Meet Our Team

Naim Alkhouri, M.D., is the Director of the Fatty Liver Program and Medical Director of Research at the Clinical Research Institute of Ohio (CRIOH).  He also severs as the VP of Academic Affairs, Chief of Transplant Hepatology, and Director of the Fatty Liver Program at Arizona Liver Health (ALH) in Phoenix, AZ. Prior to joining CRIOH and ALH, Dr. Alkhouri served as the director of the Metabolic Health Center at the Texas Liver Institute and Associate Professor of Medicine and Pediatric at the University of Texas (UT) Health in San Antonio, TX.

Dr. Alkhouri completed his Gastroenterology and Transplant Hepatology training at the renowned Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, OH where he was also appointed Assistant Professor of Medicine and Director of the Metabolic Liver Disease Clinic at the Cleveland Clinic Digestive Disease and Surgery Institute. Dr. Alkhouri is a key opinion leader in the field of NASH therapeutics and an advisor/ consultant to many pharmaceutical and biomarker development companies.  He is Principal Investigator on several multicenter global NASH trials and a member of the AASLD NASH Special Interest Group (NASH SIG).

Dr. Alkhouri has been published in over 200 publications and presents his work at both national and international medical conferences. Among many research awards, Dr. Alkhouri received the American College of Gastroenterology Junior Faculty Development Award to study the analysis of breath volatile organic compounds to diagnose nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. Dr. Alkhouri’s specialty interests include nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, metabolic liver diseases, viral hepatitis, autoimmune hepatitis, alpha 1 antitrypsin deficiency, and liver transplantation.

Physician

Born and raised in Damascus, Syria, Dr. Mousab Tabbaa has over 35 years of experience in internal medicine and gastroenterology. He received his medical degree from the University of Damascus College of Medicine, graduating in the top 5 percent of his class. After serving as a clinical instructor at the Tichrine Medical Center in Damascus, Dr. Tabbaa moved to the US in 1982 for an externship at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, Florida. He then came to Ohio and completed his internship and residency in internal medicine, as well as his fellowship in gastroenterology, at Cleveland Metropolitan General Hospital.

Dr. Tabbaa has since remained in the Cleveland area. After completing his fellowship, Dr. Tabbaa co-founded North Shore Gastroenterology in 1989 along with Dr. Peter Greenwalt, who retired in 2016. In addition to serving as president of North Shore Gastroenterology and medical director of North Shore Endoscopy Center, Dr. Tabbaa is a founding trustee of the Cleveland Clinic Health Systems Physician Organization, now Community Physician Partnership (CPP); chairman of the finance committee for CPP; and chief of gastroenterology at Lakewood Hospital. He has also chaired the Board of Trustees of Lakewood Hospital and been a member of the Board of Trustees of the Cleveland Clinic Foundation and Cleveland Clinic Western Region, not to mention served on various health system and hospital committees.

Board certified in internal medicine and gastroenterology, Dr. Tabbaa is a member of numerous medical societies including the American College of Gastroenterology, American Liver Foundation, American College of Physicians, American Gastroenterology Association, American Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation, and American Medical Association.

Specializing in the management of liver and bile disorders, Dr. Tabbaa’s other interests include pancreatobiliary endoscopy, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), colorectal cancer screening and detection, and Barrett’s esophagus. Widely published, he has participated in numerous research studies and presentations pertaining to all aspects of gastroenterology.