Priya Jamidar, MBChB, FACG, FASGE, professor of medicine (digestive diseases) and director of Endoscopy, received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Connecticut Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (CAPI). He accepted the award at CAPI’s 32nd annual meeting and education conference, titled Emerging From the Pandemic, on May 20, 2023.
The honor recognizes Jamidar’s outstanding patient care and academic contributions in the field of gastroenterology and endoscopy.
“It’s very humbling to receive this award,” said Jamidar, one of the world’s leading experts in biliary and pancreatic disease and treatment. “I’m happy to have been able to impact patients’ lives in a positive and meaningful way.”
Jamidar was recruited to Yale in 2004 to help establish the Advanced Endoscopy Program, which offers sophisticated endoscopic procedures and expertise available at few centers nationally. He has strong clinical and research interests in bile duct cancers, pancreatic cancer, large bile duct stones, as well as in the endoscopy of acute recurrent and chronic pancreatitis. He utilizes the latest techniques in endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) and endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS) to evaluate and treat problems in the liver, gallbladder, bile ducts, and pancreas.
In addition to evaluating and managing pancreaticobiliary disorders, Jamidar, together with his team at the center, has trained approximately 70 fellows at Yale, including 20 advanced endoscopy fellows. He has directed and codirected over 50 postgraduate endoscopic conferences—including many live workshops—in the region. On sabbatical last year, Jamidar taught ERCP to physicians in Kenya, in an effort to increase the availability of the procedure in the country. His trainees are practicing cutting-edge advanced endoscopy as well as disseminating knowledge to fellows and trainees across the country and overseas.
Jamidar has also contributed to paradigm-changing research studies, including the EPISOD study, which transformed the way type III sphincter of Oddi dysfunction is managed.
The CAPI Lifetime Achievement Award has inspired Jamidar to reflect on the significant increase in endoscopic therapies during the past 10 to 15 years and to consider next steps in his career.
“I’d like to work on endoscopic-directed therapies to treat bile duct cancers and make them available to patients,” he said. “My goal is to continue to provide exceptional patient-centered care while mentoring young physicians in this rapidly advancing field.”
Since forming one of the nation’s first sections of hepatology and then gastroenterology over 50 years ago, Yale’s Section of Digestive Diseases has had an enduring impact on research and clinical care in gastrointestinal and liver disorders. To learn more, visit Digestive Diseases.