Healio celebrates 2023 Disruptive Innovators at ACG

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Healio Gastroenterology and its collaborators unveiled its newest class of Disruptive Innovators Award recipients during the 2023 American College of Gastroenterology Annual Meeting.

Each awardee in the nine categories represents the core of gastroenterology or hepatology and has pushed the field continually revolutionize and improve. And, you – our readers – voted for these winners, casting more than 3,000 votes to decide who was truly disrupting the field among a very impressive list of physicians, researchers, influencers and institutions.

The Healio Disruptive Innovators represent the core values of Healio and its collaborators as they seek to innovate and disrupt the practice of medicine, improving patient health and fulfilling physicians’ passion.

Woman Disruptor of the Year

Given in collaboration with Scrubs & Heels, this award goes to a woman in the field of GI who leads by example and inspires the next generation of women to build a successful career in the field.

The awardee has a career of positive disruption and recent advancements through which she has made a positive impact in GI. Her leadership and mentorship are a core value of gastroenterology.

The Woman Disruptor of the Year is Lubna Kamani, MBBS, MRCP, FRCP, FCPS.

In Pakistan, there are approximately 150 male gastroenterologists and hepatologists with only 15 women among them. This makes Kamani’s role as professor and director of the GI residency program at the Liaquat National Hospital in Pakistan and president of the Pakistan GI and Liver Disease Society that much more impressive.

Kamani not only leads in title but in action. She conducted the first live endoscopy by a woman in Pakistan, launched the first Helicobacter pylori guidelines in the Journal of the Pakistan Medical Association along with the H. Pylori Pakistan registry, has represented at international meetings both in gastroenterology and hepatology and published powerful written pieces calling for gender parity and inclusivity in all aspects of the specialty.

Rising Disruptor

The Healio Rising Disruptor, given in collaboration with Cleveland Clinic, 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 consistently comes to mind when we discuss “the next big thing.” They embody the core GI value of leadership by leading the next generation of holistic medicine.

Our Rising Disruptor for 2023 is Sonali Paul, MD, MS.

Paul established herself as an expert in clinical care of NAFLD and obesity while simultaneously pushing for the recognition of gender identity and parity in care among the LGBTQ+ population.

Since 2019, she served as chair of the University of Chicago’s GI diversity and inclusion committee, introducing cultural sensitivity training, recruiting underrepresented minorities, adding gender identity to the EMR and implementing the use of pronouns on ID badges.

After writing about her own experiences navigating the medical world with her wife and son, Paul joined forces with Howard Lee, MD, to form Rainbows in Gastro in 2022.

This group recognizes the need to increase visibility of LGBTQ+ providers, improve care for LGBTQ+ patients and participate in research, advocacy and mentorship for gastroenterologists and patients who identify as LGBTQ+.

Paul teaches us all the importance of caring for patients and ourselves in a safe and welcoming environment.

Social Media Influencer

The Healio Social Media Influencer goes to a health care professional who makes a positive impact on social media through platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, and pioneer innovation in practitioner use of new platforms.

The awardee embodies the collaborative core of gastroenterology, using their platform to not only work with colleagues but oftentimes work together with patient advocates and patient influencers to combat misinformation in our field.

This award goes to Wendi LeBrett, MD, for her @SoCalGastroDoc account on TikTok.

Starting June 2022, LeBrett began posting about her life as a GI fellow and started combating gut health misinformation that she saw on the platform. Her first post had just 1300 likes; 10 posts later, she saw nearly 29,000 and today, her most popular post – a Chia seed warning – has more than 3 million likes.

What started as an anonymous outlet for LeBrett became an opportunity to educate the masses on all topics GI. From what GI doctors think of probiotics to IBS tips for Taylor Swift tour-goers, LeBrett addresses clinical and social issues in a fun and engaging way and uses research to back her discussions.

With nearly 72,000 followers and almost 2 million likes for her account, LeBrett continues to influence many TikTok users and trailblaze how to use new social media platforms to educate patients.

Clinical Innovation

The Clinical Innovation Award, given in long-time partnership with the American College of Gastroenterology, goes to a physician or institution that changed the face of our everyday gastroenterology practice, representing the core value of advancement in the field.

The awardee is seen as an example of how patient care can be improved through changes in administration, technique or the delivery of value-based care.

This year’s winner is Brennan M. Spiegel, MD, MSHS.

In 2016, Healio ran a cover story with the headline “The Digital Doctor: How Technologies Enhance Health Care,” featuring Spiegel as a self-proclaimed “budding digitalist.” At the time, he looked toward wearable biosensors and applications to extend the management of patient symptoms.

In 2023, Cedars Sinai named Spiegel the inaugural Gourrich Chair in Digital Health Ethics.

In the time between his digitalist infancy and today, Spiegel continues to move the goalposts for the use of technology in medicine and particularly in gastroenterology.

He launched a conference focusing on virtual reality in medicine, a tool he uses and wants others to utilize to help patients manage their pain and anxiety. Today, he dubs the field ‘Medical Extended Reality,’ in which physicians use virtual reality tools to treat pain, anxiety, depression and other medical conditions.

His recent thought-provoking hypothesis on gravity and the gut, published in the American Journal of Gastroenterology, showed how Spiegel continues to innovate clinical thinking in gastroenterology.

