Gastroenterology | MedStar Health

Caring for digestive diseases with a comprehensive and integrated approach

Our team treats every part of a patient’s digestive system that can be affected by digestive diseases and associated disorders. Specifically, we treat esophageal disorders, stomach and small bowel conditions, colonic disorders, and other diseases that involve the digestive system including the liver, pancreas, bile duct, and gallbladder.

Patients benefit from a system-wide access to specialists and sub-specialists in gastroenterology at MedStar Health. We complete about 20,000 procedures per year and 41,000 clinic visits, including telehealth appointments per year. Our patients receive the highest quality patient-centered care possible through our:

  • Board-certified physicians, advanced practice clinicians, and nationally recognized doctors who excel in a number of sub-specialty areas
  • Multiple points of access, including ambulatory offices, endoscopy centers, and hospital-based programs of excellence 
  • Commitment to clinical research and teaching as a way to bring the latest advances to patients and teach the next generation of clinicians
  • Affiliation with the internationally recognized Georgetown University Medical Center
  • Pioneering efforts that developed many diagnostic and therapeutic techniques and applications now standard worldwide
  • Integrated approach with other disciplines such as colorectal, thoracic, bariatric, transplant, oncology, radiology, pathology, and general surgery

Specialties and programs

Center for Digestive Disease

The Center for Digestive Disease at MedStar Franklin Square Medical Center offers nationally recognized physicians and gastroenterology doctors who are dedicated to providing highly specialized, extensive, and compassionate patient care for a full range of digestive system disease disorders.

Our multidisciplinary team of experts comprises specialty trained physicians, nurses, technicians, and providers who utilize a comprehensive range of groundbreaking nonsurgical and minimally invasive techniques to treat diseases of the gastrointestinal tract and liver.

Center for GI Bleeding

The goal of the Center is to provide comprehensive care for patients suffering from anemia. The Center for GI Bleeding helps patients who have issues with both new onset and chronic blood loss in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract.

Working together, hematologists and gastroenterologists across the system collaborate to help identify and treat causes for blood loss in the GI tract through:

  • The use of video capsule endoscopy (a small capsule that takes pictures throughout the GI tract to help locate lesions that can bleed)
  • Specialized radiographic studies of the small bowel (such as MRIs or CT scans)
  • Deep endoscopy into the small bowel when indicated (scopes that go further into the GI tract than standard upper endoscopies or colonoscopies)

Center for Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD)

We understand that IBD can affect people at any stage of life, disrupting their personal, professional, and social experiences. Working closely with our IBD patients, our team provides accurate and timely diagnosis to prevent disease progression and complications, and to minimize medication side effects in order to help achieve the best quality of life.

High risk GI cancer prevention

Some individuals do not know they carry genetic markers for GI cancer, but if they knew, they could avoid developing cancer altogether. Our multidisciplinary team launched the Gastrointestinal Cancer Prevention Program at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital to offer a home for patients to prevent various gastroenterological cancers.

Patients with a family history of cancer, or who have received genetic testing and/or have been determined to have inherited cancer syndromes, such as Lynch Syndrome, may visit the clinic on an annual basis to receive surveillance services such as endoscopy, colonoscopy, or imaging. We will share with you the latest therapeutic treatments for preventing disease, as well as advice for lifestyle changes like smoking cessation or avoiding alcohol and red meat.

Through our research engine, Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center—the only National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated comprehensive cancer center in the Washington, D.C. region—patients have access to clinical trials and the latest breakthroughs in cancer care.

Being high risk for GI cancer often means being high risk for other cancers as well. Our comprehensive plan ensures continuity of care, coordinating surveillance with other departments on a case by case basis.

Could you be at risk for colon cancer? Take our 5-minute assessment to learn more.

Learn more about our GI Cancer Prevention program

Esophageal Center

We offer the latest, minimally invasive approaches. We work in partnership with The Ruesch Center for the Cure of Gastrointestinal Cancers at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital in collaboration with Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center. We treat a range of esophageal disorders from gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) to Barrett’s esophagus to motility and swallowing disorders.

Liver Diseases Program

The Liver Diseases Program specializes in minimally invasive and endoscopic approaches allowing clinicians to diagnose and treat conditions using a thin, flexible tube equipped with small lights and a camera. Our team of expert clinicians work closely with specialists in radiology, interventional radiology, pathology, and medical oncology to ensure that patients receive the best care and care plan.

Our team includes nationally recognized experts in evaluating liver diseases and identifying patients for transplantation. Patients can be referred to MedStar Georgetown Transplant Institute, one of the largest liver transplant centers in the mid-Atlantic region.

Pancreas and Biliary Diseases Center

We are leaders in advanced pancreaticobiliary endoscopy and molecular profiling, critical to the precise diagnosis and tumor classification that leads to better outcomes for these complex diseases. As a major component of the Pancreas and Liver Diseases Program, the Department is instrumental in promoting faster, more accurate evaluations and triage to the right specialists for the most advanced therapies available today.

We also have a dedicated Pancreatic Cyst Clinic for the systematic follow-up and continuity of care of patients with confirmed pancreatic cysts or lesions.

