New Year, Less Reflux: LINX Innovations Explained
January 21, 2026
6:00pm CT
Join us to learn how the LINX™️ Reflux Management System continues to redefine the surgical treatment of reflux disease. Guest panels and case review topics include: Post sleeve gastrectomy patient selection, LINX™️ and Barrett’s esophagus, and LINX™️ and larger hiatal hernias.
Speakers:
Dr. Mike Smith, MD, MBA Associate System Chief of GI for Clinical Operations & Strategic Planning, Mount Sinai Health SystemMichael S. Smith, MD, MBA is the Associate System Chief of Gastroenterology for the Mount Sinai Health System. He also serves as Director of the Esophageal Program and Chief of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at Mount Sinai West and Mount Sinai Morningside Hospitals, and is an Associate Professor of Medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Dr. Smith graduated magna cum laude from Princeton University with a concentration in molecular biology, after which he earned both an MD and MBA with honors in healthcare management at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and the Wharton School of Business. He then completed a residency in internal medicine at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, followed by a gastroenterology fellowship at the Columbia campus of the New York-Presbyterian Hospital. As a member of the medical faculty at Temple University in Philadelphia and later at Mount Sinai, Dr. Smith has focused on the management of esophageal disease. His research interests have focused on evaluating how new technologies are best incorporated into everyday treatment of these conditions. Dr. Smith has lectured throughout the US and internationally, and has served as a mentor to many physicians new to endoluminal treatments for Barrett's esophagus. He is a founding member, Secretary and Executive Committee member of the American Foregut Society, and will serve as the Society's president in 2025-26.
Dr. John Lipham, MD, FACS Professor & Chief of Upper GI Surgery, University Of Southern California
John C. Lipham, M.D., is Chief of the Division of Upper GI and General Surgery and Professor of Surgery at the Keck School of Medicine of USC. He was the co-founder and Inaugural President of the American Foregut Society and currently serves on the Board. Dr Lipham also serves as the Foregut Cancer Program Director and Chief of USC Affiliated Academic Programs in Orange County. He is also the Co-Director of the USC Esophageal and Foregut Disorders Center at Keck Medical Center. Dr Lipham is also an Adjunct Professor of Surgery at the Medical University of Vienna. He focuses on benign and malignant diseases of the esophagus and stomach. His clinical interests include the diagnosis and treatment of GERD, hiatal hernias, Barrett's esophagus, esophageal motility disorders, achalasia, malignant diseases of the esophagus and stomach. His current research interests include developing minimally invasive methods of diagnosing and treating gastroesophageal reflux disease, Barrett's, and esophageal cancer.
Dr. Caitlin Houghton, MD Surgery, Keck Of USC
Dr. Houghton is an esteemed member of the Upper GI and General Surgery Division and serves patients at our Keck Hospital and Hoag locations. Dr. Houghton graduated with honors from Wayne State Medical School in Detroit. She then completed her surgical residency at UC Irvine before heading to UC San Diego, where she completed a fellowship in Minimally Invasive and Advanced Endoscopic Surgery. Dr. Houghton has a particular expertise in robotic surgery. She continues to expand her skills in this area, and has been involved in setting up a robotic surgery training program for residents. Her other clinical interests include the diagnosis and treatment gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), hiatal and paraesophageal hernias, and esophageal motility disorders, including achalasia. She has been instrumental in starting our Per Oral Endoscopic Myotomy (POEM) program at USC.
