Dr. Maria T. Abreu is a physician-scientist and
gastroenterologist who specializes in inflammatory
bowel diseases (IBD). She completed her medical
degree at the University of Miami School of
Medicine. Her postdoctoral training included an
internship and residency in medicine at the Brigham
and Women’s Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts,
and a clinical and research fellowship in
gastroenterology at the University of California, Los
Angeles. Previously, she has been an Associate
Professor of Medicine at Mount Sinai School of
Medicine, New York (and head of their IBD Center)
as well as a Professor of Medicine and a Professor
of Microbiology & Immunology at the University of
Miami School of Medicine, Miami, FL (and the
Director of the Crohn’s and Colitis Center). She was
recently appointed the Executive Director of the F.
Widjaja IBD Institute at Cedars-Sinai Medical
Center.
Dr. Abreu has 30 years of leadership experience in basic, translational, and clinical research and
mentoring. She was elected to the American Society for Clinical Investigation in 2010; in 2018,
she was elected to the Association of American Physicians. She completed a three-year term as
Chair of the International Organization for the Study of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IOIBD) in
2022. Currently, she is the President of the AGA. She is the fifth woman and first Latina to hold
this position.
Her work has received multiple awards and acknowledgements. She is a recipient of the 2019
Sherman Prize from the Bruce and Cynthia Sherman Charitable Foundation, which recognizes
outstanding achievements in IBD. In 2020, she was bestowed with Healio’s Lifetime Disruptor
Award for addressing critical unmet needs in IBD. This award goes to a gastroenterologist or
hepatologist who consistently pushes the gastroenterology field forward through innovative
treatments, practice management, patient care, or research.
Dr. Abreu is frequently invited as a speaker (in English and Spanish) at symposia on basic science
and clinical topics all over the world. She has authored almost 300 peer-reviewed articles, books,
chapters, and reviews.