TMC Digestive Disease Center News

Dr. George Cholankeril, Assistant Professor, Gastroenterology and Hepatology, has been awarded the FY2026 Chao Physician-Scientist Award for his project titled “Integrating Metabolic and Genetic Markers for Risk Prediction in Alcohol-Associated Liver Disease.” (Funding Amount: $100,000; Funding Period: 1 year).

Dr. Mark Herman, Chief, Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism, received an award from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases for the project titled, “ChREBP in Liver Metabolism: Defining Mechanisms and Resolving Controversies.” (Funding Amount: $3,110,545; Funding Period: 5 years).

I am pleased to announce the selection of Aaron Thrift, Ph.D., as Section Chief of Epidemiology and Population Sciences, in the Department of Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine (BCM), effective May 1, 2025. Dr. Thrift is currently a tenured Associate Professor of Medicine and an internationally recognized cancer epidemiologist. Since joining BCM in 2014, he has made substantial contributions to our research mission through innovative research, geared toward prevention in gastrointestinal cancer. Dr. Thrift currently serves as Principal Investigator or Co-Investigator on numerous NIH- and CPRIT-funded grants, totaling over $60 million in research support and has more than 200 publications. He also leads the CPRIT-funded Systems Epidemiology for Cancer Training (SECT) Program. A dedicated mentor and educator, Dr. Thrift has trained undergraduate students, clinical and postdoctoral fellows, and junior faculty. He has served on the Department of Medicine’s Vice Chair Group for Research and the Faculty Appointments and Promotions Committee. Nationally, he chairs multiple clinical guidelines panels for the American Gastroenterological Association and has served as an Associate Editor for Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology. We look forward to Dr. Thrift’s leadership as he continues to strengthen and expand the impact of the Section of Epidemiology and Population Sciences. Please join me in congratulating him!

Dr. Fasiha Kanwal, Professor, Gastroenterology and Hepatology, was accepted to the Association of American Physicians (AAP).

The AAP is an honorary medical society where election is extended to physicians with outstanding credentials in basic or translational biomedical research and is limited to 70 persons per year. Dr. Kanwal will be introduced at the 2025 April Annual Meeting.

Dr. Jared Sninsky, Assistant Professor, Gastroenterology and Hepatology, was awarded a funding award from BCM Ventures for the project titled, “A Blood-based Amino Acid Diagnostic Test to Differentiate Upper from Lower GI Bleeds.” (Funding Period: 1 year, Funding Amount: $50,000).

Dr. David Graham, Professor, Gastroenterology and Hepatology, received the Faculty Outstanding Research Output Award, presented by Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU). He will be recognized for this award at the Faculty Prize Presentation Ceremony in February at the Cheung Kung Hai Conference Centre in Hong Kong.

It is my pleasure to announce that Dr. Ru Chen received funding from the NCI Grants Management Office Her study is titled, “Blood-based proteomic assay for pancreatic cancer detection.”(Year-1 Funding: $292,729; Funding Period: 4 years)

Please join me in congratulating Dr. Chen on this achievement.

Dr. George Cholankeril, Assistant Professor, Gastroenterology and Hepatology, was selected as the first recipient of the Eugene B. Casey Scholarship. As the Eugene B. Casey Scholar, Dr. Cholankeril will be joining a prestigious group of individuals whose work continues to shape and inspire the future of hepatology.

NIH U01CA287036 01A1 – Subaward
Project Title: “Identifying Factors Associated with Prostate Cancer progression and Survival in African American Men:  The Respond Cohort”
(Funding Period: 1 year; Funding Amount: $72,181)
 

It is my pleasure to announce that Dr. Jason Hou was awarded a VA HSR IIR grant for the project “Testing the Impact of Measurement-Based Care on Quality of Life and Diseases Management among Veterans with Inflammatory Bowel Disease: A Hybrid Effectiveness-Implementation Study.”
(Funding Period: 4 years, Funding Amount: $1,402,209)
 

It is my pleasure to announce that Dr. Kavish Patidar received The John A. Hartford Foundation supported Diagnostic Excellence – Age Friendly Health Systems (DxEx-AFHS) Seed Grant from the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI). His study is titled, “Reducing Missed Opportunities for Timely Diagnosis and Treatment of Acute Kidney Injury Care in Elderly Patients with Cirrhosis.”
(Funding amount: $100,000; Funding Period: 2 years)

You can read more on the IHI Website: IHI Awards Seed Grants to Seven Health Systems to Improve Diagnosis and Care for Older Adults 

Please join me in congratulating Dr. Patidar on this achievement.

