Massachusetts General Hospital has a long history of training leaders in gastroenterology.

    1957–1989

    Dr. Kurt J. Isselbacher spearheaded the earliest version of the Mass General Division of Gastroenterology, the focus of which was to bring scientific rigor to the study of gastroenterology. In the 32 years that he led the division and training program, Mass General was well recognized for its important scientific contributions and success in training GI academicians. Of the more than 180 alumni from that period, more than 40 individuals have gone on to head universities, cancer centers, academic divisions, departments of medicine and pediatrics, epidemiology, biochemistry, cell biology, anatomy and pharmacology, and include presidents of the American Society of Clinical Investigation, the American Gastroenterological Association and the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases.

    1989–2009

    In 1989, Dr. Daniel K. Podolsky, himself a graduate of the Mass General training program, was appointed Chief of the Mass General Division of Gastroenterology and served in that role through 2009. During this period, the Mass General Division of Gastroenterology expanded dramatically, offering a broad array of clinical services including a busy gastroenterology consultative practice, comprehensive endoscopy services, a Crohn’s and Colitis Center and a Liver Center, including liver transplantation. The research faculty expanded from two National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded investigators to more than 17 NIH-funded investigators, as well as 12 faculty funded by other grant mechanisms. In 1990, the Center for the Study of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (CSIBD), a comprehensive and renowned digestive disease center funded by the NIH, was established. The GI fellowship grew from two to four fellows and advanced fellowships were established in interventional endoscopy, hepatology and inflammatory bowel disease. More than 70 fellows received GI training under the leadership of Dr. Podolsky and the majority remain in academic medicine with active peer-review funded research at medical schools and research institutions throughout the United States. Seven graduates are now division chiefs.

    2010–2017

    In January 2010, Dr. Ramnik Xavier, who also trained in internal medicine and gastroenterology at Mass General, was selected to be chief of the GI Unit. Under his leadership, the division grew to more than 50 faculty, with 24 independent investigators, including 19 physician-investigators. Dr. Xavier is currently the Director and Principal Investigator for the Center for Computational and Integrative Biology; Core Faculty Member, Department of Molecular Biology at Massachusetts General Hospital; the Kurt Isselbacher Chair in Medicine at Harvard Medical School; and a Core Member of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard University.

    2018–2025

    In December 2018, Dr. Wolfram Goessling, who trained in internal medicine at Brigham & Women’s Hospital, served as chief medical resident, completed fellowship training in Hematology/Oncology at the combined Dana-Farber/Partners Program and in Gastroenterology at Massachusetts General Hospital, and became chief of the Division of Gastroenterology. Dr. Goessling held the Jules L. Dienstag, M.D. and Betty and Newell Hale Endowed Chair in Gastroenterology, was the Robert H. Ebert Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and was the Director of the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology. He continued to lead a busy and productive laboratory using zebrafish to characterize regulators of liver development, regeneration and cancer. In his years as Chief, Dr. Goessling significantly expanded the GI Division while maintaining its cohesiveness, recruiting talented and experienced new faculty and broadening our research portfolio and clinical practice. He enthusiastically supported our GI fellows and enhanced our fellowship programs. Dr. Goessling was recruited to be the Chief of Medicine at Yale University School of Medicine.

    2025–Present

    In July 2025, Dr. Raymond T. Chung was named the inaugural Mass General Brigham Division Chief for the Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Endoscopy. Dr. Chung is Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and holds the Zhou Family Endowed Chair in Gastroenterology. As a highly esteemed clinician and program builder, an NIH-funded physician-scientist, and a sought-after educator and mentor, Dr. Chung understands the opportunities, challenges, and complexities of our organization. His vision for the integrated Mass General Brigham Division includes leveraging the exceptional talent at BWH and MGH to develop an enhanced network of integrated GI services for the larger community; optimizing clinical operations to meet the needs of our patients and providers; building a culture of collaboration both within the Division and beyond; integrating the GI research mission across Mass General Brigham and across disciplines; and most importantly for our trainees, safeguarding the training and development of the next generation of physicians and physician-scientists, without whom Mass General Brigham would not have its world class reputation.