Gastroenterology & Clinical Nutrition

Philip O. Katz, MD
Chairman and Program Director, Division of Gastroenterology; Associate Program Director, Internal Medicine Residency Program

Dr. Katz received his medical degree from the Bowman Gray School of Medicine at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. He served his residency and chief residency in internal medicine, followed by a fellowship in gastroenterology at the Bowman Gray School of Medicine. He is board certified in internal medicine and gastroenterology. Dr. Katz has brought his state-of-the-art esophageal testing laboratory to Einstein and is developing an active clinical and research practice in this area. His research interests include all aspects of gastroesophageal reflux disease, including nocturnal recovery of gastric acid secretion during proton pump inhibitor therapy and esophageal pain perception. Dr. Katz is a practicing clinician with active teaching and editorial positions. In addition to lecturing on many gastroenterology-related topics, Dr. Katz is an editorial reviewer for Annals of Internal Medicine, American Journal of Gastroenterology, Gastroenterology, Journal of the American Geriatric Association, and Digestive Diseases and Sciences. He has contributed to the publication of over 120 peer-reviewed papers, numerous abstracts, books, book chapters, and monographs. He is the incoming President of the American College of Gastroenterology. Dr. Katz is board certified in both internal medicine and gastroenterology.

Richard Menin, MD is a graduate of Temple University School of Medicine in Philadelphia, PA. He completed his internship and residency at the Medical College of Virginia followed by a fellowship in gastroenterology at Temple University School of Medicine. Dr. Menin has been in the practice of gastroenterology at Albert Einstein Medical Center continuously since 1978. He is actively involved in the teaching program both in Internal Medicine and Gastroenterology. He has a special interest in gastroenterology malignancies and has headed up the gastroenterology cancer committee since the early 80's. Dr. Menin leads a biweekly cancer management conference and have sponsored many colon cancer screening programs. Dr. Menin’s areas of interest include irritable bowel syndrome and colorectal cancer He is board certified in internal medicine and gastroenterology.

Robert S. Dudnick, MD is a graduate of the University of Medicine and Dentistry in New Jersey and completed his internship at the University of Michigan Medical Center. He then completed his internal medicine residency at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York followed by a fellowship in gastroenterology at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. Dr. Dudnick’s specific areas of interest include inflammatory bowel disease, irritable bowel syndrome, and gastroesophageal reflux disease. Dr. Dudnick is board certified in both internal medicine and gastroenterology.

Yogesh K. Govil, MD is a graduate of Jawahar Lal Nehru Medical College in Aligarh, India. He completed a residency program in internal medicine at Jawahar Lal Nehru Medical College as well as a residency program in internal medicine at County Hospital, South in Lincs, England. He completed an additional residency program in oncology and radiotherapy at St. George’s Hospital in Lincoln England. At Norfolk and Norwich Hospital in Norwich, England he completed a residency program in internal medicine as well as a fellowship program in gastroenterology. He then came to the Graduate Hospital in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and completed an additional residency in internal medicine as well as a fellowship program in Gastroenterology. Dr. Govil’s areas of interest include colon cancer screening, inflammatory bowel disease, and gastroesophageal reflux disease. Dr. Govil is board certified in internal medicine and gastroenterology.

Girish Anand, MD is a graduate of Christian Medical College in Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India. Dr. Anand completed his internship, residency and fellowship at Albert Einstein Medical Center. He also completed an Advanced Therapeutic Fellowship in the Division of Gastroenterology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School in Boston, MA. This fellowship focused on techniques of therapeutic ERCP and acquiring skills in endoscopic ultrasound. Dr. Anand is Associate Director of Endoscopy and is developing a high quality therapeutic endoscopy service. Dr. Anand is board certified in both internal medicine and gastroenterology.

Stacey R. Zavala MD is a graduate of the University of Illinois College of Medicine in Chicago, Illinois. She completed her residency and gastroenterology fellowship at Albert Einstein Medical Center. An excellent clinician, Dr. Zavala has a special interest in esophageal disease, nutrition, and women’s health. Dr. Zavala is board certified in internal medicine and is board eligible this year in gastroenterology.

Daniel Sher, MD a voluntary faculty member is Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine, Temple University School of Medicine and Drexel University School of Medicine and a member of Philadelphia Gastroenterology Consultants.  He is an active member of the teaching faculty, Dr. Sher has participated in many multicenter clinical trials and has been a co-author of several publications involving intragastric pH monitoring. The gastroenterology fellows rotate on his hospital consult service and learn ERCP skills from him.

 

Hepatology

Victor Araya, MD is currently the Chairman of the Division of Hepatology and the Medical Director of the Liver Transplant Program. He received his BA at Columbia University, his MD degree at George Washington University, and his Internal Medicine Residency training at Temple University. He obtained his subspecialty training in Gastroenterology and Hepatology at the University of Florida, Gainesville, FL. He subsequently served on the faculty at the University of Pittsburgh as a Gastroenterologist and Transplant Hepatologist. There, he became the Medical Director of the clinical trials unit in the Division of Transplant Medicine as well as the outreach director in the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology. Throughout his academic career he has been Principal or Co-Principal investigator in over 30 clinical trials involving viral hepatitis, hepatic encephalopathy, hepatorenal syndrome and acute liver failure. He has also been senior author of several published manuscripts and participated as a peer reviewer for several medical journals. He is board certified in Internal Medicine, Gastroenterology and Hepatology as well as in Transplant Hepatology. His current areas of interest include novel treatment modalities for Hepatitis C before and after liver Transplant, and novel approaches to Hepatitis B treatment.

Eyob Feyssa, MD, MPH received his medical degree from the Jimma Institute of Health Sciences, Ethiopia. He completed his internal medicine residency training at Harbor Hospital in Baltimore where he served as Chief Medical Resident and received the Tah-Hsiung Hsu, MD director's award. Dr. Feyssa completed training in hepatology at the Sammy Davis Jr National Liver Institute of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. His main clinical interests include the diagnosis and management of liver cancer as well as management of portal hypertensive complications. He currently attends both General and Transplant Hepatology clinics, and is involved in clinical research. Dr. Feyssa’s clinical research interests include management of Chronic viral Hepatitis, reccurent disease post liver transplantation, optimal treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma and acute liver failure. In addition to his patient care duties, Dr. Feyssa has been Associate Director of Clinical Research at the Division of Hepatology since December 2008.

Ashraf Malek, MD received his medical degree from the Sir Salimullah Medical College in Bangladesh. He completed his internal medicine residency training at Long Island College Hospital and hepatology training at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey Liver Center.

Mumtaz Niazi, MD is a graduate of Punjob Medical College and completed his internal medicine residency training at Long Island College of Medicine, New York. He completed hepatology training at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey.

Nikroo Hashemi, MD, MPH did her undergraduate studies in chemical engineering at Sharif University of Technology in Tehran, Iran. She received her medical degree from Azad University School of Medicine in Tehran, and her Master of Public Health degree in Epidemiology from the University of California at Los Angeles. She completed her internal medicine residency training at Yale University and her gastroenterology fellowship and Transplant Hepatology fellowship at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. Dr. Hashemi’s clinical interests include management of end-stage liver disease, hepatocellular carcinoma and liver transplantation. Her research interests include identifying clinical and biological characteristics that predict response of hepatocellular carcinoma to therapy and its recurrence after liver transplantation. She is board certified in gastroenterology and hepatology.