Gastro Health, a leading national medical group specializing in digestive and liver health, has announced that Dr. Maria T. Abreu is joining the organization as Sr. Vice President of IBD Clinical Care and Innovation.
Dr. Abreu will begin seeing patients in January 2027 in Miami. Her role will also be directly tied to advancing care for IBD patients regionally and nationally, clinical research, strengthening the future GI Fellowship program in partnership with Florida International University (FIU) Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine, and clinical recruiting strategies for Gastro Health.
Dr. Abreu has held executive roles with some of the most renowned health organizations throughout the country, including serving as the Executive Director of the F. Widjaja IBD Institute at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, and more than a decade as Director of the Crohn’s & Colitis Center at the University of Miami School of Medicine. She also recently served as President of the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) and was Chair of the International Organization for the Study of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IOIBD). She received the prestigious Sherman Prize in 2019 for outstanding achievements in research and treatments related to IBD and will receive the 2027 Women of Distinction in Medicine from the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation.
“It is a privilege to welcome Dr. Abreu to the Gastro Health team,” said Dr. Gene Hernandez, Chief Medical Officer. “Her extensive leadership experience and her clinical expertise as both a physician and scientist will be tremendous assets to our team. I look forward to working closely with her as we expand our services to patients with IBD and continue to advance the clinical excellence for which Gastro Health is known.”
“I am extremely excited to step into this new role as Sr. Vice President of IBD Clinical Care and Innovation with the incredible team of physicians at Gastro Health,” said Dr. Abreu. "I am ready for this next chapter in my career, practicing in the South Florida community that has been home to me for so long. I believe Gastro Health will have an outsized role in accelerating advances for the care of patients with IBD. I look forward to bringing my experience in both clinical care and research to an organization that is so committed to advancing innovation and improving outcomes for patients with IBD."