Medical Advisory Board
Kenneth J. Chang, MD, MASGE, AGAF, FACG, FJGES (Chair)
Kenneth J. Chang, MD, MASGE, AGAF, FACG, FJGES (Chair)
University of California Irvine Health – Orange County, CAExecutive Director, Digestive Health Institute Medical Director, Chao Family Comprehensive Digestive Disease Center Division Chief, Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Department of Medicine Professor of Clinical Medicine, University of California, Irvine
Kenneth J. Chang is the founding Executive Director of the Chao Family Comprehensive Digestive Disease Center (CDDC) as well as the newly established Digestive Health Institute (DHI) at the University of California, Irvine. He is also Professor and Chief of the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology.
Dr. Chang’s clinical research for over three decades has focused on developing and expanding the field of interventional gastrointestinal endoscopy with a specific focus on digestive malignancies and precancerous lesions. Being first to term “Interventional Endoscopy” and “Interventional EUS” in 1997, he has continuously brought novel disruptive technologies to the field, including Endoscopic Ultrasound (EUS)-guided Fine Needle Aspiration (FNA) for cancer diagnosis and staging, Radiofrequency Ablation (RFA) in the treatment of Barrett’s esophagus, EUS-guided Portal Pressure Gradient (EUS-PPG) measurement for patients with suspected liver cirrhosis, and Endoscopic Treatment for Gastro-esophageal reflux disease (GERD).
Dr. Chang holds the Vincent and Anna Kong Chair in Gastrointestinal Endoscopic Oncology and has published over 470 peer-review articles, review papers, book chapters and abstracts, as well as Editor of 4 textbooks. These scientific publications include 5 major topics: EUS-guided tissue acquisition, new diagnostic approaches to Pancreatic Cystic Neoplasia, Endo-Hepatology, GERD/Barrett’s Esophagus, and 3rd-space endoscopy (myotomy and cancer resection).
Over the past decade, Dr. Chang has focused on pre-cancerous conditions of the Digestive System (Barrett’s Esophagus and Pancreatic Cysts) with the goal to improve detection, risk stratification, and clinical strategies that culminate in a personalized approach toward treatment and cure. He also views acid reflux and obesity as being precursors (pre-pre-cancer) to malignancy and has developed impactful, minimally invasive procedures to manage both.
In addition to his expertise in GI malignancies and Barrett’s, he is also an expert in Per-oral endoscopic myotomy (POEM) in the treatment of Achalasia, endoscopic submucosal resection (ESD) of early cancers and Endoscopic sleeve gastroplasty (ESG) for obesity. He is also an authority on Trans-oral Incisionless Fundoplication (TIF) in the treatment of GERD. Over the past 3 decades, he has been privileged to train 44 national and international advanced fellows who he holds dearly as his extended family.
F.P. (Tripp) Buckley, III, MD, FACS
F.P. (Tripp) Buckley, III, MD, FACS
University of Texas Health – Austin, TXAssociate Professor of Surgery, Director-Elective General Surgery, Co-Director: The Texas Center for Digestive. Health
F.P. (Tripp) Buckley, III, MD, FACS, is an Associate Professor of Surgery in the Department of Surgery and Perioperative Care at The University of Texas-Austin/Dell Medical School. Dr. Buckley serves as Chief of the Division of Elective General Surgery and Co-Director of the Texas Center for Digestive health at UT Health Austin. Dr. Buckley attended Tulane University Medical School and then completed his residency in the DeBakey Department of Surgery at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. Dr. Buckley then served in the United States Air Force (USAF) on active duty for four years at Nellis Air Force Base with tours in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Dr. Buckley is one of only a few physicians to be awarded the USAF Air Medal.
After deployment, he retuned to Texas and joined Baylor Scott and White, where he began to focus on anti-reflux and esophageal surgery. He established a unique multidisciplinary center to take care of patients suffering for reflux disease. It grew to be one of the busiest centers in the country serving patients from all over Texas, throughout the country and even internationally.
In 2018 Dr. Buckley was recruited to the new Dell Medical School and UT Health Austin to further improve upon the concept of integrated, patient focused care founding The Center for Heartburn and Esophageal Disorders and then the Texas Center for Digestive Health, where GI and GI Surgery dyads along with nutritional medicine, behavioral therapists, and other sub-specialists come together in one clinic to focus on the patient. This has grown to include foregut, hepatobiliary, liver transplant, and colorectal surgeons along with their GI specialist counterparts.
Dr. Buckley is heavily involved in clinical research with numerous peer reviewed publications, national presentations, and current clinical trials. He either observed him operate or have had Dr. Buckley serve as their proctor, mentor.
