James Allison, MD

Professor Emeritus

Dr. Allison received a BA with honors from the University of Pennsylvania, and, in 1969, his MD from the University of Rochester. His entire post graduate training was at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) and the University of California San Francisco (UCSF). He began his medical career at Kaiser San Rafael in 1974 where he was that groups’ first gastroenterologist. In 1977 he transferred to Kaiser Oakland Medical Center where he was a full-time gastroenterologist and educator (Assistant Program Director – Internal Medicine) and where he devoted the majority of his time to patient care, administration, clinical research and teaching. In 1996 he received the Lowell Beal MD Award “in appreciation of his example of academic excellence combined with warm humanity.” He retired as a clinician from Kaiser in 1998.

After his retirement from Kaiser, Dr. Allison was invited to be a member of the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) faculty and an Emeritus Investigator at Kaiser Permanente’s Division of Research.

He is Clinical Professor of Medicine Emeritus at UCSF and is a member of the Division of Gastroenterology at UCSF and the San Francisco General Hospital. In 2003, he received the Bay Area Chapter of the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation’s Premier Physician Award, and in 2004, the American Gastroenterological Association‘s (AGA) Distinguished Clinician Award. He is a fellow of the American College of Physicians and of the American Gastroenterological Association.

Dr. Allison is a national and international expert on screening tests for colon cancer. In a publication in The New England Journal of Medicine in 1996, he was the first person in the U.S. to show that the fecal immunochemical test (FIT) was superior to the standard guaiac fecal occult blood test for screening for colorectal cancer. Since 2000 Dr. Allison has been an ad hoc consultant to the Centers for Disease Control, National Cancer Institute and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) on issues concerned with screening for colorectal cancer. Currently he is working with the California Colorectal Cancer Coalition (C4), California and San Francisco Departments of Public Health to increase screening rates in the uninsured/underserved population by instituting a FIT based screening program in clinics served by safety net hospitals. The screening model this group has developed is being exported to other parts of the San Francisco Bay Area and state of California and has support from both the CDC and the American Gastroenterological Association.

In addition to expertise in colorectal cancer screening tests, Dr. Allison has been a dedicated researcher in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). In 2005 he helped establish an Inflammatory Bowel Disease (Crohn’s Disease and Ulcerative Colitis) registry of over 25000 patients at Kaiser’s Division of Research. In the past 7 years, close to 20 peer reviewed publications have been published from information contained in the registry.

Dr. Allison’s screening and IBD research has been published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, The New England Journal of Medicine, Gastroenterology, Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, the Journal of the National Cancer Institute and other peer reviewed journals. He has been quoted in Prevention Magazine, the Ladies’ Home Journal, the Wall Street Journal, the San Francisco Chronicle and the New York Times.

Education
PGY 3 and Fellowship in Gastroenterology, 06/1974 - Internal Medicine/Gastroenterology, UCSF
PGY 1&2, 05/1971 - Internal Medicine, UCLA
MD, 05/1969 - Medicine, University of Rochester
AB, 05/1964 - French, University of Pennsylvania
Honors and Awards
  • 2017 Achievement Award, American Cancer Society, 2017
  • Distinguished Clinician Award, American Gastroenterological Association (AGA), 2004
  • Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation’s Premier Physician Award, Bay Area Chapter Crohn's and Colitis Foundation, 2003
  • Lowell Beal MD Award, Kaiser Oakland Medical Center, 1996
Publications
  1. Bresalier RS, Senore C, Young GP, Allison J, Benamouzig R, Benton S, Bossuyt PMM, Caro L, Carvalho B, Chiu HM, Coupé VMH, de Klaver W, de Klerk CM, Dekker E, Dolwani S, Fraser CG, Grady W, Guittet L, Gupta S, Halloran SP, Haug U, Hoff G, Itzkowitz S, Kortlever T, Koulaouzidis A, Ladabaum U, Lauby-Secretan B, Leja M, Levin B, Levin TR, Macrae F, Meijer GA, Melson J, O'Morain C, Parry S, Rabeneck L, Ransohoff DF, Sáenz R, Saito H, Sanduleanu-Dascalescu S, Schoen RE, Selby K, Singh H, Steele RJC, Sung JJY, Symonds EL, Winawer SJ, Members of the World Endoscopy Colorectal Cancer Screening New Test Evaluation Expert Working Group. An efficient strategy for evaluating new non-invasive screening tests for colorectal cancer: the guiding principles. Gut 2023. PMID: 37463757


