Laura Raffals

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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. 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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