Dr. Lawrence R. Schiller Elected President of the American College of Gastroenterology

Newswise — Washington, DC, (October 31, 2011) – Lawrence R. Schiller, M.D., FACG was elected by the membership as the 2011-2012 President of the American College of Gastroenterology (ACG), a national medical specialty society representing more than 12,000 clinical gastroenterologists and other specialists in digestive diseases. Dr. Schiller officially took his position as President during the College’s 76th Annual Scientific Meeting, held this week in Washington, DC. In this position, Dr. Schiller will direct ACG’s programs which include continuing medical education in the clinical, scientific and patient-related skills of gastroenterology, policies involving national and state medical affairs, managed care issues and clinical investigation.

Dr. Schiller received his medical degree in 1972 from Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia. He completed his Internship and Residency, and served as Chief Resident, at Temple University Hospital in Philadelphia. He left his hometown of Philadelphia for gastroenterology fellowship training at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Dallas. Dr. Schiller served as a Major in the U.S. Army as a physician from 1976 to 1978.

He is committed to training young gastroenterologists and currently serves as the Program Director for the GI Fellowship at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas. He is a Clinical Professor of Medicine at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas. He practices gastroenterology with Digestive Health Associates of Texas, P.A., where he is a founding member of one of the largest private GI practices in the nation.

Dr. Schiller has contributed 173 published articles, reviews, book chapters and abstracts, primarily in the areas of diarrheal disease, malabsorption and gastrointestinal motility disorders. He was a co-author on two evidence-based systematic reviews developed by the ACG Institute, Chronic Constipation in 2005 and Irritable Bowel Syndrome in 2010. Dr. Schiller presented the David Sun Lecture, a distinguished lecture at the ACG Postgraduate course in October, 2001 entitled, “Chronic Diarrhea.” Baylor University Medical Center recognized his teaching with the Gastroenterology Fellows Teaching Award in 2003 and 2004.

A member of the Texas Society for Gastroenterology and Endoscopy since 1993, he served as President from 2000 to 2002, and received TSGE’s Marcel Patterson-Robert Nelson Award in 2007.

An active and dedicated contributor to the life of the College, Dr. Schiller has served on several key committees, including the Research, Educational Affairs, Professional Issues, and Practice Parameters Committees. He was elected to serve on the ACG Board of Governors, as Governor for North Texas, from 2002 to 2004. He has served on the ACG Board of Trustees since 2004, and was a member of the ACG Institute Management Committee from 2006 to 2010.

The College’s core missions are to support its members in providing high quality, science-based gastroenterology care, to support graduate medical education and to provide continuing medical education, to promote clinical research in the field of gastroenterology, to advocate for patients with gastrointestinal and liver disorders, and to influence health care policy to optimize the ability of its members to provide appropriate patient care services.

Dr. Schiller’s service to the College and clinical practice experience gives him a unique perspective on the current landscape in gastroenterology. “We live in challenging times and substantial changes lay ahead for patient care, medical practice, medical education, and clinical research. As the leading organization of gastroenterology practitioners, ACG is committed to helping its members direct those changes in ways that will enhance the care that we can provide to our patients,” he said.

“Over the course of my career, I have worked in the United States Army, the Veterans Administration Healthcare System, academic medical centers, as a sole practitioner and as a member of a large private practice gastroenterology group. This has given me the opportunity to see how different schemes of healthcare work and an appreciation for the business aspects of practice,” explained Dr. Schiller, in reflecting upon assuming the Presidency of the ACG. “This variety of experiences also allows me to understand the practice environments that most of our members experience every day and will inform decisions that I will have to make as President of ACG.”

Dr. Schiller and his wife, Ann, reside in Dallas. They have two children, and two grandchildren.

Photographs of Dr. Schiller are available by contacting Anne-Louise Oliphant (301-263-9000.)

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About the American College of GastroenterologyFounded in 1932, the American College of Gastroenterology (ACG) is an organization with an international membership of more than 12,000 individuals from 80 countries. The College is committed to serving the clinically oriented digestive disease specialist through its emphasis on scholarly practice, teaching and research. The mission of the College is to serve the evolving needs of physicians in the delivery of high quality, scientifically sound, humanistic, ethical, and cost-effective health care to gastroenterology patients. www.acg.gi.org View releases on other research breaking at the ACG meeting at www.acg.gi.org/media/press.asp Follow ACG on Twitter http://twitter.com/#!/AmCollegeGastro