Dr. Sun-Chuan Dai is a gastroenterologist who specializes in endoscopic treatments. He cares for people with complex pancreas or bile duct problems, as well as those who have other damage to the digestive tract. He is passionate about communicating with his patients, and believes that a few minutes of careful explanation can go a long way toward relieving anxiety.
Dai's research investigates ways to improve the quality and success rates of procedures such as endoscopic ultrasound (a method that combines technologies to obtain high-quality images of the digestive tract and adjacent structures), endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (a procedure that combines upper gastrointestinal endoscopy and X-rays to treat problems of the bile or pancreatic ducts) and surgical removal of large intestinal polyps. He also works closely with UCSF's hereditary cancer group to explore how best to screen individuals with an increased risk of pancreatic cancer.
Endoscopy has long been a big part of Dai's life. A New Hampshire native, he spent snow days watching his father, also a gastroenterologist, perform colonoscopies on patients who gave consent for observation.
Dai earned his medical degree from Baylor College of Medicine and completed a residency in internal medicine at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. He completed a fellowship in gastroenterology at Boston University and a fellowship in advanced endoscopy at the University of Pennsylvania, where he met his wife.
Dai is a member of several professional societies, including the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy and American College of Gastroenterology.
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