North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition (NASPGHAN) and ImproveCareNow (ICN). She has co-authored multiple peer-reviewed research publications and book chapters about IBD and VEO-IBD. Dr. Patel is dedicated to providing personalized, comprehensive and compassionate care for children and young adults living with VEO-IBD and IBD.

Case #1 – IBD Patient in Remission Is No Longer in Remission

Panelist

Team Leader

Tuesday, December 08 6:50–7:10 PM
Room Northern Hemisphere E-3
Faculty

Edwin de Zoeten

MD, PhD
Director of Pediatric IBD Center
Children's Hospital Colorado

Dr. de Zoeten is a Professor of Pediatrics at the Univeristy of Colorado Anschutz School of Medicine and the Director of the Pediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center at the Children's Hospital Colorado. He is a physician scientist, who has been funded by the NIH, DoD, NASPGHAN and Crohn's and Colitis Foundation. He has studies both basic and clinical immunologic mechanisms, focusing on the evaluation of regulatory processes and specifically how the immune system regulates itself in the intestine. All with the goal of developing safe and effective therapies for Pediatri IBD patients.

Faculty

Trusha Patel

MD
Attending Physician/Assistant Professor of Pediatrics
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia/University of Pennsylvania

Trusha Patel, MD, is an attending pediatric gastroenterologist in the Very Early Onset Inflammatory Bowel Disease (VEO-IBD) Program and the Center for Pediatric IBD at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and is an Assistant Professor of Clinical Pediatrics at The University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Patel completed her undergraduate education at The Pennsylvania State University and her medical education at Duke University School of Medicine. She completed her general pediatrics residency and pediatric gastroenterology fellowship at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Her clinical practice and academic work focus on VEO-IBD and pediatric IBD. She is a physician leader in the quality improvement group in the IBD Center at CHOP and is an active member of the North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition (NASPGHAN) and ImproveCareNow (ICN). She has co-authored multiple peer-reviewed research publications and book chapters about IBD and VEO-IBD. Dr. Patel is dedicated to providing personalized, comprehensive and compassionate care for children and young adults living with VEO-IBD and IBD.

Faculty

Eric Benchimol

MD, PhD, FRCPC
Northbridge Chair in Inflammatory Bowel Disease, Professor of Paediatrics and Clinical Epidemiology
SickKids Inflammatory Bowel Disease Centre, The Hospital for Sick Children, University of Toronto

Eric Benchimol is the co-Chair of the Pediatric Track of Advances in Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (AIBD). He holds the Northbridge Chair of Inflammatory Bowel Disease at the SickKids Inflammatory Bowel Disease Centre. He is a Professor of Paediatrics and Clinical Epidemiology at University of Toronto. He is a pediatric gastroenterologist and Associate Program Director of the GI Fellowship program at SickKids Hospital in Toronto. Dr. Benchimol is also an epidemiologist, and chairs the Canadian Gastro-Intestinal Epidemiology Consortium (CanGIEC), which conducts epidemiology, pharmaco-epidemiology, outcomes, and health services research using the health administrative data from multiple provinces. He also has an interest in improving the research methodology and transparency of research using routinely collected health data. In that capacity, he co-Chairs the RECORD (REporting of studies Conducted using Observational Routinely collected data) Steering Committee which has produced multiple reporting guidelines. Dr. Benchimol is Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of the Canadian Association of Gastroenterology.

Case #2 – Atypical Presentation of IBD in a Child

Panelist

Team Leader

Tuesday, December 08 7:10–7:30 PM
Room Northern Hemisphere E-3
Faculty

Eric Benchimol

MD, PhD, FRCPC
Northbridge Chair in Inflammatory Bowel Disease, Professor of Paediatrics and Clinical Epidemiology
SickKids Inflammatory Bowel Disease Centre, The Hospital for Sick Children, University of Toronto

Eric Benchimol is the co-Chair of the Pediatric Track of Advances in Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (AIBD). He holds the Northbridge Chair of Inflammatory Bowel Disease at the SickKids Inflammatory Bowel Disease Centre. He is a Professor of Paediatrics and Clinical Epidemiology at University of Toronto. He is a pediatric gastroenterologist and Associate Program Director of the GI Fellowship program at SickKids Hospital in Toronto. Dr. Benchimol is also an epidemiologist, and chairs the Canadian Gastro-Intestinal Epidemiology Consortium (CanGIEC), which conducts epidemiology, pharmaco-epidemiology, outcomes, and health services research using the health administrative data from multiple provinces. He also has an interest in improving the research methodology and transparency of research using routinely collected health data. In that capacity, he co-Chairs the RECORD (REporting of studies Conducted using Observational Routinely collected data) Steering Committee which has produced multiple reporting guidelines. Dr. Benchimol is Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of the Canadian Association of Gastroenterology.

Faculty

Edwin de Zoeten

MD, PhD
Director of Pediatric IBD Center
Children's Hospital Colorado

Dr. de Zoeten is a Professor of Pediatrics at the Univeristy of Colorado Anschutz School of Medicine and the Director of the Pediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center at the Children's Hospital Colorado. He is a physician scientist, who has been funded by the NIH, DoD, NASPGHAN and Crohn's and Colitis Foundation. He has studies both basic and clinical immunologic mechanisms, focusing on the evaluation of regulatory processes and specifically how the immune system regulates itself in the intestine. All with the goal of developing safe and effective therapies for Pediatri IBD patients.

Faculty

David Gardinier

RD, CSDH, LD
Registered Dietitian
Cleveland Clinic

David Gardinier, RD, CSDH, LD is an advanced practice registered dietitian specializing in nutrition care for individiuals with Inflammatory Bowel Disease. As a part of the Cleveland Clinic IBD medical home, he works collaboratively within a multidisciplinary care team to support patient with IBD. David's clinical and research interests include peri-operative nutrition in elective Crohn's disease and use of computed tomography as tool to assess nutritional status. He is honored to serve as a member of the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation National Scientific Advisory Committee.

Faculty

Trusha Patel

MD
Attending Physician/Assistant Professor of Pediatrics
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia/University of Pennsylvania

Trusha Patel, MD, is an attending pediatric gastroenterologist in the Very Early Onset Inflammatory Bowel Disease (VEO-IBD) Program and the Center for Pediatric IBD at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and is an Assistant Professor of Clinical Pediatrics at The University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Patel completed her undergraduate education at The Pennsylvania State University and her medical education at Duke University School of Medicine. She completed her general pediatrics residency and pediatric gastroenterology fellowship at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Her clinical practice and academic work focus on VEO-IBD and pediatric IBD. She is a physician leader in the quality improvement group in the IBD Center at CHOP and is an active member of the North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition (NASPGHAN) and ImproveCareNow (ICN). She has co-authored multiple peer-reviewed research publications and book chapters about IBD and VEO-IBD. Dr. Patel is dedicated to providing personalized, comprehensive and compassionate care for children and young adults living with VEO-IBD and IBD.

Surgery Track

  • Co-Moderator
    • Jean Ashburn, MD, FACS, FASCRS
    • Anthony de Buck van Overstraeten, MD, MSc
Surgery

The Debate - Kono-S Anastomosis: Game Changer or Surgical Hype?

Co-Presenter

Tuesday, December 08 6:00–6:30 PM
Room Northern Hemisphere E-2
Faculty

Alessandro Fichera

FACS, FASCRS
Division Chief Colon and Rectal Surgery
Weill Cornell Medicine NY Presbyterian

Dr. Fichera earned his M.D. from the Catholic University of Rome, completed a General Surgery Residency at the University of Chicago, and a two-year fellowship in laparoscopic and colorectal surgery at Mt. Sinai School of Medicine in New York. He returned to the University of Chicago, where he started and became the first Program Director of the Colon and Rectal Surgery Training Program. He moved to the University of Washington in July 2012 as chief of colorectal surgery and was appointed chief of the section of Gastrointestinal Surgery in 2014 and, in 2016, clinical director of Gastrointestinal Oncology at the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance. In November 2017, he moved to the University of North Carolina as division chief of Gastrointestinal Surgery. In September 2019, he became the Division Chief of Colorectal Surgery at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas, Texas, and, in July 2020, the Surgery Safety and Quality Officer. In October 2024, he joined the Department of Surgery at Weill Cornell Medicine as the Division Chief of Colon and Rectal Surgery. His clinical and research interests include colorectal cancer and inflammatory bowel disease

Faculty

Phillip Fleshner

MD, FASCRS
Director, Colorectal Surgery Research
Cedars Sinai Medical Center

Phillip R. Fleshner, MD is the Director of Colorectal Surgery Research at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. He holds the Shierley, Jesslyne, and Emmeline Widjaja Chair in Colorectal Surgery.

Dr. Fleshner's main clinical and research interests are directed towards optimizing outcomes and techniques in the surgical management of Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis.

Dr. Fleshner has written numerous articles for peer-reviewed publications, including the Annals of Surgery, Journal of the American College of Surgeons, Diseases of the Colon and Rectum, Gut and the American Journal of Surgery.

Dr. Fleshner received his bachelor's degree from McGill University and his medical degree from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. He completed his General Surgery Residency at the Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York and his Colorectal Surgery Fellowship at the Lahey Clinic in Boston.

He received the Sherman Prize in 2021.

Crohn’s Strictures: Endoscopy or Surgery — How to Decide?

Co-Moderator

Panelist

Tuesday, December 08 6:30–7:00 PM
Room Northern Hemisphere E-2
Faculty

Jean Ashburn

MD, FACS, FASCRS
Associate Professor of Surgery
Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist

Dr. Jean Ashburn is an Associate Professor of Surgery and a Faculty Colorectal surgeon at Atrium Health Wake Forest in Winston-Salem, NC. She is a graduate of Wake Forest University School of Medicine and finished her residency in General Surgery at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She then completed a fellowship in Colorectal Surgery at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation in Cleveland, Ohio, where she was a staff surgeon prior to joining the Department of Surgery at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center. She has particular clinical and research interests in complex inflammatory bowel disease and J pouch surgery, reoperative pelvic surgery, and corrective/restorative surgery of the lower gastrointestinal tract.

Faculty

Anthony de Buck van Overstraeten

MD, MSc
Colorectal Surgeon
Cleveland Clinic Ohio

Dr. Anthony de Buck, MD, MSc, is a colorectal surgeon and internationally recognized expert in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). He currently practices at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, where he serves as colorectal surgeon and Lead of the IBD Section within the Department of Colorectal Surgery. He also holds an academic appointment as Visiting Associate Professor of Surgery at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University.
Dr. de Buck recently transitioned from Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto, where he was a colorectal surgeon and Associate Professor of Surgery at the University of Toronto.
He earned his medical degree at the University of Leuven, where he also completed his surgical and colorectal training. In 2013, he completed a colorectal fellowship at the University of Toronto, refining his expertise under the mentorship of leading experts in the field. He also holds a Master’s Degree in Clinical Epidemiology from the University of Toronto, equipping him with advanced research methodology skills.
Dr. de Buck’s research focuses on clinical outcomes in IBD, particularly functional results and quality of life. He has led and contributed to several multi-institutional studies and randomized controlled trials, supported by peer-reviewed funding. His work continues to shape surgical care for patients with IBD.
An engaged educator and academic leader, Dr. de Buck remains actively involved in teaching and mentorship. He is widely recognized for his contributions to patient-centered innovation in colorectal surgery.

Faculty

Mantaj Brar

MD MSc FRCSC
Assistant Professor
Mount Sinai Hospital, University of Toronto

Dr. Mantaj Brar is an Assistant Professor and Surgeon-Investigator in the Department of Surgery at Mount Sinai Hospital and the University of Toronto.
He received his MD from the Universisty of Toronto, and completed his General Surgery Residency and Colorectal Surgery Fellowship at the University of Calgary. He holds a MSc in Medical Statistics from the London School of Hygeine and Tropical Medicine.
His clinical practice is focused on inflammatory bowel disease, and his academic focus is in surgical outcomes research in inflammatory bowel disease.

Faculty

Olga Lavryk

MD, PhD
Colorectal Surgeon
Cleveland Clinic
Faculty

Florian Rieder

MD
Vice Department Chair, Co-Section Head Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Director of IBD Research; 2019 Sherman Emerging Leader Prize Recipient
Cleveland Clinic

Dr. Rieder is Vice Chair and Co-Director of the IBD section at the Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition at the Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland. His clinical focus is patients with IBD with a special emphasis on the field of pathogenesis, prediction and therapy of intestinal fibrosis. Dr. Rieder has published more than 200 articles and book chapters and has been recognized for his expertise as indicated through invitations to clinical guideline steering committees of the European Crohn’s and Colitis Organization (ECCO). He is lead author of the ECCO guidelines on Ulcerative colitis and lead author of the first ECCO clinical consensus on ‘Diagnosis and Management of Intestinal Fibrosis’. He received multiple international invitations as a speaker, session chair or conference faculty. Dr. Rieder serves as an abstract reviewer for all major GI conferences, he is past associate editor (Clinical and Translational Gastroenterology) and on several editorial boards of medical journals. He is proud of his significant ties to the ECCO, which he served as the chair of Y-ECCO, member of the ECCO operational board, prior Y-ECCO committee member and member of the scientific committee. He is past chair of REACH-IBD and Co-Chair of the Professional Education Committee of the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation. Dr. Rieder is the leading PI on the international Stenosis Therapy and Research (STAR) Consortium with the goal to build a pathway to test anti-fibrotic medications in stricturing Crohn’s disease. He received the Sherman Emerging Leader Prize in 2019.

Decoding Surgical Anastomoses in Crohn’s Disease: A Guide for the Endoscopist (Short Video Session)

Co-Presenter

Tuesday, December 08 7:00–7:30 PM
Room Northern Hemisphere E-2
Faculty

Mantaj Brar

MD MSc FRCSC
Assistant Professor
Mount Sinai Hospital, University of Toronto

Dr. Mantaj Brar is an Assistant Professor and Surgeon-Investigator in the Department of Surgery at Mount Sinai Hospital and the University of Toronto.
He received his MD from the Universisty of Toronto, and completed his General Surgery Residency and Colorectal Surgery Fellowship at the University of Calgary. He holds a MSc in Medical Statistics from the London School of Hygeine and Tropical Medicine.
His clinical practice is focused on inflammatory bowel disease, and his academic focus is in surgical outcomes research in inflammatory bowel disease.

Faculty

Alessandro Fichera

FACS, FASCRS
Division Chief Colon and Rectal Surgery
Weill Cornell Medicine NY Presbyterian

Dr. Fichera earned his M.D. from the Catholic University of Rome, completed a General Surgery Residency at the University of Chicago, and a two-year fellowship in laparoscopic and colorectal surgery at Mt. Sinai School of Medicine in New York. He returned to the University of Chicago, where he started and became the first Program Director of the Colon and Rectal Surgery Training Program. He moved to the University of Washington in July 2012 as chief of colorectal surgery and was appointed chief of the section of Gastrointestinal Surgery in 2014 and, in 2016, clinical director of Gastrointestinal Oncology at the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance. In November 2017, he moved to the University of North Carolina as division chief of Gastrointestinal Surgery. In September 2019, he became the Division Chief of Colorectal Surgery at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas, Texas, and, in July 2020, the Surgery Safety and Quality Officer. In October 2024, he joined the Department of Surgery at Weill Cornell Medicine as the Division Chief of Colon and Rectal Surgery. His clinical and research interests include colorectal cancer and inflammatory bowel disease

Faculty

Olga Lavryk

MD, PhD
Colorectal Surgeon
Cleveland Clinic

Pharmacy Track

  • Co-Moderator
    • David Choi, PharmD, BCACP
    • Marina Ivanov, PharmD, BCPS, BCACP
Pharmacy

Panel: Unlocking the Full Potential of IBD Pharmacist-led Clinical Integration

Panelist

Team Leader

Tuesday, December 08 6:00–6:30 PM
Room Northern Hemisphere E-4
Faculty

Shubha Bhat

PharmD, MS, FCCP, BCACP
Clinical Pharmacy Specialist - Gastroenterology
Cleveland Clinic

Shubha Bhat is a Clinical Pharmacy Specialist in the Digestive Disease Institute at the Cleveland Clinic. She earned her Doctor of Pharmacy degree from Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts. Following graduation, she completed a PGY1 pharmacy residency at Boston Medical Center, a PGY2 residency in Ambulatory Care at the University of Illinois at Chicago, and Health Outcomes Research Fellowship at the University of Colorado.
Dr. Bhat maintains an active clinical practice focused on optimizing medication therapy for patients with digestive diseases, including inflammatory bowel disease. Her responsibilities include delivering comprehensive medication eudcation, monitoring therapeutic outcomes, and advancing medication safety initiatives. In addition to her clinical work, Dr. Bhat is deeply committed to education and research. She actively precepts pharmacy trainees and leads research initatives centered on the impact of pharmacists on patient outcomes and optimziation of medication safety and access in inflammatory bowel disease.

Faculty

Marina Ivanov

PharmD, BCPS, BCACP
Inflammatory Bowel Disease Clinical Specialist Pharmacist
Mayo Clinic Arizona

Marina Ivanov, Pharm.D., BCACP, BCPS, is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science and an Inflammatory Bowel Disease Clinical Pharmacist Specialist at Mayo Clinic–Arizona. She is a clinical leader within a multidisciplinary IBD care team, practicing under a Collaborative Practice Agreement and specializing in the management of complex and severe IBD, with a focus on treat‑to‑target strategies and expanding patient access to advanced therapies. Dr. Ivanov plays a key role in graduate medical education as a residency program developer and preceptor and was recognized with the 2023 Joe L. Rogers Allied Health Teacher of the Year Award. Locally and nationally, she is actively engaged in advancing the role of pharmacists in IBD care, promoting their integration within IBD teams to enhance medication safety, and patient outcomes.

Faculty

David Rubin

MD, FACG
Professor of Medicine; Professor of Pathology
University of Chicago Medicine

David T. Rubin is the Joseph B. Kirsner Professor of Medicine, Professor of Pathology, Chief of the Section of Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition and Director of the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center at the University of Chicago Medicine. He earned a medical degree with honors at The University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine where he also completed his residency in internal medicine and fellowships in gastroenterology and clinical medical ethics. He is associate faculty member at the MacLean Center for Clinical Medical Ethics, associate investigator at the University of Chicago Comprehensive Cancer Center and a member of the University of Chicago Committee on Clinical Pharmacology and Pharmacogenomics. He is the immediate past Chair of the National Scientific Advisory Committee of the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation and Deputy Chair of the International Organization for the Study of IBD.
Dr. Rubin’s research is focused on disease modification in IBD including clinical trial designs, novel measures of inflammation and prevention of adverse outcomes, and quality of life in IBD. In 2023, he received both the UChicago Michael Reese Lectureship Award (for outstanding faculty who have developed novel teaching and clinical research that advances healthcare) and the distinguished UChicago Arthur H. Rubenstein Mentorship in Academic Medicine Award. Dr. Rubin is currently a senior editor of the 12 edition of Sleisenger and Fordtran’s Gastrointestinal and Liver Disease, and an author on >600 articles on management of IBD, including the 2019 and 2025 ACG Guidelines for ulcerative colitis.

Faculty

Jennifer Seminerio-Diehl

MD
Director, Inflammatory Bowel Disease
Advent Health Orlando

Dr. Jennifer Seminerio is a double board certified Gastroenterologist and the Director of Inflammatory Bowel Disease at Advent Health in Orlando. She specializes in the treatment and management of Inflammatory Bowel Diseases, such as Crohn's Disease and Ulcerative Colitis. Dr. Seminerio earned her Medical Degree from the University of Toledo before going on to residency at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota followed by fellowship at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. She has gained national recognition not only for her expertise in the field but for her patient care. Dr. Seminerio has been a member of all major gastroenterology societies for years and has held leadership positions in the Florida chapter of the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation and the Florida Gastroenterological Society. She has been passionate about this field for decades and will continue to push for the best care and outcomes for her patients.

Faculty

David Choi

PharmD, BCACP
Associate Director
University of Chicago Medicine Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center

David Choi completed his Doctor of Pharmacy degree at the University of Colorado School of Pharmacy. He went on to complete his PGY1 Pharmacy Residency and PGY2 Ambulatory residency at The Johns Hopkins Hospital. He is currently an Associate Director at University of Chicago Medicine Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center. He is very excited about advocating for increased pharmacists’ role in gastroenterology/hepatology as well as importance for patient advocacy in receiving the care they require. He feels passionately about treat to target to improve patient care and research related to improving patient outcomes.

Accelerating Advanced IBD Therapy Access: Strategic Review of Insurance Complexities and Biosimilar Conversions (Case-Based)

Presenter

Tuesday, December 08 6:30–7:00 PM
Room Northern Hemisphere E-4
Faculty

Payal Kakadiya

PharmD, BCPS, CPP
Clinical Pharmacist Practitioner
UNC Health

Payal Kakadiya received her Doctor of Pharmacy from the University of Georgia College of Pharmacy. She went on to complete a PGY-1 Pharmacy Practice Residency and PGY-2 Internal Medicine Pharmacy Residency at VCU Health. Payal is a board-certified pharmacotherapy specialist who started off her career practicing at VCU Health as one of the clinical pharmacy specialists on Internal Medicine services as well as the inpatient Digestive Health service and outpatient GI and Medicine Infusion Clinic. She has now transitioned into her role as the Clinical Pharmacist Practitioner in the GI/IBD Clinics at UNC Health.

Debate: Dual Advanced Therapy for Management of IBD: Is the Juice Worth the Squeeze?

Co-Presenter

Tuesday, December 08 7:00–7:30 PM
Room Northern Hemisphere E-4
Faculty

Benjamin Cohen

MD, MAS, AGAF, FCCF
Vice Chair, Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition
Co-Section Head IBD
Cleveland Clinic

Dr. Cohen is a Vice Chair and Co-Section Head and Clinical Director for Inflammatory Bowel Diseases in the Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition at the Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH. Throughout his career, Dr. Cohen has merged clinical care with participation in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) clinical research. His primary research interest has been centered on the safety of biologic medications in the peri-operative period for which he led PUCCINI, a large multi-center clinical study. Dr. Cohen has also been a site primary investigator on Phase 3 IBD pharmaceutical clinical trials and collaborative investigator initiated studies. In addition to his research interests, Dr. Cohen also has a strong commitment to IBD education. He has been a member of the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation Professional Education Committee and a co-founder and former chair of Rising Educators Academics and Clinicians Helping IBD (REACH-IBD); a special committee within the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of America for trainees and junior faculty to promote collaboration, mentorship, and career advancement. The Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation recognized him for his leadership with the Rising Star award in 2018. He currently serves on the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation NSAC as the Chair of Professional Membership. Dr. Cohen has also been an active member of the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) serving on both the Education and Training Committee and Clinical Guidelines Committee.

Faculty

Christina Ha

MD, FACG, AGAF
Director, Inflammatory Bowel Diseases Section
Mayo Clinic Arizona

Dr. Christina Ha completed her internal medicine residency and fellowship at the Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine and then received additional training as the Present-Levison Inflammatory Bowel Diseases Fellow at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine. She is Director of the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Section and Associate Professor of Medicine at Mayo Clinic Arizona. Her clinical research interests focus on the impact of aging on the natural history of the inflammatory bowel diseases, especially the pathogenesis and natural history of late-onset IBD. She is also very involved in IBD related trainee educational initiatives and has served on multiple committees within the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation, American College of Gastroenterology, and American Gastroenterological Association.