It is my pleasure to announce that Dr. Jason Mills and Dr. Indira Mysorekar received notice of an R56 award from NIH National Institute of Aging that will fund their project entitled, “Cellular and molecular mechanisms governing bladder aging.” (Funding amount: $400,000; Funding Period: 1 years) Please join me in congratulating Dr. Mills and Dr. Mysorekar on this achievement.

Dr. Hashem El-Serag, Chair, Department of Medicine, and Dr. Aaron Thrift, Associate Professor, Epidemiology and Population Science, have been awarded an R01 grant by the National Cancer Institute. The funded project is titled "Multilevel factors associated with heterogeneity in risk of liver cancer within Hispanics with cirrhosis." (Funding Period: 1 year, Funding Amount: $98,355.)

Please join me in congratulating Dr. Ru Chen on her promotion from Associate Professor to Associate Professor (tenured) in the Department of Medicine.

Please join me in congratulating Dr. Maya Balakrishnan on her promotion from Assistant Professor to Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine.

I am pleased to announce that our team has been awarded a prestigious Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) UM1 grant totaling $39.9 million over a 7 year time period from the National Institute of Health! This is a significant achievement and a testament to our collective efforts in advancing health research.

The Principal Investigators include Drs. Chris Amos and Fasiha Kanwal from Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) and Bettina Beech from the University of Houston (UH). BCM investigators including Drs. Hashem El-Serag, Christie Ballantyne, Nancy Moreno, Roger Zoorob, Sankar Navaneethan, Jessica Davila, Andrew Zimolzak, Aaron Thrift, Brendan Lee, Laura Petersen, Kyler Godwin, Barbara Trautner, Jennifer Kramer, Thomas Taylor, Helen Heslop, Jean Raphael, Amber Amspoker, Molly Horstman, Maria Jibaja-Weiss, Mary Majumder, Hardeep Singh, Cristian Coarfa, Abiodun Oluyomi, Susan Hilsenbeck, LeChauncy Woodard and many others have made major contributions to this successful application.

The project title of this grant is "Consortium for Translational and Precision Health." This project is a collaborative effort to support a bi-institutional hub for infrastructure, services, and community engagement to advance translational and precision health innovations. The goal is to improve the health of diverse populations through strong partnerships with local and regional stakeholders. The hub will also build innovative training and career development programs across the translational workforce to drive change, transform science, and significantly improve population health.

This project not only underscores the outstanding work being done within our department but also highlights our commitment to bridging the gap between cutting-edge research and real-world health improvements.

The “CTSA K12 Program at Baylor College of Medicine and the University of Houston” has been awarded a total of $4.3 million over 5 years. The Principal Investigators for this program are Drs. Rolando Rumbaut and Frederick Pereira from BCM, along with Drs. Marino Bruce and Elena Grigorenko from UH. The program includes 30 K12 faculty mentors from both BCM and UH as important participants.

The CTSA K12 Program will promote synergy among BCM and UH to create an integrated and thriving environment for developing the next generation of experts in translational science. It will support early-career physician-scientists and PhD faculty members for training in translational science. The K12 Program provides an ideal opportunity to enhance the pool of highly-qualified, diverse faculty who contribute to the health of Greater Houston communities through innovative translational science.

Both of these grants are supported by an exceptional team led by Kat Sippel, Christine Eriks, and including Abby Dunbar, Leslie Wu, Tina Brown, Ariel Harrison, and Lindsay Lewis, among others.

