Our Team Highlights
Inside Stanford Digestive Health - Winter/Spring 2025
Featured Faculty
Gene Chung, MD
Clinical Assistant Professor
Dr. Gene Chung was born and raised in Southern California. He received his BA in Biochemistry from UC Berkeley. He did his medical school and internal medicine residency at Chicago Medical School. Gene Chung then worked as an internal medicine hospitalist at Central Dupage Hospital in the Chicago area, MacLaren Macomb Hospital in the Detroit area, Advocate Christ Hospital in the Chicago area, and OConnor Hospital in San Jose before joining Stanford as a GI hospitalist.
Dr. Chung’s full bio is available at: https://med.stanford.edu/profiles/gene-chung
Clinical Expertise: Dr. Chung’s expertise is in the management of general medical problems in hospitalized patients including hypertension, diabetes, congestive heart failure, atrial fibrillation, COPD, infections, and others.
Something About Me: In Dr. Chung’s free time, he enjoys spending time with his wife and 4 young children age 7, 5, 3 and 5 months.
Niwen Kong, MD
Instructor
Dr. Niwen Kong, born and raised in Shanghai, China, received her medical degree from the University of Illinois before completing her internal medicine residency at the University of Southern California. She later joined Stanford as a GI hospitalist, where she provides comprehensive inpatient care for patients with GI dysmotility, inflammatory bowel disease, pancreatitis, GI bleeding, and other chronic conditions. Dr. Kong is dedicated to improving continuity of care for hospitalized patients with gastrointestinal issues.
Dr. Kong’s full bio is available at: https://med.stanford.edu/profiles/niwen-kong
Clinical Expertise: Dr. Kong is trained in internal medicine with a strong interest in gastroenterology. She is currently expanding her expertise in medical pancreatology while working closely with gastroenterologists to provide comprehensive care for patients admitted with gastroenterology-related conditions.
Scholarly Expertise: Dr. Kong has had an interest in research since her undergraduate years. Currently, her research focuses on the management of acute pancreatitis and the early detection of pancreatic cancer. Since residency, she has been involved in multiple research projects aimed at improving the clinical management of acute pancreatitis. She is particularly interested in leveraging machine learning models to guide treatment decisions and enhance patient outcomes. Dr. Kong has published in the field of cancer immunology and its microenvironment, and she hopes to apply her understanding of immunology to gastroenterology.
Something About Me: Outside of medicine, Dr. Kong enjoys traveling with her family to explore different cultures and engage with local communities. She is passionate about lifelong learning and regularly takes online courses to acquire new skills. Additionally, Dr. Kong has a bunny who has been part of her family since medical school.
Judah Kupferman, MD
Instructor
Dr. Judah Kupferman is thrilled to have joined the Stanford faculty as a GI hospitalist. An NYC native, he completed his undergraduate studies at the City University of New York. After completing medical school at Tel Aviv University, Dr. Kupferman returned to New York for residency at Elmhurst Hospital, an affiliate of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. At Elmhurst, he was privileged to care for a diverse immigrant community and treated both common and rare diseases. Dr. Kupferman aspires to become a gastroenterologist with a focus on promoting liver health.
Dr. Kupferman’s full bio is available at: https://med.stanford.edu/profiles/judah-kupferman
Clinical Expertise: Dr. Kupferman treated high-acuity patients during difficult and hectic moments in the COVID-19 pandemic. His interest in chronic liver diseases grew from treating a large population with ALD in the acute and outpatient settings. He values patient engagement and education as a crucial element in medicine, valuing teamwork with providers, patients, and family. Dr. Kupferman moved to California during Summer 2024 to join the Stanford GI and Hepatology Division as a GI hospitalist; in this role, he has provided inpatient care for patients admitted for various GI and hepatologic conditions.
Scholarly Expertise: In residency, Dr. Kupferman was lead author for several case reports on advanced endoscopic procedures and led a systematic review analyzing prognosis of acute esophageal necrosis. As chief resident, his focus on enhancing the resident experience in QI led to a substantial increase in resident-led projects. Since arriving at Stanford as a GI hospitalist during Summer 2024, Dr. Kupferman has worked closely with the Transplant Hepatology team on clinical research and has been involved with several IRB-approved studies.
