Dr. Sonali Paul is Associate Professor of Medicine in the Section of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition at the University of Chicago. She obtained her medical degree from Tufts University School of Medicine and completed her residency at Massachusetts General Hospital and advanced fellowships in gastroenterology and transplant hepatology at Tufts and MGH respectively. She joined the University of Chicago in 2016 and has worked at the grass roots level to promote diversity and health care equity in the workplace, not just for patients but also for colleagues.
While establishing her academic and clinical niches in metabolic dysfunction associated steatotic liver disease and obesity medicine as a transplant hepatologist, Dr. Paul has been working on her other passion to promote health care equity, particularly in the LGBTQI+ population. She has increased awareness on health disparities in the LGBTQI+ population in the realms of gastroenterology, hepatology, and liver transplantation through national presentations and publications.
Dr. Paul is currently Associate Vice-Chair of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for the University of Chicago’s Department of Medicine and Associate Program Director in the Internal Medicine Residency Program. In these roles, Dr. Paul continues to lead efforts to support the Internal Medicine Inclusion and Diversity curriculum, recruit and retain diverse residents and faculty, promote an inclusive environment, and foster engagement within the Southside Chicago patients and community. She is also a previous member of the AASLD and AGA diversity committees and currently is the chair of the ACG’s Diversity Committee.
Dr. Paul is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of Rainbows in Gastro. She has been recognized for her work through various awards. She was the recipient of the University of Chicago’s Department of Medicine’s 2022 Diversity Award, 2023 ACG’s Edgar Achkar Visiting Scholar in Equity, Diversity, and Ethical Care, was awarded the 2023 Rising Disruptive Innovator at the 5th Annual Healio Disruptive Innovator Awards, and the recipient of ACG’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Award in 2024.