The VOCAL Penn Team

Executive Committee

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  Marina Serper, MD, MS

  Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania; Staff physician at Corporal Michael J. Crescenz VA in Philadelphia
  
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  Marina Serper, MD, MS

  Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania; Staff physician at Corporal Michael J. Crescenz VA in Philadelphia
  

  Dr. Serper is an Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and a staff physician at the Corporal Michael J Crescenz VA in Philadelphia. She is a transplant hepatologist with expertise in chronic liver disease, viral hepatitis, and liver transplantation.  Dr. Serper has research expertise in health services and outcomes research and specifically in medication adherence in liver transplantation, social determinants of health and transplant outcomes, psychosocial predictors of transplant outcomes, medication safety,  healthcare economics and utilization, and quality of care for chronic liver diseases.

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  Tamar Taddei, MD

  Professor of Medicine (Digestive Diseases), Vice Chief of Faculty Development (Digestive Diseases) and Associate Program Director of the Medical Scientist Training (MD-PhD) Program at Yale School of Medicine
  
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  Tamar Taddei, MD

  Professor of Medicine (Digestive Diseases), Vice Chief of Faculty Development (Digestive Diseases) and Associate Program Director of the Medical Scientist Training (MD-PhD) Program at Yale School of Medicine
  

  Tamar Taddei is Professor of Medicine (Digestive Diseases), Vice Chief of Faculty Development (Digestive Diseases) and Associate Program Director of the Medical Scientist Training (MD-PhD) Program at Yale School of Medicine. Her clinical interests focus on developing systems and programs to deliver outstanding multidisciplinary care to people with liver cancer. She directs the Liver Cancer Program at VA Connecticut Healthcare System and oversees a VA regional tumor board. Her research focuses on outcomes and clinical trials in cirrhosis and liver cancer. She is co-principal investigator of the Veterans Outcomes and Costs Associated with Liver disease (VOCAL) study group and the Statins and Cirrhosis - Reducing Events of Decompensation (SACRED) clinical trial. Passionate about educating, mentoring and sponsoring the next generation, Dr. Taddei has been recognized with teaching awards for her dedication to the education and career advancement of medical students, residents, and fellows.

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  Nadim Mahmud

  Assistant Professor of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania
  
  

  Nadim Mahmud

  Assistant Professor of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania
  

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  David E. Kaplan, MD MSc FACP FAASLD AGAF

  Professor of Medicine at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania; Director of Hepatology at the Corporal Michael J. Crescenz Veterans Administration Medical Center
  
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  David E. Kaplan, MD MSc FACP FAASLD AGAF

  Professor of Medicine at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania; Director of Hepatology at the Corporal Michael J. Crescenz Veterans Administration Medical Center
  

  David E. Kaplan, MD MSc FACP FAASLD AGAF 

  Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania 

  Philadelphia, PA 

   

  Dr. David E. Kaplan is a Professor of Medicine at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. He serves as Director of Hepatology at the Corporal Michael J. Crescenz Veterans Administration Medical Center, where he directs a regional hepatocellular carcinoma program and is involved in fellow education.  Dr. Kaplan is also the Section Chief of Hepatology at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.

   

  Dr. Kaplan, in collaboration with Dr. Terence Gade, maintains a VA-funded translational research laboratory focusing on immunopathogenesis of hepatocellular carcinoma and the development of personalized medicine platforms for liver cancer therapy.   

   

  Dr. Kaplan has undertaken multiple large database studies studying natural history of pharmaco-epidemiological associations in cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma with a long-standing collaboration with Dr. Tamar Taddei at Yale. Areas of special interest include the role of statins in altering portal hypertension outcomes in compensated advanced chronic liver disease (cACLD) and Dr. Taddei and Dr. Kaplan are national co-PI for a 10-center VA study evaluating the effect of simvastatin on reducing decompensation events in patients with cirrhosis (NCT03654053). Dr. Kaplan and Dr. Marina Serper have used VA data to better understand outcomes, cost and care delivery in viral hepatitis and liver cancer. Dr. Kaplan has supported his mentee Dr. Nadim Mahmud in extensively developing a research focus of surgical risk evaluation in cirrhosis. Other key collaborations include studies on transplant utility with Dr. David Goldberg at the University of Miami. 

   

  Dr. Kaplan is a Fellow of the AASLD and involved in multiple efforts for the society. Dr. Kaplan and Dr. Jaume Bosch are currently co-chairing the AASLD Portal Hypertension Guidance writing committee. Dr. Kaplan recently completed a term as chairperson of the AASLD Foundation Research Awards Committee and he is Vice-Chairperson of the AASLD Liver Cancer SIG for 2022. 

