Natalia Imad Khalaf

Natalia Imad Khalaf, MD, MPH, FACP

Assistant Professor

Email

nikhalaf@bcm.edu

Positions

Assistant Professor: Medicine-Gastroenterology
��Ƶ of Medicine

Clinical Investigator: Clinical Effectiveness and Population Health Program, Center for Innovations in Quality, Effectiveness and Safety, Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center

Core Faculty Member in Health Policy, Quality & Informatics (HPQI) Program: Center for Innovations in Quality, Effectiveness and Safety (IQuESt). MEDVAMC

Education

BA from Rice University: 05/2007 - Houston; Biological Sciences

MD from ��Ƶ of Medicine: 05/2011 - Houston

Residency at ��Ƶ of Medicine: 05/2014 - Houston; Internal Medicine

Residency at ��Ƶ of Medicine: 06/2015 - Houston; Chief Medical Resident

Clinical Fellowship at Brigham and Women's Hospital: 06/2018 - Boston; Gastroenterology and Hepatology

MPH from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health: 06/2018 - Boston; Epidemiology

Certifications

American Board of Internal Medicine

Board certified in Internal Medicine.

American Board of Internal Medicine

Board certified in Gastroenterology & Hepatology.

Honors & Awards

Chief Medical Resident and Instructor in Medicine, BCM, Houston, TX: (07/2014 - 06/2015)

Introduction to Clinical Medicine Course Preceptor, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA: (07/2017 - 06/2018)

AGA Academy of Educators Elected Member: (05/2018)

Partners in Excellence Quality Treatment and Service Award: Harvard Medical/Partners System (05/2017)

Bob Parsons Inaugural Fellow in Pancreatic Cancer Research: Dana Farber Cancer Institute (01/2017 - 06/2018)

American Gastroenterological Association Certificate of Recognition as an Early Career Investigator for an oral presentation at Digestive Disease Week: (05/2017)

GI Fellowship Mentoring Award,: Brigham and Women's Hospital (06/2017)

Soma Weiss Award for Excellence in Clinical Teaching: Brigham and Women's Hospital (06/2017)

Ambulatory Lecturing Fellow Award: Brigham and Women's Hospital (06/2017)

Clinical Teaching Skills Workshop Grant Recipient, Center of Expertise in Medical Education: Harvard Medical School (03/2016)

Gold Humanism Honor Society, Elected Residency Chapter President: ��Ƶ of Medicine (06/2010 - 06/2015)

Bobby Alford Award for Clinical Professionalism Selection Committee: ��Ƶ of Medicine (01/2013 - 06/2015)

Dean of Medical Education Outstanding Resident Teacher Award: ��Ƶ of Medicine (06/2013)

Outstanding Achievement Award for Continuity Clinic: ��Ƶ of Medicine (06/2014)

Michael E. Debakey VA Hospital Intern of the Month: ��Ƶ of Medicine (01/2011)

Phi Beta Kappa: Rice University (06/2007)

Norton Rose Fulbright (NRF) Faculty Excellence Award - Teaching and Evaluation: ��Ƶ of Medicine (05/2025)

Fellowship: American College of Physicians (FACP) (07/2019)

Selected for the 2024 class of the National Academy of Medicine Scholars in Diagnostic Excellence program.: Funded by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, this collaborative program in partnership with the Council of Medical Specialty Societies offers a one-year, part-time experience for exceptional professionals to advance their diagnostic skills, make significant contributions to improve clinical diagnosis at the national level, and accelerate their career development as national leaders in the field; Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation (07/2024 - 06/2025)

Professional Statement

I am a clinical gastroenterologist and researcher with a focus on gastrointestinal (GI) cancer care. I am an Assistant Professor of Medicine at ��Ƶ of Medicine (BCM, tenure track), an investigator in the Clinical Effectiveness and Population Health Program, and a Health Policy, Quality & Informatics (HPQI) Program Core Faculty member at the Houston Center for Innovations in Quality, Effectiveness and Safety (IQuESt). I was a Brigham and Women’s Hospital/ Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (BWH/DFCI) NIH-funded T32 Clinical Research fellow with a research focus on GI cancers. I received my Master’s in Public Health (MPH) degree from the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health. I have successfully performed epidemiological and health-services related studies in several large datasets including the Nurses’ Health Study, Health Professionals Follow-Up Study, and the national Veterans Affairs (VA) healthcare system.

