Dr. Hawes earned his Medical Degree from Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis, where he also completed postdoctoral training, including an internship and residency in Internal Medicine and a Fellowship in Gastroenterology. Dr Hawes spent 1 year in London at The Middlesex Hospital and University College Hospital training in advanced endoscopy.Dr. Hawes was an early adopter of endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) and started one of the United States' first EUS programs at Indiana University School of Medicine in 1987. In 1990, he began a training program in EUS and has trained a generation of endosonographers. In 1994 he moved with Peter Cotton to the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston to help establish a Digestive Disease Center with a vision to facilitate the integration of GI medicine, Surgery and Radiology into an integrated unit. From 2006 until he left MUSC in 2011, Dr Hawes held the Peter B. Cotton Chair for Endoscopic Innovation; the first Endowed Chair in the United States dedicated to the advancement of endoscopic practice. After establishing an internationally recognized interventional endoscopy unit in Orlando, he then joined Orlando Health and in partnership with Dr. Shyam Varadarajulu, is establishing a comprehensive Digestive Health Institute with one component being a new Center for Advanced Endoscopy, Research and Education (CARE). During his career, he has published more than 400 articles in peer reviewed medical journals, along with Paul Fockens and Shyam Varadarajulu created and edits the primary textbook on EUS (Endosonography) and has contributed numerous chapters to Gastroenterology and Endoscopy textbooks. Dr. Hawes has lectured and performed live endoscopy demonstration around the world over the last 25 years. Dr Hawes has delivered many named lectures including the Emily Couric Lecture for the ACG, the Berk Honorary Lecture for the ASGE, the Christopher Williams Lecture for The British Society of Gastroenterolgy and the James L Borland, Sr. Lecture for the Florida Gastroenterologic Society (FGS). He is a member of several national and international societies and is a Fellow of the American College of Gastroenterology (ACG) and the Japanese Gastroenterological Endoscopy Society (JGES) and a Master of the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ASGE) where he served as President from 2005-2006. He is the recipient of many awards and honors including the Rudolf V Schindler Award - the highest honor given by the ASGE.