Health Equity Award

The Health Equity Award goes to a physician who has made meaningful changes to overcome the social determinants of health in gastroenterology.

The awardee is seen as a model of how identifying and addressing social determinants of health can improve medicine. They embody the core value of commitment – commitment to patients, colleagues and community.

Our 2023 Health Equity Award goes to Folasade May, MD, PhD, MPhil.

May has dedicated her career to improving health care outcomes and addressing health disparities.

She embodies the passion of medicine and examines the impact of systemic, patient, provider and social factors on the treatment and outcomes of various disease states, particularly colorectal cancer in underserved communities.

She serves not only as an example of research in action, but she mentors others to do the same through her work at The May Laboratory and the Association for Black Gastroenterologists and Hepatologists.

In recent years, she has embraced living and practicing in Los Angeles, diving into Stand Up 2 Cancer with Katie Couric and appearing on Red Table Talk with Jada Pinkett Smith. She participates in advocacy across the board, recently joining the Congressional Black Caucus to discuss colorectal cancer screening in Black communities.

May uses her platform to consistently put the discussion of gastrointestinal health and cancer screening into the public eye, always using her voice for health equity and improvement.

Lifetime Disruptor

The Healio Lifetime Disruptor, given in collaboration with Women in Endoscopy, goes to a gastroenterologist or hepatologist who consistently pushed their field forward through innovative treatments, practice management, patient care or research, whether recognized previously or through a quiet career of achievement. The awardee mentors and fosters the next generation of leaders, guiding them in their own disruptive talents.

They embody the core GI value of commitment – to our specialty, to their patients and to the future of care.

This year’s Lifetime Disruptor is Marla C. Dubinsky, MD.

Dubinsky’s name is synonymous with determination in gastroenterology. Her career is characterized by her achievements, but also by her commitment to her patients and her determination to give them freedom in their lives.

When she began her GI career, Dubinsky saw an unmet need in children and women with IBD; they were struggling, being misdiagnosed, left without viable treatment options and suffering with debilitating flares. She invested herself into their care, into her research and into collaborative relationships where she could find solutions. She even had a New York Times essay written about her devoted care for a child.

Along the way, Dubinsky mentored the next generation of gastroenterologists, opened pediatric IBD centers, won a multitude of awards and has continued to pave the way for women in GI.

In the past few years, Dubinsky not only won the coveted Sherman Prize but she added CEO to her already impressive list of titles with the launch of Trellus Health, a publicly traded digital health company that gives patients the tools to help manage their own conditions.

Healio Patient Voice

Given in collaboration with the Association for Black Gastroenterologists and Hepatologists, the Healio Patient Voice goes to an advocate or advocacy group who moved the needle in public discussions between patients and patient groups and the medical community.

They represent the core value of collaboration: working with all stakeholders to improve communication between patients and providers; using personal experience to push legislative or regulatory action; and driving clinical research by engaging patient populations who may traditionally be underserved by industry.

This year, our winner is IBDesis.

The founders, Tina, Madhura and Sharan began their patient advocacy journeys as individuals, drawing on their personal experiences as people of South Asian origins where chronic and invisible conditions such as IBD are rarely discussed openly.

They joined forces to form IBD Desis and then collaborated with clinicians and practitioners to form the South Asian IBD Alliance.

IBD Desis and the alliance have made an impact socially, clinically and politically since their inception. They have put forward personal experiences with IBD from clinical treatments to cultural stigmas. They connect patients through their social media discussions and private support groups, and represent patient advocates in physician-level discussions, guideline building and clinical trial building.

Allied Health Provider of the Year

Our newest award – the Allied Health Care Provider of the Year – is presented to an allied health provider whose innovative approaches have improved patient outcomes or quality of care. They represent the collaborative spirit of gastroenterology, reminding us as physicians that there is always more to health care.

The inaugural winner of this award is Laurie A. Keefer, PhD.

There are few providers who embody the idea of holistic care more than Keefer. She came to Mount Sinai in New York to help create and lead the IBD-centered Medical Home and less than 5 years later, her GRITT methodology provided the basis for Trellus Health, which she launched with the Lifetime Disruptor, Marla C. Dubinsky, MD.

GRITT, which stands for Gaining Resilience Through Transitions, is an effective program that works with patients to coordinate a personalized care plan and assist them through big life transitions to avoid flares and life impact of chronic IBD.

Keefer is a beacon for complementary, behavior-guided care of our GI patients. She speaks to the mind-gut connection and reminds us that medication is only one piece of the patient’s care package.

Industry Breakthrough

The Industry Breakthrough 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.

This year’s winner is Rinvoq (upadacitinab, AbbVie).

At the 2022 ACG Annual Meeting, attendees heard how a higher dose of Rinvoq reduced ulcerative colitis disease severity and prolonged clinical remission. Six months later, the FDA approved Rinvoq as the first oral therapy for moderate to severe Crohn’s disease.

As JAK inhibitors become more widely used, the Rinvoq approvals for treatment of IBD offer our patients a more convenient and effective way to manage their disease.

Rinvoq made an immediate impact on daily practice and patient care and is deserving of this award.