Dr. Kanwal is a talented physician-scientist who has made significant research contributions to the field of hepatology. Dr. Kanwal has published over 300 manuscripts in Hepatology, Gastroenterology, Journal of Hepatology, American Journal of Gastroenterology, JAMA Surgery, Annals of Internal Medicine, JAMA Internal Medicine, and Nature Reviews in Gastroenterology and Hepatology. She has consistently shown that she can elevate her teams to success and is an exemplary leader in creating positive change. Dr. Kanwal has a track record of academic leadership, business-focused proficiency, strategic effectiveness, organizational awareness, and stewardship in academic medicine.

It is my pleasure to announce that Dr. David Y. Graham received Research.com 2024 Best Scientist Award. Dr. Graham ranked 227 in United States and 357 in the world. Research.com is one of the major websites for Medicine research offering credible data on scientific contributions since 2014. Their ranking is based on the H-index data from Microsoft Academic Graph.

You can read more about Dr. Graham’s:
David Y. Graham: Medicine H-index & Awards - Academic Profile | Research.com

Please join me in congratulating Dr. Graham on this outstanding accomplishment!

Dr. Natalia Khalaf was one of 11 individuals selected for the 2024-2025 National Academy of Medicine (NAM) Scholars in Diagnostic Excellence Program. Funded by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, this one-year program in partnership with the Council of Medical Specialty Societies is designed to develop national leaders and enhance skills and knowledge related to diagnostic safety, quality, and equity. Her program proposal is entitled “Implementing Digital Quality Measures Into Learning Health Systems for Diagnostic Excellence in Cancer Care”.

Please join me in congratulating Dr. Khalaf on this outstanding accomplishment.

Please join me in congratulating Dr. Mimi Tan on receiving the Norton Rose Fulbright Award. This award recognizes faculty for their exemplary educational contributions.

Her accomplishment was recognized at the Baylor College of Medicine Awards Day celebration on May 22, 2024. Congratulations to the Gastroenterology and Hepatology Faculty that won awards! 

Ayse Leyla Mindikoglu, M.D., M.P.H. received the Norton Rose Fulbright Award. Teaching and Evaluation Baylor’s Annual Award Day was Wednesday, May 22. Congratulations to the Gastroenterology and Hepatology Faculty that won awards! 

It is my pleasure to announce that Dr. Jason Mills received a grant renewal from the NIH NIDDK for his study titled, “Mechanisms of chief cell dedifferentiation.” With this support, the Mills Lab is investigating how the digestive enzyme secreting cells of the stomach lining can respond to injury by scaling down their elaborate subcellular network of secretory granules. This represents the first step of a transformative process known as metaplasia, which can either cause repair or increase risk for gastric cancer. Mills and his team are identifying the genetic mechanisms that drive this process. (Funding amount: $3,012,000; Funding Period: 5 years)

Please join me in congratulating Dr. Mills and his Lab on this outstanding accomplishment.

The American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) has announced its 2024 annual recognition prizes, given in honor of outstanding contributions and achievements in gastroenterology. Dr. Hashem B. El-Serag, Chair, Department of Medicine, was the recipient of the William Beaumont Prize in Gastroenterology, which recognizes individuals who have made major contributions that have significantly advanced the care of patients with digestive diseases through clinical or translational research (AGA press release). Dr. El-Serag will receive the award during the AGA’s annual meeting in Washington D.C. on May 19th.

The AGA’s press release states “Dr. El-Serag is an internationally recognized physician-scientist and clinical epidemiologist in both digestive and liver diseases and has dedicated a large part of his research to hepatocellular carcinoma. In addition to obtaining impressive research funding and publishing over 630 papers (H index 152) in the past 25 years, Dr. El-Serag has a remarkable service record at AGA since joining the membership ranks in 1996. He served as AGA’s 114th President from 2019-2020 and guided the organization through the turbulent start of the COVID-19 pandemic. He served as editor-in-chief of Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology from 2012-2017.”

