In the News
Christopher COe, MD, selected new chief GI fellow - 2022
Dr. Coe attended Boston University School of Medicine and completed his residency at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. He is known for his collegiality and integrity, as well as for his consistently outstanding level work. Dr. Coe will collaborate closely with Vivy Cusumano, MD, chief fellow.
Vivy Cusumano, MD, selected new chief GI fellow - 2021
Dr. Cusumano has an exceptional combination of qualities including a superb, team-oriented work ethic; a positive attitude and great intelligence. She will work closely with Dean Ehrlich, MD, another brilliant chief fellow.
Carrie R. Wong, MD, receives 2021 Advanced/Transplant Hepatology Award - 2021
Dr. Wong was selected to receive a 2021 Advanced/Transplant Hepatology Award from the AASLD Foundation. This one-year, $5,000 award is intended to encourage the academic careers of exceptional hepatology trainees. The Advanced/Transplant Hepatology Award provides $5,000 in travel funds to fourth-year transplant hepatology fellows or third-year GI/hepatology pilot program fellows in accredited U.S., Canadian or Mexican programs to attend The Liver Meeting® and one additional educational meeting (approved by the Research Awards Committee).
Dean Ehrlich, MD, awarded UCLA Biodesign Fellowship - 2021
Dr. Ehrlich, chief GI fellow, was invited to participate in The UCLA Biodesign Program for entrepreneurs seeking advanced training in health care technology innovation. The goal of the program is to provide participants with a stepwise process for identifying, assessing and de-risking meaningful health care technology opportunities to accelerate the development timeline. The cornerstone is a series of monthly workshops with a group of peers and industry mentors across multiple verticals in the medical technology ecosystem. Over the course of 10 months, the topics covered span the lifecycle of product development, from concept to commercialization.
Adam Winters, MD, co-founds LiverFellow.org - 2020
Dr. Winters is co-creator of the Liver Fellow Network, an educational website aimed at GI fellows interested in learning about liver disease that has thus far been very well received. He is also cohost of the website's podcast, Liver Talks, where notable faculty from across the country are invited to talk about a variety of topics. Arpan A. Patel, MD, PhD, assistant clinical professor of medicine, is a faculty mentor for the podcast and has been critical to its success.
Adam Winters, MD, wins American Liver Foundation nation al academic debate - December 2020
Dr. Winters, GI fellow, and his teammate, Zachary Haber, MD, UCLA interventional radiology, participated in an academic debate with fellows from Loma Linda University Medical Center on TIPS vs. BRTO for gastric varices. They scored a victory under the mentorship of Arpan Patel, MD, PhD, UCLA GI, and Edward Lee, MD, UCLA interventional radiology.
Sonya Dasharathy, MD, recognized by the AGA for her quality improvement project - September 2020
Each year during Digestive Disease Week®, AGA hosts a session titled “Advancing Clinical Practice: GI Fellow-Directed Quality-Improvement Projects.” This year, Dr. Dasharathy’s was one of the 25 quality improvement (QI) initiatives that were selected. Her abstract, Pneumococcal vaccination recommendation and completion rates among inflammatory bowel disease patients within a large academic health system, was published in the August issue of Gastroenterology. UCLA mentors included Jenny Sauk, MD, director of clinical care at the Center for Inflammatory Bowel Diseases, Berkeley Limketkai, MD, PhD, director of clinical research at the Center for Inflammatory Bowel Diseases, and Fola May, MD, PhD, MPhil, director of the Melvin and Bren Simon GI Quality Improvement Program. Dr. Dasharathy was also included in the AGA article, Meet the 24 fellows making huge strides in GI patient care.
Adam Winters, MD, selected 2020-21 ACG Young Physician Leadership Scholar - September 2020
The ACG Institute for Clinical Research and Education is committed to providing educational resources to member physicians to improve the field of gastroenterology. The ability to grow as clinicians, physicians, leaders and advocates is critically important. The YPLSP provides the necessary training in leadership and advocacy to meet the high demand for this type of growth opportunity that exists virtually nowhere else in clinical GI. The ACG aims to provide the necessary tools to cultivate leadership potential and create a cohort of great leaders to advance gastroenterology, and advocate for policy changes at the state and national levels.
UCLA GI fellows score in top five of ACG GI Jeopardy competition - September 2020
The ACG holds an annual GI Jeopardy competition open to all GI fellowship programs. It starts with a preliminary online test on a variety of GI topics and diseases. This year, Sonya Dasharathy, MD, Adrienne Lenhart, MD, and Dean Ehrlich, MD, represented UCLA (based on their GTE scores). Our team scored in the top five of 142 GI training programs that competed. They will advance to the live virtual GI Jeopardy final round on Sunday, October 25, 2020 at 5:15pm PST. The final round features two-person teams, so our F3 fellows, Drs. Dasharthy and Lenhart will be participating.
