Kevin E. Woods, MD, MPH,

As Chief of Interventional Endoscopy, Gastroenterology & Nutrition, Dr. Kevin E. Woods brings an extensive endoscopic research background to City of Hope. Dr. Woods is leading the transformation and advancement of the City of Hope Atlanta Gastroenterology and Endoscopy Program, which offers state-of-the-art facilities and advanced endoscopy technologies and approaches to treat patients with pre-malignant digestive disorders and all gastrointestinal (GI) cancers.

The Gastroenterology and Endoscopy Program offers many non-surgical technologies to help determine the accurate stage of disease and to provide interventional therapies when surgery is not an option. Procedures that Dr. Woods performs include interventional endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP), endoscopic ultrasound (EUS), fine-needle aspiration and biopsy (FNA/B), digital cholangioscopy (SpyGlass™), endoscopic suturing, enteral stenting, optical endomicroscopy, confocal laser endomicroscopy, endoscopic mucosal resection (EMR) and submucosal dissection (ESD), radiofrequency ablation (RFA) and peroral endoscopic myotomy (POEM).

Combining his skills of early cancer detection and removal, his expert endoscopic approach offers an expanded range of options for patients who are candidates for minimally invasive endoscopic management of early GI tract malignancies such as Barrett’s esophagus, gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST), neuroendocrine tumors (NET), ampullary masses and large colorectal polyps that require endoscopic management to reduce the risk of progression to cancer. In addition to preventative and therapeutic procedures for cancer patients, Dr. Woods is an expert in endoscopic suturing and the management of patients with prior GI tract surgery, bariatric surgery and complicated fistulas that require endoscopic management when surgical treatment is not an option.

Dr. Woods earned his Bachelor of Science in Biology from Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, and his Doctor of Medicine degree from Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee. His extensive postgraduate training focused on both clinical care and research. He completed an internship and residency in internal medicine at The Johns Hopkins Hospital, part of Johns Hopkins University, from 2005 to 2008. He was then a Clinical and Research Fellow in Internal Medicine, Gastroenterology and Hepatology at the Harvard Medical School’s affiliated hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital, from 2008 to 2011. During this time, he concentrated his training on developing the skills needed to conduct clinical trials and improve the delivery of care and related outcomes while earning a Master of Public Health degree focused on clinical effectiveness at The Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health in 2011.

His clinical and research interests were further developed with additional postdoctoral training and research in advanced gastrointestinal imaging at The Wellman Center for Photomedicine at Massachusetts General Hospital from 2009 to 2012. During his studies, he focused on the use of novel imaging modalities to detect early mucosal cancers using spectrally encoded confocal microscopy (SECM). While in the laboratory, he also patented a novel imaging device, which is currently undergoing a clinical trial. He completed his clinical training as an Advanced Endoscopy Fellow at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital from 2011 to 2012.

Dr. Woods has an established track record of leadership as a clinician, scientist and thought leader. Among his clinical achievements, he was Director of Advanced Endoscopic Imaging, Informatics and Innovation and Assistant Professor of Medicine at Emory University School of Medicine and The Emory Clinic. During his tenure at Emory, he developed the first Optical Endomicroscopy and Bariatric Endoscopy Program in the State of Georgia. To help develop tools to aid in his research goals, in 2015, he started a health information technology and telemedicine company, Scope Jockey Analytics, LLC, to create solutions leveraging hybrid cloud environments with real-time computer aided diagnosis algorithms aimed at helping endoscopists make more informed clinical decisions while treating patients with gastrointestinal malignancies.

Licensed to practice medicine by the State of Georgia, Dr. Woods is board certified in Internal Medicine and Gastroenterology by the American Board of Internal Medicine. He has been an invited lecturer and presented his research at national and international conferences. Dr. Woods continues to lecture widely on the applications of new clinical technologies and raise awareness of the impact of esophageal cancer, pancreatic cancer, colorectal cancer and other digestive disorders in our communities. His published studies are included in widely read journals, including Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, Surgical Endoscopy, and World Journal of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy. Dr. Woods has served on the editorial board of the journal Bariatric Surgical Practice and Patient Care and is a scientific journal manuscript reviewer for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, Surgical Endoscopy, BMC Gastroenterology, Endoscopy International Open Access and Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology.

In addition to his scientific and career achievements, Dr. Woods is committed to the mentorship of young students and developing physicians to help encourage advancement thorough the educational pipeline to STEAM careers. He acutely understands the importance of building the pipeline of future students into STEAM careers, specifically in medicine, and its translation to a healthier community. In 2010, he was named One of the Best Residents and Fellows at Harvard Medical School. In 2014, he received the Mentor in Medicine Award by Emory School of Medicine. In 2016, the Atlanta Medical Association recognized him as Young Physician of the Year and in 2018 the Thomas J. Blocker Society awarded him the Presidential Award in recognition of support for the Health Careers Program at Morehouse College. In February 2019, Dr. Woods was honored with a State of Georgia Proclamation as an Outstanding Georgia Citizen by the Secretary of State, Lt. Governor and Governor of Georgia. He serves at the local, state, national and international level through his various leadership roles and active committee involvement as President of the Georgia Gastroenterologic and Endoscopic Society, President Elect and Chief Information Officer of the Atlanta Medical Association and a board member of the Global Center for Medical Innovation /T3 Labs. Dr. Woods is a member of many professional organizations including the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, American College of Gastroenterology, International Society of Endomicroscopy and a consultant to many medical device clinical advisory boards.

Dr. Woods was named to the Atlanta Business Chronicle’s Top 40 under 40 class of 2016 and is a member of the 2018 Class of Leadership Atlanta. He continues to donate his time while serving on multiple institutional and not-for-profit boards. He is a proud member the Board of Trustees of Meharry Medical College, and leads on multiple boards located within the Metropolitan Atlanta area including 100 Black Men of Atlanta, Launch Expose Advising Directing (L.E.A.D.), The John and JeJuan Stewart Jr. Foundation / E.A.G.L.E. 7, the Board of Directors of Leadership Atlanta and Member of the Board of Directors of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.

When he is not working, Dr. Woods enjoys spending time with his wife, Dr. Kalinda D. Woods, and their two young children.