On this episode of The Scope With Dr. K, Dr. Kosinski talks with multiple distinguished attendees of Digestive Disease Week® (DDW) 2023, including several members of the American Gastroenterological Association’s board and leaders dedicated to GI innovation. DDW is the largest gastrointestinal medical conference in the country every year. This is the first of a two-part series.
Guests Include:
- Barbara Jung, MD, AGAF, president, AGA Institute Governing Board
- Maria Abreu, MD, AGAF, president-elect, AGA Institute Governing Board
- Lawrence Kim, MD, AGAF, vice president, AGA Institute Governing Board
- Michael Kochman, MD, AGAF, advisor to AGA’s GI Opportunity Fun
- Matt Schwartz, co-founder and CEO, Virgo
- Joel Friedlander, DO, co-founder and chief medical officer, Evo Endo
- Andrea Vossler, managing director, Varia Ventures
Episode takeaways
- Dr. Maria Abreu shares a variety of statistics and thoughts around the increase in female gastroenterologists and how women can be better supported in the workforce.
- The future is bright for GI! AGA leaders comment on the energy of the next generation of doctors at the conference and AGA’s huge benefit now being able to advise and fund innovations through the GI Opportunity Fund.
- There is a unique opportunity for AGA members to get started with venture capital investing through the GI Opportunity Fund, which allows them to invest specifically in companies that will help the field of gastroenterology.
“[The GI Opportunity Fund] allows AGA to do three things: One, we’re aiding these companies in going further down the path to commercialization and becoming viable entities. The second thing it does is it allows us as AGA members to go ahead and look at promising new technologies, which we think will impact and help our patients and our practice. And the third thing is it provides an additional revenue stream in this era of decreasing revenue to the AGA by diversifying us out of the traditional income streams.” — Dr. Michael Kochman
Listen in to the full fascinating conversation on Healthcare Now Radio or wherever you listen to podcasts. Be sure to follow us on Twitter @SonarMD.
