Duke Gastroenterology expanded services to patients in Wake County, with the recent hire of gastroenterologist Alexander Reddy, MD, who joined this team as Director of Motility at Duke Gastroenterology of Raleigh.

“I'm very familiar with Duke University, the practice, and also the quality of care that we strive to achieve for our patients,” says Reddy, who completed his residency and fellowship at Duke. 

“Having an expert who’s been trained here at Duke, who can carry out our mission in Raleigh is a tremendous asset for our program and for our patients,” adds David Leiman, MD, MSHP, Director of the Duke Esophageal Program and member of the Duke Clinical Research Institute.

Reddy will provide comprehensive GI care, with a focus on the diagnosis and treatment of esophageal conditions such as gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and associated complications, including Barrett’s esophagus, as well as swallowing disorders that include eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) and achalasia.

According to Leiman, approximately 20 to 30% of adults in the United States have reflux disease. “Among that group, around 5 to 10% will develop Barrett’s esophagus, which is a risk factor for esophageal cancer,” he says.
Patients with chronic GERD and Barrett’s esophagus require advanced diagnostics and ongoing surveillance to monitor for the earliest signs of esophageal adenocarcinoma, a type of cancer with a poor prognosis if not detected early.

“The care of these patients has been revolutionized in just the last 20 years, and we have several technologies that we can use to treat this endoscopically,” says Leiman. “Preventing cancer, and avoiding the significant surgery sometimes needed to treat it, are our primary goals. And that’s really what we’re hoping to achieve by enrolling patients in endoscopic surveillance.”

With the addition of Reddy to the Duke GI team, patients in Wake County will have access to these next-generation diagnostics and treatments closer to home. “We are now offering testing at this location that wasn’t available before, such as esophageal manometry with impedance in addition to multiple pH testing modalities. We will also be able to offer eradication therapy for Barrett's using radiofrequency ablation. These advanced techniques will now be available to patients at our Duke Raleigh site,” says Reddy.

The expansion of GI services in Wake County is a testament to Duke’s ongoing commitment to respond to the evolving healthcare needs of this growing community. Through the Esophageal Center at Duke, which is a collaboration between GI, thoracic and minimally invasive surgery, there is a solid framework of multidisciplinary GI care in place that extends across the Triangle, with the same team of skilled clinicians serving multiple clinic locations. 

“Many of the same people who are providing top-notch care in Durham are also in Raleigh,” says Leiman. “Gastroenterology, thoracic surgery, and minimally invasive surgery teams are all collaborating to co-manage patients in the best possible way.”

Just as they are united in providing comprehensive care to patients, Duke GI specialists also share a commitment to advancing treatment for esophageal disorders by participating in clinical research. With Leiman, who leads Duke’s esophageal research efforts, as his mentor throughout his medical training, Reddy shares his dedication to discovery and will work to expand clinical trial offerings to patients in Raleigh.

“We have clinical trials for conditions such as eosinophilic esophagitis, as well as other ongoing research into our patient population to help us better understand those that we're caring for,” says Reddy. “We anticipate continuing to offer those trials and enrolling patients at our Duke Raleigh site for anybody who might be eligible.”

“Ideally, in the future, we'll have almost a mirror set of capabilities in both locations,” adds Leiman.