Prashanth Francis, MD, PhD
@prashanthfrancis.bsky.social
Physician Scientist at the University of Colorado by way of Texas. Developing cellular therapies for autoimmunity, fighting racial/ethnic disparities, Hepatologist and Gastroenterologist in clinical practice.
Love this idea. Especially for patients who don’t get transfused during the admission.
Also a great idea for the hospitalists (GI or Surg or Med) to do in hospital. So easy to give Iron infusion while they are right there. (And we understand more and more that oral iron often does not do the trick).
July 18, 2025 at 7:58 PM
Love this idea. Especially for patients who don’t get transfused during the admission.
If endoscopists were paid by number of polyps removed instead of by number of procedures (with/without one polyp removed), would colon cancer rates go up or down (or be unchanged) ?
July 16, 2025 at 11:04 PM
If endoscopists were paid by number of polyps removed instead of by number of procedures (with/without one polyp removed), would colon cancer rates go up or down (or be unchanged) ?
Recommendation from me: Check iron levels in patients following up in your clinic after admissions for GI bleeding or where significant anemia is noted. It’s easy to have all the focus go to the decompensations or questions of TIPS and transplant, but iron repletion is a pretty easy win for patients
July 9, 2025 at 1:02 AM
Recommendation from me: Check iron levels in patients following up in your clinic after admissions for GI bleeding or where significant anemia is noted. It’s easy to have all the focus go to the decompensations or questions of TIPS and transplant, but iron repletion is a pretty easy win for patients
Reposted by Prashanth Francis, MD, PhD
Bejan Saeedi, MD PhD received the Sunder J. Mehta, MD Memorial Lectureship Mehta-Makhijani Fellow Award for commitment to excellence in education, participation & contribution to Grand Rounds, clinical enthusiasm, & research potential! @prashanthfrancis.bsky.social @jchristiemd.bsky.social 💪🏆🥳
April 8, 2025 at 10:58 PM
Bejan Saeedi, MD PhD received the Sunder J. Mehta, MD Memorial Lectureship Mehta-Makhijani Fellow Award for commitment to excellence in education, participation & contribution to Grand Rounds, clinical enthusiasm, & research potential! @prashanthfrancis.bsky.social @jchristiemd.bsky.social 💪🏆🥳
This may be the paper that changes my worldview the most this year.
One set of implications is how we approach clinical vs research training. Had never considered that what clinical reps under stress induce can be called habits…and how/why that’s the opposite setup needed for research ideation.
One set of implications is how we approach clinical vs research training. Had never considered that what clinical reps under stress induce can be called habits…and how/why that’s the opposite setup needed for research ideation.
🚨📃New Wassum Lab Paper📃🚨
Out today, @jackiegio.bsky.social discovered brain pathways that support agency and habit and how chronic stress disrupts them to rob of us our agency and cause us to form rigid habits 🧵👇
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Free full text: rdcu.be/eaxEv
Out today, @jackiegio.bsky.social discovered brain pathways that support agency and habit and how chronic stress disrupts them to rob of us our agency and cause us to form rigid habits 🧵👇
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Free full text: rdcu.be/eaxEv
A dual-pathway architecture for stress to disrupt agency and promote habit - Nature
Adaptive decision-making often requires an understanding of our agency in a situation; however, chronic stress can disrupt agency and promote inflexible, habitual behaviour by turning off a brain path...
www.nature.com
February 20, 2025 at 5:39 PM
This may be the paper that changes my worldview the most this year.
One set of implications is how we approach clinical vs research training. Had never considered that what clinical reps under stress induce can be called habits…and how/why that’s the opposite setup needed for research ideation.
One set of implications is how we approach clinical vs research training. Had never considered that what clinical reps under stress induce can be called habits…and how/why that’s the opposite setup needed for research ideation.
Reposted by Prashanth Francis, MD, PhD
The court ordered that NIH grant funding be unfrozen, so The Regime found a way around it. For NIH grants to be funded, a review panel must rank them. In order for a review panel to meet, they must post it on the Federal Register. Submissions to the Federal Register are now on hold “indefinitely”.
I just covered this for @thetransmitter.bsky.social — will keep following! www.thetransmitter.org/funding/fede...
Federal Register hold makes ‘end run’ around court pause on NIH funding freeze
NIH-related updates to the Federal Register, which are required for the scheduling of study sections and advisory councils, are on hold indefinitely, according to an email reviewed by <i>The Transmitt...
www.thetransmitter.org
February 20, 2025 at 2:32 AM
The court ordered that NIH grant funding be unfrozen, so The Regime found a way around it. For NIH grants to be funded, a review panel must rank them. In order for a review panel to meet, they must post it on the Federal Register. Submissions to the Federal Register are now on hold “indefinitely”.
Love this! It addresses so many of my frequent questions of FMT studies: Was it the abx or the FMT? Was there engraftment? What’s the mechanism? How long does it last?
Really looking forward to seeing this with a larger n and new approaches/refinement to engraftment.
Really looking forward to seeing this with a larger n and new approaches/refinement to engraftment.
