George

Ioannou

MD, MSc

Biography

Dr. Ioannou is a Professor of Medicine at the University of Washington and the Director of Hepatology at the Veterans Affairs Puget Sound Health Care System.

Dr. Ioannou has served as the Chair of the AASLD’s Practice Guidelines Committee from 2018-2022 and is currently the Chair of the ASSLD’s Public Health and Healthcare Delivery Special Interest Group (2023-2025). He was the Chair of the national Veterans Affairs Field Advisory Board (FAB) for hepatocellular carcinoma from 2021-2024. He is currently an Associate Editor of the Journal of Hepatology.

Dr. Ioannou is co-chairing the PREMIUM study, which is a randomized controlled trial of abbreviated MRI versus ultrasound for hepatocellular carcinoma in high-risk cirrhosis patients, sponsored by the Veterans Affairs Cooperative Studies Program and conducted across up to 47 VA facilities around the country.

He is the co-PI of an NCI-funded P20 grant aimed at investigating and ameliorating Liver Cancer Disparities in American Indian and Alaska Native people.

He is an expert in HCC risk prediction, risk stratification, and risk-based surveillance (“precision screening”).  

He receives funding from the VA to study clinical epidemiology and risk factors for cirrhosis and HCC and post-surgical outcomes in patients with cirrhosis.

He has studied risk factors and pathogenesis of metabolic dysfunction associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD), and propagated pathogenetic mechanisms of cholesterol-associated steatohepatitis through the development of cholesterol crystals and crown-like structures.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Ioannou has developed expertise in COVID-19 pharmacotherapy and vaccine effectiveness analysis using target trial emulation study designs.

Board Certifications

• Gastroenterology, 2006, American Board of Internal Medicine

Education & Training

Master in Epidemiology
University of Washington
2002

Fellowship in Gastroenterology
University of Washington

Residency in General Internal Medicine
Duke University Medical School

Internship in General Internal Medicine
Oxford University Medical School

Medical Education
Oxford University Medical School 
1996

Clinical Interests

• Gastroenterology (Digestive)
• Hospital Medicine

Publications