Digestive Diseases Research

Issa Laboratory

Focusing on therapeutic endoscopy and digestive diseases

Danny Issa, MD

Key investigator

Danny Issa, MD 
Health Sciences Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine
Vatche and Tamar Manoukian Division of Digestive Diseases
David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA

Interventional endoscopist and consultant, Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center

Mission

The Issa Lab is guided by two core missions:

  1. Advancing patient care: Enhancing health and outcomes for patients with digestive diseases—including metabolic syndrome, obesity, and pancreatic disorders—through innovation, collaboration, and development of cutting-edge, minimally invasive techniques.
  2. Educating future leaders: Mentoring and training the next generation of medical professionals locally and globally, fostering excellence in both clinical practice and research.

Strongly represented at national meetings

Research presented at premier gastroenterology conferences, including Digestive Disease Week® (DDW) and the American College of Gastroenterology (ACG) meetings.

Current research projects

Dr. Danny Issa Areas of Research

Weight loss/obesity and metabolic therapies 

  • Endoscopic sleeve gastroplasty (ESG): Efficacy and safety outcomes
    • ESG is a revolutionary, incision-free weight loss procedure that reduces the stomach to 20-30% of its size using innovative tools. His research team studies ESG’s impact on metabolic health, weight loss, and quality of life, continuing to explore its mid- and long-term effectiveness.
  • Endoscopic treatments for weight regain after bariatric surgery: TORe and re-sleeve techniques
    • Dr. Issa’s research centers on the technical and clinical success of endoscopic revision treatments for patients who experience weight regain after bariatric surgery. His team is conducting over 10 studies to optimize these advanced techniques and identify factors that predict successful outcomes.
  • Pharmacotherapy for obesity: GLP1, GIP receptors agonists and others
    • Dr. Issa’s research team has compiled a comprehensive repository of hundreds of patients treated with anti-obesity medications, including Ozempic®, Wegovy®, Mounjaro®, Zepbound®, Triple G receptor agonists, and others. They have published over 15 studies on these treatments. His research continues to investigate the clinical benefits and safety of these medications, providing crucial evidence for their use in treating obesity, fatty liver disease, and metabolic syndrome.

Esophageal and gastric disorders

  • Evaluating outcomes of minimally-invasive techniques for detection and resection of early cancer
    • At UCLA, Dr. Issa and colleagues have created a comprehensive repository of acid reflux, esophageal, and gastric cancer cases. They focus on identifying key factors to improve outcomes for early- and late-stage esophageal cancer patients, as well as those with Barrett’s esophagus and gastric ulcers. Their ongoing research aims to refine treatments and boost survival rates.
  • Studying potential correlation between GLPRAs and multiple gastrointestinal cancers - Large database analysis
    • Collaborating with internal and outside researchers from academic centers in the United States.
  • Investigating gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) following gastric surgery

Pancreatico-biliary disorders

  • Investigating factors to improve safety of ERCP
    • Dr. Issa’s team has multiple research studies focusing on advancing treatments for acute and chronic pancreatitis and related complications, pancreatic cancer diagnosis, and cystic lesion of pancreas. This research focuses on procedures like endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP), endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) guided drainage of cysts, relieving biliary obstruction, gallbladder drainage without surgery and others.
  • Risk factors for bile leak post cholecystectomy
    • A novel approach to understanding risks and therapeutic options. A multi-center study.

Mentorship

Welcoming new medical students and trainees

The Issa Lab welcomes new medical students and trainees from the University of California system and nationwide. Committed to mentorship and collaboration, many trainees contribute remotely to projects in endoscopic bariatrics, advanced endoscopy, and gastrointestinal oncology. Currently, over a dozen students and fellows work directly with Dr. Issa on diverse research projects. Several have earned prestigious awards at national conferences like the American College of Gastroenterology (ACG) and Digestive Disease Week (DDW).

Funding and support opportunities

Amid the rising burden of obesity, metabolic disease, and gastrointestinal cancers, the Issa Lab is dedicated to developing innovative solutions to transform patient care. To broaden our impact, we actively pursue funding, grants, and awards to support cutting-edge research and empower the next generation of physician-scientists.

Honors and awards

Our team has received national recognition for research and innovation. Recent awards and honors include:

In the news

Current and past trainees

Abour Dr. Issa

Dr. Issa is a gastroenterologist and an interventional and bariatric endoscopist whose clinical practice focuses on using minimally-invasive approaches to diagnose and treat digestive diseases such as obesity, pancreas and bile ducts disorders, esophagus and stomach conditions, hiatal hernia, gastroparesis, fatty liver disease, hemorrhoids, colon polyps and early cancer lesions. He has a particular interest in bariatric endoscopy and obesity medicine and is co-leading the endoscopic bariatric program at UCLA. He has obtained additional training at Weill Cornell, New York, for cutting-edge endoscopic weight loss procedures such as endoscopic sleeve gastroplasty (ESG), gastric revision following bypass surgery, suturing the stomach to treat weight regain following surgical sleeve gastrectomy (re-sleeve), transoral outlet reduction (TORe), and gastric balloon placement. Gastrointestinal procedures he performs also include colonoscopy with removal of all sizes of polyps, endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP), therapeutic endoscopic ultrasound (EUS), tumor ablation, endoluminal stenting, trans-nasal esophagoscopy, mucosal resection (EMR), endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) and peroral endoscopic myotomy (POEM). 

After earning his medical degree from the University of Damascus, he completed a postdoctoral research fellowship at Northwestern University, Chicago, and a residency in internal medicine at Cleveland Clinic - Fairview Hospital. He then completed a fellowship in gastroenterology and hepatology at Virginia Commonwealth University and an advanced endoscopy fellowship at Weill Cornell Medical College/New York-Presbyterian Hospital, where he had extensive training on numerous innovative endoscopic procedures. Dr. Issa has published multiple peer-reviewed articles and presented his research at numerous national meetings. 

Dr. Issa is American board certified in gastroenterology and internal medicine. He is involved in teaching for medical students and residents and runs a board review course for gastroenterology trainees at UCLA. He is an associate editor of the GastoHep Advances journal of the AGA, and on the editorial board of the Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology (CGH) journal. He is an active member of the public relation and educational affairs committees of the American College of Gastroenterology (ACG). He is the chair of the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ASGE) Beyond the Scope Mentorship Program, and an active member of the Congressional Advocacy Program of the American Gastroenterology Association (AGA).

Contact us

For collaboration, or questions, please reach out to us at [email protected] or [email protected]