  2. Jain N, Senapati J, Thakral B, Ferrajoli A, Thompson P, Burger J, Basu S, Kadia T, Daver N, Borthakur G, Konopleva M, Pemmaraju N, Parry E, Wu CJ, Khoury J, Bueso-Ramos C, Garg N, Wang X, Lopez W, Ayala A, O'Brien S, Kantarjian H, Keating M, Allison J, Sharma P, Wierda W. A phase 2 study of nivolumab combined with ibrutinib in patients with diffuse large B-cell Richter transformation of CLL. Blood advances 2023. PMID: 36287248


  3. Hoffman RM, Levy BT, Allison JE. Rising Use of Multitarget Stool DNA Testing for Colorectal Cancer. JAMA network open 2021. PMID: 34473264


  4. Allison J. Why What You May Not Know About Fecal Immunochemical Testing Matters. Annals of internal medicine 2019. PMID: 31307085


  5. Allison J. Why What You May Not Know About Fecal Immunochemical Testing Matters. Annals of internal medicine 2019. PMID: 30802903


  6. Amaria RN, Reddy SM, Tawbi HA, Davies MA, Ross MI, Glitza IC, Cormier JN, Lewis C, Hwu WJ, Hanna E, Diab A, Wong MK, Royal R, Gross N, Weber R, Lai SY, Ehlers R, Blando J, Milton DR, Woodman S, Kageyama R, Wells DK, Hwu P, Patel SP, Lucci A, Hessel A, Lee JE, Gershenwald J, Simpson L, Burton EM, Posada L, Haydu L, Wang L, Zhang S, Lazar AJ, Hudgens CW, Gopalakrishnan V, Reuben A, Andrews MC, Spencer CN, Prieto V, Sharma P, Allison J, Tetzlaff MT, Wargo JA. Publisher Correction: Neoadjuvant immune checkpoint blockade in high-risk resectable melanoma. Nature medicine 2018. PMID: 30361511


  7. Amaria RN, Reddy SM, Tawbi HA, Davies MA, Ross MI, Glitza IC, Cormier JN, Lewis C, Hwu WJ, Hanna E, Diab A, Wong MK, Royal R, Gross N, Weber R, Lai SY, Ehlers R, Blando J, Milton DR, Woodman S, Kageyama R, Wells DK, Hwu P, Patel SP, Lucci A, Hessel A, Lee JE, Gershenwald J, Simpson L, Burton EM, Posada L, Haydu L, Wang L, Zhang S, Lazar AJ, Hudgens CW, Gopalakrishnan V, Reuben A, Andrews MC, Spencer CN, Prieto V, Sharma P, Allison J, Tetzlaff MT, Wargo JA. Neoadjuvant immune checkpoint blockade in high-risk resectable melanoma. Nature medicine 2018. PMID: 30297909


  8. Liang PS, Allison J, Ladabaum U, Martinez ME, Murphy CC, Schoen RE, Shaukat A, Tinmouth J, Gupta S. Potential intended and unintended consequences of recommending initiation of colorectal cancer screening at age 45 years. Gastroenterology 2018. PMID: 30138614


  9. Alsayid M, Singh MH, Issaka R, Laleau V, Day L, Lee J, Allison J, Somsouk M. Yield of Colonoscopy After a Positive Result From a Fecal Immunochemical Test OC-Light. Clinical gastroenterology and hepatology : the official clinical practice journal of the American Gastroenterological Association 2018. PMID: 29660528


  10. Dominitz JA, Robertson DJ, Ahnen DJ, Allison JE, Antonelli M, Boardman KD, Ciarleglio M, Del Curto BJ, Huang GD, Imperiale TF, Larson MF, Lieberman D, O'Connor T, O'Leary TJ, Peduzzi P, Provenzale D, Shaukat A, Sultan S, Voorhees A, Wallace R, Guarino PD. Colonoscopy vs. Fecal Immunochemical Test in Reducing Mortality From Colorectal Cancer (CONFIRM): Rationale for Study Design. Volume 112 of Issue 11. The American journal of gastroenterology 2017. PMID: 29016565


