R. Lawson BA, MS, MD

Education

2005 MD, Uniformed Services University, Bethesda, Maryland
1997 MS, Idaho State University, Pocatello, Idaho
1992 BS, Earlham College, Richmond, Indiana

Biography

Dr. Lawson has had an unorthodox though enriching career in science and medicine. Before joining the Navy he studied, worked and published in the fields of Ecology and Environmental Microbial Ecology obtaining a Masters of Science from Idaho State University. During these years he worked and performed research in a variety of locations including the Idaho National Environmental and Engineering Lab in Idaho Falls, Idaho, Yellowstone National Park, Tetons, a high elevation desert in Arizona and an oak savannah in Minnesota. He started his medical career in the Navy as a medical student at the Uniformed Services University where he graduated with a degree in allopathic medicine in 2005. He subsequently completed a Transitional internship and an Internal Medicine residency at the Naval Medical Center Portsmouth, Virginia. The following year he served as an Internist in the Department of Internal Medicine at the Naval Medical Center San Diego, California (NMCSD). Afterwards he pursued his interests in Gastroenterology and endoscopy by completing a Fellowship at NMCSD and an advanced Fellowship in Interventional Endoscopy at the University of California, San Diego. After returning to NMCSD Dr. Lawson served as the Director of Endoscopy and helped design the Combined Endoscopy Center (CEC), a state-of-the-art endoscopy center shared by gastroenterologist, general surgeons and interventional pulmonologists. He has served as Head of the CEC since its opening. A the sole gastroenterology advanced endoscopist for NMCSD since 2015 he has performed hundreds of ERCP and EUS procedures and has brought new procedures and techniques to the facility including endoscopic stitching, endoscopic necrosectomy through use of lumen apposing stents and endoscopic gallbladder stenting. His ongoing research activities include Per-Oral Endoscopic Myotomy in porcine model, cystic lesions of the pancreas and endoscopic quality.

Career Highlights: Positions, Projects, Deployements, Awards and Additional Publications

Head, Combined Endoscopy Center at Naval Medical Center San Diego, California. 2015-Present

Director of Endoscopy, Department of Gastroenterology, Naval Medical Center San Diego, California. 2013-Present

Key Clinical Faculty, Gastroenterology Fellowship, Naval Medical Center San Diego, California. 2013-Present

Gastroenterologist, Naval Hospital Okinawa, Okinawa Japan, 2013

Member, American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ASGE), 2008-Present

Member, International Association of Pancreatology (IAP), 2016-Present

Member, Society of Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons (SAGES), 2016-Present

Navy and Marine Corp Commendation Medal (#2), 2016

Navy Achievement Medal (#5), 2013

Representative Bibliography

Kwong WT, Hunt GC, Fehmi SM, Honerkamp-Smith G, Xu R, Lawson RD, Tang RS, Gonzalez I, Krinsky ML, Giap A and Savides TJ. 2015. Low Rates of Malignancy and Mortality in Asymptomatic Patients with Suspected Neoplastic Pancreatic Cysts Beyond 5 Years of Surveillance. Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2015 Dec 2

Kwong WT, Lawson RD, Hunt G, Fehmi SA, Proudfoot JA, Xu R, Giap A, Tang RS, Gonzalez I, Krinsky ML and Savides TJ. 2015. Rapid Growth Rates of Suspected Pancreatic Cyst Branch Duct Intraductal Papillary Mucinous Neoplasms Predict Malignancy. Dig Dis Sci. Sep;60(9):2800

Lawson RD, Hunt G, Giap A, Slezak J, Krinsky M, Tang R, Gonzales I, Kwong Wt and Savides TJ. 2014. Validation of the 2012 International Consensus Guidelines (Sendai Criteria) for Managing Cystic Lesions of the Pancreas. Ann Gastroenterol. 2015 Oct-Dec;28(4):487-94

Lawson RD and Savides TJ. 2013. Safely Stretching our Options for Removing Large CBD Stones. Digestive Disease Sciences. 58:894-896

Bernick S and Lawson RD. 2011. A Humanitarian Exercise During Gastroenterology Fellowship. Gastrointestinal Endoscopy. 74:635-636

Lawson RD and Coyle W. 2010. The Non-colonic Microbiome: Does it Matter. Current Gastroenterology Reports. 12:259