The prestigious award Master of the American College of Gastroenterology was recently awarded to Mount Sinai South Nassau’s Chief of Gastroenterology and Director of Interventional Endoscopy, Frank Gress, MD, at the 2023 American College of Gastroenterology (ACG) Annual Scientific Meeting in Vancouver, Canada.

The title of “Master” is an honorary designation granted by the ACG, recognizing significant career achievements in clinical practice, research, education, and service to the field of gastroenterology. Recipients are considered leaders and influencers, contributing to the ACG’s mission of promoting the highest standards in patient care and digestive health.

“I am humbled and honored by this award,” Dr. Gress, a resident of Smithtown, said. “This award not only reflects on my efforts but on those of our entire gastroenterology team at Mount Sinai South Nassau. We are focused on advancing the field—and on the care we provide to our patients we see each and every day, keeping them as our primary focus.”

“We applaud Dr. Gress for his leadership, exemplary career in gastroenterology, and development of Mount Sinai South Nassau’s gastroenterology and interventional endoscopy programs,” said Adhi Sharma, MD, President of Mount Sinai South Nassau. “He is truly dedicated to improving patient care and educating our residents and fellows and is respected by his peers and valued by his patients and their families, both for his insight and compassion.”

Dr. Gress is Program Director, Gastroenterology Fellowship at Mount Sinai South Nassau. He also serves as the lead for therapeutic endoscopy for the Mount Sinai Health System on Long Island and is Professor of Medicine (Gastroenterology) at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Board certified in gastroenterology, Dr. Gress has contributed significantly to advancing interventional gastroenterology, and especially endoscopic ultrasound for diagnosing and treating gastrointestinal conditions.

He completed his medical degree at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine and completed residency training in internal medicine at Montefiore Medical Center in New York, NY. He completed two fellowships, one in gastroenterology and hepatology at SUNY Downstate Medical Center/The Brooklyn Hospital Center in Brooklyn, and another in advanced therapeutic endoscopy at Indiana University Medical Center (IUMC) in Indianapolis, Indiana.

It was at IUMC that Dr. Gress developed his interest in the emerging technology of endoscopic ultrasound (a minimally invasive procedure to assess diseases of the digestive tract and other nearby organs and tissues). He has contributed significantly to advancing the technology from a diagnostic modality to an interventional platform. This includes techniques for fine needle aspiration (to remove fluid or tissue samples for biopsy) and endoscopic ultrasound-guided (EUS) celiac plexus block (to control pain associated with chronic pancreatitis) as well as EUS-guided celiac plexus neurolysis (a technique used to reduce pain associated with pancreatic cancer).

In addition to his vital clinical endoscopic research, Dr. Gress has contributed to developing guidelines and programs for advanced endoscopy training. He has published more than 100 original research articles in peer reviewed journals and numerous invited book chapters and editorials, and has edited two highly regarded EUS textbooks: Endoscopic Ultrasonography 4e and the Atlas of Endoscopic Ultrasonography 3e, and co-edited another textbook on pancreatic disease, Curbside Consultations of the Pancreas. He also has helped educate the community during the hospital’s annual colon cancer awareness media briefing, urging the public to undergo colonoscopy screenings based on age and family history.

Dr. Gress has extensive clinical and research experience in pancreatic disease, gallbladder/bile duct diseases, esophageal disorders, and the endoscopic diagnosis and management of GI malignancies. He has participated in numerous multicenter and collaborative studies involving such areas as endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (a procedure used to identify the presence of stones, tumors, or narrowing in the biliary and pancreatic ducts), endoscopic surgical techniques, and pancreatitis.

Dr. Gress has served in leadership roles with all the national GI societies, including the ACG, the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, and the American Gastroenterological Association, as well as with the American College of Physicians. He currently serves on the ACG Innovation and Technology Committee and is the ACG Governor, representing Long Island, and is past president of the New York Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy

About Mount Sinai South Nassau

The Long Island flagship hospital of the Mount Sinai Health System, Mount Sinai South Nassau is designated a Magnet® hospital by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) for outstanding nursing care. Mount Sinai South Nassau is one of the region’s largest hospitals, with 455 beds, more than 900 physicians and 3,500 employees. Located in Oceanside, New York, the hospital is an acute-care, not-for-profit teaching hospital that provides state-of-the-art care in cardiac, oncologic, orthopedic, bariatric, pain management, mental health, and emergency services and operates the only Trauma Center on the South Shore of Nassau County, along with Long Island’s only free-standing Emergency Department in Long Beach.

In addition to its extensive outpatient specialty centers, Mount Sinai South Nassau provides emergency and elective angioplasty, and offers Novalis Tx™ and Gamma Knife® radiosurgery technologies. Mount Sinai South Nassau operates the only Trauma Center on the South Shore of Nassau County verified by the American College of Surgeons as well as Long Island’s only free-standing, 9-1-1 receiving Emergency Department in Long Beach. Mount Sinai South Nassau also is a designated Stroke Center by the New York State Department of Health and Comprehensive Community Cancer Center by the American College of Surgeons; is an accredited center of the Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Association and Quality Improvement Program; and an Infectious Diseases Society of America Antimicrobial Stewardship Center of Excellence.

For more information, go to www.mountsinai.org/southnassau.