Our Team

Maisa Abdalla, MD, MPH

Clinical expertise: Inflammatory bowel diseases, including Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, and all aspects of general gastroenterology and hepatology

Bandar M. Al-Judaibi, MBBS
Medical Director of Liver Transplantation

Clinical expertise: Liver transplant (pre- and post-transplant care), cirrhotic and chronic liver disease, viral and autoimmune hepatitis, hepatic encephalopathy, hepatobiliary malignancies and other liver diseases

Nicholas Bartell, MD

Clinical expertise: General gastroenterology and hepatology with a special interest in medical pancreatology

Tanya Bruckel, MD
Medical Director of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Endoscopy at UR Sawgrass

Clinical expertise: General gastroenterology and hepatology with a special interest in inflammatory bowel disease

Janice Cheong, MD

Clinical expertise: General gastroenterology and hepatology with a special interest in inflammatory bowel disease

Naoki Chiba, MD, MSc

Clinical expertise: General gastroenterology and hepatology

Arthur J. DeCross, MD

Clinical expertise: Inflammatory bowel diseases, including Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, celiac disease, and the specialized nutritional support of gastrointestinal disorders

Ahmed Dirweesh, MD

Clinical expertise: Advanced endoscopic procedures, including endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) and the study of bile and pancreas ducts (ERCP); pancreaticobiliary disease, hepatobiliary disease, GI malignancies and gastroenterology consultations

Priya Farooq, MD

Clinical expertise: Liver transplant (pre- and post-transplant care), cirrhotic and chronic liver disease, viral and autoimmune hepatitis, hepatic encephalopathy, hepatobiliary malignancies and other liver diseases

Jonathan Huang, DO, AGAF
Director, Digestive and Liver Disease Center for Research

Clinical expertise: Viral hepatitis, hepatic encephalopathy, autoimmune hepatitis, hepatobiliary malignancies, and other liver diseases

Vivek Kaul, MD, FACG

Clinical expertise: Advanced therapeutic endoscopy, Endoscopic Ultrasound, ERCP, Esophageal Endotherapy and Hepatobiliary disease

Shivangi T. Kothari, MD
Medical Director of Endoscopy

Clinical expertise: Interventional endoscopic ultrasound, advanced therapeutic ERCP, esophageal endotherapy for Barrett’s esophagus, double balloon enteroscopy, and pancreatic-biliary disorders

Research interests: Development of EUS FNA techniques, endoscopic ablation and therapy of Barrett’s esophagus, and evaluation of new devices and technology in the diagnosis and treatment of biliary and pancreatic diseases

Truptesh H. Kothari, MD, MS
Director, Developmental Endoscopy Laboratory

Dr. Kothari leads the Bariatric Endoscopy Program at Strong Memorial Hospital.

Clinical expertise: Intragastric balloon placement, revision procedure for gastric bypass (e.g., endoscopic outlet reduction); interventional endoscopic ultrasound, diagnostic and therapeutic ERCP, intraluminal stent placement, esophageal endotherapy for Barrett’s esophagus, Achalasia, Zenker’s myotomy, and pancreatic-biliary disorders

Marie Laryea, BSc, MDCM

Clinical expertise: Liver transplant (pre- and post-transplant care), cirrhotic and chronic liver disease, viral and autoimmune hepatitis, hepatic encephalopathy, hepatobiliary malignancies and other liver diseases

Mark A. Levstik, MBBC, LRCPI, LRCSI, BAO, FRCP(C)
Chief, Comprehensive Liver Center
Interim Chief, Division of Gastroenterology & Hepatology

Clinical expertise: Liver transplant (pre- and post-transplant care), cirrhotic and chronic liver disease, viral and autoimmune hepatitis, hepatic encephalopathy, hepatobiliary malignancies and other liver diseases

Research interests: Liver transplant quality, live donor liver transplantation and non-invasive liver fibrosis measurement (FibroScan)

Danielle Marino, MD
Medical Director of the Hereditary Cancer Screening and Risk Reduction Program
Program Director of the Gastroenterology Fellowship Training Program

