Stephen is the founding member of Townsville Gastroenterology and a visiting specialist at the Townsville Hospital, Mater Hospital and the Townsville Day Surgery. He is accredited with the Royal Australian College of Physicians in gastroenterology and general medicine and is a member of the Gastroenterological Society of Australia and the American Gastroenterology Association. 

 

He graduated in medicine from Melbourne University in 1983, after which he completed his specialist training in gastroenterology and general medicine. Townsville was his first choice since there was a much greater need for specialist services in the north, and he loves the country and the outback. He is the author of four books aimed at patient education in the areas of disease and cancer prevention.

 

Stephen's medical interests encompass all areas of clinical gastroenterology and liver disease — particularly cancer prevention. His procedural expertise includes gastroscopy, colonoscopy, ERCP, liver biopsy, capsule endoscopy, HALO (ablation of precancerous change in the oesophagus) and double-bubble small bowel enteroscopy (examination of the entire small bowel by endoscopy). 

Cris graduated from the University of Nairobi Medical School in 1998. He undertook specialist training in gastroenterology, general internal medicine and clinical pharmacology and therapeutics at the Royal Liverpool Hospital (UK). This lead to the award of Membership of the Royal College of Physicians (MRCP Gastroenterology) and Certificate of Completion of Training (CCT) in the three specialties in 2012.

 

While in the UK, Cris completed his thesis exploring genetic factors predisposing to peptic ulcer disease and was awarded a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree from the University of Liverpool in 2016. He undertook advanced fellowship training in therapeutic endoscopy at both Bradford Royal Infirmary and Westmead Hospital. He is also a fellow of both the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh (FRCPE) and the Royal Australian College of Physicians (FRACP). 

 

Cris holds a staff specialist position at The Townsville Hospital. He remains actively involved in research and has published multiple papers in peer-reviewed international journals. He provides patients with high-quality specialist gastroenterologist services including consultation, diagnostic and therapeutic endoscopy, colonoscopy, capsule endoscopy and endoscopic ultrasound. His clinical interests span the breadth of general gastroenterology and hepatology.