Fellows News

March 26: The BCM GI Chief Fellow for academic year 2019-2020 will be Dr. Jordan Sparkman. Dr. Sparkman also completed his internal medicine residency at Baylor College of Medicine. He will play a vital role in advising the program leadership on fellows' educational needs as the Section of Gastroenterology and Hepatology plan the schedule for next year. Thank you to outgoing Chief Fellow, Dr. Sunina Nathoo. Congratulations to Dr. Sparkman.

March 26: Dr. Vinshi Khan has accepted an offer for the Transplant Hepatology Program at Columbia University Medical Center/New York Presbyterian Hospital starting in July 2020. The Transplant Hepatology Program is a bi-campus program formed by merger of Columbia and Cornell universities. Congratulations to Dr. Khan!

March 1: An event sponsored by the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) was held Feb. 27 at the McNair Campus to highlight the Emerging Liver Scholar program and the GI fellowship, as part of the AASLD fellow ambassadorship program. Residents from Baylor, UT Houston, Methodist Hospital and UT Medical Branch attended. Dr. Hyunseok Kim, clinical postdoc fellow, introduced the Emerging Liver Scholar program and covered his experience in the program. A panel discussion provided information about fellowship applications. Panelists included: Dr. Yamini Natarajan, assistant professor, Dr. Ruben Hernaez, assistant professor, Dr. Clark Hair, assistant professor, Dr. Mimi Tan, assistant professor and Dr. Rehman Sheikh, clinical postdoc fellow. Topics covered mentorship, life as an academic transplant hepatologist, fellowship interview/selection processes, information about the T32/research track and experiences as Baylor College of Medicine residents, chief resident, fellows, and faculty.

Dec. 28: Dr. Hyunseok Kim, post-grad fellow, NIH T32 training track, has been accepted to the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston School of Public Health Fall 2019 entering class for the epidemiology PhD program. Congratulations to Dr.Kim.

Sept. 27, 2018 - Dr. Sunina Nathoo, chief fellow, won this year's Texas Gulf Coast Annual Fellow's Competition. She did an absolutely wonderful presentation that edged out the other excellent presentations from our fellow TMC institutes. Congratulations Dr. Nathoo on this accomplishment.

July 27, 2018 - Dr. Hyunseok Kim, clinical postdoc fellow, has been awarded the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) Resident/Fellow Ambassador Award for 2018-2019 and has been invited to attend their conference, The Liver Meeting, in San Francisco, Nov. 9-13, 2018. As an ambassador, his travel and attendance costs are being covered by AASLD.

July 1, 2018 - Dr. Mimi Tan wrote an article in GI & Hepatology News titled "Risk Factors Other Than BE Length May Be Important". She commented that the current AGA recommendation for Barrett's esophagus surveillance every 3-5 years may not be suitable for all patients with nondysplastic BE and that risk prediction models may help stratify neoplastic risk.

Mar. 9, 2018 - Dr. Jordan Sparkman, first-year fellow, Gastroenterology and Hepatology, won “Best Poster” at the 2018 Texas Adolescent and Young Adult Cancer Conference, held at MD Anderson Cancer Center March 3, 2018 for his poster titled “Obesity may place young minorities at higher risk for presentation with late-stage colorectal cancer.” Others involved in the research behind the poster are Drs. Ashish Sharma, former fellow; Johanna Chan, assistant professor; Hoda Malaty, associate professor; and Milena Gould Suarez, associate professor, all of Gastroenterology and Hepatology division.

Mar. 8, 2018 - Dr. Sunina Nathoo will be serving as the Chief GI fellow for next academic year (2018-19). Dr. Nathoo was a resident at the University of Florida Internal Medicine Residency Program and is currently one of our 2nd year GI fellows. Dr. Nathoo will serve as a liaison between the faculty and fellows next year. Congratulations, Dr. Nathoo!

Feb. 2, 2018 - Drs. Jordan Shapiro, second-year gastroenterology fellow; Milena Gould, associate professor and associate GI Fellowship program director; and Sunina Nathoo, second-year GI fellow, organized the first annual GI Fellows wellness retreat, as part of broader efforts to improve wellness among trainees. The event was supported by a donation by Dr. David Graham, professor, Gastroenterology and Hepatology. Activities during the full-day retreat held at Dr. Shapiro’s home included a question-and-answer session with a patient and discussions on work-life balance, stress exercises and incivility in the workplace.

Feb. 2, 2018 - Dr. Sunina Nathoo has been inducted into the Gold Humanism Honor Society. The society honors medical students, residents, physician-teachers and others for demonstrated excellence in clinical care, leadership, compassion and dedication to service. Members are nominated by peers, program directors, and/or medical students. Congratulations, Dr. Nathoo!

Sept. 1, 2017 - Dr. Jason Hou reports that Gastroenterology & Hepatology fellows and other members of the section provided an outpouring of support when his home flooded. The fellows reached out to him and helped him remove his damaged belongings and drywall. They are now taking rotation to other flooded properties in the section. We are proud to see the section helping one another during such a tragic occurrence.

July 14, 2017 - Mark Salem, M.D. has been offered and accepted a position for a fourth-year Advanced IBD fellowship at Cedars Sinai for the academic year 2018-19. This is the third year in a row we have a Baylor College of Medicine fellow going to a fourth-year Advanced IBD fellowship.

Sunina Nathoo, M.D. has been selected to attend the IBD Fellows Summit, an intensive full-day conference for GI fellows with didactics and mentorship opportunities with leaders in the field of IBD.

Congratulations to our very own fellows, Mark and Sunina! We wish them the best of luck in their futures.

July 13, 2017 - Please join us in welcoming Dr. Khushboo Munot, our new advanced endoscopy fellow. Dr. Munot finished her internal medicine and gastroenterology training at St Luke's Roosevelt Hospital Center in New York. In addition to her responsibilities as an advanced endoscopy fellow, Dr. Munot will serve as an Instructor of Medicine in the division and she will have a once weekly pancreatico-biliary clinic and one day of full endoscopy.

Apr. 20, 2017 - Congrats to Mimi Tan on her poster titled "Rates, Risk and Predictors of Barrett's Esophagus Recurrence After Radiofrequency Ablation in a Community Practice Setting: A National Veterans Cohort Study" that placed 2nd at the DOM Housestaff Research Symposium, mentored by Drs. Thrift and El-Serag. There was a total of 113 posters and 34 judges. The event was a living example of the vibrancy of our department, the potential of our trainees and the dedication of our faculty.

Feb. 3, 2017 - In conjunction with Dr. Ellen Friedman, the director of the Baylor College of Medicine Center for Professionalism, our first year fellow Jordan Shapiro was awarded a $28,000 President's Grant through the Josiah Macy Foundation for a project called, "The Threads Amongst Us." The project will aim to develop a video, curriculum, and research related to empathy amongst physicians by investigating the factors that contribute to negative physician-to-physician interactions. Congratulations to Dr. Shapiro on this accomplishment.

Jan. 30, 2017 - Dr. Andy Tau will be serving as the chief GI fellow for 2017-18 academic year. Andy was a resident and chief resident of the Baylor Internal Medicine Residency Program and is currently one of our second-year fellows.Please join us in congratulating Dr. Tau as well as supporting him as he serves as a liaison between the faculty and fellows for next year.