About the Faculty

 
Content Review Committee

John Allen 

John I Allen, MD, MBA, AGAF, FACG

Dr. Allen is the Medical Director at Minnesota Gastroenterology and chair of the Clinical Practice and Quality Management Committee of the American Gastroenterology Association (AGA). He also chairs the Board of Directors for the Institute for Clinical Systems Improvement. Dr. Allen graduated with honors from Rice University in Houston, Texas, attended medical school at the University of New Mexico and completed his internship, residency and specialty training in gastroenterology at the University of Minnesota. After his fellowship, Dr. Allen spent ten years on the faculty of the Department of Medicine and was promoted to Associate Professor of Medicine.
He completed an MBA program in Medical Group Management at the University of St Thomas (Minneapolis). Dr. Allen has developed expertise in practice management, clinical performance measures and process improvement, and has over 40 published articles and book chapters on topics ranging from basic molecular biology to practice management.
View Conflict of Interest Disclosure for John Allen
  

  

Joel V Brill 

Joel V. Brill, MD, AGAF, FASGE, FACG, CHCQM

Dr. Joel V. Brill is Chief Medical Officer of Predictive Health, LLC, which implements proactive patient care management solutions. Dr. Brill is Board Certified in Internal Medicine and Gastroenterology, and has practiced for over two decades in California and Arizona.  He received his undergraduate A.B. Biology at the University of California, Los Angeles, his medical degree from Chicago Medical School, completed his Internship and Residency in Internal Medicine at UCLA Affiliated Program, and a fellowship in Gastroenterology at Los Angeles County - USC Medical Center.  He also completed the Management Program for Health Care Organizations at the UCLA
School of Public Health. Dr. Brill is an Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine at the University of Arizona School of Medicine, and a lecturer at the School of Health Management & Policy at the WP Carey School of Business at Arizona State University.  He is Chair of the Practice Management and Economics Committee for the AGA Institute, has published extensively on practice management issues, and is on the Editorial Advisory Board for several medical journals. Dr. Brill represents the AGA to the CPT Editorial Panel, the AMA / Specialty Society RBRVS Update Committee, the AMA Physician Consortium for Performance Improvement, and the AQA Alliance.
View Conflict of Interest Disclosure for Joel Brill
  

  

Loralee Kelsey 

Loralee Kelsey, BSN, RN, CGRN

Loralee Kelsey is Coordinator of the Digestive Health Center at Carle Foundation Hospital in Urbana, Illinois. She received her RN at Saint Francis School of Nursing and her BSN from Illinois State University. Loralee is a Certified Gastrointestinal Nurse (CRGN) and a member of the Society of Gastrointestinal Nurses (SGNA). She has served as chair of the SGNA practice committee and remains active in Central Illinois SGNA. Loralee serves on the SGNA Board of Directors where she is liaison to the Awards Committee.

View Conflict of Interest Disclosure for Loralee Kelsey
  

  

Jennifer Lightdale 

Jenifer R. Lightdale, MD, MPH

Dr. Jenifer R. Lightdale is Director of Quality and Patient Safety in the Division of Gastroenterology, and Director of Clinical Research Education in the Clinical Research Program at Children’s Hospital Boston.  She completed residency at the University of California in San Francisco, and fellowships in Pediatric Gastroenterology and Health Services Research at Harvard University.  Dr. Lightdale’s research interests lie in patient safety and sedation for endoscopy.  She has received NIH and foundation funding to study pediatric sedation, including a recent ASGE award to study simulation-based training as a means to improve patient safety during sedation for gastrointestinal
procedures. View Conflict of Interest Disclosure for Jenifer Lightdale
  

  

Sue Nuccio 

Susan A. Nuccio MSN, RN, APRN-BC, CGRN

Susan Nuccio is a Clinical Nurse Specialist for Gastrointestinal and Pulmonary Endoscopy Services at St. Luke’s Medical Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  She is a Certified Gastrointestinal Nurse (CRGN) and a member of the Society of Gastrointestinal Nurses (SGNA).  Susan has given presentations on moderate sedation topics at the National Conference for Gastrointestinal Nurses and the Diagnostic & Therapeutic ERCP: A Symposium for RN’s.  She has been published in a number of journals including Orthopaedic Nursing, Clinical Practice Development, Journal of Nursing Administration, and Journal of CNS. Susan has had academic appointments as a preceptor
for graduate students at Marquette University College of Nursing in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and as adjunct faculty at Concordia College in Milwaukee.
View Conflict of Interest Disclosure for Susan Nuccio
  

  

