Title: Physician
Company: University of California, San Diego
Location: Del Mar, California, United States
Denise Kalmaz, MD, Physician at the University of California, San Diego, has been recognized by Marquis Who’s Who Top Doctors for dedication, achievements, and leadership in gastroenterology.
From watching her mother excel as an oncology research physician and her father as a chemical engineer, Dr. Kalmaz was inspired to pursue a career in the medical profession in her own right. She first earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Texas at Austin, followed by a Doctor of Medicine from the University of Texas Houston Health Science Center in 2002. From there, Dr. Kalmaz went on to excel as an internal medicine resident at the University of California, Los Angeles and as a gastroenterology fellow at the University of California, San Diego between 2002 and 2008.
In her current professional roles, Dr. Kalmaz serves the University of California, San Diego as a clinical professor, director for the Small Bowel Endoscopy and fellowship director of the GI Training Program. Specializing in general gastroenterology, she covers diseases of the stomach, intestines, colon, esophagus, as well as conducts upper endoscopies and colonoscopies. Notably, Dr. Kalmaz is renowned for her specialized procedure called the Double Balloon Enteroscopy, which she did for more than one decade, as well as a capsule endoscopy to look in the small intestine.
Among her varying responsibilities, Dr. Kalmaz mostly dedicates her time to conducting clinical research. Her most recent publication is “The Guidelines for the Evaluation of Iron Deficiency Anemia” through the American Gastroenterology Society. She researched this topic for three years, which now all gastroenterologists follow in evaluating a very common condition-specific type of anemia, iron deficiency anemia, that is likely from the GI tract. With this sentiment, Dr. Kalmaz maintains professional affiliation with the American Gastroenterological Association, the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Society and the San Diego GI Society, of which she currently serves as president.
Reflecting on her career thus far, Dr. Kalmaz credits her success to the mentors she has had throughout her professional trajectory. She notes Tom Sabides helped to shape her interest in the small bowel and her interest in fellowship training, as well as being instrumental in promoting diversity. In addition, she credits her colleague, Heather Patton, who co-founded with her the Gorgeous Ladies of Gastroenterology (GLOGE), an organization to promote diversity and female presence in a male-dominated field of medicine. Looking toward the future, Dr. Kalmaz hopes to continue to be involved in educating, mentoring and having teaching clinics through the University of California, San Diego’s wonderful environment.
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