Chief, Gastroenterology
Dr. Ma is Professor of Medicine, Cell Biology and Physiology and Chief of the Division of Gastroenterology at the University of New Mexico. He received his medical degree from Medical College of Virginia and completed his gastroenterology fellowship at the University of California, Irvine School of Medicine. Dr. Ma is the Director of Inflammatory Bowel Disease Program at UNM and specializes in the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease. He is one of the leading research experts in inflammatory bowel disease and intestinal barrier defect and participates regularly in regional and national educational and advisory programs related to inflammatory bowel disease. Dr. Ma is currently the chair of the VA Merit Review Board for Gastroenterology.
Dr. Alcorn trained at the University of Missouri and the University of California, San Diego, and is Board Certified in Internal Medicine and Gastroenterology. He was active in research focused on the mechanisms of liver fibrosis and regeneration at UCSD and the Albuquerque VA hospital in the early 1990's, then spent time in a premier Albuquerque Gastroenterology practice before returning to Academia. He is engaged in the general practice of Gastroenterology and especially Hepatology, the area of clinical research activities.
Dr Arora is a Professor of Medicine in the Department of Internal Medicine at the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center (UNMHSC). He received his medical degree from the Armed Forces Medical College in India and completed his gastroenterology fellowship at the New England Medical Center in Boston, Massachusetts. Additionally he is Director of Project ECHO (Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes). Dr. Arora developed the Project ECHO model as a platform for service delivery, education and evaluation. Using video-conferencing technology and case-based learning, primary care providers from rural and underserved areas and prisons are trained and mentored by ECHO’s medical specialists to deliver best-practice management of complex health conditions in their communities or correctional institutions.
Dr. Barakat is Assistant Professor of Medicine. He received his medical degree from University of Damascus, Syria. He did his Internal residency training in 2001 at Mercy Hospital Medical Center/University of Illinois at Chicago. He completed his gastroenterology training in 2004 at University of New Mexico School of Medicine. Dr. Barakat joined the faculty of gastroenterology division at University of New Mexico and New Mexico VA health care system in 2004. Dr. Barakat is board certified in both Internal Medicine and gastroenterology. He is the Director of Gastrointestinal and Biliary Endoscopy at the New Mexico VA Medical Center. His main interest is in the area of pancreatobiliary diseases and therapeutic endoscopy.
Dr. Boedeker is Professor of Medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology at the University of New Mexico. He received his medical degree from Washington University in St. Louis and completed his gastroenterology fellowship at Boston University. Dr. Boedeker is an NIH and VA funded investigator in the field of enteric infections with emphasis on molecular studies of pathogenesis and vaccine development. He is also investigates influence of the microbiota and potential pathogens in IBD. He participates regularly in national advisory panels for research in these areas.
Dr. Gavin is an Associate Professor of Medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology at the University of New Mexico. He completed his gastroenterology fellowship at UNM in 1993. Dr. Gavin served as the gastroenterology fellowship director at UNM while on staff at the New Mexico VA Regional Health Care System (1999-2003) and was awarded the UNM Department of Medicine Teacher of the Year award for 2001-2002. After seven years in clinical practice in New Mexico, he returned to the UNM Division of Gastroenterology in 2011. Dr. Gavin’s clinical research interests include colorectal cancer and inflammatory bowel disease.
Dr. Kistin is Professor of Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology at the University of New Mexico. He received his medical degree from Tufts University in Boston and completed his gastroenterology fellowship at the Tufts-New England Medical Center in Boston, MA. Before joining the GI Division at UNM, Dr. Kistin was in private Gastroenterology practice in Albuquerque for thirty years. Dr. Kistin is the GI Fellowship Program Director. His interests include functional GI disorders, Hepatology, and formal medical decision making. He is Director of the Motility, breath testing and capsule endoscopy lab at the University of New Mexico.
Dr. Kolendich joined the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at The University of New Mexico in 2011 where he is primarily based at the Albuquerque VA Hospital. He graduated from the University of Washington School of Medicine in 2004. He completed his residency in Internal Medicine at the University of Washington in 2007, where he was elected to the Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society. Following graduation, he joined the faculty at the University of Washington in the Department of Medicine. He then joined the Gastroenterology and Hepatology Fellowship Program at the University of New Mexico and completed the program in 2011. Dr. Kolendich’s interests include GI motility, medical education, and general gastroenterology.
Dr. Lin is Professor of Medicine at theUniversity of New Mexico and Chief, Section of Gastroenterology and Associate Chief of Medicine at the New Mexico VA Health Care System. He received his medical degree from the State University of New York, Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, NY and completed his gastroenterology fellowship at the University of California, Los Angeles School of Medicine. Dr. Lin is the Director of the GI Motility Center at UNM and at the New Mexico VA Health Care System and specializes in the treatment of GI motility and functional bowel diseases. He is one of the leading research experts in the role of indigenous gut microbes in IBS and other disorders. He serves on various grant review committees including NIH and VA research study sections.
