In this podcast episode, Maria Abreu, MD, current president of the AGA, discusses the unique upbringing of health care professionals who are children of immigrants, formal versus on-the-job leadership training and more.

• Intro :24
• The interview/about Abreu :31
• Can you tell us about where you grew up and the impact your family had on the work you’re doing now? :54
• Chey and Abreu on the profile in Gastroenterology in May 2024, which announced Abreu as the current AGA president and summarized her personal and professional life. 3:08
• Abreu on her father’s involvement with the Bay of Pigs invasion in Cuba. 7:00
• Chey and Abreu on the impact of an upbringing as children of immigrants. 12:02
• How did you get interested in GI, specifically in IBD? 13:00
• When did it become apparent to you that you were interested in more than traditional academia and clinical medicine, and wanted to inspire and have a broader impact? 17:37
• What would you say to a younger physician or someone earlier in their career about formal leadership training versus on-the-job training? […] Do you think this generation needs formal training in how to manage people as health care becomes more complex? 21:11
• Do you think that the future of academia and the phenotype of who is going to lead in academic divisions will change? 28:40
• What are your priorities during your presidential year at AGA? 34:24
• What have you learned so far as president of the AGA? Has anything struck you as surprising? 42:03
• Thank you, Maria 44:12
• Thanks for listening 44:45

Maria T. Abreu, MD, is the current president of the American Gastroenterological Association. She is the fifth woman to lead AGA as president and the association’s first Latino president. Dr. Abreu currently serves as the Martin Kalser Endowed Chair of Gastroenterology; professor of medicine, microbiology and immunology; and director of the Crohn’s and Colitis Center at the University of Miami.

We’d love to hear from you! Send your comments/questions to guttalkpodcast@healio.com. Follow us on X @HealioGastro @sameerkberry @umfoodoc. For more from Abreu, follow @ibddocmaria on X.

Disclosures: Berry and Chey report no relevant financial disclosures. Abreu reports receiving consultant fees from serving on pharmaceutical advisory boards.

In this podcast episode, Larry Kosinski, MD, founder of SonarMD, discusses reclaiming GI services for patients and physicians, developing new tools for IBD patients and more.

• Intro :24
• The interview/about Kosinski :29
• Can you tell us about your upbringing and the experiences that got you to where you are today? What got you interested in gastroenterology? :55
• Of the many “chapters” in your story, can you talk about your merger and acquisition experience in the medical field? How has the process of different GI groups coming together changed over time? 5:40
• Why did the investors of SonarMD want to confine activities to just IBD and not scale it? 20:49
• Chey and Kosinski on the issues of moving away from patients being at the center of the decision-making and equal partnership in mergers and acquisitions. 22:03
• Chey and Kosinski on what drives physician burnout in gastroenterology. 25:06
• Do you feel that solutions focused on addressing cost in IBD is going to be as effective as solutions in addressing costs associated with functional diseases? 28:02
• What do you see next for SonarMD, and how has your own transition into your next “chapter” been? 32:24
• Berry, Chey and Kosinski on the development of tools to assist patients with IBD and diagnose GI conditions. 40:10
• What have you learned from the different projects you have worked on, and what advice would you give gastroenterologists interested in this type of innovation? 42:20
• Thank you, Larry 44:09
• Thanks for listening 44:33

Lawrence R. Kosinski, MD, MBA, AGAF, FACG, is a retired gastroenterologist who practiced for 35 years in suburban Chicago and is one of the founders of Illinois Gastroenterology Group, the largest independent GI practice in Illinois.

We’d love to hear from you! Send your comments/questions to guttalkpodcast@healio.com. Follow us on X @HealioGastro @sameerkberry @umfoodoc. For more from Kosinski, follow @lrkosinski on X.

Disclosures: Berry, Chey and Kosinski report no relevant financial disclosures.

In this podcast episode, Tom Serena, chief executive officer of the American Gastroenterological Association, discusses the role of private equity in specialty societies, the hunger to be involved in innovation and more.

• Intro :24
• The interview/about Serena :29
• Can you tell us about your upbringing and how it helped you become who you are today? :50
• Were there certain early individuals or experiences that you think have been impactful or important to your career today? 1:43
• Have you always been a natural leader, or did you grow into it? 2:38
• What are some things you learned from your coach? 3:30
• Is there a pathway that you unintentionally took that led you to medical societies and medical society leadership? 5:09
• Over the thirty years you have been involved with the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA), when did you know that you were going to be a core part of the leadership team? 6:38
• How have you seen the GI field change over the last thirty years? 8:24
• Do you think there has been a shift in the culture of our specialty for major organizations like AGA to be more open to a wider range of physicians and stake holders? 11:00
• Where do you think we’re going over the next few years with private equity? 14:08
• Can you tell us more about the AGA’s GI Opportunity Fund? What prompted the AGA to partner with venture capital and how has the experience been so far? 19:19
• Are there things that organization leaders are more likely to invest or not invest in? 21:47
• Berry, Chey and Serena on non-traditional ways physicians are looking to make use of their medical training. 23:24
• How have larger legacy societies like AGA and ACG view the emergence of more nuanced clinical societies, and how do they impact the way the AGA tries to execute its mission? 27:05
• Can you talk about ABIM’s impact on health care and the GI specialty? 30:01
• What are some of the biggest challenges facing AGA and GI as a field moving forward? 33:17
• Outside of the Opportunity Fund, what are other ways that the AGA is working to solve challenges around physician burnout, autonomy and reimbursement? 34:43
• Any life lessons you want to share with listeners? 36:22
• Thank you, Tom 37:39
• Thanks for listening 37:58

Tom Serena is chief executive officer of the American Gastroenterological Association. Tom joined AGA in 1994 and has served as the organization’s CEO since 2010. His previous role was VP of finance. He has been heavily focused on governance, helping the governing board to become the stewards of AGA’s future, with an emphasis on strengthening board - committee - staff relationships.

We’d love to hear from you! Send your comments/questions to guttalkpodcast@healio.com. Follow us on X @HealioGastro @sameerkberry @umfoodoc. For more from Serena, follow @TSerenaAGA on X. For more from the AGA, visit www.gastro.org and follow @AmerGastroAssn on X.

Disclosures: Berry and Chey report no relevant financial disclosures. Serena reports he is an investor in the GI Opportunity Fund.