BUMC Faculty Promotions – January 2023
Clinical Professor
David Lichtenstein, MD, Medicine/Gastroenterology, specializes in therapeutic endoscopy, specifically in pancreaticobiliary tract malignancies and calculus disorders, advanced polyp resection techniques, Barrett’s ablation, GI bleeding, small bowel enteroscopy, palliation of malignant enteral obstruction, and endoscope reprocessing/safety. He is a master educator in endoscopy technical skills, training generations of gastroenterologists across the United States in innovative endoscopic approaches to treat GI disorders throughout the GI tract. Dr. Lichtenstein has made significant contributions to the advancement of endoscopic technologies and training in the U.S., and has chaired national committees on this topic for the American Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy and American Board of Internal Medicine. For more than 20 years, he was the director of endoscopy for the GI Section at Boston Medical Center (BMC), during which time he brought many new technologies to the BMC patient population. He also led the design and build of the new endoscopy unit in 2017, and chaired or sat on hospital committees for colorectal cancer screening, infection control and patient safety. In 2019 he was appointed director of advanced endoscopy, overseeing recruitment of new faculty, training in new techniques, and determination of which devices warrant inclusion in the BMC care pathway.
Howard Wolpert, MBBCh, Medicine/Endocrinology, Diabetes and Nutrition, focuses on diabetes technology and care delivery innovation. He joined BU/Boston Medical Center in July 2021 from Eli Lilly where he served as vice president of medical innovation for five years. Prior to that he was senior physician at Joslin Diabetes Center and associate professor at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Wolpert is a pioneer in the development and clinical use of Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM). He was a member of the three guideline committees regarding the use of CGM in diabetes management and the senior author publishing Consensus Guidelines for Continuous Glucose Monitoring in 2008, the Endocrine Society Guidelines on Continuous Glucose Monitoring in 2011 and Continuous Subcutaneous Insulin Infusion Therapy and Continuous Glucose Monitoring in Adults in 2016. He is the inventor of three issued patents; one of them – a decision support tool that has been incorporated into the Abbott Libre CGM system, one of the two dominant clinical CGM devices in the United States – is in clinical use.
Clinical Associate Professor
Uri Avissar, MD, Medicine/Gastroenterology, is a clinician-educator who specializes in hepatology and management of end-stage liver disease. On staff at South Boston Community Health Center, during the transition of treatment of chronic viral hepatitis to a community-based program, he led the GI Section’s integration of these treatments into community practice. Dr. Avissar serves as the section’s Subspecialty Education Coordinator and is actively involved in the training of fellows, residents and medical students. He also serves as the Education Director of the Massachusetts Gastroenterology Association.
Christopher Shanahan, MD, Medicine/GIM, is a long-contributing clinician-educator concentrating in three domains: clinical and research medical informatics/information technology, substance use disorders and safer prescribing of opioid medications for the treatment of chronic pain, and community medicine as both a clinician in a community health center and expertise in community-engaged collaboration with organizations, clinicians, and patients. A primary care physician at the Mattapan Community Health Center for 25 years, Dr. Shanahan was the founding medical director of the Massachusetts Consultation Service for Treatment of Addiction & Pain, which serves as model for other consultative programs across the country. He is the 2021 recipient of the American College of Physicians award for Distinguished Contributions to Behavioral Medicine.
H. Christian Weber, MD, Medicine/Gastroenterology and Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, focuses on the clinical conditions associated with gastrointestinal (GI) hormones and motility. He spent the early part of his career investigating gastrointestinal peptides at the NIH, and in recent years has pivoted to integrate this knowledge into managing Functional GI Disorders (FGID), acid-related disorders and neuroendocrine tumors. He serves as associate chief and clinical director of the Section of Gastroenterology & Hepatology at VA Boston Healthcare System (VABHS), where he oversees clinical care for veterans with gastrointestinal conditions and supervises clinical teaching in gastroenterology for residents and fellows from training programs at Boston Medical Center and Brigham & Women’s Hospital.