I am a gastroenterologist, hepatologist and health services researcher. I completed my clinical and research training at University of California Los Angeles. I joined St. Louis University for my first faculty position and then moved to Baylor College of Medicine (Houston, TX) where I am now a professor of Medicine and the Chief for the Section of Gastroenterology and Hepatology. I am currently the first female editor-in-chief of a major journal related to digestive health and disease.

My research has been funded by the Veterans Affairs, National Institutes of Health, and Department of Defense, among other funding sources. My studies focus on assessing and improving quality and outcomes of care in individuals with chronic liver diseases, including hepatitis B and C infection, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, cirrhosis and HCC. My projects have used health services research methods including quasi and cluster randomized trials, observational studies, surveys, and economic modeling. My current projects are developing persoloanized indices to improve clinical risk stratification and increase early detection of HCC in cirrhosis, hepatitis C and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. My previous research reporting associations between emerging risk factors and HCC had substantial impact on HCC surveillance guidelines. I also led a team of clinician scientists that established quality indicators for cirrhosis, which are now part of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid quality program. My work also informed hepatitis C screening policy in Pakistan, a country with one of the highest burdens of hepatitis C worldwide.