Wasseem Skef, MD

Biography

Wasseem Skef, MD, is a gastroenterologist at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. He previously served on the faculty at Baylor College of Medicine and Loma Linda University Medical Center. Dr. Skef has built comprehensive esophageal programs at both institutions, including co-directing third-space endoscopy programs and establishing new regional capabilities, including transoral incisionless fundoplication and peroral endoscopic myotomy (POEM) procedures.

Dr. Skef completed his undergraduate and medical education at Weill Cornell Medicine in Qatar. He pursued internal medicine residency at Boston Medical Center – Brighton (formerly known as St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center), followed by fellowships in Gastroenterology and Hepatology at the University of Illinois at Chicago, and in Interventional Endoscopy at the University of Pittsburgh. He also served as Chief Resident during his training.

His clinical and academic interests include advanced and therapeutic endoscopy, gastroesophageal reflux disease, esophageal motility disorders, endoscopic resection, and minimally invasive foregut interventions. He is especially engaged in esophageal physiology and innovations in third-space endoscopy.

Dr. Skef has authored numerous peer-reviewed publications, including in The American Journal of Gastroenterology, Gastroenterology, Surgical Endoscopy, Diseases of the Esophagus, Annals of Surgery, and VideoGIE. His work focuses on novel endoscopic techniques, pancreatic cyst diagnostics, and outcomes in esophageal interventions. He also regularly presents at national conferences such as DDW and ACG.

He is board-certified in both Internal Medicine (2016) and Gastroenterology (2019) by the American Board of Internal Medicine.”