6:50 - 7:30 PM (EDT)

Clinical Breakout: Rotation 2

Clinical Breakout

Understanding the Mimics of IBD

Invited Co-Team Leader

Panelist

Tuesday, December 08 6:50–7:30 PM
Room Southern Hemisphere I
Clinical Breakout
Faculty

Jessica Allegretti

MD,MPH, FACG, AGAF
Director, Crohn's and Colitis Center; Associate Professor of Medicine, 2020 Sherman Prize Emerging Leader Recipient
Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School

Dr. Jessica Allegretti currently serves as the Medical Director of the Crohn’s and Colitis Center at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital. In 2020, she received the Sherman Emerging Leader Prize for Excellence in Crohn’s and Colitis. In addition, she developed and leads the hospital’s Fecal Microbiota Transplantation Program and has grown to become and international expert on the topic. Dr. Allegretti cares for patients with inflammatory bowel disease as well as Clostridioides difficile (c.diff) infection. Her research focuses on the intestinal microbiome and the consequences of its derangement, with the goal of understanding the role dysbiosis plays in microbial associated diseases. In addition, her lab focuses on novel therapeutic agents for IBD and she is leading multiple sponsored and investigator initiated drug trials. For more information visit www.allegrettilab.com

Faculty

Hans Herfarth

MD, PhD
Professor of Medicine
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Hans Herfarth is Director of the Multidisciplinary IBD Center at the University of North Carolina. His primary research interests focus on the development and evaluation of novel diagnostic and therapeutic approaches for patients with inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). His work is particularly centered on the conceptualization and conduct of investigator-initiated clinical studies in IBD, supported by funding from the NIH, the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation, and private and industry-associated foundations. Dr. Herfarth has authored more than 350 journal articles, book chapters, and review articles related to IBD.

Faculty

Maria Abreu

MD
Executive Director, F. Widjaja Inflammatory Bowel Disease Institite
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center

Maria T. Abreu, MD, is a physician-scientist and gastroenterologist who specializes in inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). She received her medical degree from the University of Miami School of Medicine and completed a residency in medicine at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital. She served as an Associate Professor of Medicine at Mount Sinai School of Medicine (and head of their IBD Center), a Professor of Medicine and Microbiology & Immunology at the University of Miami School of Medicine (and Director of the Crohn’s and Colitis Center), and currently is the Executive Director of the F. Widjaja IBD Institute at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center; in past years, she has served as the President of the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) and the Chair of the International Organization for the Study of Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IOIBD). Dr. Abreu has 30 years of leadership experience in basic, translational, and clinical research, and has authored almost 300 peer-reviewed articles, book chapters, and reviews. Her work has received multiple awards, including the 2019 Sherman Prize from the Bruce and Cynthia Sherman Charitable Foundation for outstanding achievements in IBD and Healio’s Lifetime Disruptor Award for addressing critical unmet needs in IBD. Her research focuses on interactions between the gut microbiome and the innate immune system in the development of IBD and IBD-associated colon cancer. Currently, Dr. Abreu’s team is investigating how diet may shape the gut microbiome and alleviate IBD symptoms. Understand the underlying mechanisms can help us develop targeted treatment strategies to help patients live their best lives.

Faculty

Jana Al Hashash

MD, MSc
Associate Professor of Medicine
Mayo Clinic

Jana G. Al Hashash, MD, MSc is an Associate Professor of Medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at Mayo Clinic, FL.

She completed her internal medicine residency and fellowship in gastroenterology, hepatology, and nutrition at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center where she then served as an Assistant Professor of Medicine for a number of years before joining Mayo Clinic in FL.

Jana is a physician scientist conducting cutting edge clinical and translational research related to IBD. She is spearheading the stem cell transplant program for Crohn’s disease at Mayo Clinic. She has published over 290 peer-reviewed scientific manuscripts, a number of book chapters, and is the Section Editor and author for several UpToDate chapters related to the diagnosis and management of IBD. Jana serves as Chair of the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) Clinical Practice Update Committee. She has received funding for several of her studies.

Jana is Fellow of the AGA and ACG. She serves on the Professional Membership Committee of the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation and is also a member of the ACG Education Affairs Committee. She is on the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) task force LKA Approval Committee.

She has received numerous prestigious awards and honors for her teaching, research, innovation, and clinical care including the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society award, ACG Clinical Research Award, Mayo Clinic’s Early Career Investigator award, Teacher of the Year Award, Faculty of Medicine Humanism and Professionalism Physician Award, among many other recognitions.

Faculty

David Hudesman

MD, FACG, AGAF
Director, Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center
NYU Langone Health

Dr. Hudesman is Director of the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center at NYU Langone Health. He is Professor of Medicine at the NYU School of Medicine.

Dr. Hudesman specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and in the provision of integrated, seamless, patient-centered care. His research is focused on the development of biomarkers and evaluation and optimization of new medical therapies for the treatment of both Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.

Dr. Hudesman served on the Educational Affairs Committee of the American College of Gastroenterology, and the Professional Membership Committee of the Crohn’s Colitis Foundation, and is currently on the Quality Committee of the American Gastroenterological Association.

IBD Above the Ligament of Treitz

Invited Co-Team Leader

Panelist

Tuesday, December 08 6:50–7:30 PM
Room Southern Hemisphere IV-V
Clinical Breakout
Faculty

Maia Kayal

MD, MS
Associate Professor
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

Dr. Maia Kayal is an Associate Professor in the Division of Gastroenterology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and The Susan and Leonard Feinstein IBD Center. She graduated from New York University School of Medicine Alpha Omega Alpha. She then completed her internal medicine residency at Columbia University Medical Center-New York Presbyterian Hospital and fellowship training in gastroenterology at the Mount Sinai Hospital. Dr. Kayal's research in inflammatory conditions of the ileal pouch is funded by the NIH, Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation, and Rainin Foundation. She is a former ACG Young Physicians Leadership Scholar and AGA Future Leader.

Faculty

Edward Loftus

MD, FACP, FACG, AGAF
Maxine and Jack Zarrow Family Professor of Gastroenterology
Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science

Edward V. Loftus, Jr. is a gastroenterologist who specializes in the care of patients with complex Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. He is the Maxine and Jack Zarrow Family Professor of Gastroenterology Specifically in IBD at Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science in Rochester, Minnesota, USA. He developed a population-based cohort of inflammatory bowel disease patients which has resulted in over 50 peer-reviewed publications on the epidemiology and natural history of IBD. Professor Loftus has published over 500 original articles, book chapters, or editorials and more than 750 abstracts. He was awarded AGA’s Distinguished Clinician Award and the IMIBD section’s Research Mentor Award in 2019. He has also been awarded the Mayo Department of Medicine Laureate Award twice and the Outstanding Mentorship Award in Research. Professor Loftus has been the principal investigator on several funded studies focusing on the epidemiology and natural history of inflammatory bowel disease and has served as the local PI on multiple clinical trials of investigational agents for IBD. He serves on the steering committees of several clinical development programs in IBD. In the past he has served as Associate Editor for American Journal of Gastroenterology and Inflammatory Bowel Diseases, and currently serves as Associate Editor for Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology.

Faculty

Jordan Axelrad

MD, MPH
Associate Professor; Co-Director, Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center at NYU Langone Health
NYU Grossman School of Medicine

Jordan E. Axelrad, MD, MPH, AGAF, FACG, FCCF, is Co- Director of the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center at NYU Langone Health, and an Associate Professor of Medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Medicine, at NYU Grossman School of Medicine. Dr. Axelrad also directs the Clostridioides difficile and immunotherapy- related bowel diseases programs at NYU Langone Health. He received his medical and public health degrees from Tufts University School of Medicine. He completed his internal medicine training at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and fellowship training in gastroenterology at Columbia University Medical Center, serving as chief fellow. Dr. Axelrad is involved in inflammatory bowel disease guideline development and educational programs, and serves on the editorial board of multiple journals. His current research, funded by the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation, the Colton Center for Autoimmunity, and the National Institutes of Health, focuses on inflammatory bowel disease epidemiology, malignant and infectious complications of inflammatory bowel disease, triggers of inflammatory bowel disease onset and flare, and models for predicting responsiveness to inflammatory bowel disease therapies. Dr. Axelrad has also received several awards for his work including the Auxiliary of the American College of Gastroenterology Award, the Dr. Philip Moskowitz Prize in Autoimmunity, and the Sherman Emerging Leader Prize for Excellence in Crohn’s and Colitis.

Faculty

Asher Kornbluth

MD
Clinical Professor of Medicine
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

Asher Kornbluth, MD, is a Clinical Professor of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York. He was elected to the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society for which he was selected as an Honored Educator and again as an Honored Clinician. He has been awarded the Solomon Berson Award at Mount Sinai for “Outstanding Physician, Teacher and Role Model”. He has been selected as Teacher of the Year for 6 consecutive years at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine. He is the recipient of the William Dock Award Lifetime Teaching Award by the State University of New York Downstate. He has been recognized by his peers annually among the Best Doctors and Top Doctors for over 30 years. He is been the Founder and Co-Director for the last 18 years of the annual “Mount Sinai IBD Consultant’s Course: The Evidence and the Experience” and has been an Associate Editor for the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Journal, and is on the Editorial Board of Gastroenterology and Hepatology. He is the Principal Author of the first 3 editions of the American College of Gastroenterology Ulcerative Practice Guidelines and has published over 100 papers, abstracts, and book chapters, and is an investigator on multiple clinical trials of novel agents. His recent research interests involve the role of overweight and obesity, visceral adiposity, and response to therapies in IBD.

Faculty

Elizabeth Spencer

MD, MS
Associate Professor of Pediatric Gastroenterology
Associate Program Director, Pediatric Research Residency
Director, Pediatric IBD Translational Research Program
Co-Director, IBD-Dermatology Multidisciplinary Clinic
Co-Director, IBD Prevention Clinic
Mount Sinai, Icahn School of Medicine, New York, NY

Elizabeth A. Spencer, MD, MS is a pediatric gastroenterologist and Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, specializing in IBD in children and adolescents with a focus on early detection, precision care, and noninvasive monitoring.

Dr. Spencer directs the Pediatric IBD Translational Medicine Program and co-directs the Mount Sinai IBD-Dermatology Clinic, a multidisciplinary program for patients with overlapping IBD and dermatologic immune-mediated diseases. She also co-founded and co-directs the Mount Sinai IBD Prevention Program, which provides proactive care to children and adults at high risk of developing IBD.

Her research leverages large-scale biorepositories and real-world data to evaluate treatment effectiveness and safety in pediatric IBD and to define the preclinical phase of disease. She is Principal Investigator of an NIH K23 award studying multiplex IBD families and an investigator on PCORI- and Helmsley-funded studies, including as Site Principal Investigator and Northeast Region Lead for COMPARE. A certified guideline methodologist, she contributes to ACG and NASPGHAN guideline development and leads national efforts to standardize intestinal ultrasound training and care pathways.

Dr. Spencer received her MD with honors (AOA, GHHS) from Eastern Virginia Medical School and completed pediatric residency at UCLA, followed by pediatric gastroenterology and advanced IBD fellowships and a master's in clinical research at Mount Sinai. Recent honors include consecutive Cullman Family Awards for physician communication and two Team Science Awards. An IBD patient herself, diagnosed at 15, she is deeply committed to advancing pediatric-centered innovation in IBD prevention, diagnosis, and treatment.

Not Your Typical EIMs

Invited Co-Team Leader

Panelist

Tuesday, December 08 6:50–7:30 PM
Room Southern Hemisphere II
Clinical Breakout
Faculty

Jami Kinnucan

MD, AGAF, FACG, FCCF
Associate Professor of Medicine
Mayo Clinic Florida

Jami Kinnucan, MD, is an inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) specialist who joined the Mayo Clinic Florida practice in January 2021 as an Associate Professor of Medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology. She currently serves as the Clinical Practice Chair for the Division of Gastroenterology & Hepatology, Associate Chair for Digital Transformation and Practice Integration for the Department of Medicine and Medical Director for Plummer Chart Ambulatory Communication Solutions team. She is also the Director of the IBD Intestinal Ultrasound Program at Mayo Clinic Florida. She has been recognized as a fellow of the American College of Gastroenterology (ACG), American Gastroenterological Association (AGA), and Crohn's and Colitis Foundation. She is a former member of the ACG Board of Governors for the state of Michigan and the ACG Women in Gastroenterology Committee. She is active in the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation and previous Co-Chair for the Women in IBD Task Force and prior member of the Government and Industry Affairs Committee for the National Scientific Advisory Committee. Dr. Kinnucan is the co-founder of the Michigan GI Society in 2020 and, most recently, co-founded the Florida Women in GI (2022) and Gastro Digital Health (2024) She serves as Associate Editor for the Crohn’s and Colitis 360 Journal. She is actively involved with research looking at the impact of cannabis in IBD and received a 2024 Mayo Clinic STARDOM award to evaluate the use of virtual reality on the impact of pain in patients with abdominal pain and Crohn’s disease.

