Team Members
A photo of our lab group at a lunch on campus.
Team members from left to right: Samir Gupta, Ranier Bustamante, Hanin Yassin, Shailja Shah, Eric Low, Ashley Earles, Mehul Trivedi, and Mark Lamm.
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Samir Gupta, MD, MSCS, AGAF
Principal Investigator
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
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.
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Shailja Shah, MD, MPH
Gastroenterologist
Title(s):
- Associate Professor, Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Medicine
- Staff Physician, GI Section, San Diego Veterans Affairs Healthcare System
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
Title(s):
- Statistician, VA San Diego Healthcare System
- Associate Professor of Biostatistics, UC San Diego
- Director of Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Research Design, Altman Clinical and Translational Research Institute, UC San Diego
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
Title(s):
- Postdoctoral Scholar, Moore's Cancer Center, UC San Diego Health Science Research Specialist, VA San Diego Healthcare System
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, Ph.D.
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
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
About
Eric Low, MD, MPH, is a current NIH T32 gastroenterology fellow at UC San Diego with clinical and scientific career interests in esophageal disorders.
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Mehul Trivedi, MD
Resident Physician
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
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
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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Cindy Huang, MS
Statistician
About
Cindy Huang, MS, received her Master's degree in Biostatistics from the University of California, San Diego in 2023. Cindy has been with the research group since 2023.
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Tyler Bath, BS
Data Manager/Analyst
About
Tyler Bath, BS, is a software engineer at the UCSD Division of Biomedical Informatics who works with Dr. Kit Curtius's team. He received a B.S. in Computer Science from UCSD in 2014. His recent research focuses on protecting patient privacy, distributed analytics, and automation of pipelines and workflows via intuitive web interfaces. Tyler has been with the research group since 2023.
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Mark Lamm, MPH
Research Associate
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
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.