Division Chief

Rene Davila, MD

Chief's Message

             The Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at the University of Tennessee is a cohesive group of faculty, trainees, and support staff committed to academic medicine. We work together to assure that our educational activities are first-rate, our clinical care is of highest quality, and our scholarly pursuits are cutting edge.

  Educationally, we have an outstanding, ACGME-accredited curriculum that balances cognitive gastroenterology and hepatology with extensive training in both standard and advanced endoscopic procedures. Graduates of our training program frequently contact me to say that they were much better prepared for “the real world” that they thought, and some have emerged as clinical leaders in their local communities. Much effort has been put into balancing our curriculum with didactic, endoscopic, hospital-based, and ambulatory components. The VA, county hospital, and community hospital teaching environments offer an ideal patient mix for clinical education.

  Clinically, our hepatology section under the leadership of Dr. Caroline Riely grew to the region's major referral center for patients with complex and advanced liver diseases. A long-standing liver transplantation program further supports this center of excellence. On the GI side, we are moving toward the development of a program in pancreatic diseases. This has begun with diagnostic and therapeutic EUS but we envision a multi-disciplinary program coordinating endoscopic, surgical, and radiologic approaches to the management of pancreatitis, pancreatic cancer, and pancreaticobiliary disorders. As a GI division, we offer a wide variety of advanced diagnostic and therapeutic procedures, including capsule endoscopy, argon coagulation, photodynamic therapy, EUS, and motility studies.

  Academically, we have balance in both basic and clinical research. On the basic science side, NIH and VA grants support cell biology-related work in intestinal lipid transport (Dr. Mansbach) and CFTR trafficking (Dr. Marino). On the translational side, a large NIH-funded multi-disciplinary study on racial differences in hepatitis C expression and response to therapy has just been refunded (Dr. Fleckenstein, PI). In addition to the above, division members are involved in several industry-supported clinical trials.

  As you can see, the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at UTHSC-Memphis is a tight and well-balanced academic program. Although our tangible strengths, as outlined above, are admirable, our major asset is actually the collegial nature of our group. We all work together to maintain a positive and progressive program, one that brings out the best in all of us. As you browse the rest of our website, I hope that all of these strengths can be readily seen and felt.

Rene Davila, M.D.

Acting Chief, Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology