Maria Abreu

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.

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.

Dr. Fichera earned his M.D. from the Catholic University of Rome, completed General Surgery Residency at the University of Chicago and 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 the clinical director of Gastrointestinal Oncology at the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance. In November 2017 he moved to University of North Carolina as the 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 the Surgery Safety and Quality Officer since July 2020. His clinical and research interest include colorectal cancer and inflammatory bowel disease

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

Gastroenterologist with an interest in inflammatory bowel diseases.

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.

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

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.

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.

Gastroenterologist with an interest in inflammatory bowel diseases.

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.