Dr. Maher A. Abbas

Dr. Abbas pursued his undergraduate studies at Emory University (Atlanta, Georgia, USA) and his medical degree from Stanford University (Palo Alto, California, USA).  He completed his surgical training at the Mayo Clinic and his colorectal surgery fellowship at the Cleveland Clinic Florida.  

Dr. Abbas has served in many clinical, academic, and administrative leadership roles. He was the founding chair of robotic and minimally invasive surgery at Kaiser Permanente, Los Angeles, California, and the regional chief of colon and rectal surgery for the Southern California Permanente Medical Group. He served as the first director of the Permanente national center of excellence for colon and rectal surgery. He joined the Cleveland Clinic in Abu Dhabi as the founding chair of the digestive disease institute. Subsequently, Dr. Abbas established the specialty of colorectal surgery in Dubai. He currently practices colorectal surgery in Dubai where he cares for national and international patients who seek his expertise from a geographical area spanning 8000 kilometers. His areas of expertise include minimally invasive surgery, therapeutic endoscopy, pelvic surgery, and proctology.

Dr. Abbas attained the rank of associate professor of surgery (University of California, Los Angeles and Irvine) and full professor of surgery (Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine).  He currently serves as a visiting professor at the University of the Philippines and he is an honorary fellow of the Philippine Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons.  He has conducted over 30 research studies.  He has > 150 publications and has delivered > 300 national and international talks.  He serves on several editorial boards and he is the associate editor of Diseases of Colon and Rectum, the official journal of the American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons.  He is a senior examiner member of the American Board of Colon and Rectal Surgery. 

As a former Olympian of the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games, Dr. Abbas is an avid mountaineer.