He completed internal medicine training at the University of Minnesota, and a fellowship in Gastroenterology at the University of California, San Francisco. Prior to joining MBRU he was Professor of Medicine at the University of California, San Diego and Chief of Gastroenterology at the Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System in California, USA. He is interested in medical education, and translational research related to the effect of the intestinal microbiome on liver disease, mucosal defense mechanisms, the use of medical informatics to improve medical care, and clinical trials related to chronic liver diseases.