About

Empowering Future Leaders in Gastroenterology and Promoting Diversity in Healthcare

Rainbows in Gastro was founded by a group of physicians in order to uplift the LGBTQIA+ community by increasing our understanding of the unique digestive health needs of this population via research, advocate for our patients on a national platform, and build community amongst our current and future LGBTQIA+ providers and our allies.

Our mission is summarized by “CHARM” which stands for: Community, Healing, Advocacy, Research, and Mentorship. Through each of these pillars, we seek to engage with our community in meaningful ways in order to ultimately provide precision digestive health-related care for our LGBTQIA+ patients.

Our group’s vision is to ignite interest in ensuring that diversity is a critical component of growing the pipeline of the next generation of Gastroenterology and Hepatology physicians. By prioritizing recruitment of diverse individuals, we can ensure that our workforce accurately reflects the changing face of the patients we care for on a daily basis.

RIG’s origin story is somewhat serendipitous. Dr. Nikki Duong contacted Dr. Sonali Paul in August 2021 after reading her article entitled Overcoming the Challenges and Mitigating the Disparities in Our LGBTQI+ Patients in the American Journal of Gastroenterology where Dr. Paul discusses her own experience navigating the heteronormativity of medicine as a parent in a two-mother household.

After several meetings, RIG was born and officially became a non profit in June 2024. In addition to helping address health disparities in SGM populations, we also strive to increase mentorship and sponsorship for trainees and early career faculty in GI and hepatology who identify as LGBTQI+.

The RIG board members are physicians hailing from various specialities and clinical interests in GI and hepatology and across various SGM, ethnic, racial and social backgrounds.