Board of Directors
Dr. Ian Bookman, President
Dr. Ian Bookman is President of the Ontario Association of Clinic Endoscopists. He is Head of the Division of Gastroenterology at St. Joseph’s Health Centre and Medical Director of the Kensington Screening Clinic. Dr. Bookman is Co-Founder of www.thetummyclinic.ca, a virtual, multi-disciplinary IBS clinic with Registered Dietitians, Naturopathic Doctors, Psychologists and Nurse Practitioners. He is also Founder of www.bumrun.com, a charity that raises awareness of colon cancer screening and prevention.
Dr. Andrew Bellini, Vice President
Andrew Bellini obtained his medical degree at the University of Toronto. He went on to complete his training in internal medicine and Gastroenterology at the University of Toronto. He has been in clinical practice at William Osler Health System since 1997. He is past president of OACA and is the current Chair of the OMA medical interest group, clinic endoscopists. He is the GI endoscopy regional lead for Mississauga Halton/Central West region and the MedicalDirector of Scope Clinic.
Dr. Nelson King, Past President
Dr. King was born and raised in Toronto. He is a graduate of Earl Haig Secondary School in North York. He attended Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario for his undergraduate work, and later completed medical school at the University of Toronto, graduating in 1991. Dr. King completed his surgical training at the University of Toronto and joined the Royal College as a Fellow in 1996. He recently celebrated his 20th year as a member of the active staff of the Department of Surgery at the Etobicoke campus of the William Osler Health System.
His focus is on the surgical management of both benign and malignant conditions. During his tenure Dr. King has served as the Head of the Division of General Surgery. Dr. King was a founding partner in the Ontario Colonoscopy Clinic, which continues to provide care in colon cancer screening in the community. To date, the clinic has performed more than 30,000 procedures. Dr. King was an original executive member of the Ontario Association of Clinic Endoscopists (O.A.C.E.) in 2008, and currently serves as the Association’s President.
Away from the workplace, Dr. King is kept busy by three active children and three adult step-children. Grand-children cannot be far away! The cottage serves as a relaxing getaway. As an avid sports fan, the games provide a nice distraction
Dr. Augustin Nguyen, Treasurer
Dr. Augustin Nguyen holds Bachelors and Masters of Science in Biochemistry. He completed his MD at the University of Toronto School of Medicine, graduating as a member of the Alpha Omega Alpha Honour Medical Society.
Dr. Nguyen continued with his training in internal medicine and gastroenterology at the University of Toronto. He is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada in both internal medicine and gastroenterology. His interests in gastroenterology include inflammatory bowel disease, chronic liver disease, endoscopy, and quality of care. He has active staff privileges at Cambridge Memorial Hospital and is the current Chief of the Department of Medicine, Physician Director of Medical Programs, Physician Lead in Endoscopy, as well as Co-Chair of the Endoscopy Quality Committee. He has also been on a number of regional committees for Waterloo-Wellington Region including the FIT implementation steering committee. He is a founding member of the Tri-City Colonoscopy Clinic in Kitchener. He has been Medical Director of Tri-City Colonoscopy since 2013.
Dr. Mark Silverberg, Secretary
Executive
Dr. Doug Hemphill
Dr. Hemphill trained at McMaster (Meds '89) and then did fellowship training in Internal Medicine and Gastroenterology at University of Toronto. He has been on staff at the Royal Victoria Regional Health center in the Barrie since 1997. He practices gastroenterology and hepatology with 4 colleagues in Barrie. He performs endoscopy in both hospital and clinic setting. Barrie Endoscopy was established in 2007. It is run by 4 gastroenterologists in 6 general surgeons all of whom have privileges at RVH. Operating costs are partially offset by CCO funding, over seen by a unique partnership between the hospital and our clinic. Dr. Hemphill was the founding member of the Ontario Association of Clinic Endoscopists (OACE) and he is an active member of the executive. He is the Regional Colorectal Screening/GI Endoscopy Lead for the Simcoe Muskoka Regional Cancer Program.
Dr. Nicky Marwaha
Dr. Avantika Marwaha grew up in Montreal during her formative years and learned to speak French at a very early age.
She continued her high school and University studies in French.
She is therefore fluently bilingual in both of Canada’s national languages.
She is also fluent in Hindi, Punjabi and Urdu.
Dr. Marwaha completed a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Occupational Therapy at the University of Ottawa in 2000. She graduated with high distinction and was a Silver Medallist in the graduating class.
She then enrolled in the bilingual medical school at the
University of Ottawa and graduated with distinction in 2004.
Dr. Marwaha completed her internal medicine and gastroenterology training at McMaster University. She graduated from the Gastroenterology program in 2010. During her training, she worked on research related to the prevalence and risk factors for dyspepsia with Dr. Paul Moayyedi, an internationally renowned gastroenterologist. She did an oral presentation related to this topic at the Digestive Disease Week (DDW) 2009 conference, an important International conference for gastroenterologists.
She also trained under the auspices of Dr. Richard Hunt and Dr. Stephen Collins, two very prominent and award winning gastroenterologists known worldwide for their advancement and research contributions to the field of gastroenterology.
Dr. Marwaha is passionate about working in underserviced areas and with underprivileged communities. She has provided internal medicine and gastroenterology care to many underserviced areas within Canada, including Thunder Bay, Ontario; Yellowknife, Northwest Territories and Cambridge Bay, Nunavut. She also did an educational elective at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), a government hospital in New Delhi, India, during her gastroenterology training. These experiences have instilled in her the importance of providing holistic and culturally-sensitive care to patients.
Dr. Marwaha keeps abreast of recent advances in gastroenterology through participation in monthly journal clubs, attendance at International conferences and through personal readings. During her free time, she enjoys traveling, reading, cooking and spending time with loved ones.
Dr. Marwaha is very keen to bring her knowledge and skills to the GI Health Centre, providing vital GI-related services to Burlington and to the surrounding communities.