Biography

Dr. Shaleen Vasavada earned his medical degree from the University of Illinois College of Medicine in Chicago, Illinois. He completed a residency in internal medicine and a fellowship in gastroenterology at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas.

Board-certified in Internal Medicine, Obesity Medicine, and Gastroenterology, Dr. Vasavada’s clinical interests include metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD), weight-loss management, nutrition, colon cancer, colonoscopy, GERD, endoscopy, and the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare. His research pursuits have included developing nanotechnology for drug delivery, biodegradable stents, and AI-powered endoscopy evaluations for trainees.

Dr. Vasavada’s practice philosophy focuses on compassionate, patient-centered care. His goal is to empower patients with the knowledge and tools to achieve sustainable health outcomes by integrating manageable lifestyle and medication changes. Dr. Vasavada is committed to treating obesity as a medical disease and a national epidemic, addressing systemic factors that contribute to it. He treats patients 18 years and older and speaks Gujarati and Hindi.

A native Texan, Dr. Vasavada and his wife, Dr. Neelima Agrawal, who is a pediatric gastroenterologist, are the parents of one son. In his leisure time, he enjoys traveling, recreational sports, and spending time with his family.

Education

Medical School
University of Illinois, Chicago, Illinois
Internal Medicine Residency
Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas
Gastroenterology Fellowship
Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas

Areas of Interest

Clinical Interests

Dr. Vasavada’s clinical interests include metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD), weight-loss management, nutrition, colon cancer, colonoscopy, GERD, and endoscopy.

Research Interests

Dr. Vasavada’s research focuses on application of artificial intelligence in gastroenterology and healthcare. He is currently involved in the development and utilization of an AI urgency classifier for patient generated inbox messages.

Publications

  1. Jaiswal M, De M, Chou S, Vasavada S, Bleher R, Prasad P, Bahadur D, Dravid VP. Thermoresponsive Magnetic hydrogels as Theranostic Nanoconstructs. ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2014 May 14;6(9):6237-47. doi: 10.1021/am501067j.
  2. Viola KL, Sbarboro J, Sureka R, De M, Bicca MA, Wang J, Vasavada S, Satpathy S, Wu S, Joshi H, Velasco PT, MacRenaris K, Waters EA, Lu C, Phan J, Lacor P, Prasad P, Dravid VP, Klein WL. Towards Non-invasive Diagnostic Imaging of early-stage Alzheimer’s disease. Nat Nanotechnol. 2015 Jan;10(1):91-8. doi: 10.1038/nnano.2014.254.
  3. Jaiswal MK, Pradhan L, Vasavada S, De M, Sarma HD, Prakash A, Bahadur D, Dravid VP. Magneto-thermally Responsive Hydrogels for Bladder Cancer Treatment: Therapeutic efficacy and in vivo Biodistribution. Colloids Surf B Biointerfaces. 2015 Dec 1;136:625-33. doi: 10.1016/j.colsurfb.2015.09.058.
  4. Vasavada S, Dobbs R, Kajdacsy-Balla A, Abern M, Moreira D. Inflammation on Prostate Needle Biopsy is Associated with Lower Prostate Cancer Risk: A Meta-Analysis. J Urol. 2018 May;199(5):1174-1181. doi: 10.1016/j.juro.2017.11.120
  5. Dobbs R, Stinson J, Vasavada S, Caldwell BM, Freeman VL, Garvey DF, Lu J, Moreira DM, Abern MR. Helping Men Find Their Way: Improving Prostate Cancer Clinic Attendance via Patient Navigation. J Community Health. 2020 Jun;45(3):561-568. doi: 10.1007/s10900-019-00776-w.
  6. Vasavada S, Panneerselvam K, Amin R, Varatharajalu K, Okhuysen PC, Oliva ICG, Wang J, Grivas P, Thomas AS, Wang Y. Clostridioides difficile infection in cancer patients receiving immune checkpoint inhibitors. Ann Gastroenterol. 2022 Jul-Aug;35(4):393-399. doi: 10.20524/aog.2022.0722.
  7. Vasavada S, Anandasabapathy S. Image Enhanced Endoscopy in Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma. Foregut. 2023 Nov;0(0). doi: 10.1177/26345161231211752.
  8. Zhang X, Tan M, Nabil M, Shukla R, Vasavada S, Anandasabapathy S, Anastasio M, Petrova E. Deep-learning- based image super-resolution of an end-expandable optical fiber probe for application in esophageal cancer diagnostics. J Biomed Opt. 2024;29(4):046001. doi:10.1117/1.JBO.29.4.046001.
  9. Hicheri C, Azimuddin AM, Kortum A, Bailey J, Tang Y, Schwarz R, Rosen D, Jain S, Mansour N, Groth S, Vasavada S, Rao A, Maliga A, Gallego L, Carns J, Anandasabapathy S, Richards-Kortum R. Design and Evaluation of ScanCap: A Low-Cost, Reusable Tethered Capsule Endoscope with Blue-Green Illumination Imaging for Unsedated Screening and Early Detection of Barrett’s Esophagus. Bioengineering. 2024;11(6):557. doi:10.3390/bioengineering11060557.