I serve as site co-PI for the VA’s CONFIRM trial, the largest VA clinical trial in history, which studies colonoscopy vs. fecal immunochemical test (FIT) testing in reducing mortality from colorectal cancer. I am recipient of a VA Health Services Research & Development Career Development Award and a Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation Diagnostic Excellence grant. I have been selected to the 2024-2025 National Academy of Medicine Diagnostic Scholars Fellowship Program.

My scholarship centers around improving the timeliness of cancer diagnosis through the use of health IT or informatics tools. My research leverages “big data” generated from electronic health records to develop automated algorithms that learning health systems can then use to measure and mitigate preventable diagnostic delays as it relates to cancer care.

Selected Publications

Sharara A, Mokahal A, Harb A, Khalaf N, et al.. " " World Journal of Gastroenterology. 2020 Oct ;
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Babic A, Zhang X, Moralez-Oyarvide V, Yuan C, Khalaf N, et al.. " " Br J Cancer. 2020 ;
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Babic, A., Rosenthal, M.H., Sundaresan, T.K., Khalaf, N, et al. " " Nat Commun. 2023 Jul 18; 14 (1) : 4317.
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Qian ZR, Rubinson DA, Nowak JA, Morales-Oyarvide V, Dunne RF, Kozak MM, Welch MW, Brais LK, Da Silva A, Li T, Li W, Masuda A, Yang J, Shi Y, Gu M, Masugi Y, Bui J, Zellers CL, Yuan C, Babic A, Khalaf N, et al. " " JAMA Oncology. 2018 Mar ; 4 (3) : e173420.
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Khalaf N, El-Serag H, Abrams H, Thrift A. " Burden of Pancreatic Cancer: From Epidemiology to Practice. " Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology. 2019 ;
Khalaf N, Ali B.. " " Gastroenterology. 2022 Jun ; 162 (7) : 2113-2120.
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Murthy S, Khalaf N, Shah S, Ma B, Goldsmith C, Kass J. " " JAMA Neurology. 2013 ; 70 : 1580-1.
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Khalaf N, Crews J, DuPont HL, Koo HL. " " Discovery Medicine. ; 14 : 105-13.
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Saini SD, Schoenfeld P, Goebel S, von Rosenvinge EC ... Khalaf N, et al.. " " JAMA Netw Open. 2023 Jul 3; 6 (7) : e2321730.
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Khalaf N, Liu Y, Kramer JR, El-Serag HB, Kanwal F, Singh H. " " Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2024 Jul 27;
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Claridge H, Price CA, Ali R, Cooke E, de Lusignan S, Harvey-Sullivan A, Hodges C, Khalaf N, et al. " " BMJ Open. 2024 Jan 22; 14 (1) : e079863.
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Khalaf N, Kramer J, Liu Y, Abrams D, Singh H, El- Serag HB, Kanwal F. " " Dig Dis Sci.. 2023 Sep ; 68 (9) : 3634-3643.
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Yuan C, Babic A, Khalaf N, et al.. " " JAMA Oncol. 2020 Oct ; 6 (10) : e202948.
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Szafron D, Kim H, Turin C, Benzi E, Khalaf N, Hernaez R. " Duodenal and liver lesions in an adult with generalized weakness. " Gut. 2019 ;
Khalaf N, Ali B, Liu Y, Kramer JR, El-Serag H, Kanwal F, Singh H. " " Dig Dis Sci. 2023 Dec 16; 69 (2) : 603-614.
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Hamada T, Yuan C, Yurgelun MB, Perez K, Khalaf N, et al. " " Br J Cancer. 2019 Apr ; 120 (8) : 848-854.
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Yurgelun M, Chittenden A, Morales V, Dunne R, Kozak M, Quian ZR, Welch M, Brais L, Da Silva A, Bui J, Yuan C, Li T, Li W, Masuda A, Gu M, Bullock A, Chang D, Clancy T, Linehan D, Findeis-Hosey J, Doyle L, Thorner A, Ducar M, Wollison B, Khalaf N, et al. " " Genetics in Medicine. 2019 Jan ; 21 (1) : 213-223.
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Khalaf N, Mittal S. " " Image of the Month, Clinical Gatroenterology and Hepatology. 2014 ; 12 (6) : A29-30.
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Zaid M, Elganainy D, Dogra P, Dai A, Widmann L, Fernandes P, Wang Z, Pelaez MJ, Ramirez JR, Singhi A, Dasyam A, Brand R, Park W, Rahmanuddin S, Rosenthal M, Wolpin B, Khalaf N, et al.. " " Frontiers in Oncology. 2020 Dec 2; 10
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Jacob J, Millien V, Berger S, Ketwaroo A, Flores A, Hernaez A, Hou J, Jarbrink Sehgal M, Khalaf N, et al.. " " J Clin Gastroenterol.. 2023 Jul ; 58 (5) : 432-439.
