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Happy New Year, everyone! As we enter 2025, I’ve been reflecting on just how much has changed in the field of gastroenterology since I completed my fellowship a decade ago.
After developing and disseminating highly effective treatments for hepatitis C, the field of hepatology has shifted rapidly toward identifying and managing other significant causes of liver disease, particularly alcohol-associated liver disease and metabolic dysfunction–associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD). New disease nomenclatures have been developed that have changed the way we describe common diseases – most notably, NALFD is now MASLD and FGID are now DGBI.
There have been marked advances in obesity management, including not only innovations in endobariatric therapies such as intragastric balloons and endoscopic sleeve gastroplasty, but also the introduction of glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) agonists, which offer new hope in effectively tackling the obesity epidemic. Our growing understanding of the microbiome’s role in health has opened new avenues for treating GI diseases and introduced the potential for more personalized treatment approaches based on individual microbiome profiles. New inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) pharmacotherapeutics have been developed at a dizzying pace – our IBD patients have so many more treatment options today than they did just a decade ago, making treatment decisions much more complex.
Finally, we are just beginning to unleash the potential of artificial intelligence, which is likely to transform the field of medicine and GI clinical practice over the next decade. To be sure, it is an exciting time to be a gastroenterologist, and I can’t wait to see to what the next decade of innovation and discovery will bring.
From the recent AASLD meeting, we bring you exciting new data demonstrating the effectiveness of GLP-1 agonists (specifically, semaglutide) in treating MASH. In January’s Member Spotlight column, we introduce you to Drs. Mindy, Amy, and Kristen Engevik, who share their fascinating career journeys as GI researchers (and sisters!). In our quarterly Perspectives column, Dr. Brijesh Patel and Dr. Gomez Cifuentes share their experiences counseling patients regarding lifestyle modifications for gastroesophageal reflux disease and what strategies have proven to be the most effective adjuncts to pharmacotherapy. We hope you enjoy this and all the exciting content in our January issue.
Megan A. Adams, MD, JD, MSc
Editor in Chief
Happy New Year, everyone! As we enter 2025, I’ve been reflecting on just how much has changed in the field of gastroenterology since I completed my fellowship a decade ago.
After developing and disseminating highly effective treatments for hepatitis C, the field of hepatology has shifted rapidly toward identifying and managing other significant causes of liver disease, particularly alcohol-associated liver disease and metabolic dysfunction–associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD). New disease nomenclatures have been developed that have changed the way we describe common diseases – most notably, NALFD is now MASLD and FGID are now DGBI.
There have been marked advances in obesity management, including not only innovations in endobariatric therapies such as intragastric balloons and endoscopic sleeve gastroplasty, but also the introduction of glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) agonists, which offer new hope in effectively tackling the obesity epidemic. Our growing understanding of the microbiome’s role in health has opened new avenues for treating GI diseases and introduced the potential for more personalized treatment approaches based on individual microbiome profiles. New inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) pharmacotherapeutics have been developed at a dizzying pace – our IBD patients have so many more treatment options today than they did just a decade ago, making treatment decisions much more complex.
Finally, we are just beginning to unleash the potential of artificial intelligence, which is likely to transform the field of medicine and GI clinical practice over the next decade. To be sure, it is an exciting time to be a gastroenterologist, and I can’t wait to see to what the next decade of innovation and discovery will bring.
From the recent AASLD meeting, we bring you exciting new data demonstrating the effectiveness of GLP-1 agonists (specifically, semaglutide) in treating MASH. In January’s Member Spotlight column, we introduce you to Drs. Mindy, Amy, and Kristen Engevik, who share their fascinating career journeys as GI researchers (and sisters!). In our quarterly Perspectives column, Dr. Brijesh Patel and Dr. Gomez Cifuentes share their experiences counseling patients regarding lifestyle modifications for gastroesophageal reflux disease and what strategies have proven to be the most effective adjuncts to pharmacotherapy. We hope you enjoy this and all the exciting content in our January issue.
Megan A. Adams, MD, JD, MSc
Editor in Chief
Happy New Year, everyone! As we enter 2025, I’ve been reflecting on just how much has changed in the field of gastroenterology since I completed my fellowship a decade ago.
After developing and disseminating highly effective treatments for hepatitis C, the field of hepatology has shifted rapidly toward identifying and managing other significant causes of liver disease, particularly alcohol-associated liver disease and metabolic dysfunction–associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD). New disease nomenclatures have been developed that have changed the way we describe common diseases – most notably, NALFD is now MASLD and FGID are now DGBI.
There have been marked advances in obesity management, including not only innovations in endobariatric therapies such as intragastric balloons and endoscopic sleeve gastroplasty, but also the introduction of glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) agonists, which offer new hope in effectively tackling the obesity epidemic. Our growing understanding of the microbiome’s role in health has opened new avenues for treating GI diseases and introduced the potential for more personalized treatment approaches based on individual microbiome profiles. New inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) pharmacotherapeutics have been developed at a dizzying pace – our IBD patients have so many more treatment options today than they did just a decade ago, making treatment decisions much more complex.
Finally, we are just beginning to unleash the potential of artificial intelligence, which is likely to transform the field of medicine and GI clinical practice over the next decade. To be sure, it is an exciting time to be a gastroenterologist, and I can’t wait to see to what the next decade of innovation and discovery will bring.
From the recent AASLD meeting, we bring you exciting new data demonstrating the effectiveness of GLP-1 agonists (specifically, semaglutide) in treating MASH. In January’s Member Spotlight column, we introduce you to Drs. Mindy, Amy, and Kristen Engevik, who share their fascinating career journeys as GI researchers (and sisters!). In our quarterly Perspectives column, Dr. Brijesh Patel and Dr. Gomez Cifuentes share their experiences counseling patients regarding lifestyle modifications for gastroesophageal reflux disease and what strategies have proven to be the most effective adjuncts to pharmacotherapy. We hope you enjoy this and all the exciting content in our January issue.
Megan A. Adams, MD, JD, MSc
Editor in Chief