General Session Speakers
John DeWitt, MD
Dr. John DeWitt completed his undergraduate degree at the University of Virginia and medical degree (M.D.) at the Medical College of Virginia (MCV). His internship at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill was followed by residency in Internal Medicine and fellowship in Gastroenterology at MCV. He completed training in advanced endoscopy at the University of Massachusetts.
Dr. DeWitt has been at Indiana University Health since 2001 where he is currently Professor of Medicine and Director of Endoscopic Ultrasound. He has achieved national and international recognition for research in diagnostic and therapeutic endoscopic ultrasound and pioneered the use of endoscopy for the nonoperative ablation of pancreatic cystic neoplasms. In 2011, he started the submucosal endoscopy program at IU where he performed the first peroral endsocopic myotomy (POEM) for achalasia, first endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) for superficial tumors and the first flexible endoscopic treatment for Zenker's diverticulum in Indiana. He has been active in multiple national societies including past chair of both the Standards of Practice Committee and Publications Committee for the American Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ASGE) and past chair of the Imaging and Advanced Technology Section of the AGA Council. He has published over 200 peer-reviewed papers and 200 abstracts on the diagnosis and treatment of gastrointestinal disease.
The presenter has identified no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies whose products are related to the program content.
Mark Gromski, MD
Dr. Mark Gromski completed his undergraduate degree at Indiana University - Bloomington and medical degree (M.D.) at Harvard Medical School. His internship and residency in Internal Medicine was completed at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center - a Harvard teaching hospital. He completed his fellowship in Gastroenterology and training in Advanced Endoscopy at Indiana University School of Medicine.
Dr. Gromski joined the faculty at Indiana University School of Medicine and Indiana University Health in 2017, where he is currently Assistant Professor of Medicine. He has clinical interests in advanced endoscopy and pancreatobiliary disease. Additionally, he has advanced training in the medical management of obesity and endoscopic weight loss procedures. His research includes pancreatobiliary clinical research, innovative approaches to training endoscopic procedures (including virtual reality and ex-vivo simulation) and weight loss endoscopy.
The following relevant relationships have been disclosed and have been mitigated. Consultant: Boston Scientific, Ambu Scientific Advisory Board: Cook Endoscopy Research Support: Fractyl, Allurion, Olympus, National Institutes of Health (USA)
Keynote: Gian Paul Gonzalez
Gian Paul is widely recognized for inspiring the New York Giants to their most recent Super Bowl victory with the phrase “All In”. He has been featured on ESPN as well as had notable appearances on Fox News and CNN. His inspirational talks have made him an internationally renowned speaker for NBA, NFL, English Premiere League, MLS & Fortune 500 organizations. Since 2016, Gian Paul has been requested to provide over 100 unique and custom Speaking Sessions with the Players and Coaches of the NY Giants in his role with the Team, traveling to all home and away games, working in the Coaches Box during the Games and conducting weekly meetings during the season.
Gian Paul Gonzalez was a former NCAA First Team All-American forward from Montclair State University scoring nearly 1,400 points in his 3 year career. He played in the NBA Summer League and was offered professional basketball contracts, yet he turned them down in order to continue his work with at-risk youth.
He is the Founder & Executive Director of Hope & Future Community Center, an organization dedicated to using athletics & physical fitness to share a message of hope and striving for excellence in inner-city public schools and juvenile jails.
2020 Began his College Professor Role. 2020 Began Training Service Professionals for the Bluestone Coffee Company’s NSO Team.
David T. Rubin, MD, FACG, AGAF, FACP, FASGE, FRCP
David T. Rubin is the Joseph B. Kirsner Professor of Medicine and a Professor of Pathology, Chief of the Section of Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition and Director of the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center at the University of Chicago Medicine. He earned a medical degree with honors at The University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine and completed his residency in internal medicine and fellowships in gastroenterology and clinical medical ethics at the University of Chicago, where he served as Chief Resident and Chief Fellow. He also currently serves as an associate faculty member at the MacLean Center for Clinical Medical Ethics, an associate investigator at the University of Chicago Comprehensive Cancer Center and is a member of the University of Chicago Committee on Clinical Pharmacology and Pharmacogenomics. He is the chair of the National Scientific Advisory Committee of the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation, where he also serves as a Board of Trustees member. He is the deputy chair of the Executive Committee of the International Organization for the Study of Inflammatory Bowel Disease. Prior to these appointments, Dr. Rubin served as the Director of the Fellowship in Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition at the University of Chicago for 11 years. In 2018, Dr. Rubin completed the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health Leadership Development Course for Physicians.