Portrait of Dr. Jeffrey Ferris washing his hands at a scrub sink outside of an operating room at MedStar Franklin Square Medical Center.

Meet our providers

If you are concerned about issues with your gastrointestinal health, don’t suffer in silence! Make an appointment with one of our mission-driven specialists.

Our locations

Distance from Change locationEnter your location

MedStar Health: Gastroenterology at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital

3800 Reservoir Road, NW
Main Hospital Building, Second Floor
Room M2210
Washington, DC 20007

MedStar Health: Gastroenterology at Silver Spring

12012 Veirs Mill Rd.
Silver Spring, MD 20906

301-933-3621

MedStar Health: Gastroenterology at Lutherville

1300-B Bellona Ave.
Lutherville-Timonium, MD 21093

MedStar Health: Gastroenterology at MedStar Good Samaritan Hospital

5601 Loch Raven Blvd.
Russell Morgan Bldg.
3rd Floor
Baltimore, MD 21239

MedStar Health: Gastroenterology at MedStar Union Memorial Hospital

201 E University Parkway
33rd Street Professional Building
Suite 233
Baltimore, MD 21218

MedStar Health: Gastroenterology at MedStar Washington Hospital Center

106 Irving St., NW
POB S Suite 205
Washington, DC 20010

MedStar Health: Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition at Charlotte Hall

29955 Three Notch Rd.
Suite 200
Charlotte Hall, MD 20622

MedStar Health: Gastroenterology at McLean

1420 Beverly Rd.
Suite 205
McLean, VA 22101

703-288-2799

MedStar Health: Gastroenterology at Annapolis

810 Bestgate Road
Suite 310
Annapolis, MD 21401

443-777-6362

MedStar Health: Gastroenterology at Chevy Chase

8401 Connecticut Ave.
Suite PH-B
Chevy Chase, MD 20815

410-657-1942

 

Patient stories

News

Research

Our team is heavily involved in research efforts. By partnering with Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center and The Otto J. Ruesch Center for the Cure of Gastrointestinal Cancers, we offer our patients access to clinical trials, innovative techniques, and technology that may benefit their care. 

In addition to the studies mentioned below, ongoing areas of research include pancreatic cancer, gastrointestinal malignancy, biliary-pancreatic diseases, esophageal conditions, acid-peptic disease, hepatic diseases, inflammatory bowel disease, and new uses of endoscopic ultrasound.

 

  • Colon cancer study

    Partner with Indivumed for development of blood sample bank to assist with marker detection for colon cancer

  • Esophageal studies

    NO FEAR-BE

    Multicenter, prospective, single-arm, clinical trial evaluating the safety and efficacy of the C2 CryoBalloon Focal Ablation System for the treatment of persistent dysplasia or Barrett’s after radiofrequency ablation (RFA)

  • EsoGuard/EsoCheck

    Multicenter Case Control Study evaluating efficacy of EsoGuard on samples collected using EsoCheck versus EGD for diagnosis of Barrett’s Esophagus (with or without dysplasia) and for esophageal adenocarcinoma

  • The WATS3D

    Prospective patient registry to assess progression of Non-Goblet Cell Intestinal Metaplasia to Barrett’s Esophagus, progression from Indefinite/crypt dysplasia to Low Grade Dysplasia and High Grade Dysplasia, and the incidence of Esophageal Adenocarcinoma, Esophageal cancer mortality, and all-cause mortality

  • IBD studies

    Participate in the OpenBiome protocol/registry for fecal microbiota transplant (FMP)

    REACT2

    Enrolled 40 patients in this cluster-randomized study to evaluate the treat-to-target approach to Crohn's disease

    PIONEER-CD

    Nutritional supplement study for Crohn's disease

    Medimmune IL-23 therapy for Crohn's disease

    ECOSPOR 

    Seres-109 fecal transplant capsule for C difficile 

    DIVERSITY

    GSK chemokine receptor antagonist for Crohn's disease

    UNIFI

    Ustekinumab for ulcerative colitis

    Gilead filgotinib 

    For ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease

    ADMIRE-CD

    Stem cell injection for perianal Crohn's disease fistulae 

    PROTECT-3

    Nestle study for nutrition support for ulcerative colitis

  • Liver studies

    Polyphenon

    A phase I single-arm, multicenter pilot study aimed at validating gamma-OHPdG as a biomarker and testing the effects of Polyphenon E on its levels in patients with cirrhosis 

    Statin Liver

    Statin Therapy to Reduce Disease Progression from Liver Cirrhosis to Cancer

    Gilead PSC

    A Phase 3, Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Study Evaluating the Safety, Tolerability, and Efficacy of GS-9674 in Non-Cirrhotic Subjects with Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis

    Genfit

    A Multicenter, Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Phase III Study to Evaluate the Efficacy and Safety of Elafibranor in Patients with Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis (NASH) and fibrosis

    Aurora NASH

    A Phase 3 Study to Evaluate the Efficacy and Safety of Cenicriviroc for the Treatment of Liver Fibrosis in Adult Subjects With Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis

Educational opportunities

We are committed to a rigorous academic program that creates an environment where medical trainees can learn to provide exceptional care.

Gastroenterology Fellowship at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital

Additional information