Esophageal disorders are more than a professional interest for Dr. Buckley. In 2012 he was diagnosed with severe reflux and Barrett’s esophagus and has undergone several anti-reflux procedures himself and is able to connect and empathize with his patients like few others can.
F.P. (Tripp) Buckley III, MD, FACS, Asscociate Professor of Surgery
Director-Elective General Surgery
Co-Director: The Texas Center for Digestive. Health
The University of Texas at Austin – Dell Medical School
Assistant: Phillip Bowden c: 8327978982
Phillip.bowden@austin.utexas.edu
Barham K. Abu Dayyeh, M.D., M.P.H. FASGE FAGA
Barham K. Abu Dayyeh, M.D., M.P.H. FASGE FAGA
Mayo Clinic – Rochester, MNProfessor of Medicine
Barham K. Abu Dayyeh, M.D., M.P.H. FASGE FAGA is Professor of Medicine, Director of Advanced Endoscopy, Director of Metabolic and Bariatric Endoscopy, Vice Chair of Innovation, and Consultant in Gastroenterology and Advanced Therapeutic Endoscopy at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. Dr. Abu Dayyeh is also the chair of the Bariatric and Metabolic Endoscopy Committee of the International Federation for the Surgery of Obesity and Metabolic Disorders (IFSO) and co-chair of the Bariatric Committee of the American Foregut Society. His research focuses on development of minimally invasive endoscopic solutions for gastrointestinal diseases, gastroesophageal reflux disease, obesity, and metabolic disease. Dr. Abu Dayyeh has multiple patents, and he is the founder of a ventures funded start-up company focusing on the endoscopic treatment of diabetes and metabolic disease. Dr. Abu Dayyeh has published more than 250 peer reviewed articles, reviews, and book chapters in the field. His work has been highly cited with more than 7500 citations. Dr. Abu Dayyeh received multiple awards and grants in support of his research, including the Star of Science Award given by His Majesty King Abdulla II during the World Science Forum in the Dead-Sea, Jordan 2017. Dr. Abu Dayyeh has been invited to give many national and international keynote lectures. He serves as a consultant and advisor to multiple leading US and International companies who are developing novel endoscopic therapeutics.
Christy M Dunst, MD FACS
Christy M Dunst, MD FACS
The Oregon Clinic – Portland, OREsophageal Surgical Specialist with the Center for Advanced Surgery at The Oregon Clinic in Portland, OR
Christy M Dunst, MD FACS is a practicing esophageal surgical specialist with the Center for Advanced Surgery at The Oregon Clinic in Portland, OR. Dr. Dunst joined the multispecialty group after completing the Thoracic Foregut Fellowship at University of Southern California in 2006 under Dr. Tom DeMeester. Dr. Dunst has been the Program Director for the Providence Portland Medical Center Advanced GI-Foregut Clinical Surgery Fellowship since 2018. Dr. Dunst graduated from the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center in Denver Colorado and completed general surgery residency training at Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis. Dr. Dunst has been the Executive Director of The Foundation for Surgical Innovation and Education (tFSIE.org), a non-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of surgery through education and invention since 2011. Dr. Dunst is an active member of several organizations, including the Society of American Gastrointestinal Endoscopic Surgeons, the American College of Surgeons, and the Society for Surgery of the Alimentary Tract. Dr. Dunst also a founding member and active board member of the American Foregut Society. Her area of research focuses on mentoring surgical fellows in all aspects of disorders of the esophagus. A sampling of her most recent co-authored publications include:
V. Raman Muthusamy, MD, MAS, AGAF, FASGE, FACG
V. Raman Muthusamy, MD, MAS, AGAF, FASGE, FACG
University of California Los Angeles Health – Los Angeles, CADavid Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
V. Raman Muthusamy, MD, MAS is a recognized leader in advanced endoscopic procedures. His clinical research interests focus on the evaluation of existing and new endoscopic technologies for the diagnosis and treatment of digestive disorders. They include endoscopic ablative techniques for Barrett's esophagus with dysplasia and early esophageal adenocarcinoma, clinical applications of endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) with a particular focus on EUS-guided tissue acquisition, endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) with a particular interest in cholangioscopy, stent placement and device reprocessing, and endoscopic mucosal resection (EMR). Dr. Muthusamy also has participated in numerous studies involving the development of quality metrics in endoscopy and methods to improve the efficiency of and safety of endoscopy care, including leading a multi-center evaluation of the first single-use duodenoscope. In total, he has published more than 350 peer reviewed manuscripts and abstracts and is an editor of Clinical Gastrointestinal Endoscopy textbook. Dr. Muthusamy is currently a Professor of Clinical Medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and is the Medical Director of Endoscopy for the UCLA Health System. Prior to his recruitment to UCLA in 2011, he was a faculty member at the University of California Irvine Medical Center. In addition to his