Research Overview

Since 2010, GIQuIC has set the standard in the collection and reporting of quality measures in the practice of gastrointestinal endoscopy. This robust dataset is an invaluable resource for practice benchmarking and further provides an excellent opportunity for those interested in gastroenterology research.

GIQuIC registry data are contributed from endoscopy units in various practice settings across the United States. Data enters the registry via two methods: direct data entry or, more commonly, upload from an endoscopic health writer (endowriter). For the purpose of research, GIQuIC registry data undergoes a de-identification process and is transferred to the Research Data Warehouse. This separate database is stored on a different secure server from the registry data and can only be accessed by GIQuIC staff.

The Research Data Warehouse contains de-identified information on sites, providers, patients, and procedures that allows investigators to address complex and varied research questions. For an overview of data included in the registry, please refer to the colonoscopy and EGD data collection forms:

The GIQuIC research committee carefully reviews all project proposals, evaluating the project’s feasibility, novelty, and potential impact. All analyses are completed by GIQuIC’s team of in-house data analysts, who work closely with principal investigators (PIs) in order to best address the research question. Most projects are hypothesis-driven and are undertaken with the intention of publishing results in a peer-reviewed journal.

For all research inquiries, contact research@giquic.org.

GIQuIC Research Committee

Ashwin Ananthakrishnan, MD, MPH, FACG, AGAF

Dr. Ashwin Ananthakrishnan is the Director of the Massachusetts General Hospital Crohn’s and Colitis Center and an Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. He completed his medical school training at JIPMER in India and subsequently obtained his Master of Public Health degree at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health. After completing his GI fellowship at the Medical College of Wisconsin, he joined the faculty at Massachusetts General Hospital where he is involved in clinical care, research, and teaching. In addition to his clinical expertise in the management of patients with complex IBD, he has been involved in investigations using large prospective cohorts to define the role of environment on IBD. He is also conducting NIH-funded studies aiming to personalize IBD therapy by defining individual patient trajectories and to understand the appropriate treatment algorithms in vulnerable populations including the elderly. He has published over 250 manuscripts, has co-authored two textbooks on IBD, and has served on the editorial boards of multiple journals.

Linda Cummings, MD, MS, FACG, AGAF, FASGE

Dr. Linda Cummings is a gastroenterologist at University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center and Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center and an Associate Professor of Medicine at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in Cleveland, Ohio. Following undergraduate education at Harvard University, Dr. Cummings completed medical school at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri and internal medicine residency at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, Missouri. She completed her gastroenterology fellowship at University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center and Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center, during which she obtained a master’s degree in clinical research. Dr. Cummings’ clinical interests include cystic fibrosis, small bowel capsule endoscopy, and gastrointestinal cancers, particularly esophageal and colorectal cancer. Dr. Cummings was awarded a Junior Faculty Development Grant from the American College of Gastroenterology to support her research using large databases to assess long-term outcomes in esophageal cancer patients. She is currently involved in a multi-center clinical trial supported by the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation assessing sensitivity of stool-based testing in patients with cystic fibrosis undergoing screening colonoscopy and a study supported by NIH evaluating a potential biomarker of Parkinson’s disease with dementia in the colon. She is the recipient of the 2020 Helen Evans Mid-Career Faculty Development Award from the Women Faculty of the School of Medicine at Case Western Reserve University. She is a longstanding member of her hospital’s gastrointestinal endoscopy lab quality assurance committee and currently serves on the ASGE Quality Assurance in Endoscopy Committee.

Akwi W. Asombang, MD, MPH, FACG, FASGE

Dr Akwi Asombang is an interventional gastroenterologist at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), Harvard Medical School and is the Director of Global Health Programs in Gastroenterology. She completed her advanced endoscopy fellowship at Beth Israel Deaconess Medicine Center (BIDMC), Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts. She completed her gastroenterology fellowship at Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, Missouri and a Fogarty International Clinical Research fellowship. Prior to her fellowships, she completed a combined Internal Medicine/Pediatrics residency at Saint Louis University School of Medicine, St Louis, Missouri and her Master of Public Health at Saint Louis University School of Public Health. She is a graduate of Kasturba Medical College, Manipal, India. Her professional interests are endoscopy (ERCP/EUS), gastrointestinal cancers, medical education, and global health.

Dr. Asombang has extensive service to multiple national professional societies and experience in global health including clinical experience in Zambia, Nigeria, Tanzania, and India and her research has been published and presented at national and international meetings. Her travels around the world, upbringing, and interaction with various populations led her to form POHER to tackle the problems faced by most of the African communities. Pan-African Organization for Health, Education and Research (POHER), is a non-governmental organization (NGO) with a focus on the soundness of the health sector as the cornerstone of social and economic development of all African countries. She is also the founder of The African Association of Future gastroenterologists (AAFG). AAFG aims to provide a platform for mentorship, networking, and collaboration for medical students and doctors interested in gastroenterology and hepatology in Africa.

Jason Dominitz, MD, MHS, FACG, FASGE

Dr. Jason Dominitz is the National Program Director for Gastroenterology for the US Veterans Health Administration. He completed his undergraduate education at the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD and received his medical degree from the University of Maryland. He then trained in internal medicine and gastroenterology at Duke University in Durham, NC. Concurrently, he studied health services research and received a master’s degree in health sciences from Duke University.

Since 1997, Dr. Dominitz has been a staff physician at the VA Puget Sound Health Care System (VAPSHCS) in Seattle, WA and is also a professor of medicine at the University of Washington. He has a longstanding interest in colorectal cancer screening and is the co-chair of an 18-year, VA-funded, randomized, prospective trial comparing two leading strategies of colorectal cancer screening in 50,000 average-risk veterans. This study, involving 46 VA medical centers across the country, is the first large-scale, prospective study in the United States comparing screening colonoscopy to a non-invasive fecal immunochemical test and assessing their impact on cancer mortality and incidence. Dr. Dominitz also has received research funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Department of Defense. In 2011, Dr. Dominitz assumed the role of national program director for gastroenterology where he focuses his efforts on improving the quality of gastroenterology care for veterans, especially with respect to the quality of colonoscopy. He is also involved in crafting policy related to other aspects of care, including cancer screening, liver disease, and other key healthcare issues.

Prasad Iyer, MD, FACG, FASGE

Dr. Prasad Iyer attended medical school at All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi, India. He completed his residency at the University of Wisconsin Medical School in Milwaukee, WI, and his GI fellowship at Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Rochester, MN, where he also completed a postdoctoral master’s degree in clinical research. Dr. Iyer is a consultant and professor in the Barrett’s Esophagus Unit, Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, where he has been on staff since 2006. He is a member of the esophageal interest group and advanced endoscopy group.  Dr. Iyer is Associate Editor of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy and the Chair of the International Committee of the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ASGE).  His clinical and research interests include early detection, risk stratification, and therapy of Barrett’s-related neoplasia and endoscopic ultrasound. He has published over 140 peer-reviewed articles as well as several book chapters. He is a reviewer for many journals, including American Journal of Gastroenterology, Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, and Gastrointestinal Endoscopy.