Faculty

Remo Panaccione

MD
Director, IBD Clinic; Assistant Dean of MD Admissions. Professor of Medicine
University of Calgary

Professor Remo Panaccione is a Professor of Medicine and the Director of the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Unit at the University of Calgary, Canada. He serves as the Dean of MD Admissions and Director of the IBD Fellowship Program. He also holds the Crohn’s Colitis Canada Endowed Research Chair in Inflammatory Bowel Disease.

He is the 2020 Crohn's Colitis Canada Outstanding Physician of the Year and received the 2024 Crohn’s Colitis Canada Research Leadership Award for his contributions to the field. Since 2020 he has been a Clarivate Research Scholar for being cited in the top one percent of researchers in the world. He has co-authored over 500 manuscripts, 20 book chapters and 825 abstracts, including publications in journals such as the New England Journal of Medicine, The Lancet, JAMA, Nature, and Annals of Internal Medicine.

Prof. Panaccione’s main research interest is the design and implementation of clinical trials. He has been the principal investigator on several studies evaluating the efficacy and safety of new therapeutic agents in subjects with IBD.

Faculty

Kofi Clarke

MD,FACP,FRCP,AGAF
Professor, Chief, Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Penn State College of Medicine
Penn State Hershey

Dr. Clarke is Professor and Chief of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, at The College of Medicine at Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center. He is also the Graham Jeffries Endowed Professor of Medicine
Fellowships:
-Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition; University of Pittsburgh
-Research Fellowship; Michigan State University
Post Graduate:
-Medicine and Gastroenterology- Imperial College, Royal College of Physicians, London, UK

Additional Qualifications
-Certificate for Leadership Training for Physicians in Academic Medical Centers-
Harvard School of Public Health.
-Certificate of Completion, Penn State Leadership Academy

Clinical and Research Interests:
-Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Celiac Disease.
-Graduate Medical Education.

Faculty

Katherine Falloon

MD
Assistant Professor
Cleveland Clinic

Katherine Falloon, MD, is a staff gastroenterologist at the Digestive Disease and Surgery Institute at the Cleveland Clinic and an assistant professor of medicine at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine. She is also the co-director of the intestinal ultrasound program at the Cleveland Clinic. Her clinical focus is in caring for patients in inflammatory bowel disease and her research interest is in extra-intestinal manifestations of inflammatory bowel disease. She is currently leading the Cohort for Healing Skin, Eye, and Extra-Intestinal Manifestations (CHASE-EIM), a multi-disciplinary research consortia related to extra-intestinal manifestations of inflammatory bowel disease. She has received funding from the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation, Pfizer, and the Digestive Disease and Surgery Institute's Chief Innovation and Research Award.

Faculty

Jason Schairer

MD
Director of the Henry Ford IBD Center
Henry Ford Health

Jason Schairer is the Co-Director of the Henry Ford IBD Center in Michigan. His interests include Interventional IBD with a focus on stricturotomy, addressing health care inequity, intimacy and sex in IBD, and improving medical education for providers of all levels. He received his medical degree from Wayne Statue University, and went on to complete a fellowship in gastroenterology at Providence Hospital in Michigan. He previously served as the Associate Program Director of the Henry Ford Gastroenterology and Hepatology fellowship, and continues to be involved in fellow education of IBD across the state of Michigan. He has been recognized for his teaching efforts, high quality care of IBD patients and contributions to patient education.

Mental Health in IBD: What to Do If You Don't Have a Psychiatrist

Invited Co-Team Leader

Panelist

Tuesday, December 08 6:50–7:30 PM
Room Southern Hemisphere III
Clinical Breakout
Faculty

Neilanjan Nandi

MD, FACG, AGAF, FCCF, FACP
Professor of Clinical Medicine, Co-Section Head, Director of Clinical Operations, Penn IBD Program
University of Pennsylvania

Neilanjan Nandi, MD, FACG, AGAF, FCCF, FACP is an Professor of Clinical Medicine at the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania and is the Co-Section Head and Direcotr of Clinical Operations of the University of Pennsylvania Inflammatory Bowel Disease Program. Dr. Nandi specializes in the complex management of Crohn's disease, Ulcerative Colitis and recurrent C. difficile infection (C difficile). He has also authored numerous abstracts, publications and book chapters on the diagnosis and management of IBD, C difficile and various viral, parasitic, mycobacterial and bacterial infections of the GI tract. Aligning with his interests, Dr. Nandi has conducted several clinical trials focused on the clinical impact of stool derived microbiome therapies in C difficile and IBD. Dr. Nandi servies on the Philadelphia/Delaware Valley Crohn's & Colitis Foundation (CCF) Executive Council and on the Medical Advisory Board of the United Ostomy Associates of America (UOAA). He is a founding non-profit board member and Chair of the South Asian IBD Alliance (SAIA) which elevates culturally competent care in South Asian IBD. He has been recognized with the 2019 Philly Take STeps Physician Hero, the 2022 CCF's National Chairman’s Citation Award and the 2024 CCF's Gold Medallion Physician Award. He is the honored recipient of the 2023 Sidney Cohen GI Faculty Teaching Award and the 2024 Radhika Srinivasan GI Faculty award for Professionalism and Humanism at the Perelman School of Medicine.

Faculty

Jessica Salwen-Deremer

PhD
Associate Professor of Psychiatry & Medicine
Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center

Jessiy Salwen-Deremer, Ph.D., DBSM, is the Director of Behavioral Medicine for Digestive Health at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center and an Associate Professor of Psychiatry & Medicine at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth. Her clinical and research expertise encompasses two areas: understanding and treating sleep disorders in people with inflammatory bowel disease and improving access to gastrointestinal behavioral health care. Research initiatives have been supported by institutional, foundation, and NIH funding, with current work focusing on understanding how treatment of insomnia in IBD can impact other symptoms, such as abdominal pain and fatigue. Across areas of research and practice, she also focuses on the integration of remote technologies to enhance patient engagement and participation.

Faculty

Aline Charabaty

MD
Professor of Medicine
University of Maryland School of Medicine

Dr. Aline Charabaty is Professor of Medicine at the University of Maryland and the Director of the IBD Program at the University of Maryland Medical center. She is the Editor-in-Chief of the Crohn’s and Colitis 360 journal, and is past Vice-Chair of the AGA Research Foundation Executive Board, and past ACG Governor for Washington DC. Her work and advocacy were recognized by the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation Excellence in Medicine Award in 2020 , the ACG Diversity Equity and Inclusion Award in 2025, and the AGA Beacon of Hope Award in 2026. Dr Charabaty uses social media to amplify medical education in IBD and is the founder of @MondayNightIBD a CME platform on twitter for which she received the Healio Disruptive Innovator Award in 2019. Dr Charabaty is a strong advocate for diversity and the professional advancement of women in GI. She is the Co-Founder of Scrubs & Heels, a foundation focused on empowering women in GI with the leadership skills, networking and mentorship to achieve professional goals and growth.

Faculty

Kelly Issokson

MS, RD, CSDH, CNSC
Senior RD, Outpatient Nutrition
UCSF Health

Kelly Issokson, MS, RD, CSDH, LDN, CNSC is the Senior Registered Dietitian of Outpatient Nutrition at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and a nationally recognized expert in gastrointestinal nutrition. With over 17 years of clinical experience, she specializes in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and surgical nutrition. Ms. Issokson graduated magna cum laude from Johnson & Wales University and earned her MS in Nutrition from California State University, Northridge. She serves on the National Board of the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation and is a leading voice in advancing nutrition as part of multidisciplinary IBD care. She co-developed the Cedars-Sinai IBD Prehabilitation Program and nutrition education training programs for physicians, APPs, and RDs.

Faculty

Gil Melmed

MD, MS, FACG, AGAF
Director, IBD Clinical Research, F. Widjadja IBD Institute
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center

Gil Y. Melmed, MD, MS, is the Clinical Director of the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Program and Associate Director of the Karsh Division of Digestive and Liver Diseases at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California. He earned his medical degree from Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx, New York, and master of science in clinical research from UCLA School of Medicine, Los Angeles. Dr Melmed completed his gastroenterology fellowship at the University of California, Los Angeles.
He has authored or coauthored more than 250 articles in peer-reviewed journals and several book chapters. Dr Melmed has served as Associate Editor of the American Journal of Gastroenterology, an ad hoc reviewer for several journals, and clinical research editor for Inflammatory Bowel Disease. His research interests include clinical outcomes and quality of care in IBD. He has given invited lectures and presentations nationally and internationally on several clinical topics in inflammatory bowel disease, including quality of care and clinical outcomes. He is a committee member of several professional organizations, including the American College of Gastroenterology and the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation, where he serves as co-chair of the IBD Quality of Care committee. He has led or participated in the development of quality measures for IBD with the American Gastroenterology Association, the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation, and the Canadian Crohn’s and Colitis organizations.

7:30 - 8:30 PM (EDT)

Specialty Receptions

Tuesday, December 08 7:30–8:30 PM

7:30 - 9:00 PM (EDT)

Dinner CME Satellite Symposia

Tuesday, December 08 7:30–9:00 PM

6:45 - 7:45 AM (EDT)

Breakfast Innovation Theater (non-accredited)

Wednesday, December 09 6:45–7:45 AM

8:00 - 8:15 AM (EDT)

Welcome

Co-Chair

Wednesday, December 09 8:00–8:15 AM
Room Pacific Hall A-B
Co-Chair

Millie Long

MD, MPH, FACG
Professor of Medicine
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Millie D. Long MD, MPH earned her doctor of medicine degree at the University of Virginia. She completed a residency and chief residency in internal medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She then completed a gastroenterology fellowship at University of North Carolina. She also completed a fellowship in preventive medicine and a masters of public health in epidemiology at the Gillings School of Public Health. She is board certified in internal medicine, preventive medicine, and gastroenterology. She is currently Professor of Medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at the University of North Carolina, as well as Chief of the Division.

Dr. Long’s clinical practice is at the UNC Multidisciplinary Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IBD) center. Her research interests include prevention of complications of IBD, women’s health and clinical epidemiology. Dr. Long has contributed over 200 peer-reviewed publications, book chapters, and review articles to the literature. She co-authored the 2025 ACG ulcerative colitis guidelines. She serves Co-Editor in Chief of the American Journal of Gastroenterology.

Dr. Long is a fellow of the American College of Gastroenterology where she is a member of the Board of Trustees. She is also a fellow of the American Gastroenterological Association and a member of the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation. Recipient of the 2024 Sherman Prize for Excellence in Crohn’s and Colitis. She is a member of the International Organization for the Study of IBD.

Co-Chair

Miguel Regueiro

MD, FACG
Professor and Chief of Digestive Disease Institute
Cleveland Clinic

Dr. Miguel Regueiro is the Enterprise Chief of Staff and Executive Vice President at Cleveland Clinic, and Professor in the Department of Medicine, Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University.

Dr. Regueiro is the inaugural Chair holder of The Melody and Steve Golding Chair for Digestive Diseases. He served as the Global Chief for the Digestive Disease Institute from 2021 - 2026 before becoming Enterprise Chief of Staff. As Chief of Staff, he is responsible for shaping the healthcare strategy and vision for the national and international Cleveland Clinic sites. He oversees 6,000 physicians and 4.000 advanced practice providers across the enterprise.

Dr. Regueiro’s main clinical and research interest is Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IBD) with a focus on the natural course and medical-surgical management of Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. He leads research on postoperative prevention of Crohn’s disease, as well as developing new models of healthcare, including the first-of-its kind specialty medical home for IBD.

Co-Chair

Corey Siegel

MD, MS
Director, Walter and Carole Young Center for Digestive Health
Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center

Corey A. Siegel, MD, MS, is the Director of the Walter and Carole Young Center for Digestive Health at the Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, New Hampshire. He is the Constantine and Joyce Hampers Professor of Medicine and a Professor at The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth.

Dr. Siegel received his medical degree from Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston, Massachusetts. He completed his residency in internal medicine at the Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center where he also served as chief medical resident. He then completed a fellowship in Gastroenterology at Dartmouth Hitchcock followed by a fellowship in Inflammatory Bowel Disease at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.