Something about me: In his free time, Dr. Kupferman enjoys hiking and travelling with his wife and dog. He is a lifelong musician and dabbles in playing the piano, mandolin, and bass guitar.
Christina Lin, MD
Instructor
Dr. Christina Lin was born and raised in sunny Southern California. She received a BS & BA in Chemical Biology and Molecular Cellular Biology, respectively, from the University of California, Berkeley before obtaining her medical degree at Rush Medical College in Chicago. She returned to the Bay Area and completed her internal medicine residency at Kaiser Permanente Santa Clara prior to joining Stanford as a GI hospitalist.
Dr. Lin’s full bio is available at: https://med.stanford.edu/profiles/322442
Clinical Expertise: Dr. Lin’s clinical interests and expertise are in inpatient management of patients with post-operative complications and complex digestive diseases, including motility, inflammatory bowel diseases, intestinal failure, and malnutrition.
Scholarly Expertise: Dr. Lin’s research interests include autoimmune gastritis, Lynch Syndrome, Helicobacter pylori, and risk stratification of gastric cancer. She also has an interest in pursuing several quality improvement initiatives addressing patient safety and optimization of healthcare delivery.
Something about me: Dr. Lin spends her free time finding new bakeries & coffeeshops, cooking & baking, golfing, snowboarding, and traveling with her husband and her two children, both under the age of two.
Fellows' Corner
Get to Know Our First Year Fellows
Previn Ganesan, MD: I grew up in Los Angeles and moved to the Bay Area to attend UC Berkeley for college and then went to UCSF for medical school and continued at UC Berkeley for a master’s in public health. After spending 4 years in Chicago for residency at Northwestern, I was beyond thrilled to return to the Bay Area for GI Fellowship. I am interested in transplant hepatology and hope to utilize my MPH experience to study epidemiology and disparities of liver disease. Outside of the hospital I love to be outside, play basketball, and go to concerts.
Kelly Hu, MD: I grew up mostly in Boca Raton, FL, however, have also lived in Iowa and Missouri before completing medical school in NYC and IM residency here at Stanford. I’m so grateful to have stayed on for fellowship as my co-fellows have been the highlight of my year! Still undecided on possible subspecialty but planning to stay on the West Coast after fellowship (either here in the Bay Area or Seattle).
Elisa Karhu, MD: My favorite part of GI fellowship atStanford is definitely the people I get to work with every day! From my amazing co-fellows to the brilliant attendings and stellar endoscopy staff, everyone works together to create a positive work environment while providing excellent patient care. I personally am passionate about improving quality of life and thus am interested in research in interventions to improve quality of life for patients with chronic GI diseases. My long-term goals include a practice that heavily integrates nutrition and lifestyle change to optimize patient outcomes.
Irvin Ma, MD: I was born and raised in Reno, Nevada and completed my internal medicine residency in Colorado. My fellowship experience thus far has been great. I have developed a great relationship with my co-fellows, and we're planning on a Coachella group trip in the coming years! I'm hoping to return to Nevada after fellowship with hopes of being a part of the growing medical community there.
Richie Manikat, MD: My favorite parts of fellowship are undoubtedly the relationships with my stellar co-fellows, the culture in which the faculty make it their mission to help you succeed, and the leadership’s high level of responsiveness. Expert mentorship is available in nearly every field of interest within gastroenterology. Personal well-being is a high priority for the program, as well. My goal during this fellowship is to develop the clinical and research skills that will help advance my career in the field of hepatology.
Staff Highlights
Ethan Akama-Garren | Assistant Clinical Research Coordinator, Kwong Lab
Ethan is an assistant clinical research coordinator primarily working under Dr. Allison Kwong on alcohol-associated liver disease research. He helps run studies by assisting with study start up, patient recruitment, biospecimen collection, and data collection and analysis.