   

  Conflicts of Interest 

  Dr. David E. Kaplan has received research grants paid to his institution from Gilead Inc. and  Bayer Healthcare Inc., the NIH and VA.

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Investigators

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  Ashwani Singal, MD, MSc

  Professor of Medicine at University of South Dakota, Sanford School of Medicine; Transplant Hepatologist at the Avera Transplant Institute; Health at the VA Sioux Falls
  
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  Ashwani Singal, MD, MSc

  Professor of Medicine at University of South Dakota, Sanford School of Medicine; Transplant Hepatologist at the Avera Transplant Institute; Health at the VA Sioux Falls
  

  Dr. Singal is a professor of medicine at the University of South Dakota, Sanford School of Medicine; transplant hepatologist at the Avera transplant institute; and health research scientist at the VA Sioux Falls. He also directs the hepatology elective course for the senior medical students at the Sanford SOM and is Chief of clinical research at the Avera transplant institute.  

  With clinical and translational research interests in alcoholic and non-alcoholic fatty liver diseases, renal injury in cirrhosis, and porphyria, Dr. Singal’s research has been funded by the American College of Gastroenterology, National Institute of Health, and pharmaceutical industry. He has over 230 original peer reviewed articles in national / international journals and book chapters. He is on the editorial board of many journals including hepatology, liver transplantation; Co-editor in chief for Translational Gastroenterology Hepatology; and associate editor for digestive liver disease, PLoS one, journal of clinical translational hepatology, and journal of clinical and experimental hepatology.  

  Apart from reviewing research grants and scientific research abstracts for the AGA and AASLD, Dr. Singal is on the study section for the NIH. At the ACG, he is a lead author on guidelines for alcoholic liver disease, co-authored guidelines on vascular disorders of the liver, and is currently co-authoring guidelines on nutritional management of patients with cirrhosis and revised guidelines on alcohol-associated liver disease. Dr. Singal has been awarded the prestigious Edgar Achkar Visiting Professorship by the ACG, and chaired the special interest group on alcohol-related liver disease (2020-2021) of the AASLD. 

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  Tae Hoon Lee, MD

  Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine; Division of Liver Diseases at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York; Attending Physician at the James J. Peters VA Medical Center
  
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  Tae Hoon Lee, MD

  Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine; Division of Liver Diseases at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York; Attending Physician at the James J. Peters VA Medical Center
  

  Tae Hoon Lee, MD, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine, Division of Liver Diseases at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York and works as a full time attending physician at the James J. Peters VA Medical Center. Dr. Lee received his Doctorate of Medicine from Seoul National University, South Korea and had a year of Internship at the Seoul National University Hospital, South Korea. After a year of research training from Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, he completed his Internal Medicine training at Marshall University, West Virginia. He received his Gastroenterology fellowship training at Case Western Reserve University (MetroHealth Program), Ohio. He had additional Transplant Hepatology fellowship training at the Mount Sinai Hospital, New York. 

  Certifications
  Transplant Hepatology

  Gastroenterology

  Internal Medicine

  Clinical Focus

  
  Chronic Liver Disease
  Fatty Liver Disease
  Alcoholic Liver Disease
  Cirrhosis
  Liver Tumor
  Viral Hepatitis
  Liver Transplantation
  
  Education
  MD, Seoul National University, South Korea.

  Internship, Transitional, Seoul National University, South Korea

  Residency, Internal Medicine, Marshall University, West Virginia

  Fellowship, Gastroenterology, MetroHealth Medical Center/Case Western Reserve University, Ohio

  Fellowship, Transplant Hepatology, The Mount Sinai Hospital

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  Ayşe Aytaman, MD, AGAF, FACG, FAASLD

  Chief of Gastroenterology and Hepatology VA New York Harbor HCS Brooklyn; Director VISN 2 Liver and Cancer Team; Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine at State University of New York Downstate Medical Center
  
  Read More about Ayşe Aytaman, MD, AGAF, FACG, FAASLD
  

  Ayşe Aytaman, MD, AGAF, FACG, FAASLD

  Chief of Gastroenterology and Hepatology VA New York Harbor HCS Brooklyn; Director VISN 2 Liver and Cancer Team; Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine at State University of New York Downstate Medical Center
  

  Ayşe Aytaman, MD earned her medical degree from the University of Vienna, where she studied with a full scholarship from the Austrian Ministry of Education. After her residency and fellowship in gastroenterology and hepatology at SUNY Health Science Center at Brooklyn, she joined the faculty at VA New York Harbor HCS in Brooklyn. She created the first multidisciplinary viral hepatitis team in 1999 with inclusion of clinical pharmacy and liver psychology in the VA system and was instrumental in VISN wide and national HCV eradication in the VA system.  In 2012, with a grant from VA Public Health, she established the first multi-facility and multi-disciplinary, multi-facility VISN wide hepatocellular carcinoma team and SCAN ECHO liver cancer tumor board in the nation. The team has been organizing yearly VA National Liver Cancer Summits since 2012 to 2019 with multiple national spread sites.  

