Tonya Kaltenbach

Tonya Kaltenbach, MD is a Professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) School of Medicine. She specializes in gastroenterology and endoscopy, with a focus on advancing endoscopic techniques, colonoscopy quality improvement, and medical education. Her work emphasizes simulation-based training, artificial intelligence integration in endoscopy, and colorectal cancer screening.

Education: Dr. Kaltenbach earned her BA in Biologic Basis of Behavior from the University of Pennsylvania (1996), MD from Jefferson Medical College (2001), and completed residency at Stanford University (2004). She further specialized in gastroenterology at Stanford (2007) and holds an MSc in Clinical Research from UCSF (2007). Additional training includes advanced endoscopy fellowships in Japan (2009) and the US.

Research: Her research spans endoscopy quality metrics, non-polypoid colorectal neoplasms, and improving adenoma detection rates. She leads initiatives like the VA Endoscopy Quality Improvement Program (VA-EQuIP) and pioneered simulation-based mastery learning for endoscopy training. Key contributions include advancing optical diagnosis techniques and AI applications in real-time polyp histology prediction.

Awards: Recognized with the Distinguished Master Endoscopist award (ASGE, 2022), multiple Education Audiovisual Awards, and grants from institutions like the VA and NIH. Her work has been published in high-impact journals such as Gastroenterology and Annals of Internal Medicine.

Grants & Teams: Collaborates on national projects like the VA-EQuIP trial and the Bali Endoscopy Simulation Training (BEST) program. Leads teams focusing on endoscopy training standards and colorectal cancer prevention strategies.