This trial by @bloompringle.bsky.social will be seen as one of the most important in the field of FMT - 💩 transplant - for #cirrhosis
Does the 💩 engraft?
Does the 💩 work (improved barrier function)?
This is why PPB is the future
journals.lww.com/hepcomm/full...
#liversky
Does the 💩 engraft?
Does the 💩 work (improved barrier function)?
This is why PPB is the future
journals.lww.com/hepcomm/full...
#liversky
Safety and efficacy of a defined bacterial consortium,... : Hepatology Communications
thods:
We performed a single-center, randomized, placebo-controlled trial of VE303 in adult patients with a history of overt HE (NCT04899115). Eligible patients were taking lactulose and rifaximin, ...
journals.lww.com
February 20, 2025 at 5:07 PM
Love this! It addresses so many of my frequent questions of FMT studies: Was it the abx or the FMT? Was there engraftment? What’s the mechanism? How long does it last?
Really looking forward to seeing this with a larger n and new approaches/refinement to engraftment.
Really looking forward to seeing this with a larger n and new approaches/refinement to engraftment.
I suppose it’s better to replace a huge number of referrals for incidentally found low risk hepatic steatosis with a smaller number of referrals for elevated liver stiffness in setting of very elevated liver enzymes, but this still seems like an area we can improve upon.
February 18, 2025 at 4:29 PM
I suppose it’s better to replace a huge number of referrals for incidentally found low risk hepatic steatosis with a smaller number of referrals for elevated liver stiffness in setting of very elevated liver enzymes, but this still seems like an area we can improve upon.
When the lab brings cookies
December 16, 2024 at 9:24 PM
When the lab brings cookies
Reposted by Prashanth Francis, MD, PhD
All is merry and bright🌟 at CU Gastro Hep! We spent a festive 🎅evening together for fun 🎶, friends🎳 & fellowship🥂 to celebrate our hard work & accomplishments. Happy Holidays! 💩@swatipatelmd.bsky.social @bilalmohammadmd.bsky.social @frankiscottmd.bsky.social @prashanthfrancis.bsky.social
December 9, 2024 at 6:07 PM
All is merry and bright🌟 at CU Gastro Hep! We spent a festive 🎅evening together for fun 🎶, friends🎳 & fellowship🥂 to celebrate our hard work & accomplishments. Happy Holidays! 💩@swatipatelmd.bsky.social @bilalmohammadmd.bsky.social @frankiscottmd.bsky.social @prashanthfrancis.bsky.social
Did a chalk talk on (how we arrived at) carvedilol for cirrhosis with portal HTN with the (Fellow/Resident) team and it's really surprising to me how quickly we were able to get MASLD/MASH/MetALD disseminated relative to this change in diagnosis and medical treatment of a large group of patients.
December 4, 2024 at 9:27 PM
Did a chalk talk on (how we arrived at) carvedilol for cirrhosis with portal HTN with the (Fellow/Resident) team and it's really surprising to me how quickly we were able to get MASLD/MASH/MetALD disseminated relative to this change in diagnosis and medical treatment of a large group of patients.
Ecstatic for this class! Congrats to all who matched today!
We are excited to welcome this 🌟 lineup to @cuanschutz.bsky.social and can’t wait to work w/ these future leaders in #Gastroenterology & #Hepatology! Congrats to Drs. Mohanad Awadalla, Julie Giannini, Rachna Talluri, Alejandra Vargas, Kia Vosoughi!🥳 #FellowshipMatch #WelcometoGI #GastroSky #LiverSky
December 4, 2024 at 9:20 PM
Ecstatic for this class! Congrats to all who matched today!
Reposted by Prashanth Francis, MD, PhD
Happy to see more and more of my #livertwitter friends making the transition to #liversky! Let’s try to rebuild/improve upon the wonderful education/information sharing community here!
December 3, 2024 at 11:45 PM
Happy to see more and more of my #livertwitter friends making the transition to #liversky! Let’s try to rebuild/improve upon the wonderful education/information sharing community here!
When it’s time to write the conclusions, impact and future directions section of the grant
open.spotify.com/track/2A7qdr...
open.spotify.com/track/2A7qdr...
Ride of the Valkyries
Richard Wagner, London Symphony Orchestra, Yondani Butt · Wagner: Works for Orchestra · Song · 2011
open.spotify.com
November 26, 2024 at 7:34 PM
When it’s time to write the conclusions, impact and future directions section of the grant
open.spotify.com/track/2A7qdr...
open.spotify.com/track/2A7qdr...
In general, I find that our centers are pretty good at accomplishing this and the main reminder that our team has to recommend is to repeat a paracentesis at 48 hours to ensure adequate treatment.
#LiverSky: Performing early diagnostic paracentesis within 12 hours of admission may offer the greatest survival benefit.
Share your thoughts on implementing this into practice!
The American Journal of Gastroenterology #RedJournal
@amcollegegastro.bsky.social
🔗 journals.lww.com/ajg/pages/ar...
Share your thoughts on implementing this into practice!