Dr. Siegel’s research interests include understanding risk/benefit tradeoffs in IBD, developing models to predict outcomes in Crohn’s disease, creating tools to facilitate shared decision making, expanding telemedicine services to patients with IBD living in rural locations, and improving the quality of care delivered to patients with IBD. He has been funded by the NIH, AHRQ, the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation, and the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust for this work. Dr. Siegel is the founder of the BRIDGe group, an international research collaborative of IBD investigators. Dr. Siegel was inducted into the International Organization for the Study of IBD (IOIBD) in 2013 and he received the Sherman Prize in 2023. He lives in Hanover, New Hampshire with his wife and three boys.

8:15 - 9:45 AM (EDT)

Editor's Focus: Year in Review

  • Co-Moderator
    • Millie Long, MD, MPH, FACG
    • David Rubin, MD, FACG
General Session

Gastroenterology

Presenter

Wednesday, December 09 8:15–8:30 AM
Room Pacific Hall A-B
General Session
Faculty

Gilaad Kaplan

MD, MPH, FCAHS
Professor, Gastroenterologist
University of Calgary

Dr. Kaplan is a Professor in the Cumming School of Medicine at the University of Calgary. Dr. Kaplan is a gastroenterologist who is internationally renowned for studying the global epidemiology of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). As the corresponding author, he has published in prestigious journals such as Nature, The Lancet and JAMA. He is an Associate Editor of Gastroenterology and an Academic Editor of PLOS Med. Between 2020 and 2025 Clarivate, Web of Science named Dr. Kaplan a Highly Cited Researcher in recognition of being in the top one percent of cited researchers. Dr. Kaplan is a member of the International Organization for the study of IBD (IOIBD). Dr. Kaplan received Canadian Association of Gastroenterology’s Research Leader Award and was inducted into the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences.

American Journal of Gastroenterology

Presenter

Wednesday, December 09 8:30–8:45 AM
Room Pacific Hall A-B
General Session
Faculty

Raymond Cross

MD, MS, AGAF, FACG
Director
Melissa L Posner Institute for Digestive Health & Liver Disease, Mercy Medical Center

Raymond K. Cross, MD, MS, AGAF, FACG completed undergraduate training at Washington and Jefferson College and attended medical school at the University of Pittsburgh. He completed internal medicine residency and gastroenterology and Hepatology fellowship training at the University of Maryland Medical Center and Baltimore Veterans Affairs. Prior to fellowship, he was a Chief Medical Resident. He obtained a Master’s Degree in Clinical Research at the University of Maryland, Baltimore. He joined the faculty at the University of Maryland and served as Director of the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Program from 2004 to 2024. In July 2024, he joined the faculty at the Melissa L. Posner Institute for Digestive Health & Liver Disease at Mercy Medical Center where he is Director of the Center for Inflammatory Bowel and Colorectal Diseases.
He has published over 200 peer reviewed manuscripts, review articles, and book chapters and has obtained research funding from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation, and the American College of Gastroenterology. He is past Chair of the Patient Education and Clinical Research Committees and Clinical Research Alliance for the Foundation. He is the Co-Chair of the Regional Advances in Inflammatory Bowel Disease Course, Scientific Co-Director of the CorEvitas Registry, and past Course Director for the American College of Gastroenterology’s Eastern Regional Course. He is Governor for Maryland for the American College of Gastroenterology, a member of the American College of Gastroenterology’s Research Committee, and Senior Associate Editor of the American Journal of Gastroenterology.

Inflammatory Bowel Diseases Journal

Presenter

Wednesday, December 09 8:45–9:00 AM
Room Pacific Hall A-B
General Session
Faculty

Edward Barnes

MD, MPH
Associate Professor of Medicine; 2021 Sherman Emerging Leader Prize Recipient
University of North Carolina School of Medicine

Edward L. Barnes, MD, MPH is an Associate Professor of Medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology & Hepatology and Co-Director of the Multidisciplinary Inflammatory Bowel Diseases Center at the University of North Carolina of Chapel Hill. Dr. Barnes received his undergraduate and medical degrees from the University of South Carolina. He completed his internship, residency, and chief residency in internal medicine at the University of North Carolina. He completed his gastroenterology fellowship at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts. During his gastroenterology fellowship, Dr. Barnes received a Master of Public Health from the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health. Following his gastroenterology fellowship, Dr. Barnes completed a one year advanced fellowship in inflammatory bowel disease at the University of North Carolina.

Dr. Barnes has a research interest in the epidemiology and clinical outcomes of patients with inflammatory bowel disease. He has a particular interest in improving our understanding of inflammatory conditions of the pouch after restorative proctocolectomy with ileal pouch-anal anastomosis (IPAA). He has received funding from the National Institutes of Health, Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation, American College of Gastroenterology, and American Gastroenterological Association to study clinical outcomes of patients with pouchitis and other pouch-related conditions and to investigate predictors of a complicated disease course after IPAA. Dr. Barnes is the 2021 Sherman Emerging Leader Prize recipient.

Journal of Crohn's and Colitis

Presenter

Wednesday, December 09 9:00–9:15 AM
Room Pacific Hall A-B
General Session
Faculty

Nuru Noor

MD PhD
Clinical Lecturer in Gastroenterology
University of Cambridge

Dr Nuru Noor is a Clinical Lecturer in Gastroenterology based at the University of Cambridge in the UK. He also works as a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Medical Research Council Clinical Trials Unit - the largest academic clinical trials unit in Europe. He has a particular interest in novel clinical trial designs, having completed his PhD on this topic. He is keen to bring novel methodological approaches to the field of Gastroenterology, and in particular to IBD - which is his main area of clinical interest and expertise.

Surgical Journals: Top 5 Articles from the Last Year

Presenter

Wednesday, December 09 9:15–9:30 AM
Room Pacific Hall A-B
General Session
Faculty

Anthony de Buck van Overstraeten

MD, MSc
Colorectal Surgeon
Cleveland Clinic Ohio

Dr. Anthony de Buck, MD, MSc, is a colorectal surgeon and internationally recognized expert in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). He currently practices at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, where he serves as colorectal surgeon and Lead of the IBD Section within the Department of Colorectal Surgery. He also holds an academic appointment as Visiting Associate Professor of Surgery at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University.
Dr. de Buck recently transitioned from Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto, where he was a colorectal surgeon and Associate Professor of Surgery at the University of Toronto.
He earned his medical degree at the University of Leuven, where he also completed his surgical and colorectal training. In 2013, he completed a colorectal fellowship at the University of Toronto, refining his expertise under the mentorship of leading experts in the field. He also holds a Master’s Degree in Clinical Epidemiology from the University of Toronto, equipping him with advanced research methodology skills.
Dr. de Buck’s research focuses on clinical outcomes in IBD, particularly functional results and quality of life. He has led and contributed to several multi-institutional studies and randomized controlled trials, supported by peer-reviewed funding. His work continues to shape surgical care for patients with IBD.
An engaged educator and academic leader, Dr. de Buck remains actively involved in teaching and mentorship. He is widely recognized for his contributions to patient-centered innovation in colorectal surgery.

Q&A

Co-Moderator

Panelist

Wednesday, December 09 9:30–9:45 AM
Room Pacific Hall A-B
General Session
Co-Chair

Millie Long

MD, MPH, FACG
Professor of Medicine
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Millie D. Long MD, MPH earned her doctor of medicine degree at the University of Virginia. She completed a residency and chief residency in internal medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She then completed a gastroenterology fellowship at University of North Carolina. She also completed a fellowship in preventive medicine and a masters of public health in epidemiology at the Gillings School of Public Health. She is board certified in internal medicine, preventive medicine, and gastroenterology. She is currently Professor of Medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at the University of North Carolina, as well as Chief of the Division.

Dr. Long’s clinical practice is at the UNC Multidisciplinary Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IBD) center. Her research interests include prevention of complications of IBD, women’s health and clinical epidemiology. Dr. Long has contributed over 200 peer-reviewed publications, book chapters, and review articles to the literature. She co-authored the 2025 ACG ulcerative colitis guidelines. She serves Co-Editor in Chief of the American Journal of Gastroenterology.

Dr. Long is a fellow of the American College of Gastroenterology where she is a member of the Board of Trustees. She is also a fellow of the American Gastroenterological Association and a member of the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation. Recipient of the 2024 Sherman Prize for Excellence in Crohn’s and Colitis. She is a member of the International Organization for the Study of IBD.

Faculty

David Rubin

MD, FACG
Professor of Medicine; Professor of Pathology
University of Chicago Medicine

David T. Rubin is the Joseph B. Kirsner Professor of Medicine, Professor of Pathology, Chief of the Section of Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition and Director of the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center at the University of Chicago Medicine. He earned a medical degree with honors at The University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine where he also completed his residency in internal medicine and fellowships in gastroenterology and clinical medical ethics. He is associate faculty member at the MacLean Center for Clinical Medical Ethics, associate investigator at the University of Chicago Comprehensive Cancer Center and a member of the University of Chicago Committee on Clinical Pharmacology and Pharmacogenomics. He is the immediate past Chair of the National Scientific Advisory Committee of the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation and Deputy Chair of the International Organization for the Study of IBD.
Dr. Rubin’s research is focused on disease modification in IBD including clinical trial designs, novel measures of inflammation and prevention of adverse outcomes, and quality of life in IBD. In 2023, he received both the UChicago Michael Reese Lectureship Award (for outstanding faculty who have developed novel teaching and clinical research that advances healthcare) and the distinguished UChicago Arthur H. Rubenstein Mentorship in Academic Medicine Award. Dr. Rubin is currently a senior editor of the 12 edition of Sleisenger and Fordtran’s Gastrointestinal and Liver Disease, and an author on >600 articles on management of IBD, including the 2019 and 2025 ACG Guidelines for ulcerative colitis.

Faculty

Edward Barnes

MD, MPH
Associate Professor of Medicine; 2021 Sherman Emerging Leader Prize Recipient
University of North Carolina School of Medicine

Edward L. Barnes, MD, MPH is an Associate Professor of Medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology & Hepatology and Co-Director of the Multidisciplinary Inflammatory Bowel Diseases Center at the University of North Carolina of Chapel Hill. Dr. Barnes received his undergraduate and medical degrees from the University of South Carolina. He completed his internship, residency, and chief residency in internal medicine at the University of North Carolina. He completed his gastroenterology fellowship at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts. During his gastroenterology fellowship, Dr. Barnes received a Master of Public Health from the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health. Following his gastroenterology fellowship, Dr. Barnes completed a one year advanced fellowship in inflammatory bowel disease at the University of North Carolina.

Dr. Barnes has a research interest in the epidemiology and clinical outcomes of patients with inflammatory bowel disease. He has a particular interest in improving our understanding of inflammatory conditions of the pouch after restorative proctocolectomy with ileal pouch-anal anastomosis (IPAA). He has received funding from the National Institutes of Health, Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation, American College of Gastroenterology, and American Gastroenterological Association to study clinical outcomes of patients with pouchitis and other pouch-related conditions and to investigate predictors of a complicated disease course after IPAA. Dr. Barnes is the 2021 Sherman Emerging Leader Prize recipient.

Faculty

Raymond Cross

MD, MS, AGAF, FACG
Director
Melissa L Posner Institute for Digestive Health & Liver Disease, Mercy Medical Center

Raymond K. Cross, MD, MS, AGAF, FACG completed undergraduate training at Washington and Jefferson College and attended medical school at the University of Pittsburgh. He completed internal medicine residency and gastroenterology and Hepatology fellowship training at the University of Maryland Medical Center and Baltimore Veterans Affairs. Prior to fellowship, he was a Chief Medical Resident. He obtained a Master’s Degree in Clinical Research at the University of Maryland, Baltimore. He joined the faculty at the University of Maryland and served as Director of the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Program from 2004 to 2024. In July 2024, he joined the faculty at the Melissa L. Posner Institute for Digestive Health & Liver Disease at Mercy Medical Center where he is Director of the Center for Inflammatory Bowel and Colorectal Diseases.
He has published over 200 peer reviewed manuscripts, review articles, and book chapters and has obtained research funding from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation, and the American College of Gastroenterology. He is past Chair of the Patient Education and Clinical Research Committees and Clinical Research Alliance for the Foundation. He is the Co-Chair of the Regional Advances in Inflammatory Bowel Disease Course, Scientific Co-Director of the CorEvitas Registry, and past Course Director for the American College of Gastroenterology’s Eastern Regional Course. He is Governor for Maryland for the American College of Gastroenterology, a member of the American College of Gastroenterology’s Research Committee, and Senior Associate Editor of the American Journal of Gastroenterology.