  11. Akram A, Juang D, Bustamante R, Liu L, Earles A, Ho SB, Wang-Rodriguez J, Allison JE, Gupta S. Replacing the Guaiac Fecal Occult Blood Test With the Fecal Immunochemical Test Increases Proportion of Individuals Screened in a Large Healthcare Setting. Volume 15 of Issue 8. Clinical gastroenterology and hepatology : the official clinical practice journal of the American Gastroenterological Association 2017. PMID: 28167157


  12. Young GP, Senore C, Mandel JS, Allison JE, Atkin WS, Benamouzig R, Bossuyt PM, Silva MD, Guittet L, Halloran SP, Haug U, Hoff G, Itzkowitz SH, Leja M, Levin B, Meijer GA, O'Morain CA, Parry S, Rabeneck L, Rozen P, Saito H, Schoen RE, Seaman HE, Steele RJ, Sung JJ, Winawer SJ. Recommendations for a step-wise comparative approach to the evaluation of new screening tests for colorectal cancer. Volume 122 of Issue 6. Cancer 2016. PMID: 26828588


  13. Fraser CG, Allison JE, Young GP, Halloran SP, Seaman HE. Improving the reporting of evaluations of faecal immunochemical tests for haemoglobin: the FITTER standard and checklist. Volume 24 of Issue 1. European journal of cancer prevention : the official journal of the European Cancer Prevention Organisation (ECP) 2015. PMID: 24584197


  14. Young GP, Symonds EL, Allison JE, Cole SR, Fraser CG, Halloran SP, Kuipers EJ, Seaman HE. Advances in Fecal Occult Blood Tests: the FIT revolution. Volume 60 of Issue 3. Digestive diseases and sciences 2014. PMID: 25492500


  15. Green BB, Coronado GD, Devoe JE, Allison J. Navigating the murky waters of colorectal cancer screening and health reform. Volume 104 of Issue 6. American journal of public health 2014. PMID: 24825195


  16. Gupta S, Sussman DA, Doubeni CA, Anderson DS, Day L, Deshpande AR, Elmunzer BJ, Laiyemo AO, Mendez J, Somsouk M, Allison J, Bhuket T, Geng Z, Green BB, Itzkowitz SH, Martinez ME. Challenges and possible solutions to colorectal cancer screening for the underserved. Volume 106 of Issue 4. Journal of the National Cancer Institute 2014. PMID: 24681602


  17. Fraser CG, Allison JE, Young GP, Halloran SP, Seaman H. A standard for Faecal Immunochemical TesTs for haemoglobin evaluation reporting (FITTER). Volume 51 of Issue Pt 2. Annals of clinical biochemistry 2013. PMID: 24345727


  18. Day LW, Bhuket T, Allison J. FIT testing: an overview. Volume 15 of Issue 11. Current gastroenterology reports 2013. PMID: 24218070


  19. Fraser CG, Halloran SP, Allison JE, Young GP. Making colorectal cancer screening FITTER for purpose with quantitative faecal immunochemical tests for haemoglobin (FIT). Volume 51 of Issue 11. Clinical chemistry and laboratory medicine 2013. PMID: 23787468


  20. Li D, Collins B, Velayos FS, Liu L, Lewis JD, Allison JE, Flowers NT, Hutfless S, Abramson O, Herrinton LJ. Racial and ethnic differences in health care utilization and outcomes among ulcerative colitis patients in an integrated health-care organization. Volume 59 of Issue 2. Digestive diseases and sciences 2013. PMID: 24173809


  21. Fraser CG, Allison JE, Young GP, Halloran SP. Quantitation of hemoglobin improves fecal immunochemical tests for noninvasive screening. Volume 11 of Issue 7. Clinical gastroenterology and hepatology : the official clinical practice journal of the American Gastroenterological Association 2013. PMID: 23591278


  22. Gupta S, Tong L, Anderson P, Rose B, Carter E, Koch M, Argenbright K, Ahn C, Allison J, Skinner CS. Measurement of colorectal cancer test use with medical claims data in a safety-net health system. Volume 345 of Issue 2. The American journal of the medical sciences 2013. PMID: 22814361