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Khalaf N, El-Serag H, Kuzniarek J, Ramsey D, Tabasi S, White D, Kanwal F. " " Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology. 2015 ; 13 : 1521-1531.
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Khalaf N, Anish R, Buehler G. " " Journal of Emergency Medicine. 2014 ; 46 : 113-6.
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Khalaf N, Felice F, Sejpal D. " Jejunal Dieulafoy’s Lesion: A Rare Cause of Lower Gastrointestinal Bleed. " Practical Gastroenterology. 2014 ; 37 (10)
Morales-Oyarvide V, Rubinson DA, Dunne RF, Kozak MM, Bui JL, Yuan C, Qian ZR, Babic A, Da Silva A, Nowak JA, Khalaf N, et al. " " Br J Cancer. 2017 Dec ; 117 (12) : 1874-1882.
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Khalaf N, Wolpin BW. " " Gastroenterology. 2019 May ; 156 : 1560-1563.
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12. Khalaf N, Ying J, Mittal S, Temple S, El-Serag H. " " Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology. 2016 ; 16 : 30517-1.
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Khalaf N, Ali B.. " " Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology. 2022 Sep ; 20 (9) : 1927-1930.
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Khalaf N, Nguyen T, Ramsey D, El-Serag H. " " Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology. 2014 ; 12 : 1832-9.
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Millenia V, Abrams D, Khalaf N. " Not all terminal ileitis is Crohn’s disease: Intestinal tuberculosis causing small bowel obstruction. " Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology. 2020 ;
Khalaf N, Kramer J, Ramsey D, El-Serag H. " " Diseases of the Esophagus. 2015 ; 28 : 283-90.
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Hamada T, Khalaf N, Yuan C, et al. " " Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology. 2018 Aug ; 16 (8) : 1300-1306.
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Yuan C, Morales-Oyarvide V, Khalaf N, et al.. " " J Natl Cancer Inst.. 2021 Sep 4; 113 (9) : 1186-1193.
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Hamada T, Yan C, Bao Y, Zhang M, Khalaf N, et al. " " Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev.. 2019 Aug 19; 28 (11) : 1868-1875.
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Pan S, Brand R, Lai L, Dawson D, Donahue T, Kim S, Khalaf N, et al.. " " Clin Transl Med.. 2021 Aug ; 11 (8) : e506.
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Abrams H, Lee M, Dahdal S, Khalaf N. " " ACG Case Reports. 2020 Oct 26; 7 (10) : e00469.
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Khalaf N, Yuan C, Tsuyoshi Hamada, et al. " " 2018 Apr ; 154 (5) : 1380-1390.
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Khan N, Husain SA, Husain SI, Khalaf N, George J, Raissi F, Segura A, Biswajit K, Bogaev R, Frazier O. " " Texas Heart Institute Journal. 2012 ; 39 : 554-556.
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Sharara A, Mokahal A, Harb A, Khalaf N, et al.. " " World Journal of Gastroenterology. 2020 Oct 7; 26 (37) : 5705-5717.
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Hamada T, Khalaf N, Yuan C, et al. " " Journal of Gastroenterology. 2018 Aug ; 53 (8) : 959-966.
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Khalaf N, Xu A, Nguyen T, Kramer J, Liu Y, Singh H, El-Serag, Kanwal F.. " " Pancreas. 2024 Jan 1; 53 (1) : e27-e33.
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Khalaf N, El-Serag H, Kanwal F, et al.. " " Gastroenterology,. 2020 Sep ; 159 (3) : 1184-1185.
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Jiang K, Bazarbashi AN, Dahdal S, Voiculescu A, Khalaf N. " " Case Reports Hepatol. 2018 Aug ; 23 : 5876718.
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3. Srivatsav A, Ghanayem R, Dahdal S, Khalaf N. " Treatment of Esophageal Stricture After Lye Ingestion: A Case of Dysphagia following Colon Interposition. " ACG Case Reports. 2020 ;
Khalaf N, Samadder NJ. " " Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology. 2019 Mar 12; 3565 (19) : 30259-9.
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Khalaf N, Abrams H, Chemezian E, Kanwal F, El-Serag H.. " " Pancreas. 2022 Feb 1; 51 (2) : e13-e15.
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Khalaf N, Ali B, Zimolzak A, Liu Y, Wei L, Kanwal F, et al.. " " BMJ Quality & Safety.. 2025 Oct 9;
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Khalaf N, Ali B, Zimolzak A, Liu Y, El-Serag HB, Kanwal F, et al.. " " Dig Dis Sci.. 2025 Jan ; 70 (1) : 179-181.
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Memberships