Faculty

Anthony de Buck van Overstraeten

MD, MSc
Colorectal Surgeon
Cleveland Clinic Ohio

Dr. Anthony de Buck, MD, MSc, is a colorectal surgeon and internationally recognized expert in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). He currently practices at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, where he serves as colorectal surgeon and Lead of the IBD Section within the Department of Colorectal Surgery. He also holds an academic appointment as Visiting Associate Professor of Surgery at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University.
Dr. de Buck recently transitioned from Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto, where he was a colorectal surgeon and Associate Professor of Surgery at the University of Toronto.
He earned his medical degree at the University of Leuven, where he also completed his surgical and colorectal training. In 2013, he completed a colorectal fellowship at the University of Toronto, refining his expertise under the mentorship of leading experts in the field. He also holds a Master’s Degree in Clinical Epidemiology from the University of Toronto, equipping him with advanced research methodology skills.
Dr. de Buck’s research focuses on clinical outcomes in IBD, particularly functional results and quality of life. He has led and contributed to several multi-institutional studies and randomized controlled trials, supported by peer-reviewed funding. His work continues to shape surgical care for patients with IBD.
An engaged educator and academic leader, Dr. de Buck remains actively involved in teaching and mentorship. He is widely recognized for his contributions to patient-centered innovation in colorectal surgery.

Faculty

Gilaad Kaplan

MD, MPH, FCAHS
Professor, Gastroenterologist
University of Calgary

Dr. Kaplan is a Professor in the Cumming School of Medicine at the University of Calgary. Dr. Kaplan is a gastroenterologist who is internationally renowned for studying the global epidemiology of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). As the corresponding author, he has published in prestigious journals such as Nature, The Lancet and JAMA. He is an Associate Editor of Gastroenterology and an Academic Editor of PLOS Med. Between 2020 and 2025 Clarivate, Web of Science named Dr. Kaplan a Highly Cited Researcher in recognition of being in the top one percent of cited researchers. Dr. Kaplan is a member of the International Organization for the study of IBD (IOIBD). Dr. Kaplan received Canadian Association of Gastroenterology’s Research Leader Award and was inducted into the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences.

Faculty

Nuru Noor

MD PhD
Clinical Lecturer in Gastroenterology
University of Cambridge

Dr Nuru Noor is a Clinical Lecturer in Gastroenterology based at the University of Cambridge in the UK. He also works as a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Medical Research Council Clinical Trials Unit - the largest academic clinical trials unit in Europe. He has a particular interest in novel clinical trial designs, having completed his PhD on this topic. He is keen to bring novel methodological approaches to the field of Gastroenterology, and in particular to IBD - which is his main area of clinical interest and expertise.

9:45 - 10:45 AM (EDT)

Exhibit Hall Break

Wednesday, December 09 9:45–10:45 AM
Room Atlantic Hall B-C

10:45 - 12:15 PM (EDT)

Common Scenarios from Everyday Practice

  • Co-Moderator
    • Kara De Felice, MD
    • Paulo Kotze, MD, MSc, PhD
General Session

Case Discussion: Perianal Problems

Invited Co-Team Leader

Panelist

Wednesday, December 09 10:45–11:10 AM
Room Pacific Hall A-B
General Session
Faculty

Jana Al Hashash

MD, MSc
Associate Professor of Medicine
Mayo Clinic

Jana G. Al Hashash, MD, MSc is an Associate Professor of Medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at Mayo Clinic, FL.

She completed her internal medicine residency and fellowship in gastroenterology, hepatology, and nutrition at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center where she then served as an Assistant Professor of Medicine for a number of years before joining Mayo Clinic in FL.

Jana is a physician scientist conducting cutting edge clinical and translational research related to IBD. She is spearheading the stem cell transplant program for Crohn’s disease at Mayo Clinic. She has published over 290 peer-reviewed scientific manuscripts, a number of book chapters, and is the Section Editor and author for several UpToDate chapters related to the diagnosis and management of IBD. Jana serves as Chair of the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) Clinical Practice Update Committee. She has received funding for several of her studies.

Jana is Fellow of the AGA and ACG. She serves on the Professional Membership Committee of the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation and is also a member of the ACG Education Affairs Committee. She is on the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) task force LKA Approval Committee.

She has received numerous prestigious awards and honors for her teaching, research, innovation, and clinical care including the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society award, ACG Clinical Research Award, Mayo Clinic’s Early Career Investigator award, Teacher of the Year Award, Faculty of Medicine Humanism and Professionalism Physician Award, among many other recognitions.

Faculty

Paulo Kotze

MD, MSc, PhD
Professor of Health Sciences
Catholic University of Paraná - PUCPR

Paulo Gustavo Kotze is Adjunct Senior Professor of Surgery at the Catholic University in Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil. He rcompleted his General Surgery training at the Evangelical University Hospital in Curitiba (2000). He also completed his senior Fellowship in Colorectal Surgery at the Clinics Hospital from the Federal University of Parana (2002). Dr. Kotze achieved his Masters' Degree on Surgery at the Catholic University in 2008 and joined the faculty of medicine at the same university in 2011. He achieved his PhD degree studying the influence of biological therapy on surgical outcomes in Crohn´s disease, in the University of Campinas, in São Paulo, Brazil (UNICAMP) in 2015. Dr. Kotze was also an IBD advanced visiting fellow in the IBD unit at the University of Calgary (Cumming school of medicine), Canada, for the period of 2017-2018. Dr. Kotze is an experienced IBD surgeon and author of 3 books, 250+ pubmed peer-reviewed articles and multiple book chapters focused on Crohn´s disease and ulcerative colitis. He has special interest in the fields of biological therapy, epidemiology and surgery in IBD. Dr. Kotze was formely a committee member of S-ECCO (surgeons of ECCO) from 2015-2018 and a member of the ECCO EduCOM (educational committee), 2018-2021. He is an active member from the International Organization of Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IOIBD). Currently, he is Professor of the Health Sciences Postgraduate Program at the Catholic University of Paraná, in Curitiba, Brazil. Dr Kotze is also a senior researcher for the National Brazilian Council of Research (CNPq).

Faculty

Aline Charabaty

MD
Professor of Medicine
University of Maryland School of Medicine

Dr. Aline Charabaty is Professor of Medicine at the University of Maryland and the Director of the IBD Program at the University of Maryland Medical center. She is the Editor-in-Chief of the Crohn’s and Colitis 360 journal, and is past Vice-Chair of the AGA Research Foundation Executive Board, and past ACG Governor for Washington DC. Her work and advocacy were recognized by the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation Excellence in Medicine Award in 2020 , the ACG Diversity Equity and Inclusion Award in 2025, and the AGA Beacon of Hope Award in 2026. Dr Charabaty uses social media to amplify medical education in IBD and is the founder of @MondayNightIBD a CME platform on twitter for which she received the Healio Disruptive Innovator Award in 2019. Dr Charabaty is a strong advocate for diversity and the professional advancement of women in GI. She is the Co-Founder of Scrubs & Heels, a foundation focused on empowering women in GI with the leadership skills, networking and mentorship to achieve professional goals and growth.

Faculty

Katherine Falloon

MD
Assistant Professor
Cleveland Clinic

Katherine Falloon, MD, is a staff gastroenterologist at the Digestive Disease and Surgery Institute at the Cleveland Clinic and an assistant professor of medicine at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine. She is also the co-director of the intestinal ultrasound program at the Cleveland Clinic. Her clinical focus is in caring for patients in inflammatory bowel disease and her research interest is in extra-intestinal manifestations of inflammatory bowel disease. She is currently leading the Cohort for Healing Skin, Eye, and Extra-Intestinal Manifestations (CHASE-EIM), a multi-disciplinary research consortia related to extra-intestinal manifestations of inflammatory bowel disease. She has received funding from the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation, Pfizer, and the Digestive Disease and Surgery Institute's Chief Innovation and Research Award.

Faculty

Phillip Fleshner

MD, FASCRS
Director, Colorectal Surgery Research
Cedars Sinai Medical Center

Phillip R. Fleshner, MD is the Director of Colorectal Surgery Research at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. He holds the Shierley, Jesslyne, and Emmeline Widjaja Chair in Colorectal Surgery.

Dr. Fleshner's main clinical and research interests are directed towards optimizing outcomes and techniques in the surgical management of Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis.

Dr. Fleshner has written numerous articles for peer-reviewed publications, including the Annals of Surgery, Journal of the American College of Surgeons, Diseases of the Colon and Rectum, Gut and the American Journal of Surgery.

Dr. Fleshner received his bachelor's degree from McGill University and his medical degree from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. He completed his General Surgery Residency at the Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York and his Colorectal Surgery Fellowship at the Lahey Clinic in Boston.

He received the Sherman Prize in 2021.

Faculty

Hans Herfarth

MD, PhD
Professor of Medicine
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Hans Herfarth is Director of the Multidisciplinary IBD Center at the University of North Carolina. His primary research interests focus on the development and evaluation of novel diagnostic and therapeutic approaches for patients with inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). His work is particularly centered on the conceptualization and conduct of investigator-initiated clinical studies in IBD, supported by funding from the NIH, the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation, and private and industry-associated foundations. Dr. Herfarth has authored more than 350 journal articles, book chapters, and review articles related to IBD.

Case Discussion: Pregnancy Possibilities

Invited Co-Team Leader

Panelist

Wednesday, December 09 11:10–11:35 AM
Room Pacific Hall A-B
General Session
Faculty

Kara De Felice

MD
Associate Professor of Medicine
University of Cincinnati

Dr. Kara De Felice serves as an Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine and the Director of Inflammatory Bowel Diseases at the University of Cincinnati. Leading a multidisciplinary IBD team, her mission is to deliver exceptional patient care and improve long-term outcomes through clinical excellence, participation in clinical trials, and the training of the next generation of gastroenterologists. A dedicated educator, she is a frequent speaker at regional and national conferences with a specialized focus on women in GI and Advanced Practice Provider (APP) education. Outside of the clinic, she enjoys traveling, playing tennis, and hosting dinner and cocktail parties.

Co-Chair

Millie Long

MD, MPH, FACG
Professor of Medicine
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Millie D. Long MD, MPH earned her doctor of medicine degree at the University of Virginia. She completed a residency and chief residency in internal medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She then completed a gastroenterology fellowship at University of North Carolina. She also completed a fellowship in preventive medicine and a masters of public health in epidemiology at the Gillings School of Public Health. She is board certified in internal medicine, preventive medicine, and gastroenterology. She is currently Professor of Medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at the University of North Carolina, as well as Chief of the Division.

Dr. Long’s clinical practice is at the UNC Multidisciplinary Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IBD) center. Her research interests include prevention of complications of IBD, women’s health and clinical epidemiology. Dr. Long has contributed over 200 peer-reviewed publications, book chapters, and review articles to the literature. She co-authored the 2025 ACG ulcerative colitis guidelines. She serves Co-Editor in Chief of the American Journal of Gastroenterology.

Dr. Long is a fellow of the American College of Gastroenterology where she is a member of the Board of Trustees. She is also a fellow of the American Gastroenterological Association and a member of the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation. Recipient of the 2024 Sherman Prize for Excellence in Crohn’s and Colitis. She is a member of the International Organization for the Study of IBD.

Faculty

Bincy Abraham

MD, MS, FACG
Professor of Clinical Medicine
Houston Methodist Hospital, Weill Cornell Medical College; Texas A&M University College of Medicine

Bincy P. Abraham, M.D., M.S., AGAF, FACG, FASGE, FCCF is the Distinguished Professor and Director of the Fondren Inflammatory Bowel Disease Program at the Underwood Digestive Diseases Center of Houston Methodist Hospital. She is also the Program Director for the Gastroenterology Fellowship and Associate Program Director of the Advanced IBD Fellowship at Houston Methodist Hospital. She earned her medical degree from University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX, where she continued with residency training in internal medicine and fellowship in gastroenterology. During fellowship, she received specialized training in inflammatory bowel disease and earned her degree in Masters of Clinical Investigation. She also completed a National Visiting Fellow Inflammatory Bowel Disease Rotation program through the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation in Cedars Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles. She has chaired the Southern Regional chapter of the CCFA Medical Advisory Committee, served as president of the Texas Gulf Coast Gastroenterology Society, is involved in national committees for and is a Fellow of the American College of Gastroenterology, American Gastroenterology Association, American Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, and Crohn's and Colitis Foundation. She is trained in and passionate about intestinal ultrasound in IBD patient care.

