Yevgeniy Brailovsky, DO, MSc, FACC

Jason Hawksworth, MD is a noted pioneer in minimally invasive robotic hepatobiliary and transplant surgery. Dr. Hawksworth is the Surgical Director of Adult Liver Transplantation, Chief of Hepatobiliary Surgery, and the Director of Robotic Liver Surgery Program in the Division of Abdominal Organ Transplant and Hepatobiliary Surgery at New York Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Irving Medical Center and is an Associate Professor at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. Dr. Hawksworth is known for unique and innovative minimally invasive robotic surgeries to remove tumors of the liver, bile duct and pancreas, including robotic major hepatectomy, robotic pancreatectomy, and robotic Whipple. He also specializes in robotic transplantation including robotic kidney transplantation, robotic living donor nephrectomy and robotic living donor hepatectomy. Dr. Hawksworth received his undergraduate degree from The United States Military Academy at West point and his medical degree from Wake Forest University Bowman Gray School of Medicine. Dr. Hawksworth completed general surgery residency at Walter Reed Army Medical Center followed by an abdominal transplant and hepatobiliary surgery fellowship at Georgetown University Hospital. Previously the Chief of Robotic Surgery at Georgetown University Hospital, Dr. Hawksworth established one of the nation’s premier robotic hepatobiliary and transplant programs in 2018 at Georgetown. He was recruited to Columbia University Irving Medical Center in 2023 to lead the liver transplant and hepatobiliary programs and continue to develop innovative techniques in robotic surgery. Dr. Hawksworth is a member of several key organizations including a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, American Society of Transplant Surgeons, International Laparoscopic Liver Society, and Americas Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Association. His research interests include clinical transplant and hepatobiliary trials, and he has published over 60 scientific manuscripts and book chapters in leading journals such as Annals of Surgery, Journal of Gastrointestinal Surgery, American Journal of Transplantation and Transplantation. Dr. Hawksworth is a Colonel in the Army reserves and has deployed four times to support combat operations in Afghanistan and the Middle East. Visit The Center for Liver Disease and Transplantation at columbiasurgery.org/liver.

Dr. Usama Ahmed Ali is a colorectal surgeon who has expertise in the whole gamut of colorectal surgery, including minimally invasive and open colorectal surgical procedures, anorectal operations, and colonoscopy. He completed his medical training at Utrecht University in the Netherlands in 2007. He then did colorectal research as a PhD researcher and was a colorectal research fellow at the Cleveland Clinic in 2011 under the guidance of Dr. Pokala Ravi Kiran. He trained in general and colorectal surgery at the University Medical Center Utrecht and the St. Antonius Hospital in The Netherlands after which he worked as a general and colorectal surgeon in Riverieland Ziekenhuis in Tiel until 2022. Dr. Ahmed Ali has an interest in a wide spectrum of colorectal conditions including benign colorectal conditions, diverticular disease, colon and rectal cancer, inflammatory bowel disease, polyposis and anorectal disorders such as hemorrhoids, abscesses and anal fistulas. Dr. Ahmed Ali trained extensively with Dr. Kiran and Dr. James Church. He works collaboratively with Dr. Church on complex fistula disease within the Anal Fistula Center and is part of the Hereditary Cancer and Familial Polyposis Center. He also works closely with Dr. Kiran in the management of various conditions including complex and reoperative colorectal surgery. Dr. Ahmed Ali has a double PhD in medicine, one of which is in the surgical treatment of inflammatory bowel disease. He also has a Masters in Evidence-Based Medicine from Oxford University. He is a Member of Dutch Society for Surgery and Dutch Society for Gastro-intestinal Surgery (2021).

Dr. Gene Im is a transplant hepatologist and the Director of the Alcohol-associated Liver Disease Program at Columbia known as ADAPT (Advanced inter-Disciplinary Alcohol liver Program and Treatment), a patient-centered, integrated care and research program for patients with alcohol-associated liver disease (ALD). ADAPT is one of only a few integrated ALD clinics in the country. Dr. Im is an internationally recognized expert in ALD, including alcohol-associated hepatitis and liver transplantation based on his clinical focus and research achievements. He has co-authored several practice-changing articles, including the 2019 ALD Practice Guidance from AASLD, the 2024 MetALD Expert Position Statement, and the first experience of early liver transplantation for alcohol-associated hepatitis in North America. Currently, he is the Vice-Chair of the AASLD ALD Special Interest Group and serves on the Editorial Board for the journal Liver Transplantation. Dr. Im is also the founder of ALD-ALLY (Alcohol-associated Liver Disease patients deserve ALcohol LiteracY), an annual conference focused on actionable initiatives for advancing the science and care of patients with alcohol use disorder and ALD (www.ald-ally.com) Dr. Im is an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Center for Liver Disease and Transplantation and Division of Digestive and Liver Diseases at Columbia University.