Texas Digestive Disease Center

National Arab American Medical Association, Houston Chapter: Vice President (01/2019 - 12/2021)

Texas Gulf Coast GI Society: Member (01/2019)

National Pancreas Foundation: Member (01/2017)

American Pancreatic Association: Member (01/2016 - 12/2020)

Massachusetts Gastroenterology Association: Member (01/2016 - 12/2019)

Massachusetts Medical Society: Member (01/2015 - 12/2019)

American College of Gastroenterology: Member (01/2015)

Texas Medical Association: Member (01/2014)

American Gastroenterological Association: Member (01/2013)

American Medical Association: Member (01/2012 - 12/2019)

American College of Physicians: Member (01/2011)

Harris County Medical Society: Member, Council on International and Affiliated Medical Societies (01/2020 - 12/2021)

National Arab American Medical Association,: Member (01/2019)

Gold Humanish Honor Society: Inducted Member (01/2010)

Funding

Acute Pancreatitis and Pancreatic Cancer: Improving Early Detection: (04/01/2019 - 03/01/2021); Grant funding from American Pancreatic Association; 2018 Young Investigator Grant

Precision Risk Stratification for Pancreatic Cancer: A Deep Learning Approach: $50,000.00 (01/01/2020 - 12/01/2021); Dan L Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center Pilot Project Award

A Clinical Validation Center for Early Detection of Pancreatic Cancer #U01CA200468: $50,000.00 (01/01/2020 - 03/31/2022); Grant funding from NIH/NCI; Co-Investigator for MEDVAMC site

Predicting Risk of Long-term Complications of Acute Pancreatitis in a U.S. Veteran Population: $38,000.00 (01/01/2021 - 06/30/2022); Grant funding from Texas Medical Center Digestive Diseases Center Pilot/Feasibility Award

Health Informatics Approaches to Improve Early Diagnosis of Pancreatic Cancer #1 IK2 HX003346-01A2; NIH Appl. ID:10425951: $1,090,647.00 (04/01/2022 - 09/01/2027); Grant funding from VA Health Services Research & Development Career Development

Systematic improvement in care through the study of emergency cancer diagnosis: $50,000.00 (01/01/2022 - 12/31/2023); Grant funding from Houston Center for Innovations in Quality, Effectiveness and Safety (IQuESt) SWIFT Award

Implementing Digital Quality Measures into Learning Health Systems for Diagnostic Excellence in Cancer Care #SCON-10001155: $40,000.00 (07/01/2024 - 06/01/2026); Grant funding from National Academy of Sciences

Clinical Quality Measures to Improve the Diagnosis for Gastrointestinal Cancers #GBMF 11505.01: $453,448.00 (09/01/2022 - 12/31/2026); Grant funding from Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation

Colonoscopy Versus Fecal Immunochemical Test in Reducing Mortality from Colorectal Cancer (CONFIRM) Trial #CSP #577: (05/01/2012 - 12/31/2028); Grant funding from Cooperative Studies Program; Co-local Site Investigator

Clinical Quality Measures to Improve the Diagnosis for Colorectal, Gastric, Pancreatic, and Liver Cancers project. #GBMF 11505: $499,864.00 (09/01/2022 - 12/31/2024); Grant funding from Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation

T32 NIH Institutional Training Grant, Gastroenterology fellowship Funding: Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award #2T32DK007533-31: (07/01/2016 - 06/30/2018); Grant funding from NIH

Languages

Arabic

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