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Team Members




A photo of our lab group at a lunch on campus.


Team members from left to right are:

​Samir Gupta, Ranier Bustamante, Hanin Yassin, Shailja Shah, Eric Low, Ashley Earles, Mehul Trivedi, and Mark Lamm.

                                                           



 

 Samir Gupta, MD, MSCS, AGAF

 Principal Investigator

Dr. Samir Gupta

Title(s): Gastroenterologist

              Professor, Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine

              Co-Lead, Cancer Control Program, Moore's Cancer Center, UC San Diego

              Staff Physician, GI Section, San Diego Veterans Affairs Healthcare System

UCSD Profile:  https://profiles.ucsd.edu/samir.gupta

About

Samir Gupta, MD, MSCS, AGAF, is a gastroenterologist in San Diego, California, and is affiliated with multiple hospitals and healthcare centers including VA San Diego Healthcare System and UC San Diego Health-Jacobs Medical Center. Dr. Gupta earned his degree from the University of Michigan. He completed his medicine residency at the University of California, San Francisco, followed by fellowships in gastroenterology at the University of Pennsylvania and the University of California, San Francisco. Dr. Gupta also holds a Master's of Science in Clinical Science from UT Southwestern Medical Center.

Research Interests

Dr. Gupta specializes in general gastroenterology and specifically in colorectal cancer detection and prevention. Specific work has included randomized controlled trials of strategies to increase screening rates for colorectal cancer, and observational studies seeking to identify novel methods for risk stratification of patients with polyps.

Dr. Gupta has specific expertise in the evaluation and management of individuals with a family history of colorectal cancer, including individuals with family cancer syndromes such as Lynch syndrome and Familial Adenomatous Polyposis. His expertise also includes the evaluation and management of patients with complex polyps, such as large adenoma polyps, sessile serrated adenomas, and hyperplastic polyposis syndrome.

Click here for Samir Gupta's complete publication list in PubMed.


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Shailja Shah, MD, MPH

Gastroenterologist

Dr. Shailja Shah

Title(s): Associate Professor, Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Medicine

              Staff Physician, GI Section, San Diego Veterans Affairs Healthcare System            

UCSD Profile: https://profiles.ucsd.edu/shailja.shah

About

Shailja Shah, MD, MPH, is a gastroenterologist in San Diego, California, and is affiliated with VA San Diego Healthcare System. She received her medical degree from Drexel Univerisity of Medicine/Hahnemann University.

Research Interests

Dr. Shah's research interests are in inflammatory-associated carcinogenesis of the gastrointestinal tract, including the colon, and stomach, with a predominant focus on the latter. She is establishing a multidisciplinary research program that is anchored in defining non-genetic, genetic, and systems-level determinants of Helicobacter pylori treatment, and disease-related clinical outcomes among high-risk populations, including US Veterans and non-white racial/ethnic and immigrant groups. Dr. Shah is actively involved in research and public policy initiatives to promote gastric cancer prevention and early detection efforts, such as gastric cancer screening and preneoplasia surveillance, among high-risk populations.

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 Lin Liu, Ph.D.

 Senior Biostatistician

Lin Liu 

Title(s): Statistician, VA San Diego Healthcare System

              Associate Professor of Biostatistics, University of California, San Diego

              Director of Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Research Design, Altman Clinical and Translational        

               Research Institute, University of California, San Diego

UCSD Profile: https://profiles.ucsd.edu/lin.liu

Research Interests

As a collaborative biostatistician, Dr. Liu has worked in many areas of research including cancer, cardiovascular disease, hepatitis C, chronic pain, HIV, infectious disease epidemiology, drug and alcohol abuse, sleep apnea, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), Parkinson's disease, traumatic brain injury (TBI), psychiatric disorder, telemedicine, etc. In regards to colorectal cancer research, Dr. Liu's statistical methodology focuses on developing prognostic models in colorectal cancer research.

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 Joshua Demb, Ph.D., MPH

 Postdoctoral Scholar

Joshua Demb

Title(s): Postdoctoral Scholar, Moore's Cancer Center, UC San Diego

              Health Science Research Specialist, VA San Diego Healthcare System

UCSD Profile: https://profiles.ucsd.edu/joshua.demb

Research Interests

Dr. Demb is a Cancer Epidemiologist with a focus on cancer screening, particularly for breast, colorectal, and lung cancers. He has extensive experience in public health research, particularly disparities in cancer screening uptake and follow-up. His postdoctoral research focused on cancer screening utilization as a result of patient-, provider-, institution-, and policy-level factors. Dr. Demb is also focused on decision support in cancer screening, specifically helping eligible individuals make informed decisions about potentially undergoing cancer screening.

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 Kathleen Curtius

 Associate Professor


Title(s): Assistant Professor in the Division of Biomedical Informatics, Department of Medicine

             Associate Member of the Cancer Control Program at UCSD Moore's Cancer Center

UCSD Profile: https://profiles.ucsd.edu/kathleen.curtius

Research Interests

The research aim of Dr. Curtius's interdisciplinary group, the Quantitative Cancer Control laboratory, is to improve the ability to detect and prevent cancers at their earliest stages.

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 Eric Low, MD, MPH

 Resident Physician

UCSD Profile: https://profiles.ucsd.edu/eric.low

About

Eric Low, MD MPH is a current NIH T32 gastroenterology fellow at UCSD with clinical and scientific career interests in esophageal disorders.

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Mehul Trivedi, MD

Resident Physician


UCSD Profile: https://profiles.ucsd.edu/mehul.trivedi

About

Mehul Trivedi, MD is a gastroenterology resident at UCSD with clinical and scientific career interests in gastrointestinal diseases.

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Joseph Toth, MD

Resident Physician


UCSD Profile: https://profiles.ucsd.edu/joseph.toth

About

Joseph Toth, MD is a gastroenterology resident at UCSD with clinical and scientific career interests in gastrointestinal diseases.

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Kushagra Mathur, MD

Resident Physician


About

Kushagra Mathur, MD is a gastroenterology resident at UCSD with clinical and scientific career interests in gastrointestinal diseases.

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 Ashley Earles, MPH, PMP

 Project Manager

Ashley Earles

About

Ashley Earles, MPH, PMP received her Master's degree in Public Health from SDSU in 2014. She has been with the research group since 2015. She earned her Project Management Professional certification in 2020.

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 Jiyue Qin, MS

 Pre-Doctoral Student


About

Jiyue Qin, MS received her Master's degree in Biostatistics from Columbia University, New York in 2020. Jiyue is currently a Biostatistics pre-Doctoral student at UCSD and has been with the research group since 2023.

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 Mark Lamm, MPH

 Research Associate

Mark Lamm

About

Mark Lamm, MPH received his Master's degree in Public Health from USC in 2016. He has been with the research group since 2020.

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 Hanin Yassin, BS

 Research Associate

Hanin Yassin

About

Hanin Yassin, BS received her Bachelor's degree in Public Health Sciences from UCI in 2018. She has been with the research group since 2018.

                                                      


Affiliated Investigators and Labs