Maisa Abdalla, M.D., M.P.H.

Providing the best, patient-centered, clinical care is my greatest passion. My clinical and research focus is Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) including Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis and pouch disorders. IBD is chronic, life-long and sometimes debilitating disease. Receiving such diagnosis is frequently overwhelming to patients and their families and it can be quite difficult for them to navigate through the different aspects of this disease with all the required tests and investigations, the therapies involved, and the complications from the disease and therapies. Hence, in addition to providing high quality, evidence-based clinical care, I always try to partner with my patients, listen to them, understand their concerns and address their individual needs. Following this strategy I have made many partners and friends throughout the years.

Professional Background

Dr. Abdalla is a full time faculty member with an academic rank of Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Rochester, Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology. Her clinical and research focus is Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) including Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis and pouch disorders. She is also interested in other immune-mediated bowel diseases including celiac disease, and microscopic colitis.

Dr. Abdalla received her Medical degree from the University of Jordan and MPH degree in public health policy and administration from the University of Illinois at Chicago. She completed her residency in Internal Medicine at UIC-advocate Christ Program in 2011 and her fellowship training in Gastroenterology and Hepatology at the University of Rochester in 2015. After that, She spent a year at the University of North Carolina for additional training in IBD. Her first post-training academic job was at Loma Linda University (LLU) in Southern California, where she served as a full-time faculty member with academic rank of Assistant Professor of Medicine between 2016 and late 2020. During her tenure at LLU and as the Medical Director for the Gastroenterology Clinic and the Director of the IBD center, she was able to restructure the IBD clinics, create therapy protocols and clinical pathways to monitor patients and improve their access. She also worked closely with her colorectal surgery colleagues and other ancillary services to provide a true multidisciplinary care for all patients. She helped restructure the IBD curriculum for GI fellowship training and directly participated in education sessions to patients, and internal medicine and GI trainees. In January 2021, she moved back to Rochester to join the gastroenterology team at the University of Rochester, where she continues to provide excellent patients’ care, participate in clinical research and work with a dedicated team under the leadership of Dr. Arthur Decross to build a state of art multidisciplinary IBD center.

Research