Dan Pambianco 

Daniel J. Pambianco, MD, FACG, CPI

Daniel J. Pambianco, MD, is medical director of Charlottesville Medical Research, a local network of community-based physicians in private practice who conduct clinical research studies in the central Virginia area. Dr Pambianco also serves as chairman of the endoscopy/ motility lab at Martha Jefferson Hospital in Charlottesville, Virginia. He has published several peer-reviewed articles in such journals as Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics, Clinical Therapeutics, Digestive Diseases & Sciences, Gastroenterology, and The American Journal of Gastroenterology. In addition, he is the chairman of the Constitution Bylaws Committee
of the American College of Gastroenterology, and the Virginia Governor of the American College of Gastroenterology. Dr Pambianco earned his medical degree at the American University of the Caribbean School of Medicine in Montserrat, British West Indies. He completed his residency in internal medicine at Robert Packer Hospital in Sayre, Pennsylvania, and his fellowship in gastroenterology at the University of Virginia Health Services Center at Charlottesville.
View Conflict of Interest Disclosure for Daniel Pambianco
  

  

Leslie Stewart 

Leslie E. Stewart, BA RN CGRN

Leslie Stewart has served on the SGNA Board of Directors for the past several years and is presently the Director of Practice of the SGNA. She has served as the SGNA liaison to both the ASGE Health & Public Policy Committee and the ASGE Practice Committee.  Mrs. Stewart has been involved with the specialty of endoscopy for over twenty years, maintaining national certification in GI.  She serves as the Nurse Manager of Endoscopy at Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune, New Jersey. In this role she directs the endoscopy product line for the Meridian Health System and she has served as the nursing liaison to the Departments of Anesthesia representing
the nonanesthesiologist physician administering sedation. Mrs. Stewart also has co-authored and teaches the Endoscopy Assistant/Technician Orientation & Competency Course at Brookdale Community College in Lincroft, New Jersey. View Conflict of Interest Disclosure for Leslie Stewart
  

  

John Vargo 

John J. Vargo, MD, MPH, AGAF, FACG, FACP, FASGE

Dr. Vargo is currently the Head of the Section of Therapeutic and Hepatobiliary Endoscopy in the Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation. He received his undergraduate and medical degrees from the University of Rochester. After an internship and residency in Internal Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh Health Science Center, Dr. Vargo completed fellowships in Gastroenterology and Hepatology at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation. A member of the Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation since 1994, he has authored over 100 articles in peer-reviewed journals. Dr. Vargo's research
interests include procedural sedation, physiologic monitoring, outcomes, and training. His endoscopic practice includes ERCP, EUS, advanced imaging techniques, stenting, EMR and deep enteroscopy. Dr. Vargo is currently the chairman of the ASGE's Training Committee.
View Conflict of Interest Disclosure for John Vargo
  

  

Executive Committee

Seven Edmundowicz 

Steven Edmundowicz, MD, FASGE

Dr. Steven Edmundowicz is a professor of medicine, chief of endoscopy and director of interventional endoscopy in the division of gastroenterology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri. He is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame  and Jefferson Medical College. He completed his internship and residency in internal medicine and his fellowship in gastroenterology at Washington University School of Medicine.  During his career he has served as the chief of endoscopy at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital and the Graduate Hospital, both in Philadelphia. Dr. Edmundowicz is active in clinical practice, clinical investigation, teaching
and administration. He has participated in a number of clinical trials in endoscopy, ERCP and EUS.  Most recently he has been involved with innovative endoscopic devices for use in the management of GERD and obesity. His clinical research involves the study and application of new technologies in endoscopy. Dr. Edmundowicz is a Fellow of the American Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopists. He is also the senior associate editor of the journal Gastrointestinal Endoscopy.
View Conflict of Interest Disclosure for Steven Edmundowicz
  

  

Sandra Cialfi 

Sandra A. Cialfi, MBA, BSN, RN, CGRN

Sandra Cialfi is the Nurse Manager of the Endoscopy Centers at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts. Sandra serves on the hospital’s Procedural Sedation Committee.  She has held the Nurse Manager position for the past eighteen years. Sandra received her BSN from D’Youville College in Buffalo, New York and her MBA with a concentration in Health Care Management from Boston University in Boston.  She has given numerous presentations both nationally and internationally on management and clinical GI topics. She is a Certified Gastroenterology Registered Nurse and has held that designation since 1992.  Sandra has served  
on the SGNA Board of Directors for the past 6 years and is currently the 2007-2008 SGNA President.
View Conflict of Interest Disclosure for Sandra Cialfi
  

  

Joel V. Brill serves on both the Content Review Committee and the Executive Committee

Daniel J. Pambianco serves on both the Content Review Committee and the Executive Committee


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Last Updated September 3, 2008