Meet Our Providers

Alan F. Ansher, M.D. has been practicing medicine in Alexandria for the past 30 years. He graduated Summa cum laude from The University of Maryland and attended medical school at The University of Maryland School of Medicine.

Robert J. Hally, M.D. received his MD degree from Temple University in 1989 after finishing his undergraduate degree at the University of Scranton. He completed his residency at the University of Pittsburgh. He completed his gastroenterology/hepatology fellowship at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital.

Craig M. Ellison, M.D. completed his Gastroenterology fellowship at Tufts University Medical School. He completed his residency in Internal Medicine at Harvard Medical School. His Medical Degree is from the George Washington University School of Medicine in 1997.

Sean P. Hurley, M.D. obtained his medical degree from Georgetown University. He completed an internship and residency in Internal Medicine in the Air Force at David Grant Medical Center/University of California – Davis. He then completed a fellowship in Gastroenterology at Wilford Hall Medical Center/University of Texas – San Antonio.

Deborah A. Brauer, M.D. earned her B.A. in Public health from The Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. She then spent two years in healthcare consulting at Accenture in Washington, D.C., before pursuing her M.D. at Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk, Virginia. After medical school, she returned to the region for residency training in Internal Medicine at The George Washington University Hospital.

Jennifer K. Wu, MD is board certified in gastroenterology and internal medicine.  She grew up in the Northern Virginia area and went to the University of Virginia for both college and medical school.  After graduation and being in Virginia most of her life, she decided that she needed to experience other areas of the country, so she went to Boston University for her internal medicine residency.   She then went to the University of Pittsburgh for her gastroenterology fellowship.

Timothy R. Dougherty, JR., M.D. attended Syracuse University where he earned a love of orange, a Bachelor of Science degree, and a commission in the U.S. Air Force.  He served as an officer and then as a civilian before attending medical school.  He attended the University of Maryland School of Medicine.  Upon graduation in 2008, he was awarded the Hatem Memorial Prize for Humanism in Medicine.

Dr. Sindu Stephen was born and raised in Washington D.C. Prior to joining Digestive Disease Physicians, she practiced Gastroenterology in Maryland since 2012. She completed medical school at Kasturba Medical College in India. She returned to the area to complete her residency in Internal Medicine at George Washington University and was also selected amongst her peers to serve as Chief Medical Resident.

Dr. Ahmed A. Maher was born and raised in Alexandria, Egypt. He earned his Medical Degree from the University of Alexandria in 2013. His Internal Medicine residency and Gastroenterology/Hepatology fellowship were both completed at Lahey Hospital – Beth Israel Lahey Health. Afterwards, he completed his Advanced Therapeutic Endoscopy fellowship at University of Massachusetts.

Beth A. Banker, a board certified family nurse practitioner, joined Digestive Disease Physicians in 2012. She graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of Connecticut. She received a strong foundation in acute care nursing at Yale New Haven Hospital, INOVA Fairfax Hospital and Virginia Hospital Center before receiving her master’s degree as a Family Nurse Practitioner from Marymount University.

Amanda Lawton is a board certified adult and gerontology nurse practitioner originally from Upstate New York. She graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing and Master of Science in Nursing as a nurse practitioner from Boston College. She first took an interest in gastroenterology during a rotation in bariatric surgery. She worked as an NP for several years at a large gastroenterology practice in Albany, NY before relocating to Virginia.

Ashley Lowe is a board certified adult and gerontology nurse practitioner originally from Austin, Texas. She graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from University of Alabama at Birmingham and she got her Master of Science in Nursing from Boston College. Before becoming a nurse practitioner she worked as an intensive care unit nurse for four years and then as an endoscopy procedure room nurse at Brigham and Women's Hospital for another four years.

Kerry Clark is a board-certified Adult Nurse Practitioner and joined the team at Digestive Disease Physicians in February 2023. Prior to that, Kerry spent four years working in Gastroenterology at Medstar Georgetown University Hospital, where she gained excellent experience working with GI patients and had a focus in Inflammatory Bowel Disease. Kerry brings fifteen years of nursing experience to this role, including seven years as a Registered Nurse in the Intensive Care Unit and five years as a Nurse Practitioner in Internal Medicine before transitioning to Gastroenterology in 2019.