Constipation

Yuying Luo, MD, is an assistant professor of medicine at Mount Sinai West and Morningside in New York City. She aims to deliver evidence-based, patient-centered, and holistic care for her patients.

Her clinical and research focus includes patients with disorders of gut-brain interaction such as irritable bowel syndrome and functional dyspepsia; patients with lower gastrointestinal motility (constipation) disorders and defecatory and anorectal disorders (such as dyssynergic defecation); and women’s gastrointestinal health.

She graduated from Harvard with a bachelor's degree in molecular and cellular biology and received her MD from the NYU Grossman School of Medicine. She completed her residency in internal medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, where she was also chief resident. She completed her gastroenterology fellowship at Mount Sinai Hospital and was also chief fellow.

Kara Andrew, RDN, LDN, is the director of health promotion for Memorial Hospital in Carthage, Illinois. She is also licensed as an exercise physiologist and certified in lifestyle medicine by the American College of Lifestyle Medicine. Her experience includes corporate wellness, teaching for the American College of Sports Medicine, sports nutrition, weight management, integrative medicine, oncology support, and dialysis.

She earned her master's in exercise and nutrition science at Lipscomb University.

Andrew has served as a president and board member of the Nashville Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. She was recently elected a co-chair of the fitness and medicine group in the American College of Lifestyle Medicine.

Waseem Ahmed, MD, is an assistant professor of medicine in the Karsh Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles and serves as Director, Advanced Inflammatory Bowel Disease Fellowship and Education within the F. Widjaja Inflammatory Bowel Disease Institute.

He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan and attended medical school at Indiana University. He then completed an internal medicine residency at New York University, followed by a fellowship in gastroenterology and hepatology at Indiana University, and an advanced fellowship in inflammatory bowel disease at the Jill Roberts Center for Inflammatory Bowel Disease at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medicine. Prior to his current role, Dr. Ahmed served as an assistant professor of medicine within the Crohn’s and Colitis Center at the University of Colorado from 2021-2024.

Dr. Ahmed is passionate about providing innovative, comprehensive, and compassionate care for all patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). His research interests include IBD medical education for patients, providers, and trainees; clinical trials; acute severe ulcerative colitis; and the use of combined advanced targeted therapy in high-risk IBD.

He enjoys spending time with his wife and dog, is an avid follower of professional tennis, and enjoys fine dining.

Ira Daniel Breite, MD, is a board-certified internist and gastroenterologist. He is an associate professor at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, where he also sees patients and helps run an ambulatory surgery center.

Dr. Breite divides his time between technical procedures, reading about new topics, and helping patients with some of their most intimate problems. He finds the deepest fulfillment in the long-term relationships he develops and is thrilled when a patient with irritable bowel syndrome or inflammatory bowel disease improves on the regimen he worked with them to create.

Breite went to Albert Einstein College of Medicine for medical school, followed by a residency at NYU and Bellevue Hospital and a gastroenterology fellowship at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Working in city hospitals helped him become resourceful and taught him how to interact with people from different backgrounds.

Jennifer Payne, MD, is a physician at Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health.

She earned her bachelor's from the University of St. Thomas, majoring in biochemistry and minoring in theology. She was the first service learning assistant for the service learning program and did extensive volunteer work with Open Arms of Minnesota during this time, including building a library on multiple sclerosis information. She obtained her MD from the Georgetown University School of Medicine, where she was part of the first class to run the Hoya Clinic for people without housing. She also completed an elective in medical writing and editing, working with American Family Physician magazine. Dr. Payne completed her residency in family medicine at Lancaster General Hospital and a primary care sports medicine fellowship at Wellspan Health in York, Pennsylvania. 

She has served on the board of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Chapter of the American College of Sports Medicine and assisted in obtaining speakers and clinical case studies for the physician portion of the conference.

She enjoys reading, all sports (particularly Olympic weightlifting), walking her dog, and spending time with her husband, sons, and their extended family.

Roxana Ehsani, MS, RD, CSSD, LDN, is a Washington, DC–based registered dietitian-nutritionist, board-certified specialist in sports dietetics, and media spokesperson, consultant, and content creator for food and nutrition brands.

Ehsani has appeared as a food and nutrition expert for television stations across the nation and in national publications, including Runner's World, Women's Health, and Glamour, and is a contributing writer for EatingWell. She has a strong background in sports nutrition and has worked with professional, Olympic, collegiate, and high school teams and individual athletes.

Julie Cunningham is a registered dietitian-nutritionist and a certified diabetes care and education specialist.

Cunningham received a bachelor's degree from Appalachian State University in North Carolina. She subsequently completed a master's degree in public health nutrition at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Cunningham has worked in women's and children's health, cardiology, and diabetes. She has written for Abbott Nutrition News, Edgepark Medical HealthInsights, diaTribe, Babylist, and others. She is also the author of 30 Days to Tame Type 2 Diabetes.

A resident of beautiful western North Carolina, Cunningham is an avid reader who enjoys yoga, travel, and all things chocolate.

Sylvie Tremblay holds a master's degree in molecular and cellular biology, and has years of experience as a cancer researcher and geneticist.

Jill is a registered dietitian and health writer based in Honolulu. She spent the early part of her career working in a traditional setting as a clinical dietitian in a hospital, then transitioned into management. Jill began her career as a health writer in 2007 while working as a clinical nutrition manager in Florida. She became a full-time writer in 2010 after the birth of her first child. Jill has written for numerous publications, including Livestrong; Eat This, Not That!; Fortune Recommends; Hone Health; and Diabetes Self-Management.