Jasleen K. Grewal, MD, recognized with author spotlight and published in Digestive Diseases and Sciences - August 2020
Dr. Grewal’s article, Casting a wider NET: An unusual cause of acute liver failure in a pregnant patient, discusses the diagnosis of a rare case of liver failure caused by a metastatic neuroendocrine tumor. Dr. Grewal’s UCLA digestive diseases collaborators included Jihane N. Benhammou, MD, PhD, Sammy Saab, MD, MPH, and Gina Choi, MD.
The journal also recognized Dr. Grewal’s work with an author spotlight.
Dean Ehrlich, MD, selcted as chief fellow for AY 2020-2021 - June 2020
Dr. Ehrlich has been selected as chief fellow of the UCLA GI Fellowship Program. He was an internal medicine resident at UCLA and served as chief resident prior to starting his fellowship at UCLA. Dr. Ehrlich is an outstanding GI fellow who has demonstrated excellent leadership skills, a great work ethic, and excellent abilities as a collaborator and team player. He will work closely with Adrienne Lenhart, MD, our other superb chief fellow.
Carrie Wong, MD, receives multiple recognitions for chronic liver disease abstract - November 2019
Dr. Wong’s abstract, Chronic liver disease is associated with increased barriers to medical care: Results from a national sample representative of over 116 million individuals in the United States 2013-2017 (Hepatology 2019;70(1):S83A), has received the follow recognition:
• Winner in the 2019 Department of Medicine Research Day Poster Competition in Clinical/Health Services Research, Trainee Category
• Selected for an oral presentation at AASLD in November 2019
• Selected for the Fellows Program at GUILD 2020 in February 2020
Mentors include Drs. James Macinko, Folasade P. May and Steven-Huy Han.
Tien Dong, MD, awarded research innovator award at the 2019 STAR Symposium - October 2019
Dr. Dong received the 2019 STAR Symposium Research Innovator Award for his work with Arpana "Annie" Gupta, PhD, on food addiction and the gut microbiome entitled, A distinct brain-gut microbiome profile exists for obese females with food addiction. Other collaborators included Emeran A. Mayer, MD; Amir Kalani, MD, PhD, and Jonathan P. Jacobs, MD, PhD. Using a multi system biology approach, the study showed that food addiction in healthy obese women was associated with changes in the fecal microbiome and a reduction in indolepropionic acid.
Jennifer Phan, MD, chosen for 2019 ACG Young Physician Leadership Scholars Program - September 2019
Dr. Phan, GI fellow class of 2020, was selected from a large pool of applicants to participate in the 2019-2020 ACG Young Physician Leadership Scholars Program (YPLSP). The American College of Gastroenterology is committed to providing educational resources to member physicians to improve the field of gastroenterology. The YPLSP provides leadership and advocacy training to help young clinicians grow in their profession. The ACG aims to provide the necessary tools to cultivate leadership potential and create a cohort of great leaders to advance gastroenterology and advocate for policy changes at the state and national levels.
Adam Winters, MD, selected member of the new ASGE fellows caucus - August 2019
The AASLD Ambassador Award is an opportunity to attend special programming and mentor current trainees who are considering a career in hepatology during the 2019 Liver Meeting in Boston, Massachusetts.
Ryan B. Perumpail, MD, selected member of the new ASGE fellows caucus - July 2019
The 2019-20 ASGE Fellows Caucus is a year-long committee assignment. In this vital role, Dr. Perumpail will help ASGE shape their training, educational and practice portfolio.
Adrienne Lenhart, MD, selcted as chief fellow for AY 2019-2020 - June 2019
Dr. Lenhart has been selected as the new chief fellow for 2019-2020. She possesses many qualities that will make her a wonderful chief fellow, including excellent interpersonal and communication skills, good organization, responsiveness, compassion and being easy to work with. She will be working closely with our current outstanding chief fellow, Ben Nulsen, MD.
Neil Marya, MD, recognized as a top reviewer by GIE and VideoGIE - May 2019
The editorial teams of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (GIE) and VideoGIE understand how much work goes into the creation of a good article review and strive to find ways to recognize the diligent, hard-working reviewers who consistently produce thorough, high-quality reviews. To that end, editorial review board chairman Dr. Lyndon Hernandez and GIE editors have selected top reviewers for recognition. The award is based on several factors, including number of reviews performed and scores given to each review by the associate editors. Dr. Marya has been chosen as one of the top reviewers in the “new” or “mentee reviewer” categories. He will be recognized during GIE’s Editors’ Reception at DDW.
Ani Kardashian, MD, receives 2019 AASLD Advanced/Transplant Hepatology Fellowship Foundation Award - April 2019
Dr. Kardashian was selected to receive a 2019 Advanced/Transplant Hepatology Award through the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases Foundation (AASLD Foundation). Her project — in collaboration with selected UC San Francisco faculty — will be on the role of the microbiome in liver fibrosis in HIV. This two-year, $30,000 award is intended to encourage the academic careers of exceptional hepatology trainees, providing research support during the academic hepatologist’s first faculty year and providing protected time to perform mentored research.