Faculty

Jessica Caron

MEd., M.S.
Patient Advocate
Chronically-Jess.com

Jessica Caron, MEd, MS is a healthcare and human services professional and patient advocate in the Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) community. As a nationally-recognized speaker on patient advocacy, Jessica shares her experience as a patient living with Crohn’s disease, advocating for a co-facilitated approach to advancing medical care. Jessica was a consensus conference member for the IBDParenthood project, was one of the first patient leaders with the IBD Qorus Project, and has served as an advisor for many organizations and projects within the IBD space. Through social media and her blog, Chronically-Jess.com, she supports patients across the globe. Jessica works within healthcare to connect patient community voices to treatment and service decision-makers through patient engagement research and strategy, focusing on treatment development in advanced and challenging to treatment medical spaces. She has a Psychology degree from the University of Maine, a Master of Education in Human Relations from Plymouth State University, and earned her master’s in Health Care Delivery Science (MHCDS) from Dartmouth College. Jessica currently lives and works in New Hampshire with her husband and two sons.

Faculty

Sara Horst

MD, MPH, FACG, AGAF
Professor
Vanderbilt University Medical Center

Dr. Sara Horst MD, MPH, FACG, AGAF is a Professor in the division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, & Nutrition at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Dr. Horst completed her medical school and residency training at The Ohio State University and then went to Vanderbilt University Medical Center for Gastroenterology Fellowship and to obtain her Masters of Public Health. She joined the faculty at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in 2011. She is involved in clinical care of complex IBD care, complex amyloid care, clinical research, and teaching and mentoring medical students and housestaff. She is the medical director for VUMC Specialty Pharmacy, VUMC Telehealth director, and VUMC Associate Vice Chair of Clinical Affairs for Dept of Medicine. Her research interests involve enhancing EHR efficiencies in the care of IBD, telehealth in IBD, and medication adherence in IBD. She has extensively published in peer reviewed journals. She is also involved in clinical care improvement as an EPIC Physician Builder and is on the National EPIC GI Steering Board. She is an associate editor for American Journal of Gastroenterology.

Faculty

David Schwartzberg

MD
Associate Professor of Surgery
Hofstra Zucker School of Medicine.

David Schwartzberg, MD is a double-board certified colorectal surgeon who specializes in the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease, including redo/corrective pelvic pouch surgery in the Center for Advanced IBD at Northwell Health. He completed his general surgery training at NYU & Bellevue Hospital, a colorectal fellowship at Cleveland Clinic and an complex IBD & J-pouch surgery fellowship at NYU's IBD Center.
He is currently at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City and serves as the director of reoperative surgery & the intestinal fistula center.

Keynote: Translating from the Lab to the Clinic: What Really Matters for Our Patients

Presenter

Wednesday, December 09 11:35–11:55 AM
Room Pacific Hall A-B
General Session
Faculty

Florian Rieder

MD
Vice Department Chair, Co-Section Head Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Director of IBD Research; 2019 Sherman Emerging Leader Prize Recipient
Cleveland Clinic

Dr. Rieder is Vice Chair and Co-Director of the IBD section at the Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition at the Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland. His clinical focus is patients with IBD with a special emphasis on the field of pathogenesis, prediction and therapy of intestinal fibrosis. Dr. Rieder has published more than 200 articles and book chapters and has been recognized for his expertise as indicated through invitations to clinical guideline steering committees of the European Crohn’s and Colitis Organization (ECCO). He is lead author of the ECCO guidelines on Ulcerative colitis and lead author of the first ECCO clinical consensus on ‘Diagnosis and Management of Intestinal Fibrosis’. He received multiple international invitations as a speaker, session chair or conference faculty. Dr. Rieder serves as an abstract reviewer for all major GI conferences, he is past associate editor (Clinical and Translational Gastroenterology) and on several editorial boards of medical journals. He is proud of his significant ties to the ECCO, which he served as the chair of Y-ECCO, member of the ECCO operational board, prior Y-ECCO committee member and member of the scientific committee. He is past chair of REACH-IBD and Co-Chair of the Professional Education Committee of the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation. Dr. Rieder is the leading PI on the international Stenosis Therapy and Research (STAR) Consortium with the goal to build a pathway to test anti-fibrotic medications in stricturing Crohn’s disease. He received the Sherman Emerging Leader Prize in 2019.

Chairs Top 10 Take Home Messages from AIBD 2026

Co-Presenter

Wednesday, December 09 11:55–12:15 PM
Room Pacific Hall A-B
General Session
Co-Chair

Millie Long

MD, MPH, FACG
Professor of Medicine
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Millie D. Long MD, MPH earned her doctor of medicine degree at the University of Virginia. She completed a residency and chief residency in internal medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She then completed a gastroenterology fellowship at University of North Carolina. She also completed a fellowship in preventive medicine and a masters of public health in epidemiology at the Gillings School of Public Health. She is board certified in internal medicine, preventive medicine, and gastroenterology. She is currently Professor of Medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at the University of North Carolina, as well as Chief of the Division.

Dr. Long’s clinical practice is at the UNC Multidisciplinary Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IBD) center. Her research interests include prevention of complications of IBD, women’s health and clinical epidemiology. Dr. Long has contributed over 200 peer-reviewed publications, book chapters, and review articles to the literature. She co-authored the 2025 ACG ulcerative colitis guidelines. She serves Co-Editor in Chief of the American Journal of Gastroenterology.

Dr. Long is a fellow of the American College of Gastroenterology where she is a member of the Board of Trustees. She is also a fellow of the American Gastroenterological Association and a member of the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation. Recipient of the 2024 Sherman Prize for Excellence in Crohn’s and Colitis. She is a member of the International Organization for the Study of IBD.

Co-Chair

Miguel Regueiro

MD, FACG
Professor and Chief of Digestive Disease Institute
Cleveland Clinic

Dr. Miguel Regueiro is the Enterprise Chief of Staff and Executive Vice President at Cleveland Clinic, and Professor in the Department of Medicine, Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University.

Dr. Regueiro is the inaugural Chair holder of The Melody and Steve Golding Chair for Digestive Diseases. He served as the Global Chief for the Digestive Disease Institute from 2021 - 2026 before becoming Enterprise Chief of Staff. As Chief of Staff, he is responsible for shaping the healthcare strategy and vision for the national and international Cleveland Clinic sites. He oversees 6,000 physicians and 4.000 advanced practice providers across the enterprise.

Dr. Regueiro’s main clinical and research interest is Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IBD) with a focus on the natural course and medical-surgical management of Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. He leads research on postoperative prevention of Crohn’s disease, as well as developing new models of healthcare, including the first-of-its kind specialty medical home for IBD.

Co-Chair

Corey Siegel

MD, MS
Director, Walter and Carole Young Center for Digestive Health
Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center

Corey A. Siegel, MD, MS, is the Director of the Walter and Carole Young Center for Digestive Health at the Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, New Hampshire. He is the Constantine and Joyce Hampers Professor of Medicine and a Professor at The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth.

Dr. Siegel received his medical degree from Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston, Massachusetts. He completed his residency in internal medicine at the Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center where he also served as chief medical resident. He then completed a fellowship in Gastroenterology at Dartmouth Hitchcock followed by a fellowship in Inflammatory Bowel Disease at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.

Dr. Siegel’s research interests include understanding risk/benefit tradeoffs in IBD, developing models to predict outcomes in Crohn’s disease, creating tools to facilitate shared decision making, expanding telemedicine services to patients with IBD living in rural locations, and improving the quality of care delivered to patients with IBD. He has been funded by the NIH, AHRQ, the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation, and the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust for this work. Dr. Siegel is the founder of the BRIDGe group, an international research collaborative of IBD investigators. Dr. Siegel was inducted into the International Organization for the Study of IBD (IOIBD) in 2013 and he received the Sherman Prize in 2023. He lives in Hanover, New Hampshire with his wife and three boys.

12:30 - 1:30 PM (EDT)

CME Satellite Symposia

Lunch CME Satellite Symposia

Supported by an educational grant from Eli Lilly and Company.

Reframing IBD Care: Addressing Quality-of-Life Burden Through PRO-Driven, Personalized Treatment Strategies

Supported by an educational grant from Eli Lilly and Company.

Symposium Chair

Symposium Speaker

Wednesday, December 09 12:30–1:30 PM
Co-Chair

Miguel Regueiro

MD, FACG
Professor and Chief of Digestive Disease Institute
Cleveland Clinic

Dr. Miguel Regueiro is the Enterprise Chief of Staff and Executive Vice President at Cleveland Clinic, and Professor in the Department of Medicine, Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University.

Dr. Regueiro is the inaugural Chair holder of The Melody and Steve Golding Chair for Digestive Diseases. He served as the Global Chief for the Digestive Disease Institute from 2021 - 2026 before becoming Enterprise Chief of Staff. As Chief of Staff, he is responsible for shaping the healthcare strategy and vision for the national and international Cleveland Clinic sites. He oversees 6,000 physicians and 4.000 advanced practice providers across the enterprise.

Dr. Regueiro’s main clinical and research interest is Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IBD) with a focus on the natural course and medical-surgical management of Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. He leads research on postoperative prevention of Crohn’s disease, as well as developing new models of healthcare, including the first-of-its kind specialty medical home for IBD.

Co-Chair

Millie Long

MD, MPH, FACG
Professor of Medicine
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Millie D. Long MD, MPH earned her doctor of medicine degree at the University of Virginia. She completed a residency and chief residency in internal medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She then completed a gastroenterology fellowship at University of North Carolina. She also completed a fellowship in preventive medicine and a masters of public health in epidemiology at the Gillings School of Public Health. She is board certified in internal medicine, preventive medicine, and gastroenterology. She is currently Professor of Medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at the University of North Carolina, as well as Chief of the Division.

Dr. Long’s clinical practice is at the UNC Multidisciplinary Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IBD) center. Her research interests include prevention of complications of IBD, women’s health and clinical epidemiology. Dr. Long has contributed over 200 peer-reviewed publications, book chapters, and review articles to the literature. She co-authored the 2025 ACG ulcerative colitis guidelines. She serves Co-Editor in Chief of the American Journal of Gastroenterology.

Dr. Long is a fellow of the American College of Gastroenterology where she is a member of the Board of Trustees. She is also a fellow of the American Gastroenterological Association and a member of the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation. Recipient of the 2024 Sherman Prize for Excellence in Crohn’s and Colitis. She is a member of the International Organization for the Study of IBD.

Co-Chair

Corey Siegel

MD, MS
Director, Walter and Carole Young Center for Digestive Health
Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center

Corey A. Siegel, MD, MS, is the Director of the Walter and Carole Young Center for Digestive Health at the Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, New Hampshire. He is the Constantine and Joyce Hampers Professor of Medicine and a Professor at The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth.

Dr. Siegel received his medical degree from Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston, Massachusetts. He completed his residency in internal medicine at the Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center where he also served as chief medical resident. He then completed a fellowship in Gastroenterology at Dartmouth Hitchcock followed by a fellowship in Inflammatory Bowel Disease at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.

Dr. Siegel’s research interests include understanding risk/benefit tradeoffs in IBD, developing models to predict outcomes in Crohn’s disease, creating tools to facilitate shared decision making, expanding telemedicine services to patients with IBD living in rural locations, and improving the quality of care delivered to patients with IBD. He has been funded by the NIH, AHRQ, the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation, and the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust for this work. Dr. Siegel is the founder of the BRIDGe group, an international research collaborative of IBD investigators. Dr. Siegel was inducted into the International Organization for the Study of IBD (IOIBD) in 2013 and he received the Sherman Prize in 2023. He lives in Hanover, New Hampshire with his wife and three boys.

