hernaez

Ruben Hernaez, M.D., M.P.H., Ph.D.

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Ruben Hernaez, M.D., M.P.H., Ph.D.

Clinical Assistant Professor

Email

hernaez@bcm.edu

Positions

Clinical Assistant Professor: Medicine-Gastroenterology
Baylor College of Medicine
Houston, TX US

Investigator: Clinical Epidemiology and Clinical Effectiveness Program
Center for Innovations in Quality, Effectiveness and Safety (IQuESt)
Houston, Texas United States
The IQuESt mission is to improve the quality, effectiveness, and safety of healthcare through patient-centered communication and coordination

Associate Editor: GUT
United Kingdom
http://gut.bmj.com/

Clinical Staff: Medicine
Gastroenterology
Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center
Houston, Texas United States
Gastroenterology and Transplant Hepatology

Member at large: Practice Guidelines Committee
American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases
United States

Editorial Board: Hepatology

Editorial Board: Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology

Member at Large: ACLF SIG
American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases

Board of Editors: Liver Transplantation

Addresses

Veterans Affairs Medical Centr (Hospital)
: Room: VAMC-3A-354
Houston, TX 77030
United States

Education

MD from University of Navarra: 07/1999 - Pamplona, Spain

Residency at Clinic Hospital: 06/2005 - Barcelona, Spain; Endocrinology and Nutrition

MPH from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health: 05/2006 - Baltimore, Maryland United States; Epidemiology and Methodology

PhD from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health: 05/2010 - Baltimore, Maryland United States; Cardiovascular Epidemiology

Residency at Medstar Washington Hospital Center: 06/2013 - Washington, District of Columbia United States

Fellowship at Johns Hopkins Hospital: 06/2016 - Baltimore, Maryland United States; Gastroenterology

Fellowship at Johns Hopkins Hospital: 06/2016 - Baltimore, Maryland United States; Transplant Hepatology

Certifications

Endocrinology and Nutrition: Spanish Ministry of Health, Consumers Affairs and Education

Internal Medicine: ABIM

Gastroenterology: #336919; ABIM

Transplant Hepatology: #336919; ABIM

Honors & Awards

Scholarship: Caixa Galicia- Claudio San Martin Foundation. Galicia. Spain (07/2005 - 06/2006)

Scholarship: Caja Madrid (07/2006 - 06/2007)

Scholarship: Mentor-Based Post-doctoral fellowship awarded to Dr. Frederick L. Brancati and mentee (R. Hernaez); American Diabetes Association (07/2007 - 06/2010)

Honorary Society: National Honor Public Health Society http://www.jhsph.edu/alumni/alumni-associations/delta-omega/; Delta Omega Alpha (05/2006)

Honorary Society: https://www.pbk.org/web; Phi Beta Kappa (05/2010)

Honorary Society: Alpha Omega Alpha (02/2020)

Award: Saul Zukerman MD Humanitarism in Medicine Award. Best Resident chosen by the Department of Medicine Faculty.; Medstar Washington Hospital Center, Washington, D.C. (06/2013)

Award: Fellow Teaching Award; Johns Hopkins Hospital. Department of Medicine (07/2013)

Award: Travel Grant for the 2016 Academic Skills Workshop; American Gastroenterological Association and American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (03/2016)

Teaching Award: Teaching Award bestowed by the BCM Fellows; BCM Fellowship Program (07/2017)

Teaching Award: Consulting Teaching Award; Baylor College of Medicine Internal Medicine Program (06/2020)

Professional Interests

Epidemiology and biostatistics
Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease
Systematic reviews and meta-analyses
Acute-on-chronic liver failure
Outcomes research
Liver Transplantation in the Veteran Affairs population
Palliative Care in Transplant Hepatology and ACLF

Professional Statement

Ruben Hernaez is a Spanish-trained physician, board certified in Internal Medicine, Gastroenterology and Transplant Hepatology, whose area of research is acute-on-chronic liver failure, complications and rehabilitation of cirrhosis and methodological assessment of papers in gastroenterology and hepatology. Clinically, Dr. Hernaez is one of the three liver transplant physicians at the VA Medical center, amongst the few transplant physicians at the VA.
Since he joined the VA in August 2016, Dr. Hernaez published 26 peer-reviewed papers; one of them, the review of “Acute-on-Chronic Liver Failure” was one of the most read articles in Gut for the year 2017 with +16,000 reads. He has also won in 2017 the Fellow Award given by the Gastroenterology Fellows, showing his commitment to education. After careful consideration, Dr. Hernaez was also inducted to the prestigious Center for Innovations in Quality, Effectiveness and Safety (iQUEST) as core faculty investigator under the mentorship of Dr. Kanwal.
In his capacity of the Editor for statistics in Gut, the second most influential journal in the world of gastroenterology and hepatology, Dr. Hernaez has per-reviewed more than 400 original publications, in addition to other major impact factor journals. He has also been appointed as a member of the Steering Committee of the Practice Guidelines of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases, a member of the American Gastroenterological Association Research Institute -Research Awards Panel; and member of the editorial board for Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, and Hepatology. He is also the Liver Transplant advisor to the Surgery Advisory Board of the National Surgery Office (Veterans Affairs Department).
Dr. Hernaez is also the site-principal investigator of a 2.2-million-dollar grant awarded from the National Cancer Institute to understand, using a pragmatic, randomized clinical trial, what are the physical, psychological and financial risks of liver cancer screening versus usual care. He is also a co-investigator with Dr. Jessica Davila (PI) on a 90k on improvement communication of tumor board results to Veterans with liver cancer. Over the next year, Dr. Hernaez aims to a) submit a grant to understand transplant outcomes and hospice referral in patients with end-stage liver disease, in particular, in patients with acute-on-chronic liver failure b) understand whether early identification of pre-frail or frail patients with cirrhosis and implementation of pre-habilitation decrease drop-rate or denial from liver transplant list. Given the iQUEST Faculty appointment, Dr. Hernaez hopes to expand his collaboration with experts in oncology, behavioral health and psychology to understand how to discuss goals of care in patients with end-stage liver disease who may or may not get a life-changing liver transplant