Research

Research and scholarly activities are essential aspects of becoming a successful gastroenterologist. Regardless of whether one is involved in research or clinical care as a career choice, a solid understanding of research methodologies will help a physician better understand and evaluate the validity of the medical literature. To that end, each of our fellows is expected to complete a research project during their training period. Early in the fellowship training, each fellow is matched with a faculty member who shares similar interests and who will serve as their mentor for their chosen research project. During the first year, the fellow will conduct literature reviews and generate a hypothesis and study question. Successful execution of the project during the second and third years will lead to abstract submissions and manuscripts by the conclusion of the third year. A series of research conferences and lectures are also an integral component of the educational curriculum. Recent lectures include:

• Pursuing an academic career and research funding
• Study design and study subjects
• Statistics before the study: sample size, power, etc.
• Cross sectional and case control studies and statistics
• Metanalyses
• An introduction to SPSS and other biostatistics software
• Presenting your data

 A monthly conference is designed to allow fellows to present their ongoing research in a collegial atmosphere where they can update their co-fellows and the key faculty and receive constructive feedback.

The range of research that is available in our division is vast and covers aspects of gastroenterology ranging from the clinical to the basic sciences. Some representative investigations in our division include:

• The role of culture and immigration on colorectal cancer screening
• Improving the quality of patient care communications amongst physicians
• The role of adipokines and gut hormones in health and disease
• The gastrointestinal mucosa in HIV disease
• Characterizing the gut microbiome through high-throughput sequencing
• The use of thrombopoeitin analogues in chronic liver disease
• Bile salt physiology and cholesterol metabolism
• Disparities in health care delivery
• Many topics related to cirrhosis and hepatitis C infection

In recent years, our fellows have presented and been recognized at numerous national conferences, including the ACG Scientific Meetings, DDW, AASLD, EASL and the North American Conference of GI Fellows. Many have given oral presentations and won awards at these meetings and we hope to continue this tradition of excellence in the years to come.