Clinical expertise: All aspects of general gastroenterology and liver disease, with particular interest in eosinophilic esophagitis, inflammatory bowel disease, colon cancer screening and prevention, and the diagnosis and management of hereditary cancer syndromes

Research interests: Quality improvement

Gopal Ramaraju, MD

Clinical expertise: Liver transplant (pre- and post-transplant care), cirrhotic and chronic liver disease, viral and autoimmune hepatitis, hepatic encephalopathy, hepatobiliary malignancies and other liver diseases

Lawrence J. Saubermann, MD

Clinical expertise: Inflammatory bowel disease

Brandon S. Sprung, MD
Associate Director of the Gastroenterology Fellowship Training Program

Clinical expertise: General gastroenterology; interest in inflammatory bowel disease and Barrett's esophagus

Asad Ullah, MD

Clinical expertise: Advanced endoscopic procedures, including endoscopic ultrasound and the study of bile and pancreas ducts (ERCP); pancreaticobiliary disease, GI malignancies and gastroenterology consultations

Mohammed Ullah, MD

Clinical expertise: General gastroenterology and hepatology with a special interest in inflammatory bowel disease

Jonathan Huang, DO, AGAF
Director, Digestive and Liver Disease Center for Research

Research interests: Viral hepatitis, hepatic encephalopathy, autoimmune hepatitis, hepatobiliary malignancies, and other liver diseases

Lawrence J. Saubermann, MD

Research interest: Intestinal mucosal immune system and how it is involved in inflammatory bowel diseases, such as Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, microscopic/lymphocytic colitis, and celiac sprue

David Yule, PhD

Research interest: Intracellular calcium signaling in cells

Krystle Bittner
Human Subjects Research Coordinator

Chelsea DiBella
Senior Human Subjects Research Coordinator

Gabriella Fava
Human Subjects Research Coordinator

Munazza Zakir-Ullah
Human Subjects Research Coordinator

Jordan Barber, NP

Elise N. Bauman, NP

MacKenzie Both, PA

Michael Colicchio, PA

Jessica D’Acquisto, NP

Allison D'Angelo, PA

Colin Donahoe, PA

Sarah Enslin, RPA-C
Lead APP

Daniel Ferreri, PA

Victoria Howard, PA-C
Lead APP

Nadia Khan, NP

Katherine Rinehart, PA

Stephanie Santa, NP

Jacob Scott, PA

Wilhelmina Sizer, DNP

Gulsah Turkoglu, PA

Emily Turner, NP

Mary Vetter, NP

Allison Zenick, PA

Richard Padula, MS
Division Administrator

Courtney Holtz, BSN, RN-BC
Nurse Manager for Sawgrass GI

Season Pucci (Eggleston)
Nurse Manager for AC4-GI

Wendy Johnson, MS
Administrator

Jessica DeLaura, BA
Financial Analyst

Ashley Akalski
Administrator

Stacy Martinez
Administrative Assistant

Peter Fields, MD

Residency
Dartmouth-Hitchcock Internal Medicine Residency

Medical School
Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at the University at Buffalo

Alexandra France, MD

Residency
University of Rochester Internal Medicine Residency

Medical School
SUNY Upstate Medical University

Robin Wilson, MD

Residency
Boston Medical Center Internal Medicine Residency

Medical School
Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at the University at Buffalo

Andrew Brown, MD

Residency
University of Michigan Internal Medicine Residency

Medical School
Medical College of Wisconsin

Michelle D'Souza, MD

Residency
Cooper University Hospital Internal Medicine Residency/Camden, NJ

Medical School
Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA

Natalie Penn, MD

Residency
University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry

Medical School
SUNY Buffalo Medical School

Elliot Graziano, MD

Residency
University of Minnesota Internal Medicine Residency

Medical School
University of Buffalo Medical School

Amulya Penmetsa, MD

Residency
SUNY Upstate Internal Medicine Residency/Chief Resident

Medical School
Florida International/American Univ. of Antigua Medical School

Christopher Walker, MD

Residency
University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry

Medical School
Eastern Virginia Medical School