Dear Colleagues,

As I complete my term as Interim Division Chief, it is my pleasure and honor to introduce our new chief, Dr. Joo Ha Hwang, who will lead Stanford Gastroenterology into its next chapter. Dr. Hwang is an internationally renowned leader and a tremendous friend and colleague who has pushed the boundaries of endoscopic surgery. This mindset combined with his vision, energy, and deep commitment to clinical excellence and innovation will continue to elevate our program and expand the boundaries of what we can accomplish together…

Yi Jiang, MD
Clinical Assistant Professor, Medicine

Dr. Yi Jiang was born and raised in China. She received her MD degree from Tsinghua University, Peking Union Medical College. After completing postdoctoral training at SRI International in the Bay Area, she went on to complete an internal medicine residency at Rutgers UMDNJ, followed by fellowships in gastroenterology and medical pancreatology at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. She has now returned to the Bay Area and joined Stanford GI as a Clinical Assistant Professor.

Sunny Sandhu, MD
Clinical Assistant Professor, Medicine

Dr. Sunny Sandhu is a California native born and raised in the Central Valley. After earning his medical degree at St. George’s University, he completed his internal medicine residency and chief residency at UCSF-Fresno. He then completed a combined Gastroenterology and Transplant Hepatology fellowship at the University of Miami, where he also served as chief fellow. Dr. Sandhu is thrilled to return to California and to join the team at Stanford, where he looks forward to caring for patients and contributing to the team’s mission of excellence.

Erin Watson, PsyD, ABPP
Clinical Associate Professor, Medicine

Dr. Erin Watson was born in San Diego and raised in California, Virginia, and England. She completed her doctorate at Adler University in Chicago, her residency at the Portland VA, and her fellowship at the San Francisco VA. She joined the San Francisco VA and UCSF as faculty and has spent the last decade working across primary care and behavioral medicine clinics. She recently joined Stanford’s GI Behavioral Medicine team.

Stanford’s Celiac Disease Program provides comprehensive care for patients with complex gluten-related disorders. Led by Dr. Nielsen Fernandez-Becker, the team combines expert diagnosis, multidisciplinary management, and cutting-edge research to improve outcomes for those who struggle despite a gluten-free diet. Learn how Stanford’s latest innovations are redefining diagnosis and treatment.

Pelvic floor disorders are common in women and often multifactorial. Sarcopenia—age-related loss of skeletal muscle mass and function—may be an underrecognized risk factor. In a retrospective review of 264 women undergoing MR defecography and high-resolution anorectal manometry, we examined whether lower muscle mass, indexed by the psoas muscle index (PMI), is associated with pelvic floor and anal sphincter dysfunction.

By adopting normothermic machine perfusion and refining donor selection, the Stanford Liver Transplant Program now uses a broader range of donor grafts with excellent outcomes. These innovations are reducing wait times and expanding transplant access for patients with advanced liver disease.

Grant Barber, MD, MS
Teacher of the Year Award

Our division and fellowship program are happy to recognize Dr. Grant Barber with the Teacher of the Year Award in honor and appreciation of his great contributions to our educational mission.  Dr. Barber has clearly distinguished himself as a master teacher and he continuously champions and supports our commitment to excellence in education for our fellows.

2025 Education Excellence Award

The Stanford Department of Medicine awarded Dr. Grant Barber the 2025 Education Excellence Award for his exceptional contributions to the field of education.

Grant Barber, MD - Research Profile

Renumathy Dhanasekaran, MD, PhD

McCormick Faculty Award
Dr. Dhanasekaran has been selected as a recipient of the McCormick Faculty Award, which provides research funding and professional development opportunities to junior faculty women for career advancement.

Renumathy Dhanasekaran, MD, PhD - Research Profile

Sarah Streett, MD

2025 Clinical Excellence Award
Dr. Sarah Street is this year’s recipient of the Department of Medicine Clinical Excellence Award for her exceptional clinical expertise, ability to mentor and educate others, and dedication to improving patient outcomes.

Sarah Streett, MD - Research Profile

Natalie Torok, MD

2025 Researcher of the Year
The Department of Medicine recognized Dr. Natalie Torok for her exceptional research contributions in GI through innovative research, groundbreaking discoveries, and advancements that have significantly impacted knowledge and practice. This award honors a researcher’s dedication to scientific inquiry, their ability to push the boundaries of current understanding, and their commitment to translating research findings into real-world applications.

Natalie Torok, MD - Research Profile

As health and wellness continue to be a division priority, we are proud of several recent accomplishments.