The American Journal of Gastroenterology #RedJournal
@amcollegegastro.bsky.social
🔗 journals.lww.com/ajg/pages/ar...
November 26, 2024 at 3:32 PM
In general, I find that our centers are pretty good at accomplishing this and the main reminder that our team has to recommend is to repeat a paracentesis at 48 hours to ensure adequate treatment.
It's a strange time where the indications for GLP1 medications are like to keep expanding (hello MASLD/MASH) but access to the medication and staying on the therapy long term remains poor - only ~20% at 2 years by one estimate.
If a new medication can't actually be taken, are lives really saved?
If a new medication can't actually be taken, are lives really saved?
There is a proposal for Medicare to pay for #GLP1 medications for obesity.
Why wait until obesity-related diseases like #type2diabetes develop when you can prevent them from occurring in the first place?
www.nytimes.com/2024/11/26/u...
Why wait until obesity-related diseases like #type2diabetes develop when you can prevent them from occurring in the first place?
www.nytimes.com/2024/11/26/u...
Obesity Drugs Would Be Covered by Medicare and Medicaid Under Biden Proposal (Gift Article)
The proposed rule could give millions of Americans access to the new drugs; it would also put pressure on the federal budget.
www.nytimes.com
November 26, 2024 at 2:54 PM
It's a strange time where the indications for GLP1 medications are like to keep expanding (hello MASLD/MASH) but access to the medication and staying on the therapy long term remains poor - only ~20% at 2 years by one estimate.
If a new medication can't actually be taken, are lives really saved?
If a new medication can't actually be taken, are lives really saved?
With apologies to Bradley Cooper and Jason Isbell, maybe it’s NOT time to let the old ways die.
open.spotify.com/track/6jMbPs...
open.spotify.com/track/6jMbPs...
November 25, 2024 at 6:00 PM
With apologies to Bradley Cooper and Jason Isbell, maybe it’s NOT time to let the old ways die.
open.spotify.com/track/6jMbPs...
open.spotify.com/track/6jMbPs...
Like the radioactive spider, but more targeted/limited in scope.
One of my favorite things about vaccines is that they make me harder to kill
November 25, 2024 at 3:56 PM
Like the radioactive spider, but more targeted/limited in scope.
Maybe one way to think about the size or activity of a field is to think about how often a podcast about the field would release an episode.
November 25, 2024 at 3:55 PM
Maybe one way to think about the size or activity of a field is to think about how often a podcast about the field would release an episode.
Saw iron dosed incorrectly so much that I made a SmartText to be able to quickly add it to my notes as a GI Fellow. Stop torturing patients with multiple times a day iron! Hepcidin is smarter than this and is often torturing the bowels as payback.
Pharmacy pearl of the day (#PPotD):
If you’re taking iron supplements, you’ll get best results if you take it every other day. Even better if you wash it down with orange juice. (The vitamin C helps your body absorb the iron.)
If you’re taking iron supplements, you’ll get best results if you take it every other day. Even better if you wash it down with orange juice. (The vitamin C helps your body absorb the iron.)
a pitcher of orange juice sits next to a glass
ALT: a pitcher of orange juice sits next to a glass
media.tenor.com
November 22, 2024 at 12:55 AM
Saw iron dosed incorrectly so much that I made a SmartText to be able to quickly add it to my notes as a GI Fellow. Stop torturing patients with multiple times a day iron! Hepcidin is smarter than this and is often torturing the bowels as payback.
DIPG is a brain tumor that is uniformly fatal in the children in whom it occurs with a median survival of 11 months. In a Phase 1 study of this CAR T cell therapy, they hit 20 months with 2 of 11 patients still alive 30 months later with resolved neurologic symptoms. Just truly remarkable results.
November 21, 2024 at 10:15 PM
DIPG is a brain tumor that is uniformly fatal in the children in whom it occurs with a median survival of 11 months. In a Phase 1 study of this CAR T cell therapy, they hit 20 months with 2 of 11 patients still alive 30 months later with resolved neurologic symptoms. Just truly remarkable results.
AASLD get on Blue Sky challenge
(I asked our President Elect about this and she seemed positively inclined. Not sure who decides this, though)
(I asked our President Elect about this and she seemed positively inclined. Not sure who decides this, though)
November 20, 2024 at 2:00 AM
AASLD get on Blue Sky challenge
(I asked our President Elect about this and she seemed positively inclined. Not sure who decides this, though)
(I asked our President Elect about this and she seemed positively inclined. Not sure who decides this, though)
After those great MASLD late breakers, I’m left thinking this is a race by the different therapy teams/companies to define their territory/use cases. My inclination is to say GLP-1RAs for early disease and those with obesity/T2DM given broader benefits, but in lean pts and as fibrosis advances: TBD.
November 19, 2024 at 11:23 PM
After those great MASLD late breakers, I’m left thinking this is a race by the different therapy teams/companies to define their territory/use cases. My inclination is to say GLP-1RAs for early disease and those with obesity/T2DM given broader benefits, but in lean pts and as fibrosis advances: TBD.