Location

Sophie M. Balzora MD, FACG, is a Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine. Her interests include inflammatory bowel diseases and enhancing physician engagement and the patient experience through objective structured clinical exams (OSCEs). Dr. Balzora is Vice-Chair of the American College of Gastroenterology (ACG) Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee and co-founder of ACG’s #DiversityinGI Social Media Campaign.

Brooke is one half of IBDMoms and one whole of Crazy Creole Mommy Life. She is a single mother, patient, advocate, activist, non-profit director, business owner, student and a coffee aficionado. Brooke’s life with IBD led her to a life of service as she advocates for patients and patients rights to healthcare on Capitol Hill. Her story has been featured in Women’s Health Magazine, Prevention Magazine, L.A. Parent Magazine and USA Today. Brooke currently resides in Los Angeles, California with her child, Jax and two puppies, Betty and Winston.

Matthew McCurdy (he/him) is the Director of Programs of Health DesignED: The Acute Care Design + Innovation Center in the Department of Emergency Medicine at Emory University and is the President and Co-founder at BLKHLTH Inc, a non-profit that engages the public and health professionals on the impact of racism on the health of all Black people—then equips them to do something about it.

Tomiyo Williams is a health advocate and care partner for her daughter, Skye Williams. Skye was diagnosed 6 years ago (2015) initially with Ulcerative Colitis and then later diagnosed with Crohn’s disease. As a care partner, Tomiyo has spread messages of hope and support to families about how to support a child and teenager who is battling the challenges of IBD. She has been featured on material with Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation, WebMD and more. She prides herself on being able to offer support to parents as they navigate the ins and outs of digestive diseases.

I am a 15 year Ulcerative Colitis patient that was officially diagnosed 3-4 years after initial symptoms. My symptoms also progressed from mild to moderate case during last colonoscopy back in 2014 and includes me experiencing 320+ days straight of internal bleeding (bowel movements) with approx. 15-23 bathroom trips daily at the peak of flare up.

Dr. Aline Charabaty is the Assistant Clinical Director of the Gastroenterology Division at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and the Clinical Director and the Director of the Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IBD) Center at John Hopkins-Sibley Memorial Hospital. She is actively involved in educational and advocacy initiatives and Committees with the American Gastroenterological Association and the American College of Gastroenterology.

Dr. Liu completed her internal medicine training at Mayo Clinic Rochester and gastroenterology fellowship at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. After her fellowship, she completed a research fellowship at the Harvard Center of Minimally Invasive and stayed on faculty for four years to investigate the mechanism of endoscopic anti-reflux procedures.

Thaddeus Stappenbeck received his B.A as a member of the Integrated Science Program at Northwestern University, as well as his M.D and Ph.D. from Northwestern University Medical School. Dr. Stappenbeck currently serves as the chair of Inflammation and Immunity at Cleveland Clinic, where his research program focuses on understanding the pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel disease. His lab uses approaches in immunology, developmental biology, cell biology, and microbiology to make fundamental discoveries in this area including a recent discovery that specific fungi inhibit healing. He serves on scientific advisory boards for Science Immunology, as well as several companies in the area of inflammatory bowel diseases. He has collaborated extensively with many other investigators and published over 160 articles in high impact journals, while successfully training 14 fellows and 11 graduate students.

Bio-Partner and physician leader in second largest private GI practice in US. First African American woman to serve on the executive committee. Chairman of Quality improvement. Crohns and colitis advocate, moderator and founder of northeast Georgia chapter. Chairman diversity, equity and inclusion DHPA legislative and Advocacy entity representing 99 GI practices nationwide. Advocate for health care disparity solutions.