Dr. Denis McCarthy attended Medical School and Graduate Studies in Pharmacology in Ireland. He then completed his Medical Residency in London and obtained training in Gastroenterology and Liver Diseases at the Royal Post Graduate Medical School and the Royal Free Hospital, where he was awarded a PhD for developing isotopic scanning of the pancreas and liver. From 1970 to 1974 he was a GI fellow and an Asst. Professor of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. From 1974 to 1980 he directed Clinical GI Research at NIH, Bethesda, before becoming Professor of Medicine at the University of New Mexico in 1980, where he became Chief of the Division of Gastroenterology at UNMH and VA Medical Center until 2000. He is currently a staff gastroenterologist at the VA Medical Center and supervises clinical activities in Hepatology. He continues as an AGA Distinguised Mentor, Professor of Medicine and Adjunct Professor of Biochemistry. His major interests are in acid peptic diseases, GI mucosal injury, especially by NSAIDs and Aspirin, and lesion healing by drugs. He has served as a consultant to the USFDA and numerous professional and scientific journals.
Dr. Parasher is an Associate Professor of Medicine, and serves as Director of Interventional Endoscopy and Endoscopic Ultrasound in the Division of Gastroenterology. He received his medical degree from the University College of Medical Sciences and completed his Gastroenterology fellowship at the State University New York Health Sciences Center, Syracuse, New York. He received advanced endoscopy and Endoscopic Ultrasound training at the University of California, Irvine Medical Center. He is actively involved in endoscopic teaching of medical students, gastroenterology fellows and advanced fellows.
His areas of interests are diagnosis and staging of pancreaticobiliary neoplasms, Pancreatitis, pancreatic cysts, endoscopic ultrasound, ERCP and cholangioscopy. Dr. Parasher has written multiple peer reviewed articles and book chapters.
Dr. Parasher joined UNM School of Medicine in 2002 as an Assistant Professor and subsequently promoted to Associate Professor. He currently serves as Governer (NM Chapter) for American College of Gastroenterology.
Dr. Pillai is an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology at the University of New Mexico. After graduating in medicine from the Jawaharlal Institute, Pondicherry University, India, he undertook post-graduate medical training in Australia and New Zealand. Subsequently, he completed his residency in internal medicine and fellowship in Gastroenterology and Hepatology (ABIM clinical investigator/research pathway) at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, MA. He then followed this with a fellowship in advanced/therapeutic endoscopy and endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS) at the University of North Carolina. His special interests in gastroenterology include:
Dr. Rafiq is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of New Mexico. She completed both her Internal Medicine residency and Gastroenterology fellowship at the State University of New York in Buffalo, NY. After completion of her fellowship in 2005, she joined Presbyterian Medical Group in Albuquerque as an attending gastroenterologist for four years. She then joined UNM as faculty in 2009 and completed an Advanced Endoscopic Ultrasound fellowship. She is currently working primarily at the New Mexico VA Hospital.
Dr.Rafiq is board certified in both Internal Medicine and Gastroenterology. Her interests include endoscopic ultrasound, ERCP, capsule endoscopy and single balloon enteroscopy.
Dr. Stone got his medical degree from Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis. He completed his Internal Medicine internship and residency at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center in North Carolina. After residency, he joined the faculty of Wake Forest School of Medicine as an academic hospitalist. He completed his fellowship in Gastroenterology & Hepatology at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine. After completing fellowship, he received additional training in Endoscopic Ultrasound (EUS) under the Dr. Parasher’s mentorship at UNM.
Dr. Stone joined the faculty of the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology in 2008. He has a particular interest in pancreaticobiliary disease, and the applications of the techniques of ERCP and EUS in GI disease. Along with Dr. Pallai, Dr. Stone is leading the Division’s efforts to use Radiofrequency Abalation (RFA) technology to treat Barrett’s esophagus and other GI disorders.
Dr. Strickland graduated from the Adelaide Medical School, South Australia in 1960. After internal medicine training in Adelaide he completed a 3 year Gastroenterology Fellowship at Stanford University. From 1969-1972 he was Assistant Head of the Clinical Research Unit at the Walter & Eliza Hall Institute & Royal Melbourne Hospital in Melbourne, Australia. In 1972 he joined the University of New Mexico Medical School as Head of the Gastroenterology Division in the Department of Medicine. After 15 years in this position he was appointed Chair of the Department of Medicine at UNM, a position he held for 12 years. Retiring from the full time faculty in 2001 he continues active practice & teaching in the GI Division as Emeritus Professor. Dr. Strickland's Research career spanned 25 years. His work resulted in 135 publications dealing largely with the fields of Gastritis and IBD. He has been active in a number of professional organizations including the AGA and its Foundation, the Association of Professors of Medicine, the Western Association of Physicians, the American College of Physicians and Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America. He has been honored by a Laureate Award from ACP in 2000,the Distinguished Service Award from the Department of Medicine at UNM in 2001 and received a Senior Research Mentor award from the AGA Foundation in 2005. In 2007, Dr. Strickland completed a 5 year term as Governor, New Mexico Chapterof the American College of Physicians. In 2009 Dr. Strickland was awarded a Mastership in the American College of Physicians.
Dr Taylor joined the gastroenterology faculty at UNM in 2010. He graduated from the Medical College of Wisconsin in 2003, where he was elected to the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society. He completed Internal Medicine residency at the University of California, San Diego and completed Gastroenterology fellowship at University of New Mexico in 2009. After working in private practice in Oregon, he returned to join the faculty at UNM in 2010. He has received the Kaiser Permanente Excellence in Teaching award. Dr Taylor’s medical interests include the diagnosis and treatment of liver disease in addition to general gastroenterology.