Ani Kardashian, MD, and V. Raman Muthusamy, MD, MAS, lobby on Capitol Hill for measures to improve GI care - April 2019
Drs. Kardashian and Muthusamy attended the ACG Legislative Fly-In for the ACG Governors and Young Physician Leadership Scholars on Capitol Hill to lobby for measures to improve GI care. They met with California house representatives and senators to advocate for policy changes to reduce barriers to colorectal cancer screening. They also educated congressional leaders and health-policy staff on the administrative and regulatory burdens facing practicing gastroenterologists and emphasized the importance of providing high-quality patient care.
Neil Marya, MD, interviewed on ASGE podscast about his recent Gastrointestinal Endoscopu (GIE) article - January 2019
The American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ASGE) hosts a podcast that features GIE associate editor Dr. Douglas Adler conversing with the author of a noteworthy GIE article. Dr. Marya’s original article, A randomized controlled trial comparing efficacy of early video capsule endoscopy with standard of care in the approach to nonhematemesis GI bleeding was discussed on the January 2019 show. Listen to the podcast
Ryan Perumpail, MD, invited for oral presentation at EASL International Liver Congress - January 2019
Under the mentorship of Steven-Huy Han, MD, Dr. Perumpail’s abstract was accepted for oral presentation at the European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL) International Liver Congress in Vienna, Austria. The abstract is titled, Tenofovir alafenamide for hepatitis B virus prophylaxis post-liver transplantation is associated with improved renal function: an interim analysis of a multicenter real-world experience. The EASL was established in 1966 and has evolved into a major European association with international influence dedicated to the liver and liver disease.
Tien Dong, MD, receives ACG Governors Awards for excellence in clinical research - November 2018
The ACG Abstract Committee awarded Dr. Dong’s abstract, A non-invasive predictive score for the presence of esophageal varices, the ACG Governors Awards for Excellence in Clinical Research and is including it as an oral plenary presentation at the ACG 2018 Annual Meeting held in Philadelphia.
Tien Dong, MD, publishes editorial and paper - October 2018
Dr. Dong’s letter to the editor was published in Digestive Diseases and Sciences from his original paper that investigated the effects of proton pump inhibitors on the gastrointestinal microbiome. He was involved in the review process of this paper and wrote the majority of the letter. Passing the “acid test”: Do proton pump inhibitors affect the composition of the microbiome?
Ani Kardashian, MD, secures AASLD grant to support and encourage women to take on leadership roles - July 2018
Dr. Kardashian, AASLD Ambassador 2018, received a grant to host an event on how women in the profession can support one another and encourage one another to take on leadership roles. The event was held in July on the UCLA campus and included female GI faculty and fellows, as well as students and residents interested in GI.
Noam Jacob, MD, recognized with abstraction of distinction at Digestive Disease Week - June 2018
Dr. Jacob, STAR fellow, received recognition for his scientific accomplishment as an early career investigator for his abstract presentation titled, Direct signaling of TL1A-DR3 on fibroblasts induces intestinal fibrosis in vivo. The abstract was then selected as an oral presentation.
Nimah Ather, MD, awarded Visiting IBD Fellow Program: Clinical oberservership from CCFA - June 2018
Dr. Ather will be spending one month in 2019 at the University of Chicago as part of the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation (CCFA) Visiting IBD Fellow Program: Clinical Observership. This highly competitive program is designed for 2nd and 3rd year GI fellows who express an interest in learning more about IBD. Dr. Ather will have the opportunity to learn evidence-based and expert opinion-based approaches to the diagnosis, treatment and management of IBD alongside world-renowned IBD faculty.
Arpan A. Patel, MD, Awarded the AASLD Foundation Advanced/Transplant Hepatology Award - April 2018
The American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases Foundation (AASLD Foundation) selected Dr. Patel as the recipient of the 2018 Advanced/Transplant Hepatology Award. This two-year, $30,000 award is intended to encourage the academic careers of exceptional hepatology trainees.
Wael El-Nachef, MD, recognized with NIDDK Travel Award - April 2018
Dr. El-Nachef was awarded a travel award from the National Institutes of Health for his work presented at the 5th International Symposium on “Development of the enteric nervous system: Cells, signals,gGenes, and therapy.” The $1,500 award is intended to cover travel expenses incurred in connection with attendance at the symposium.
Arpan A. Patel, MD, awarded Researcher Innovator Award at STAR Symposium - October 2017
The Research Innovator Award was founded in 2015 by the UCLA STAR Program to highlight outstanding research by STAR fellows. The $500 award is given to only three posters each STAR Symposium based on scientific significance, approach and innovation. Dr. Patel's poster detailed a study he did on describing palliative care and resource utilization in patients with cirrhosis during their terminal hospitalization. Dr. Patel was the first in digestive diseases towin the award. View poster