EBPL & St. Peter’s University Hospital Team Up For Lunch ‘N Learn

East Brunswick Public Library (2 Jean Walling Civic Center) is teaming up with Saint Peter’s University Hospital for a three-part virtual “Lunch ‘N Learn” program series.

Attendees will be able to watch these medical presentations during their lunchtime on the Zoom platform. This series focuses on gastrointestinal diseases.

The first program is “Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease” on Friday, October 23 at 12 p.m. This talk will focus on gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), and it will review the definition, symptoms, risk factors, diagnostic tests, treatments, and complications of reflux disease.

Sugirdhana Velpari, MD, board certified gastroenterologist, will lead this workshop. He is a member of the American College of Gastroenterology, American Neurogastroenterology and Motility Society and the American Gastroenterology Association. Dr. Velpari is the director of the Gastrointestinal (GI) Motility and GERD Therapy Laboratory at Saint Peter’s University Hospital. He is also the assistant program director of Saint Peter’s University Hospital Gastroenterology and Hepatology Fellowship Program.

“Basics of Inflammatory Bowel Disease” will be presented on Friday, November 6 at 12 p.m. Led by Debra Goldstein, MD, this program will explore what inflammatory bowel disease is and treatment options. Other topics include how different factors, including pregnancy and age, impact the condition.

Dr. Goldstein trained at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center and holds a clinical faculty position at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. With more than 20 years of experience in clinical gastroenterology, she sees patients at Saint Peter’s Physician Associates in Monroe Township and in the Center for Ambulatory Resources (CARES) on the Saint Peter’s campus in New Brunswick.

The final program in this series will be presented on Friday, December 18 at 12 p.m. Titled “Colon Polyp Screening... NOT the Same as Colon Cancer Screening,” this workshop will examine colorectal cancer, the third leading cancer in the world. Arkady Broder, MD, will introduce the audience to the benefits of colon cancer screening, and ultimately, prevention.

Dr. Broder is the chief of the division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at Saint Peter’s University Hospital. He holds a clinical faculty position at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and is the program director of the Medical School’s Gastroenterology Fellowship Program at Saint Peter's University Hospital. Dr. Broder is a recipient of the Excellence in GI Practice Operations Recognition Program from the American Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy.

Registration is requested for these free events. For more information or to register, go online to www.ebpl.org/calendar.

These programs are offered through the library’s “Just For The Health Of It!” consumer health and wellness information initiative. To learn more about this program, visit www.justforthehealthofit.org.