1:45 - 3:15 PM (EDT)

True or False in IBD Management

  • Co-Moderator
    • Miguel Regueiro, MD, FACG
    • Jennifer Seminerio-Diehl, MD
General Session

False Failures: Knowing When to Hang Tight

Presenter

Wednesday, December 09 1:45–2:00 PM
Room Pacific Hall A-B
General Session
Faculty

Edward Barnes

MD, MPH
Associate Professor of Medicine; 2021 Sherman Emerging Leader Prize Recipient
University of North Carolina School of Medicine

Edward L. Barnes, MD, MPH is an Associate Professor of Medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology & Hepatology and Co-Director of the Multidisciplinary Inflammatory Bowel Diseases Center at the University of North Carolina of Chapel Hill. Dr. Barnes received his undergraduate and medical degrees from the University of South Carolina. He completed his internship, residency, and chief residency in internal medicine at the University of North Carolina. He completed his gastroenterology fellowship at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts. During his gastroenterology fellowship, Dr. Barnes received a Master of Public Health from the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health. Following his gastroenterology fellowship, Dr. Barnes completed a one year advanced fellowship in inflammatory bowel disease at the University of North Carolina.

Dr. Barnes has a research interest in the epidemiology and clinical outcomes of patients with inflammatory bowel disease. He has a particular interest in improving our understanding of inflammatory conditions of the pouch after restorative proctocolectomy with ileal pouch-anal anastomosis (IPAA). He has received funding from the National Institutes of Health, Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation, American College of Gastroenterology, and American Gastroenterological Association to study clinical outcomes of patients with pouchitis and other pouch-related conditions and to investigate predictors of a complicated disease course after IPAA. Dr. Barnes is the 2021 Sherman Emerging Leader Prize recipient.

False Restrictions: Knowing Appropriate Limitations

Presenter

Wednesday, December 09 2:00–2:15 PM
Room Pacific Hall A-B
General Session
Faculty

Jami Kinnucan

MD, AGAF, FACG, FCCF
Associate Professor of Medicine
Mayo Clinic Florida

Jami Kinnucan, MD, is an inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) specialist who joined the Mayo Clinic Florida practice in January 2021 as an Associate Professor of Medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology. She currently serves as the Clinical Practice Chair for the Division of Gastroenterology & Hepatology, Associate Chair for Digital Transformation and Practice Integration for the Department of Medicine and Medical Director for Plummer Chart Ambulatory Communication Solutions team. She is also the Director of the IBD Intestinal Ultrasound Program at Mayo Clinic Florida. She has been recognized as a fellow of the American College of Gastroenterology (ACG), American Gastroenterological Association (AGA), and Crohn's and Colitis Foundation. She is a former member of the ACG Board of Governors for the state of Michigan and the ACG Women in Gastroenterology Committee. She is active in the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation and previous Co-Chair for the Women in IBD Task Force and prior member of the Government and Industry Affairs Committee for the National Scientific Advisory Committee. Dr. Kinnucan is the co-founder of the Michigan GI Society in 2020 and, most recently, co-founded the Florida Women in GI (2022) and Gastro Digital Health (2024) She serves as Associate Editor for the Crohn’s and Colitis 360 Journal. She is actively involved with research looking at the impact of cannabis in IBD and received a 2024 Mayo Clinic STARDOM award to evaluate the use of virtual reality on the impact of pain in patients with abdominal pain and Crohn’s disease.

True: Surgery Is Not Failure

Presenter

Wednesday, December 09 2:15–2:30 PM
Room Pacific Hall A-B
General Session
Faculty

Jean Ashburn

MD, FACS, FASCRS
Associate Professor of Surgery
Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist

Dr. Jean Ashburn is an Associate Professor of Surgery and a Faculty Colorectal surgeon at Atrium Health Wake Forest in Winston-Salem, NC. She is a graduate of Wake Forest University School of Medicine and finished her residency in General Surgery at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She then completed a fellowship in Colorectal Surgery at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation in Cleveland, Ohio, where she was a staff surgeon prior to joining the Department of Surgery at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center. She has particular clinical and research interests in complex inflammatory bowel disease and J pouch surgery, reoperative pelvic surgery, and corrective/restorative surgery of the lower gastrointestinal tract.

True: Diet Is Medicine

Presenter

Wednesday, December 09 2:30–2:45 PM
Room Pacific Hall A-B
General Session
Faculty

James Lewis

MD, MSCE
Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology
University of Pennsylvania

James Lewis, MD, MSCE, is Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology, Senior Scholar in the Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, LDI Senior Fellow, Vice-Chief for Research (Clinical) in the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine and Chief of Gastroenterology at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Dr. Lewis is a gastroenterologist with a focus on caring for patients with inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) and has conducted clinical research related to IBD for nearly 30 years. His reserach includes epidemiology studies focusing on optimal choice of therapies and treatment patterns and investigator-initiated multicenter clinical trials of medications and behavioral interventions, particulalry related to dietary patterns. His work has been funded by the NIH, AHRQ, CDC, PCORI, and numerous foundations and corporate sponsors. Dr. Lewis is the lead scientist for the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation’s IBD Plexus Research Program. He is an elected member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation and the Association of American Physicians. In 2016, he received the Sherman Prize for Excellence in Crohn’s and Colitis.

Q&A

Co-Moderator

Panelist

Wednesday, December 09 2:45–3:15 PM
Room Pacific Hall A-B
General Session
Co-Chair

Miguel Regueiro

MD, FACG
Professor and Chief of Digestive Disease Institute
Cleveland Clinic

Dr. Miguel Regueiro is the Enterprise Chief of Staff and Executive Vice President at Cleveland Clinic, and Professor in the Department of Medicine, Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University.

Dr. Regueiro is the inaugural Chair holder of The Melody and Steve Golding Chair for Digestive Diseases. He served as the Global Chief for the Digestive Disease Institute from 2021 - 2026 before becoming Enterprise Chief of Staff. As Chief of Staff, he is responsible for shaping the healthcare strategy and vision for the national and international Cleveland Clinic sites. He oversees 6,000 physicians and 4.000 advanced practice providers across the enterprise.

Dr. Regueiro’s main clinical and research interest is Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IBD) with a focus on the natural course and medical-surgical management of Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. He leads research on postoperative prevention of Crohn’s disease, as well as developing new models of healthcare, including the first-of-its kind specialty medical home for IBD.

Faculty

Jennifer Seminerio-Diehl

MD
Director, Inflammatory Bowel Disease
Advent Health Orlando

Dr. Jennifer Seminerio is a double board certified Gastroenterologist and the Director of Inflammatory Bowel Disease at Advent Health in Orlando. She specializes in the treatment and management of Inflammatory Bowel Diseases, such as Crohn's Disease and Ulcerative Colitis. Dr. Seminerio earned her Medical Degree from the University of Toledo before going on to residency at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota followed by fellowship at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. She has gained national recognition not only for her expertise in the field but for her patient care. Dr. Seminerio has been a member of all major gastroenterology societies for years and has held leadership positions in the Florida chapter of the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation and the Florida Gastroenterological Society. She has been passionate about this field for decades and will continue to push for the best care and outcomes for her patients.

Faculty

Jean Ashburn

MD, FACS, FASCRS
Associate Professor of Surgery
Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist

Dr. Jean Ashburn is an Associate Professor of Surgery and a Faculty Colorectal surgeon at Atrium Health Wake Forest in Winston-Salem, NC. She is a graduate of Wake Forest University School of Medicine and finished her residency in General Surgery at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She then completed a fellowship in Colorectal Surgery at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation in Cleveland, Ohio, where she was a staff surgeon prior to joining the Department of Surgery at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center. She has particular clinical and research interests in complex inflammatory bowel disease and J pouch surgery, reoperative pelvic surgery, and corrective/restorative surgery of the lower gastrointestinal tract.

Faculty

Edward Barnes

MD, MPH
Associate Professor of Medicine; 2021 Sherman Emerging Leader Prize Recipient
University of North Carolina School of Medicine

Edward L. Barnes, MD, MPH is an Associate Professor of Medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology & Hepatology and Co-Director of the Multidisciplinary Inflammatory Bowel Diseases Center at the University of North Carolina of Chapel Hill. Dr. Barnes received his undergraduate and medical degrees from the University of South Carolina. He completed his internship, residency, and chief residency in internal medicine at the University of North Carolina. He completed his gastroenterology fellowship at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts. During his gastroenterology fellowship, Dr. Barnes received a Master of Public Health from the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health. Following his gastroenterology fellowship, Dr. Barnes completed a one year advanced fellowship in inflammatory bowel disease at the University of North Carolina.

Dr. Barnes has a research interest in the epidemiology and clinical outcomes of patients with inflammatory bowel disease. He has a particular interest in improving our understanding of inflammatory conditions of the pouch after restorative proctocolectomy with ileal pouch-anal anastomosis (IPAA). He has received funding from the National Institutes of Health, Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation, American College of Gastroenterology, and American Gastroenterological Association to study clinical outcomes of patients with pouchitis and other pouch-related conditions and to investigate predictors of a complicated disease course after IPAA. Dr. Barnes is the 2021 Sherman Emerging Leader Prize recipient.

Faculty

Jami Kinnucan

MD, AGAF, FACG, FCCF
Associate Professor of Medicine
Mayo Clinic Florida

Jami Kinnucan, MD, is an inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) specialist who joined the Mayo Clinic Florida practice in January 2021 as an Associate Professor of Medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology. She currently serves as the Clinical Practice Chair for the Division of Gastroenterology & Hepatology, Associate Chair for Digital Transformation and Practice Integration for the Department of Medicine and Medical Director for Plummer Chart Ambulatory Communication Solutions team. She is also the Director of the IBD Intestinal Ultrasound Program at Mayo Clinic Florida. She has been recognized as a fellow of the American College of Gastroenterology (ACG), American Gastroenterological Association (AGA), and Crohn's and Colitis Foundation. She is a former member of the ACG Board of Governors for the state of Michigan and the ACG Women in Gastroenterology Committee. She is active in the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation and previous Co-Chair for the Women in IBD Task Force and prior member of the Government and Industry Affairs Committee for the National Scientific Advisory Committee. Dr. Kinnucan is the co-founder of the Michigan GI Society in 2020 and, most recently, co-founded the Florida Women in GI (2022) and Gastro Digital Health (2024) She serves as Associate Editor for the Crohn’s and Colitis 360 Journal. She is actively involved with research looking at the impact of cannabis in IBD and received a 2024 Mayo Clinic STARDOM award to evaluate the use of virtual reality on the impact of pain in patients with abdominal pain and Crohn’s disease.

Faculty

James Lewis

MD, MSCE
Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology
University of Pennsylvania

James Lewis, MD, MSCE, is Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology, Senior Scholar in the Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, LDI Senior Fellow, Vice-Chief for Research (Clinical) in the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine and Chief of Gastroenterology at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Dr. Lewis is a gastroenterologist with a focus on caring for patients with inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) and has conducted clinical research related to IBD for nearly 30 years. His reserach includes epidemiology studies focusing on optimal choice of therapies and treatment patterns and investigator-initiated multicenter clinical trials of medications and behavioral interventions, particulalry related to dietary patterns. His work has been funded by the NIH, AHRQ, CDC, PCORI, and numerous foundations and corporate sponsors. Dr. Lewis is the lead scientist for the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation’s IBD Plexus Research Program. He is an elected member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation and the Association of American Physicians. In 2016, he received the Sherman Prize for Excellence in Crohn’s and Colitis.
Back to Top
Posters & Abstracts

Posters & Abstracts

Are you interested in showcasing your research live at AIBD 2026? Applications are now OPEN!

We are accepting abstract posters in the following categories: CLINICAL, SURGERY, PEDIATRIC, NURSING/APP, or YOUNG INVESTIGATOR.

Fellows Travel Grant

Fellows Travel Grant

The 2026 Applications Are Open!

If you are an IBD Fellow looking to attendee AIBD in 2026, please consider applying this year.

CE Information

CE Information

This educational activity is specifically designed for gastroenterologists, hospitalists, internal medicine specialists, and other healthcare professionals (physicians in training, nurses, pharmacists, physician assistants, etc.) involved and/or interested in the therapeutic management of patients with IBD. 

Ambassador Program

Ambassador Program

The Ambassador Program application process for 2026–2027 is closed. Thank you to all who applied. 

Back to top