We kicked off wellness with visiting professor, Dr. Sanjiv Chopra, who shared his clinical expertise and guidance to faculty, fellows, and residents across the School of Medicine. His Medical Grand Rounds presentation: Two Most Important Days: Reflections on Lasting Happiness and Living with Purpose was well received and prompted cross divisional connections. Through his talk to the division , Exemplarily Leadership: Lessons from History and Contemporary Times, Dr. Chopra shared valuable insights and wisdom on leadership. Faculty and fellows deepened their clinical knowledge through his presentation, Clinical Challenges in Hepatology,

Daud Akhtar, MD

Daud is currently completing his 1-year fellowship in Advanced Endoscopy at Stanford and is looking to return home to Canada following his training.

Aileen Bui, MD

Aileen completed her 1-year fellowship in Advanced Endoscopy at Stanford and will be starting her new job at the City of Hope hospital system in the Los Angeles metro area.

Seren Gedallovich, MD

Seren completed her 3-year GI/Hepatology fellowship, including a Chief fellow year at Stanford, and has now started her 1-year Transplant Hepatology fellowship as well as her second Chief fellow year.

Mohamad Itani, MD

Mo completed one year of Neurogastroenterology fellowship training at Stanford and has now started GI/Hepatology fellowship training at the University of Minnesota.

Michael Pimienta, MD

Michel completed his 3-year GI/Hepatology fellowship at Stanford and is currently working as a general Gastroenterologist at the Good Samaritan-Partners in Health Hospital in downtown Los Angeles. Given the unique and medically underserved population that the hospital covers, he is excited and fulfilled to be giving back to his LA community.

Mai Sedki, MD, MPH

Mai completed her 3-year GI/Hepatology fellowship at Stanford and is currently completing her PhD dissertation in epidemiology and biostatistics at UCSF. She is practicing general gastroenterology at the Sacramento VA.

John Enguang Wang, MD

John completed his 3-year GI/Hepatology fellowship and served as Chief Fellow at Stanford. He is now practicing comprehensive gastroenterology and hepatology in San Francisco at 2100 Webster St #115, San Francisco, CA 94109. In addition to his private practice, he continues to train fellows, and medical students at California Pacific Medical Center.

Wendy YX Zhou, MD

Wendy completed her 1-year Neurogastroenterology fellowship and 3-year GI/Hepatology fellowship at Stanford. She is currently working as a general Gastroenterologist at the Regional Medical Center in San Jose and St. Louise Regional Center in Gilroy within the Santa Clara Valley Healthcare system. She is grateful to be caring for the underserved communities within Santa Clara and South County.

Amoolya Chandrabhatta

Research Assistant, Sinha Lab

Amoolya is a clinical research coordinator and research assistant in Dr. Sinha’s lab, researching inflammatory bowel disease and primary sclerosing cholangitis. She spends most of her time talking to patients about their research and helping with benchwork.

Fun facts: Outside of work, she enjoys exploring new places with her friends and making clothes with her sewing machine.

Dawiyat Massoudi, PhD

Research Scientist, Dhanasekaran Lab

She is a senior scientist who joined the Dhanasekaran laboratory in the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at the Department of Medicine in March 2025. One of her research interests focuses on understanding the role of the immune system in the onset of hepatocellular carcinoma developed in the context of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis or MASH. Part of her responsibilities also lies in managing the Dhanasekaran laboratory to ensure compliance with laboratory rules, safety, and regulatory standards in order to maintain a safe and productive work environment.

Fun facts: She loves chocolate, she loves ice cream, but she despises chocolate-flavored ice cream!

Maya Ryan

Clinical Research Coordinator, GI Clinical Research Team

As a Clinical Research Coordinator Associate, Maya supports a variety of studies focusing on conditions including inflammatory bowel disease, gastrointestinal cancers, and celiac disease. On a day-to-day basis, you can find her recruiting patients, collecting samples, sleuthing through charts, designing databases, and completing any other work necessary to ensure studies run smoothly.

Fun facts: Outside of work, Maya loves to dance, and her favorite styles are contemporary, jazz, and hip-hop. She also enjoys hiking, playing board games, and trying local coffee shops.

For Referring Physicians

PHYSICIAN HELPLINE

Phone: 1-866-742-4811

Fax: 650-320-9443

Monday–Friday, 8 a.m.–5 p.m.

You may submit a web referral or complete a referral form and fax  650-320-9443 or email at: ReferralCenter@stanfordhealthcare.org