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And Your 2019 Healio Disruptive Innovators Are ...
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Clinical Innovation Award, Presented by Healio and ACG
This award goes to a physician or institution that changed the face of the gastroenterology practice. The awardee is seen as an example of how patient care can be bettered through changes in administration, technique or the delivery of value-based care.
William D. Chey, MD, serves as director of the Food for Life Demonstration Kitchen at the University of Michigan and is involved in efforts to establish the first-of-its-kind Nutrition Center for Digestive Diseases at Michigan Medicine, really bringing nutrition and diet to the forefront of treatment for gastrointestinal diseases like IBS, his focus.
He is a go-to resource on using food as medicine and brings these ideas to the national stage with his role with the ROME foundation.
The Healio Social Media Influencer
This award goes to a health care professional who makes a positive impact on social media and led the tidal change in HCP use within gastroenterology. The awardee acts as a trusted resource for his or her peers amidst the din of social media.
Aline Charabaty, MD, joined Twitter just last year and shortly after joining, she posted her first case question. With just one tweet, she started to engage with her IBD colleagues and patient advocates. She watched as her personal page began “blowing up” with an obvious need for discussion and Charabaty answered the call to action, forming a weekly Twitter discussion.
Today, #MondayNightIBD has a handle and a life of its own.
Lifetime Disruptor
This award goes to a gastroenterologist or hepatologist who consistently pushed the gastroenterology field forward through innovative treatments, practice management, patient care or research. The awardee is recognized as a leader in his or her subspecialty and incoming physicians recognize the contributions made to the field.
Stephen B. Hanauer, MD, has dedicated his career to moving the needle on IBD – from research to patient care to education of the next generation of gastroenterologists. Always willing to answer questions or guide a thoughtful conversation, Hanauer continues to create a legacy career to which we can all aspire.
Rising Disruptive Innovator
This award goes to an up and coming physician who is already disrupting the status quo in the field whether through new techniques, new thoughts, questioning methods or breakthrough research. The awardee can be in fellowship, just entering private practice or recently appointed to a faculty position, but consistently comes to mind when we discuss “the next big thing.”
Training under David Rubin, MD, the 2018 Social Media Influencer, and Hanauer, the Lifetime Disruptor for 2019, and then moving to the University of Michigan with Chey, Jami Kinnucan, MD, rose to the top of the young disruptive innovators crowd for her work with IBD and environmental factors such as sleep and cannabis.
Woman Disruptor of the Year, Given in Partnership With Women in Endoscopy
This award goes to a woman in the field who emerged as a leader and an example to younger women of how a successful career can unfold. The awardee may have a career of positive disruption or more recent advancements through which she has made a positive impact within the specialty.
Uzma Siddiqui, MD, took on the role of Vice President of Women in Endoscopy this year and continues to be a voice for women in the male-dominated world of advanced endoscopy. She spoke to the abysmal numbers of women matching into advanced endoscopy fellowships and sets an example of success and leadership in her roles.
The Patient Voice
This award goes to a patient advocate or advocacy group that moved the needle on a disease regarding discussion in the public sphere, better communication between patients and providers and/or advocacy for legislative or regulatory action (drug approvals, insurance coverage, etc.). The awardee is recognized by physicians as a resource for patients and/or an equal in discussion of the disease state.
Tina Omprakash has been living with Crohn’s disease for nearly 15 years. In those years, she struggled with cultural pressure to not discuss her disease pitted against the impact that disease had on her life.
Tina founded Own Your Crohn’s to, in her words, “normalize the rhetoric around chronic illnesses and disabilities and to help patients own their ailment to live fuller, happier lives.” Today, she ranks as one of the top IBD blogs and has been featured in mainstream media as a voice for the IBD community.
Herself an MPH candidate, she works tirelessly with the medical community to give a voice to those facing the struggles of chronic illness.
Industry Breakthrough
This award goes to a product that stands out as a major disruption to the practice of gastroenterology. The awardee will have been acknowledged in practice guidelines and enthusiastically integrated into practice by practicing gastroenterologists.
According to a leading endoscopist, Hemospray’s availability in the United States is a game-changer for managing GI bleeds. This hemostatic spray manufactured by Cook Medical stops active bleeding with immediate cessation of spurting and oozing bleeding in 95% of patients.
As John R. Saltzman, MD, said, “The availability of endoscopically delivered hemostatic sprays represents a major advance to physicians caring for patients with GI bleeding in the United States and certainly will lead to better outcomes, including a lower mortality.”
On behalf of Cook Medical, John Devlin accepted the award.