Dr. Rubin is a Fellow of the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA), the American College of Gastroenterology (ACG), the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ASGE), the American College of Physicians (ACP), and the Royal College of Physicians (Edinburgh). He is on the Board of Trustees for the ACG. Among numerous awards and honors, Dr. Rubin was chosen by his peers as a member of Best Doctors (recognized for superior clinical ability) and America’s Top Physicians (gastroenterology). Additionally, he twice received the ACG’s Governor’s Award of Excellence in Clinical Research (2003 and 2013), and the UChicago Postgraduate Teaching Award in recognition of significant contributions for fellowship education (2006). In 2012, he received the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation’s Rosenthal Award, a national leadership award bestowed upon a volunteer who has contributed in an indisputable way to the quality of life of patients and families. He has previously served as an Associate Editor of the journal Gastroenterology and Editor-in-Chief of the ACG On-Line Education Universe. In 2020, Dr. Rubin received the Sherman Prize for Excellence in Crohn’s and Colitis.
Dr. Rubin is an editor of a best-selling book Curbside Consultation in IBD which is now in its 3rd edition, was an associate editor of the 11th edition and is senior editor of the upcoming 12th edition of Sleisenger and Fordtran’s Gastrointestinal and Liver Disease, and an author or coauthor of over 500 articles on treatment and management of IBD, cancer in IBD and novel paradigms, as well as the first author of the 2019 ACG Guidelines for ulcerative colitis. His current research is in the area of novel approaches to monitoring of IBD (wearables and point of care intestinal ultrasound), prevention of progressive complications from uncontrolled inflammation, and a variety of collaborative and translational studies related to the causes of IBD and its complications. His H index is 74. He is also a featured media contact for issues related to IBD, appearing on satellite radio, television, and print media.
The following relevant relationships have been disclosed and have been mitigated. Grant support from Takeda; and has served as a consultant for Abbvie, Alimentiv Inc., Altrubio, Amgen, Avalo Therapeutics, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Buhlmann Diagnostics Corp, ClostraBio, Connect BioPharma, Datos Health Ltd, EcoR1, Evinature Ltd, Ferring Pharma, Image Analysis Group, Iterative Health, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Lilly, Menten AI, Odyssey Thera, Pfizer, Prometheus Biosciences, Reistone Biopharma, Samsung Neurologia, Sangamo Therapeutics, Shanghai Pharma Biotherapeutics USA, Takeda, Target RWE, Tissium S.A., and Trellus Health.
Marlon Garzo Saria, PhD RN AOCNS FAAN
Marlon Garzo Saria is the Nurse Scientist and Magnet Program Director at Providence Saint John’s Health in Santa Monica, California. He is also a Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Air Force Reserve and is currently assigned to the 452d Aeromedical Staging Squadron at March Air Reserve Base in California. Dr. Saria is the President-Elect (2022-2024) of the Philippine Nurses Association of America.
Dr. Saria earned a bachelor’s degree in nursing from the University of the Philippines and a Master of Science in Nursing and a Doctor of Philosophy from the University of California Los Angeles. He received a Master’s in Military Operational Art and Science from the Air University, US Air Force. He is board-certified as an Oncology Nurse, Oncology Clinical Nurse Specialist, Advanced Nurse Executive, and Nursing Professional Development Specialist. He is a Coldiron Senior Nurse Executive Fellow at Case Western Reserve University’s Marian K. Shaughnessy Nurse Leadership Academy at the Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing.
Dr. Saria held educational, research, and leadership roles in various settings. He was previously the Clinical Nurse Specialist for oncology and blood and marrow transplant at the University of California, San Diego Medical Center. He also held a position as a nurse researcher and administrator for the neuro-oncology department, where he was instrumental in growing the first dedicated neuro-oncology program in San Diego County. He was a Summer Intramural Research Program Fellow at the National Institutes of Nursing Research, National Institutes of Health and was appointed as a Visiting Researcher at Chiba University School of Nursing in Japan. He is a lecturer at the University of the Philippines Open University. He is one of the co-investigators and founding members of the Brain Cancer Quality of Life Collaborative and Los Angeles Cancer Caregiver Consortium. He is a section editor of the Core Curriculum for Oncology Nursing and has published multiple papers and book chapters.
Dr. Saria is a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing. He received several awards of distinction from the Oncology Nursing Society, the Global Caring Nurses Foundation, the University of the Philippines International Nursing and Healthcare Forum, the University of the Philippines Nursing Alumni Association International, and the Philippine Oncology Nursing Association. He has served in multiple leadership and advisory roles in several professional, community, and socio-civic organizations.
The presenter has identified no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies whose products are related to the program content.