  23. Allison JE. Colorectal-cancer screening. Volume 366 of Issue 22. The New England journal of medicine 2012. PMID: 22646640


  24. Herrinton LJ, Liu L, Levin TR, Allison JE, Lewis JD, Velayos F. Incidence and mortality of colorectal adenocarcinoma in persons with inflammatory bowel disease from 1998 to 2010. Volume 143 of Issue 2. Gastroenterology 2012. PMID: 22609382


  25. Fraser CG, Allison JE, Halloran SP, Young GP. A proposal to standardize reporting units for fecal immunochemical tests for hemoglobin. Volume 104 of Issue 11. Journal of the National Cancer Institute 2012. PMID: 22472305


  26. Fraser CG, Allison JE, Young GP, Halloran SP. Newer fecal tests: opportunities for professionals in laboratory medicine. Volume 58 of Issue 6. Clinical chemistry 2012. PMID: 22452971


  27. Allison JE, Fraser CG, Halloran SP, Young GP. Comparing fecal immunochemical tests: improved standardization is needed. Volume 142 of Issue 3. Gastroenterology 2012. PMID: 22281273


  28. Herrinton LJ, Liu L, Weng X, Lewis JD, Hutfless S, Allison JE. Role of thiopurine and anti-TNF therapy in lymphoma in inflammatory bowel disease. Volume 106 of Issue 12. The American journal of gastroenterology 2011. PMID: 22031357


  29. Allison JE, Fraser CG. ACP Journal Club. Fecal immunochemical tests had better sensitivity for detecting colorectal neoplasia in aspirin users than in nonusers. Volume 154 of Issue 8. Annals of internal medicine 2011. PMID: 21502636


  30. Allison JE. FIT: a valuable but underutilized screening test for colorectal cancer-it's time for a change. Volume 105 of Issue 9. The American journal of gastroenterology 2010. PMID: 20818351


  31. Velayos FS, Liu L, Lewis JD, Allison JE, Flowers N, Hutfless S, Abramson O, Perry GS, Herrinton LJ. Prevalence of colorectal cancer surveillance for ulcerative colitis in an integrated health care delivery system. Volume 139 of Issue 5. Gastroenterology 2010. PMID: 20659470


  32. Abramson O, Durant M, Mow W, Finley A, Kodali P, Wong A, Tavares V, McCroskey E, Liu L, Lewis JD, Allison JE, Flowers N, Hutfless S, Velayos FS, Perry GS, Cannon R, Herrinton LJ. Incidence, prevalence, and time trends of pediatric inflammatory bowel disease in Northern California, 1996 to 2006. Volume 157 of Issue 2. The Journal of pediatrics 2010. PMID: 20400099


  33. Allison JE. Colorectal cancer screening guidelines: the importance of evidence and transparency. Volume 138 of Issue 5. Gastroenterology 2010. PMID: 20211181


  34. Allison JE. The best screening test for colorectal cancer is the one that gets done well. Volume 71 of Issue 2. Gastrointestinal endoscopy 2010. PMID: 20152313


  35. Liu L, Allison JE, Herrinton LJ. Validity of computerized diagnoses, procedures, and drugs for inflammatory bowel disease in a northern California managed care organization. Volume 18 of Issue 11. Pharmacoepidemiology and drug safety 2009. PMID: 19672855


  36. Allison JE, Potter MB. New screening guidelines for colorectal cancer: a practical guide for the primary care physician. Volume 36 of Issue 3. Primary care 2009. PMID: 19616156


  37. Gupta S, Tong L, Allison JE, Carter E, Koch M, Rockey DC, Anderson P, Ahn C, Argenbright K, Skinner CS. Screening for colorectal cancer in a safety-net health care system: access to care is critical and has implications for screening policy. Volume 18 of Issue 9. Cancer epidemiology, biomarkers & prevention : a publication of the American Association for Cancer Research, cosponsored by the American Society of Preventive Oncology 2009. PMID: 19745221


  38. Allison JE. The imperative of equal funding for studies that evaluate any of the evidence-based, guideline-recommended colorectal cancer screening tests. Volume 7 of Issue 12. Clinical gastroenterology and hepatology : the official clinical practice journal of the American Gastroenterological Association 2009. PMID: 19695347


