DAVID SUN LECTURE
Neena S. Abraham, MD, MSc (Epid), FACG
Cardiogastroenterology: Intersectional Thinking to Meet New Clinical Needs

Saturday, October 24 | 11:00 am – 11:30 am | Virtual ACG 2020 Meeting Platform

Dr. Abraham

Dr. Neena Abraham will share insights on how to understand the risk of upper and lower gastrointestinal bleeding in aging cardiac patients, optimize acute GI bleeding management in cardiac patients, and promote intersectional ideas to address GI bleeding in this special patient population during the David Sun Distinguished Lecture.

Neena Abraham, MD, MSc (Epid), FACG, is Professor of Medicine in the College of Medicine at Mayo Clinic Arizona and is a consultant in the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology. She is a federally funded principal investigator at the intersection of cardiology and GI disorders, focusing her research in health services and outcomes research. Dr. Abraham investigates how antithrombotic drugs contribute to gastrointestinal bleeding, with particular attention to their effects in cardiac patients, the elderly, and patients with highly co-morbid conditions. To better understand antithrombotic drug risk perception and decision-making style of cardiac patients, she has conducted studies using qualitative and quantitative methodology. This has provided important contextual knowledge regarding the real-life burden of GI adverse events associated with cardioprotective drugs. Her clinical practice is focused on the diagnosis and management of gastrointestinal bleeding and luminal disease in cardiac patients with ischemic heart disease, electrophysiologic disorders, heart failure, and left ventricular assist devices in the nation’s first cardiogastroenterology clinic. This clinical and scientific work has led to her co-authorship of national and international multidisciplinary consensus statements and guidelines to help gastroenterologists and cardiologists understand antithrombotic drug risk, prevent GI adverse events and safely manage antithrombotic drugs in the peri-endoscopic period. She is the medical director of the Mayo Clinic Cardiogastroenterology Clinic, which uses a multi-specialty collaborative care model to improve clinical outcomes for cardiac patients who are at risk of GI bleeding. This model includes improved strategies for prescription drug management, patient engagement in shared decision-making, and risk factor modification. Dr. Abraham served as a Trustee of the ACG from 2009–2015, after serving as a member of the ACG Research, Educational Affairs, Women in GI, and Public Relations Committees. After serving as a Board Member of the ACG Institute for Clinical Research and Education she will become the Institute’s Director in October 2020. She served as the Course director of the ACG Postgraduate Course in 2008. She has delivered over 200 invited lectures and has published over 100 manuscripts, book chapters and consensus statements.

About the David Sun Lecture: The David Sun Lecture, held during the Postgraduate Course, was established by Mrs. Sun in memory of her husband, Dr. David Sun, an outstanding gastroenterologist and investigator. Each year, a lecturer with a distinguished background in gastroenterology or an allied field is chosen by the ACG President subject to the approval of the ACG Educational Affairs Committee and the ACG Board of Trustees.