Roles
Director Crohn’s & Colitis Center
Professor of Medicine
Professor of Microbiology and Immunology
President Elect of the America Gastroenterology Association
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Biography
Dr. Maria T. Abreu is a gastroenterologist who specializes in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). She completed her medical degree at the University of Miami, Miller 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 (UCLA). She was an Associate Professor of Medicine at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, NYC and head of the IBD Center. She is currently the Director of the Crohn’s and Colitis Center, Professor of Medicine and Professor of Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. Dr. Abreu was honored in April 2018, with the Provost’s Award for Scholarly Activity. She was appointed in June 2018 to serve as the Vice Chair of Research for the Department of Medicine.
Dr. Abreu has more than 20 years of leadership experience in basic, translational and clinical research and mentoring. Dr. Abreu was elected to the American Society for Clinical Investigation in 2010 and in 2018 to the Association of American Physicians (AAP). She holds key positions with several professional societies. She is past Council Chair of the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) Institute Council. She is completing a three-year term as Chair of the International Organization for the Study of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IOIBD). In 2019, she was elected Councilor-at-Large of the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) Governing Board for a term of three years. Most recently she was elected Vice President of the AGA, and since May 2023 she is occupying the President Elect position. She will be the fifth woman in the history of this institution to hold this position.
Dr. Abreu is a recipient of the 2019 Sherman Prize by The Bruce and Cynthia Sherman Charitable Foundation that recognizes outstanding achievements in IBD. In 2020, she received the Mentoring Award from the IMIBD section of the AGA. In Fall of 2020, she received the Healio’s Lifetime Disruptor Award. This award goes to a gastroenterologist or hepatologist who consistently pushed 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 more than 100 peer-reviewed articles, books, chapters and reviews. -
Education & Training
Education
Post Graduate Training
Licensures and Certifications
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Honors & Awards
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Research Interests
On the clinical-translational side, Dr. Abreu is an expert in intestinal inflammation, Crohn's disease and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). On the basic science side, the focus of her laboratory has been host-bacterial interactions and, in particular, the role of toll-like receptor signaling in intestinal inflammation and neoplasia. They have focused on toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) as a model for how recognition of bacteria by TLRs in the intestine functions broadly with an eye to translating this to patients before they develop dysplasia. -
Publications
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Professional Activities
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