Join us in celebrating Dr. El-Serag's well-deserved recognition by the AGA. His contributions and leadership not only have advanced the field of gastroenterology forward but also inspired future generations of healthcare professionals to strive for excellence in patient care, research, and education.

Dear Members of the Baylor College of Medicine Community,

Baylor College of Medicine is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2024 Michael E. DeBakey, M.D., Excellence in Research Awards. These awards recognize faculty members who have made significant published scientific contributions to clinical or basic biomedical research during the past three years.

Robert Atmar, M.D.
Professor of Medicine, Infectious Diseases

It is my pleasure to announce that Dr. Jared Sninsky received the Department of Medicine Physician-Scientist Faculty Development Award for his project titled, “Developing a Novel Serum Biomarker Model for the Non-Invasive Assessment of Disease Activity in Ulcerative Colitis.” (Funding amount: $190,000; Funding period: 2 years).

Please join me in congratulating Dr. Sninsky on this outstanding accomplishment.

Dr. Sean Hartig, Associate Professor, Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism, received an R01 Award from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. The title of his project is, “Molecular regulation of leptin bioavailability.” (Funding Period: 4 years, Funding Amount: $2,585,312).

Dr. Fasiha Kanwal has been awarded a VA HSR&D Merit Review (Investigator Initiated Research, IIR) grant titled, "Integrating Veteran-Centered Care for Advanced Liver Disease (I-VCALD)." (Funding amount: $1.5M. Funding period: 4 years).
 
The objective is to conduct a randomized controlled clinical trial of a new advanced liver disease clinical care model which employs a whole person approach. The intervention includes identification of patients with advanced liver disease using a population-based health management system and integration of curative and early supportive care using a virtual outreach nurse care counselor. 
 
Dr. Steven M. Asch, Professor at the Stanford School of Medicine will serve as an MPI. Co-Investigators include Ruben Hernaez, MD, PhD, Jennifer Kramer, PhD, and Amber Amspoker, PhD (IQuESt and BCM), Ramsey Cheung, MD, Thomas Taylor, PhD, Caroline Gray, PhD, Clara Dismuke-Greer, PhD (Stanford and VA Palo Alto HSR&D COIN),  Arpan Patel, MD, PhD, Anne Walling, MD, PhD (UCLA and the Greater Los Angeles VA Healthcare System), Ragesh Thandassery, MD (University of Arkansas and Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System, Little Rock), and Tamar Taddei, MD (Yale University School of Medicine and VA Connecticut Healthcare System).
 
Please join us in congratulating Dr. Kanwal, the MPI, the co-Investigators, and project team on this accomplishment
 

I am pleased to announce that Jason K. Hou, M.D., M.S., A.G.A.F., F.A.C.G. will assume the role of Director of Clinical Trials in the Department of Medicine (DoM) on October 1, 2023. In this role, he will increase the participation and success of DoM Faculty in industry-sponsored clinical trials (ISCT). The model of the DoM Clinical Trials Unit is to prepare, train, and support faculty in the DoM to develop their own ISCT research teams. Please join me in congratulating and supporting Dr. Hou in his new role, and to obtain guidance on clinical trials.

Drs. Fasiha Kanwal and Hashem El-Serag received a NIH U01 grant titled, "Risk Stratification for and Early Detection of Liver Cancer," funded with total budget of $4.5 million (direct cost $2.75 million) over five years. Other multiple PIs include Drs. Jagpreet Chhatwal (Mass General Hospital, Harvard Medical School) and Eugene Koay (MD Anderson Cancer Center).  
The overarching goal of the grant is to reduce the mortality of hepatocellular cancer (HCC) by developing personalized indices that combine novel and exciting biomarkers with clinical, behavioral and genetic data to improve risk stratification and increase early detection of HCC.

Dr. Ayse Mindikoglu has received the Norton Rose Filbright Award for Teaching and Evaluation. This award recognizes faculty for their exemplary educational contributions.

Her accomplishment will be recognized at the Baylor College of Medicine Awards Day celebration. Details for the ceremony will be shared with available.

Dr. Douglas Burrin was awarded the Senior Distinguished Research Scientist Award by the USDA-ARS, this is a national award given to the top research scientists with the USDA-ARS.

