Digestive & Liver Diseases
The Division of Digestive and Liver Diseases is one of the top academic gastroenterology and hepatology units in the nation. As with other Divisions in the Department of Internal Medicine, its core missions include excellence in patient care, promoting education, and advancing our understanding and treatment of digestive and liver diseases through research. Key to our mission is to recruit faculty and trainees from diverse backgrounds who represent the Dallas-Fort Worth community we serve.
Our faculty are recognized nationally and internationally for their academic contributions to the knowledge base of gastroenterology. They have a long history of translating groundbreaking scientific discoveries into clinical care. Their collaborations with investigators in an array of research units, both within the Department of Internal Medicine and across UT Southwestern, have enabled them to provide the most innovative treatments and exceptional specialty care.
Patient Care
Our faculty provide ambulatory care to patients with digestive or liver disorders in a number of settings, including our main campus clinics and satellite locations throughout the broader region. Our specialists participate in a number of multidisciplinary clinics and perform diagnostic and therapeutic endoscopic procedures in both the outpatient and inpatient settings. They also participate in clinical trials, evaluating new technologies to treat gastrointestinal disorders and investigating new ways to improve patient outcomes.
Research
Physicians and scientists within the Division explore diverse clinical and basic science topics focused on the digestive organs. The clinical research activities include clinical trials, outcomes research, health care utilization, and research on the natural history and treatment of digestive and liver diseases. Divisional faculty leads several NIH-funded basic laboratories, which interact extensively with investigators in various basic science departments on campus. Basic and translational research in inflammatory bowel disease is supported by the IBD Translational Core.
Faculty
The faculty play an essential role in advancing our research, education, and clinical missions. They are skilled clinicians, translational investigators, and basic scientists who specialize in various aspects of the digestive system. Their collective knowledge and dedication contribute significantly to the field of gastroenterology. From diagnosing and treating gastrointestinal disorders to conducting cutting-edge research, these faculty members are at the forefront of advancing our understanding of digestive health and improving patient outcomes.
Education & Training
The Division provides medical education and training along a continuum that begins in medical school and continues after subspecialty training. Division faculty play a key role in a variety of courses at the medical school level and during Internal Medicine residency training. Most important, the Division supports a robust fellowship program integrated among several key clinical sites, which also includes an NIH T32-sponsored research track. Moreover, we sponsor annual GI and Liver CME programs that are open to our colleagues and alumni in the local community and beyond.
Digestive and Liver Diseases in the News
Division History
The history of the Division begins in 1957 with the recruitment of Burton Combes, M.D., to the Department of Internal Medicine. Dr. Combes would form the Liver unit which he led for many years. In 1962, John Fordtran, M.D., joined the Department as its first gastroenterologist and the founding member of the Gastroenterology Division, which he led until 1979. John Dietschy, M.D., soon joined him in 1962 and he would lead the Division from 1979 to 1998.
Prominent alumni of the Division include Raymond Burk, M.D., Steven Schenker, M.D., Eugene Schiff, M.D., Mark Feldman, M.D., Raj Goyal, M.D., and Guenter Krejs, M.D. Moreover, Michael Brown, M.D., co-recipient of the 1985 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, was trained in clinical gastroenterology at our program. Dr. Brown was a research fellow with Dr. Dietschy and performed the first endoscopies at UT Southwestern in the early 1970s. Joseph Goldstein, M.D., co-recipient with Dr. Brown of the 1985 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, was introduced to scholarly research as a summer student with Dr. Combes.
The Division of Digestive and Liver Diseases was formed in 1998 by the merger of the Gastroenterology Division and the Liver Unit, and has been led by John Dietschy, M.D. (1998-2002), Dwain Thiele, M.D. (2002-2005), Don Rockey, M.D. (2005–2012), Jay Horton, M.D. (2012-2016), and Ezra Burstein, M.D., Ph.D. , (2016-present).