Fun facts about Ethan: He is a Bay Area native, completed undergraduate at USC in 2024, and is planning on applying to medical school. In his spare time, he enjoys Olympic weightlifting, spending time with his pets, cooking, and trying new food.
Caroline Antonov | Clinical Research Coordinator 2, GI Clinical Research Team
Caroline supports Dr. Afrin Kamal, Dr. Paul Kwo, and Dr. Sun Kim in industry-sponsored drug and device studies, and investigator-initiated studies through her Clinical Coordinator 2 role with the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology.
Fun facts about Caroline: She plays the piano and the harp!
Brianna Cavalla | Clinical Research Coordinator 2, GI Clinical Research Team
As a Clinical Research Coordinator 2 in the Kwo Lab, Brianna actively collaborates with Dr. Sarah Streett, Dr. Grant Barber, and Dr. Allison Kwong. She is currently involved in studies focusing on alcohol-related liver disease and inflammatory bowel disease.
Fun facts about Brianna: In her free time, she enjoys cooking, traveling, hiking with her dog Winston, and tending to her vegetable garden at the Los Prados Community Garden in San Mateo.
Janet Cunningham | Clinical Trials Regulatory Specialist, GI Clinical Research Team
Janet is a Clinical Trials Regulatory Specialist working under Dr. Paul Kwo. As a regulatory liaison for GI-Hepatology, she works with sponsors, study teams, and IRBs to ensure compliance and move clinical research studies forward.
Fun facts about Janet: She is an avid birder and enjoys following her sister Wendy, a long time National Parks Service interpreter, around the country to check out new habitats. They’ve been to Olympic Park in Washington state, the Florida Everglades, and at least half a dozen places in between, depending on Wendy’s assignments. Once she was even “keeper” of the Point Reyes lighthouse! Janet and her sister hope to visit Patagonia one day, a majestic natural paradise at the bottom of the world.
Vyvian Ngo | Clinical Research Coordinator 2, GI Clinical Research Team
Vyvian is a Clinical Research Coordinator 2 working on clinical trials on Wilson's disease, alcoholic hepatitis, fatty liver, and autoimmune hepatitis. She previously worked in global health data and neurology/neurosurgery at Stanford before settling with the GI Division.
Fun facts about Vyvian: she spends her free time hiking with her dog or exploring local eats with friends.
Jennifer Smart | Clinical Research Coordinator 2, GI Clinical Research Team
Jennifer is a Clinical Research Coordinator 2 With extensive experience in managing clinical trials and ensuring compliance with regulatory standards for Gastroenterology & Hepatology.
Fun facts about Jen: Outside of her professional life, she values quality time spent with family and friends. She is also passionate about furthering her education by taking classes to enhance skills and knowledge in the field.
Grace Tan | Clinical Research Coordinator Associate, GI Clinical Research Team
Grace is a clinical research coordinator associate that works with Dr. Kwo, Dr. Fernandez-Becker, Dr. Goel, and Dr. Neshatian on various investigator-initiated research studies and industry-sponsored clinical trials. You can usually find her consenting patients and transporting biopsies in endoscopy, conducting patient visits in the liver clinic, or working on data entry and regulatory items at her desk.
Fun facts about Grace: She spent most of my life swimming and worked as a USA swimming coach prior to this role. Although she misses being on the pool deck, she can confidently say that her current role has been one of her favorites- she appreciates the team dynamic and her colleagues at Stanford!
Swati Toppo | Clinical Research Manager, GI Clinical Research Team
Swati Toppo is a dedicated clinical research professional with over 9 years of experience. Currently serving as the Clinical Research Manager in the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology under the leadership of Dr. Paul Kwo. Swati specializes in managing clinical trials, ensuring regulatory compliance, maintaining quality standards, and prioritizing patient safety throughout the process. Swati also focuses on fostering collaboration among cross-functional teams.
With a passion for teamwork and a commitment to excellence, Swati works to empower team members, promote growth, and uphold integrity in every aspect of clinical research.
Fun facts about Swati: She enjoys binge-watching favorite TV series, exploring watercolor painting, and finding joy in cooking.
In This Issue
Winter/Spring 2025