View post from the USDA-ARS.

Jason K. Hou, M.D. will assume the role of Director of Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) Crohn's and Colitis Program. In this role, he will ensure BCM CCP serves as the home for innovative research, compassionate patient care, and community and professional education in Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD).

Dr. Hou has served as Medical Director of IBD at the Michael DeBakey VA Medical Center, former Program Director of the BCM GI and Hepatology Fellowship Program and is supported by federal funding for IBD research including current support from PCORI, VA HSRD, and NIDDK.

It is my pleasure to announce that Dr. Natalia Khalaf has received funding from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation Diagnostic Excellence Grant for her project entitled, “Clinical Quality Measures to Improve the Diagnosis for Gastrointestinal Cancers.” (Funding amount: $500,000 Funding period: 2 years).

The diagnosis of GI cancer requires recognition of certain signs or symptoms (“red-flags”). Once these red-flags are recognized, patients should be referred for further diagnostic work-up. Research suggests that provider recognition of, or action on, these red-flags is not a fail-safe. To address these process breakdowns that lead to avoidable delays in cancer diagnosis, she and her team are developing two digital quality measures (dQMs) centered around potentially avoidable emergency cancer presentations of colorectal and pancreatic cancers within the national VA healthcare system and CommonSpirit Health.

Please join me in congratulating Dr. Khalaf on this outstanding accomplishment.

Mary K. Estes, Ph.D., was presented the Arthur L. Beaudet Award for Outstanding Mentorship on July 20, 2023, in recognition of her unwavering commitment to foster the intellectual, creative, scholarly, and professional growth of her mentees.  She is a distinguished service professor in the department of the molecular virology and microbiology at Baylor College of Medicine and has had an impressive research career. Dr. Estes is also a founding director of the DDC and currently serves as Co-Director of our Gastrointestinal Experimental Model Systems (GEMS) core. 

Dr. Fasiha Kanwal has been selected to participate in the Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine (ELAM) fellowship for women in academic medicine.  This program is a year-long part-time fellowship designed for women faculty in senior leadership roles at schools of medicine, dentistry, public health and pharmacy nationwide. The program is dedicated to developing the professional and personal skills required to lead and managed in today’s complex healthcare environment, with special attention to the unique challenges facing women in leadership positions. Selection into ELAM includes nomination of up to two women leaders from each institution. Dr. Kanwal was nominated by Baylor College of Medicine for this fellowship this year. 

Dr. Jason Mills, professor, gastroenterology and hepatology, has received funding from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases of the National Institute of Health. The title of his study is, “Regulation of atrophy-induced progenitor cells in the gastric corpus.” The grant award proposes to study how the stem cells of the stomach lining regenerate after injury. (Funding Amount: $2,664,266; Funding Period: 5 years.)

Congratulations to Dr. Douglas G. Burrin on winning the 2023 Bruce R. Bistrian Nutrition Mentorship Award from the American Society for Parenteral & Enteral Nutrition (ASPEN). Dr. Burrin will receive the award at the Nutrition Science and Practice Conference for his outstanding accomplishments in research and leadership focused on pediatric nutrition and gastroenterology and the development of swine as innovative models of human infant metabolism and development.

Congratulations Dr. Burrin on this well-deserved honor!

Hashem El-Serag, M.D., M.P.H., Professor and Chair of the Margaret M. and Albert B. Alkek Department of Medicine, has been appointed Vice President for the Learning Health System (LHS) Initiative at Baylor, effective immediately. In this additional leadership role, he will lead development of the strategic vision to build Baylor’s LHS. The initial focus will be on working with mission area leaders and forming a multidisciplinary Learning Health System team that will develop goals and tactics to achieve the goals. Dr. El-Serag, who holds the Margaret M. Alkek Distinguished Chair in Medicine, has a tremendous understanding of how to bring together the traditional components of a Learning Health System that includes science and discovery, translational medicine, precision medicine and population health and to establish Baylor as a national leader in this area.