  Dr. Aytaman is also an integral part of the GI and hepatology fellowship program and has been involved in the training of over 200 GI fellows now across the nation. She was chosen as the “Physician of the Year Honoree” by the American Liver Foundation New York Greater Chapter in 2018. 

  Dr. Aytaman has been involved in clinical research in hepatitis C, advanced liver disease and liver cancer. Current ongoing IRB approved research studies: 

  Veterans Outcome and Cost Associated with Liver Disease (VOCAL) Study, now encompassing 200K veterans. 

  Palliative Care within the Treatment of End-Stage Liver Disease: A Randomized Controlled Trial (PAL-LIVER). Sponsored by PICORI (Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute) 

  Effect of simvastatin on hepatic decompensation and death in subjects with high-risk compensated cirrhosis (SACRED). Sponsored by DOD (Department of Defense) 

  VISN 3 Liver Cancer Team Performance Improvement and Outcomes project.  

  Detecting cancers Earlier Through Elective plasma-based Cancer SEEK Testing – Ascertaining Serial Cancer patients to Enable New Diagnostic II (DETECT-ASCEND 2  

  Clinical Validation of An Optimized Multi-Target Stool DNA (mt-sDNA 2.0) Test, for Colorectal Cancer Screening (BLUE-C) 

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  Binu John, MD, MPH

  Associate Professor, University of Miami, Miller School of Medicine; Associate Chief of Medicine, Chief of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Miami VA Medical Center; Principal Investigator of the Miami Cooperative Studies Program Network of Dedicated Enrollment Sites (CSP-NODES)
  
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  Binu John, MD, MPH

  Associate Professor, University of Miami, Miller School of Medicine; Associate Chief of Medicine, Chief of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Miami VA Medical Center; Principal Investigator of the Miami Cooperative Studies Program Network of Dedicated Enrollment Sites (CSP-NODES)
  

  Binu John, MD, MPH is Associate Professor at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine and Associate Chief of Medicine, Chief of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, at the Miami VA Medical Center in Miami, FL. He is board certified Gastroenterologist and Transplant Hepatologist. Dr John is also the director (principal investigator) of the Miami Cooperative Studies Program Network of Dedicated Enrollment Sites (CSP-NODES) funded by the VA Office of Research and Development.

  His areas of clinical research include hepatocellular carcinoma (primary liver cancer), liver transplantation and cirrhosis/portal hypertension. Dr John is a site principal investigator in numerous studies related to liver cancer (federal and industry funded) in the field of biomarker development as well as Phase 1 to phase 4 clinical trials. He has published over 100 abstracts and 70 publications, including first author publications in JAMA Internal medicine, Gastroenterology and Hepatology. He serves as associate editor of Digestive Diseases and Sciences and as a guest editor for Clinics in Liver Diseases.

  Dr. John has an active interest in resident and fellow education. He is a member of the American Association of Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD), American Gastroenterological Association (AGA), European Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (EASL) and is a fellow of the American College of Gastroenterology (ACG). He has served on multiple national committees of the AASLD and the ACG.
   

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Division of Gastroenterology

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  Alex Burdzy

  Project Manager
  
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  Alex Burdzy

  Project Manager
  

  Alex Burdzy is the Project Manager of the Serper/Kaplan Lab. He graduated magna cum laude from Rutgers University in 2012 with a degree in Exercises Science. After a career in community health and education, he joined the Serper/Kaplan team in December 2019 with a strong interest in social determinants of health and behavioral interventions to improve patientoutcomes. Along with working on the team, Alex is enrolled in the Penn Pre-Health Post-Bacc Program on the Core track. He’s also involved in student and local organizations that focus on social justiceissues. In his limited spare time, Alexisa cinephile with his favorite film directors being David Lynch and John Waters.

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  Richard Mason, PharmD

  Project Manager
  
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  Richard Mason, PharmD

  Project Manager
  

  Richard Mason is a Clinical Research Coordinator for the Serper/Kaplan Lab. He graduated from MCPHS University with a Doctorate in Pharmacy. After working in retail pharmacy and medical information, he joined the Serper/Kaplan team in 2021 with a strong interest in medication adherence and patient safety outcomes in a clinical environment. In his spare time, Richard reads horror/thriller novels and focuses on physical fitness.

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