  39. Herrinton LJ, Liu L, Fireman B, Lewis JD, Allison JE, Flowers N, Hutfless S, Velayos FS, Abramson O, Altschuler A, Perry GS. Time trends in therapies and outcomes for adult inflammatory bowel disease, Northern California, 1998-2005. Volume 137 of Issue 2. Gastroenterology 2009. PMID: 19445944


  40. Ahlquist DA, Sargent DJ, Loprinzi CL, Levin TR, Rex DK, Ahnen DJ, Knigge K, Lance MP, Burgart LJ, Hamilton SR, Allison JE, Lawson MJ, Devens ME, Harrington JJ, Hillman SL. Stool DNA and occult blood testing for screen detection of colorectal neoplasia. Volume 149 of Issue 7. Annals of internal medicine 2008. PMID: 18838724


  41. Allison J, Herrinton LJ, Liu L, Yu J, Lowder J. Natural history of severe ulcerative colitis in a community-based health plan. Volume 6 of Issue 9. Clinical gastroenterology and hepatology : the official clinical practice journal of the American Gastroenterological Association 2008. PMID: 18774533


  42. Pressman AR, Hutfless S, Velayos F, Fireman B, Lewis JD, Allison J, Abramson O, Herrinton LJ. Patterns of infliximab use among Crohn's disease patients in a community setting. Volume 14 of Issue 9. Inflammatory bowel diseases 2008. PMID: 18452199


  43. Herrinton LJ, Liu L, Lewis JD, Griffin PM, Allison J. Incidence and prevalence of inflammatory bowel disease in a Northern California managed care organization, 1996-2002. Volume 103 of Issue 8. The American journal of gastroenterology 2008. PMID: 18796097


  44. Altschuler A, Collins B, Lewis JD, Velayos F, Allison JE, Hutfless S, Liu L, Herrinton LJ. Gastroenterologists' attitudes and self-reported practices regarding inflammatory bowel disease. Volume 14 of Issue 7. Inflammatory bowel diseases 2008. PMID: 18300277


  45. Hutfless SM, Weng X, Liu L, Allison J, Herrinton LJ. Mortality by medication use among patients with inflammatory bowel disease, 1996-2003. Volume 133 of Issue 6. Gastroenterology 2007. PMID: 18054550


  46. Allison JE, Sakoda LC, Levin TR, Tucker JP, Tekawa IS, Cuff T, Pauly MP, Shlager L, Palitz AM, Zhao WK, Schwartz JS, Ransohoff DF, Selby JV. Screening for colorectal neoplasms with new fecal occult blood tests: update on performance characteristics. Volume 99 of Issue 19. Journal of the National Cancer Institute 2007. PMID: 17895475


  47. Allison JE. Should recommendations for colorectal-cancer screening be changed? Volume 4 of Issue 7. Nature clinical practice. Oncology 2007. PMID: 17519918


  48. Weng X, Liu L, Barcellos LF, Allison JE, Herrinton LJ. Clustering of inflammatory bowel disease with immune mediated diseases among members of a northern california-managed care organization. Volume 102 of Issue 7. The American journal of gastroenterology 2007. PMID: 17437504


  49. Herrinton LJ, Liu L, Lafata JE, Allison JE, Andrade SE, Korner EJ, Chan KA, Platt R, Hiatt D, O'Connor S. Estimation of the period prevalence of inflammatory bowel disease among nine health plans using computerized diagnoses and outpatient pharmacy dispensings. Volume 13 of Issue 4. Inflammatory bowel diseases 2007. PMID: 17219403


  50. Allison JE, Lawson M. Screening tests for colorectal cancer: a menu of options remains relevant. Volume 8 of Issue 6. Current oncology reports 2006. PMID: 17040627


  51. Allison JE. Colon Cancer Screening Guidelines 2005: the fecal occult blood test option has become a better FIT. Volume 129 of Issue 2. Gastroenterology 2005. PMID: 16083728


  52. Allison JE. Immunochemical fecal occult blood tests for colorectal cancer screening. Volume 116 of Issue 7. The American journal of medicine 2004. PMID: 15047043