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San Diego Digestive Diseases Research Center SDDRC

Upcoming Center Seminars


November 2025

Date:
Wednesday, November 19, 2025, 7:30 – 8:30 am, Pacific Time, Hybrid Meeting

Location: ACTRI Conference Room 2E-111

Online: Zoom Meeting
Password: 601374 

Speaker: 

Folasade (Fola) P. May, MD, PhD, MPhil
Associate Professor of Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine
Director, Melvin and Bren Simon Gastroenterology Quality Improvement Program
Director of the May Health Services Research Laboratory
Associate Director, UCLA Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Equity
Staff Gastroenterologist, VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System
University of California, Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA

Title: Colorectal Cancer: National Trends, Evolving Epidemiology, and Screening Challenges

Speaker’s Research Interests: At the May Laboratory at UCLA, Dr. May and her team conduct health services research and quality improvement studies aimed at enhancing population-based preventive health strategies, expanding access to preventive services, and reducing health disparities. Her research explores how patient, provider, and system-level factors influence the prevention and management of chronic diseases such as obesity, colorectal cancer, chronic liver disease, and hepatocellular carcinoma. A central focus of the May Lab is the development, evaluation, and dissemination of health system interventions designed to promote adherence to evidence-based colorectal cancer screening guidelines, ensure timely follow-up of abnormal results, and improve surveillance practices.


December 2025

Date:
Monday, December 8, 2025, 12:00 – 1:00 pm, Pacific Time, Hybrid Meeting

Location: Leichtag - 107 (Lecture Room)

Speaker: 

Howard Hang, Ph.D.
Professor
Departments of Immunology & Microbiology and Chemistry
Scripps Research
La Jolla, CA

Title: TBD

Speaker’s Research Interests: TBD


January 2026

Date:
Monday, January 26, 2026, 12:00 – 1:00 pm, Pacific Time, Hybrid Meeting

Location: Leichtag - 107 (Lecture Room)

Speaker: 

Carolina Tropini, Ph.D., P. L. Eng.
Assistant Professor
Canada Tier 2 Research Chair, Quantitative Microbiota Biology for Health Applications
Alan Bernstein CIFAR Fellow
School of Biomedical Engineering & Dept. of Microbiology and Immunology
University of British Columbia
Vancouver, Canada

Title: TBD

Speaker’s Research Interests: TBD


March 2026

Date:
Wednesday, March 25, 2026, 7:30 – 8:30 am, Pacific Time, Hybrid Meeting

Location: TBD

Speaker:
Nayantara Coelho-Prabhu, MD
Professor of Medicine
Consultant, Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology
Mayo Clinic
Rochester, MN

Title: TBD

Speaker’s Research Interests: TBD


April 2026

Date:
Monday, April 27, 2026, 12:00 – 1:00 pm, Pacific Time, Hybrid Meeting

Location: Leichtag - 107 (Lecture Room)

Speaker: 
Samar H. Ibrahim, M.B.Ch.B, NASPGHAN-F, AASLD-F
Consultant, Division of Pediatric Gastroenterology & Hepatology
Professor of Pediatrics and Physiology
Director, C-SiG Pilot and Feasibility Program
Medical Director, Pediatric Liver Transplant Program
Mayo Clinic
Rochester, MN

Title: TBD

Speaker’s Research Interests: TBD


May 2026

Date:
Monday, May 18, 2026, 12:00 – 1:00 pm, Pacific Time, Hybrid Meeting

Location: Leichtag - 107 (Lecture Room)

Speaker: 
Declan F. McCole, Ph.D., AGAF

Professor of Biomedical Sciences
Biomedical Sciences Department
School of Medicine
University of California, Riverside
Riverside, CA

Title: TBD

Speaker’s Research Interests: TBD


June 2026

Date:
Monday, June 29, 2026, 12:00 – 1:00 pm, Pacific Time, Hybrid Meeting

Location: Leichtag - 107 (Lecture Room)

Speaker: 
M. Maya Kaelberer, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Physiology
University of Arizona
Tucson, Arizona


Title:
TBD

Speaker’s Research Interests: TBD


July 2026

Date:
Monday, June 27, 2026, 12:00 – 1:00 pm, Pacific Time, Hybrid Meeting

Location: Leichtag - 107 (Lecture Room)

Speaker: TBD


Title:
TBD

Speaker’s Research Interests: TBD


August 2026

Date:
Monday, August 31, 2026, 12:00 – 1:00 pm, Pacific Time, Hybrid Meeting

Location: Leichtag - 107 (Lecture Room)

Speaker: 
Scott T. Magness, Ph.D.
Professor
University of North Carolina Departments of Medicine, Cell Biology & Physiology
North Carolina State University Joint Departments of Biomedical Engineering
University of North Carolina
Chapel Hill, NC


Title:
TBD

Speaker’s Research Interests: TBD


September 2026

Date:
Monday, September 28, 2026, 12:00 – 1:00 pm, Pacific Time, Hybrid Meeting

Location: TBD

Speaker: TBD


Title:
TBD

Speaker’s Research Interests: TBD


October 2026

Date:
Monday, October 26, 2026, 12:00 – 1:00 pm, Pacific Time, Hybrid Meeting

Location: Leichtag - 107 (Lecture Room)

Speaker: 
Takeshi Saito, MD, PhD
Professor of Medicine, Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, and Pathology
Keck School of Medicine of USC
Los Angeles CA

Title: TBD

Speaker’s Research Interests: TBD


November 2026

Date:
Monday, November 30, 2026, 12:00 – 1:00 pm, Pacific Time, Hybrid Meeting

Location: Leichtag - 107 (Lecture Room)

Speaker: 
Lee A. Denson, MD
Professor of Pediatrics
Director, Schubert-Martin IBD Center
Director, Digestive Health Center
Research Director, Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition
Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center
Cincinnati, OH

Title: TBD

Speaker’s Research Interests: TBD


December 2026

Date:
Monday, December 14, 2026, 12:00 – 1:00 pm, Pacific Time, Hybrid Meeting

Location: Leichtag - 107 (Lecture Room)

Speaker: 
Stephen A. Duncan, DPhil
Professor and Chair
Department: Regenerative Medicine & Cell Biology
Programs: Cell Injury, End Organ Disease
Cell Models Core
Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC)
Charleston, SC

Title: TBD

Speaker’s Research Interests: TBD