extensive clinical work in interventional endoscopy there, he also served as the director of the GI Fellowship Program at UC Irvine. Dr. Muthusamy has also previously served as director of Endoscopic Ultrasound at the University of California, San Francisco. Dr. Muthusamy completed his undergraduate work at Stanford University with distinction and went to medical school at the University of Washington School of Medicine, where he graduated with Honors. His residency was undertaken at Duke University Medical Center where he served as assistant chief resident and traveled abroad to study evidence-based medicine under Dr. David Sackett at Oxford University. Muthusamy completed his fellowship in gastroenterology at the University of California San Francisco before undertaking his advanced endoscopy fellowship at the University of California Irvine which he completed in 2001. Dr. Muthusamy is board-certified in Gastroenterology and has been frequently recognized by Best Doctors since 2011. He is a past-president of the Orange County GI Society and a Councilor as well as past President of the Southern California Society of Gastroenterology. He is a Fellow of the American College of Gastroenterology (ACG), American Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ASGE) and the American Gastroenterology Association (AGA). Muthusamy serves as one of two ACG Governors for Southern California and is a former member of the ACG Research and Public Relations committee and currently serves on the Educational Affairs committee for the ACG as well as an Associate Editor for the American Journal of Gastroenterology. Muthusamy has previously served as Co-Director of the ASGE’s Improving Quality and Safety in Your Endoscopy Unit course and most recently served on the ASGE Quality Assurance In Endoscopy committee. Muthusamy has also previously served on the AGA’s Research Awards Panel and is the immediate past Chair of the AGA ’s Center for GI Innovation and Technology.
Ninh T. Nguyen, MD
Ninh T. Nguyen, MD
University of California Irvine Health – Orange County, CAJohn E. Connolly Professor and Chair of Surgery at University of California Irvine School of Medicine and Associate Director of the UCI Digestive Health Institute
Dr. Ninh T. Nguyen is the John E. Connolly Professor and Chair of Surgery at University of California Irvine School of Medicine and Associate Director of the UCI Digestive Health Institute. Dr. Nguyen received his MD from the UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, TX. He completed his general surgery residency at Mount Sinai Medical Center, Miami Beach, FL and completed fellowships in surgical oncology and minimally invasive surgery at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, PA. Dr. Nguyen is a past president of the ASMBS (2014) and served as the ASMNS representative of the Gastrointestinal Surgery Advisory Counsel for the American Board of Surgery. During that time, he was instrumental in the development of the ACS Bariatric Surgery Center Network (BSCN) and its quality improvement program – the MBSAQIP. As the ASMBS representative for the GI Surgery Advisory Council (GISAC) of the American Board of Surgery, Dr. Nguyen was instrumental in development of the focus practice design (FPD) for metabolic bariatric surgery. Dr. Nguyen is also pas-president of the North American Chapter of the International Federation for the Surgery of Obesity and the Southern California Chapter of the ACS. Dr. Nguyen is on the editorial board for the Journal of the American College of Surgeons and Annals of Surgery. Dr. Nguyen is a member of the American Surgical Associate. Dr. Nguyen has been the principal investigator on numerous research grants and has published more than 300 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters. Dr. Nguyen serves as editor for 5 books including the ASMBS Textbook fo Bariatric Surgery which is considered as the authoritative text for bariatric surgery. He received the Golden Scope of Young Researcher Awarded for SAGES in recognition of significant contribution to research in laparoscopic surgery. He was the recipient of the Master Educator Award in 2016 by the ASMBS Foundation. In 2019, recognized for his accomplishments and contribution to the field of bariatric surgery, he was the recipient of prestigous ASMBS Outstanding Achievement Award.
John Pandolfino, MD
John Pandolfino, MD
Northwestern Medicine – Chicago, ILHans Popper Professor of Medicine and Chief of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University
John Pandolfino is the Hans Popper Professor of Medicine and Chief of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University. Dr. Pandolfino's career has focused primarily on studying the biomechanics of bolus transport and gastrointestinal motility as it pertains to gastroesophageal reflux and swallowing disorders. Dr. Pandolfino currently is funded by the NIH to study GERD and Dysphagia pathogenesis and also receives funding from industry focused on the development of new technologies to investigate and treat gastrointestinal disorders. Dr. Pandolfino maintains a strong clinical practice in the Esophageal Center at Northwestern and he is active in multiple professional organizations and has a strong commitment to the editorial process as a member of the editorial board of multiple high-level Gastroenterology journals.