Dr. Vikesh Singh

Dr. Akshintala received his medical degree from the Andhra Medical College in India in 2011. Following this, he completed a post-doctoral research fellowship in Gastroenterology at Johns Hopkins Hospital where he established himself as a dedicated researcher. Dr. Akshintala completed his internship and residency training in Internal Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center in 2016. He completed his fellowship in Gastroenterology at Johns Hopkins Hospital in 2019. Dr. Akshintala then completed additional fellowships in Advanced Endoscopy and Medical Pancreatology at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in 2021. As of July 1, 2021, Dr. Akshintala is an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology at Johns Hopkins Hospital. Dr. Akshintala’s research is focused on the medical as well as endoscopic evaluation and treatment of inflammatory disorders of the pancreas. He is also interested in developing new devices and technologies for the care of patients with gastrointestinal disorders. Dr. Akshintala has conducted multi-national randomized-controlled trials and has won numerous awards at major national and international conferences for his research. He also has authored more than 60 original articles, editorials, book chapters and review articles. Dr. Akshintala has received grant funding from the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ASGE) and the Maryland State to support his research. As an innovator, Dr. Akshintala has patented new therapies for gastrointestinal bleeding and pancreas necrosis, a complication of acute pancreatitis. An internationally recognized researcher conducting multi-national clinical trials, Dr. Akshintala holds an Adjunct Assistant Professor position at the Asian Institute of Gastroenterology in India, one of the largest gastroenterology hospitals in the world. Dr. Akshintala is a Ph.D. candidate with the Dutch Pancreatitis Study Group in the Netherlands, who have been pioneered landmark clinical trials related to pancreatitis. Dr. Akshintala offers in-person clinic visits at the Baltimore location and also provides telemedicine visits for patients located in Maryland, Washington, D.C. and Virginia. Dr. Akshintala is rated as a Distinguished provider by MediFind in the treatment of Acute Pancreatitis. His top areas of expertise are Hereditary Pancreatitis, Acute Pancreatitis, Chronic Pancreatitis, Endoscopy, and Lithotripsy.

Gastroenterologist Mouen Khashab specializes in therapeutic endoscopy, and he oversees this group of practitioners across the Johns Hopkins enterprise. Nationally and internationally known in the field of interventional endoscopy, Dr. Khashab has contributed immensely to the field’s advancement as a minimally invasive means to treat gastrointestinal and pancreaticobiliary disorders. Dr. Khashab earned his medical degree from the American University of Beirut Faculty of Medicine, and subsequently completed a residency in internal medicine and a fellowship in gastroenterology at Indiana University. He then completed a two-year fellowship at The Johns Hopkins Hospital before joining the faculty in 2011. A busy researcher, Dr. Khashab has published more than 600 papers in peer-reviewed journals. In 2013, he described the procedure called gastric peroral endoscopic myotomy (known as G-POEM) and was able to disseminate and teach it all over the world. Other procedures that he expanded include peroral endoscopic myotomy (POEM), peroral endoscopic myotomy with fundoplication (POEM-F), Zenker’s peroral endoscopic myotomy (Z-POEM) and full thickness resection. In 2022, he received the Master Endoscopist Award from the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ASGE) for his numerous contributions to the field. His procedural expertise includes endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP), endoscopic ultrasound (EUS), interventional EUS, submucosal endoscopy, POEM/achalasia, endoscopic mucosal resection, endoscopic submucosal dissection, luminal stenting, large polyp resection and Barrett’s therapy, among others. Dr. Khashab is involved with multiple gastrointestinal societies and has served on many committees, including the ASGE Standards of Practice Committee, which is in charge of formulating guidelines for the practice of endoscopy. He has also served as an associate editor for the journal Endoscopy, a premier journal in the field. Khashab is a highly sought-after speaker at national and international conferences, and he has participated in multiple live endoscopy conferences. Outside of academic medicine, Dr. Khashab is an entrepreneur. His major interest is in new technology and medical devices, and his goal is to disrupt the field by introducing technology that makes endoscopic procedures safer, easier, efficient and more scalable. Dr. Khashab is rated as an Elite provider by MediFind in the treatment of Acute Pancreatitis. His top areas of expertise are Achalasia, Pancreatic Pseudocyst, Bile Duct Obstruction, Endoscopy, and Gastric Bypass.

Dr. Elham Afghani is an assistant professor of Medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. She joins us from Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. She received her medical degree from University of California, Irvine. She completed her internal medicine residency as well as an extra year as chief resident at the University of California, Irvine, Medical Center. She then completed her gastroenterology and hepatology fellowship with additional training in pancreatic diseases at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. With a unique specialization in pancreatic disease, she has participated in numerous research projects at the Cedars Sinai division of pancreatico-biliary diseases and was involved in a U01 Consortium for the study of chronic pancreatitis, diabetes and pancreatic cancer. Dr. Afghani’s areas of expertise include acute and chronic pancreatitis, pancreatic cysts and pancreatic exocrine insufficiency. She is an accomplished researcher with multiple publications in prestigious peer-reviewed journals as well as presentations at national meetings. Dr. Afghani is rated as a Distinguished provider by MediFind in the treatment of Acute Pancreatitis. Her top areas of expertise are Hereditary Pancreatitis, Acute Pancreatitis, Chronic Pancreatitis, Endoscopy, and Lithotripsy.