Gastroenterology Physicians

Carlo Di Lorenzo, MD

Dr. Di Lorenzo is Chief of the Division of Pediatric Gastroenterology at Nationwide Children's Hospital and Professor of Clinical Pediatrics at The Ohio State University College of Medicine. Dr. Di Lorenzo has been among the first clinical investigators to assess the diagnostic value of antroduodenal and colonic manometry and to use the electronic barostat to assess visceral sensitivity in children. Dr. Di Lorenzo has co-authored the only book on pediatric gastrointestinal motility and has published more than 100 peer-reviewed original articles and 80 chapters, invited reviews and editorials. He serves on the Editorial Boards of the Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition and Neurogastroenterology and Motility. He has functioned as a grant reviewer for the NIH and as abstract reviewer for the AGA. Dr. Di Lorenzo has served on the Council of NASPGHAN. He has chaired the subcommittee of the American Academy of Pediatrics on development of guidelines for evaluation and treatment of functional abdominal pain, the Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders and Neurogastroenterology Working Group of the second World Congress of Pediatric Gastroenterology and the AMS committee for the development of minimal standards for motility testing in children. He currently serves on the AMS Clinical Practice Committee. Dr. Di Lorenzo currently chairs the Adolescent Committee of the Rome III criteria, is Council member of the Functional Bowel Group, a member of the Subboard of Pediatric Gastroenterology of the American Board of Pediatrics and a member of the Functional GI Disorders and Motility Disorders Working Group of the National Commission on Digestive Diseases (NCDD). Dr. Di Lorenzo was named among the “Best Doctors in America” in 2008.

Jane Balint, MD

Dr. Balint  leads the Intestinal Support Service and is Medical Director of the Nutrition Support Service and Clinical Nutrition at Nationwide Children's Hospital. She is a Clinical Associate Professor of Pediatrics at The Ohio State University College of Medicine. Her clinical interest is in the care of children with short bowel syndrome and other forms of intestinal failure. Dr. Balint was named among the “Best Doctors in America” in 2008. She also received the Excellence in Teaching Award from the Department of Pediatrics in 2006.

John Barnard, MD

Dr. Barnard is President of The Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital and Vice-Chair for Research in the Department of Pediatrics. He is a Professor of Pediatrics at The Ohio State University College of Medicine. Dr. Barnard’s NIH-funded research program focuses on regulation of intestinal epithelial growth by transforming growth factor beta. Dr. Barnard is President of the North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition and was named among the “Best Doctors in America” in 2008.

Ryan S. Carvalho, MD

Dr. Carvalho is an attending physician in the Division of Gastroenterology and Nutrition at Nationwide Children's Hospital and an Assistant Professor of Clinical Pediatrics at The Ohio State University College of Medicine. His clinical interest is in the management of children with inflammatory bowel disease, with a specific focus on nutritional therapy. His research interests include understanding drug metabolism to improve the efficacy and prevent toxicity of medications used to treat Crohn’s disease and colitis. For his research he has received a Distinguished Recognition Award at the 2006 North American College of Gastroenterology Fellows conference, and a Young Investor Award at the 2004 World Congress of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition. Dr. Carvalho was named among the Best doctors in America for 2008.

Wallace Crandall, MD

Dr. Crandall serves as Director of the Center for Pediatric and Adolescent Inflammatory Bowel Disease at Nationwide Children's Hospital and is an expert in pediatric inflammatory bowel disease(IBD) and celiac disease. Dr. Crandall is an Associate Professor of Clinical Pediatrics at The Ohio State University College of Medicine. He has a number of active research projects in IBD. An active member of the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America(CCFA), Dr. Crandall has served at both the regional and national levels of CCFA as Chair of the CCFA Chapter Medical Advisory Committee of central Ohio and as a member of national CCFA working groups. He is an advisor to the national Pediatric IBD Network for Research and Improvement. Dr. Crandall was named among the “Best Doctors in America” in 2008.

Steven H. Erdman, MD

Dr. Erdman is the Director of the Pediatric Gastroenterology Fellowship Program and supervises all educational activities for the Division of Gastroenterology at Nationwide Children's Hospital and is an Associate Professor of Clinical Pediatrics at The Ohio State University College of Medicine. His clinical and research interests are in the area of hereditary colorectal cancer and the polyposis syndromes in children and young adults. He is president of the Collaborative Group of the Americas on Inherited Colorectal Cancer, and serves on the Internet Committee of the North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition. Dr. Erdman was named among the “Best Doctors in America” in 2008.

Cheryl E. Gariepy, MD

Dr. Gariepy is a Principal Investigator in the Center for Cell and Developmental Biology in the Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s and an Associate Professor of Pediatrics at The Ohio State University College of Medicine. She has received funding from the National Institutes of Health for her research program focusing on the molecular signals controlling development of the nervous system in the intestines. She is the Gastroenterology representative to the Council of the Society for Pediatric Research and a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition. She has published numerous research articles, presented her research at international meetings, and authored several book chapters. These include chapters in Sleisenger & Fortrans’ Gastrointestinal and Liver Disease; Molecular Basis of Inborn Errors of Development: The Molecular Basis of Clinical Disorders of Morphogenesis; Pediatric Gastrointestinal Disease: Pathophysiology, Diagnosis, and Management; and Physiology of the Gastrointestinal Tract. Dr. Gariepy’s clinical interests include congenital abnormalities of the gastrointestinal tract and genetic disease.

Jonathan M. Gisser, MD

Dr. Gisser is an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at The Ohio State University College of Medicine and an attending physician in the Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition at Nationwide Children's Hospital. His current research is focused on inflammatory bowel disease, irritable bowel syndrome and the enteric nervous system – the “brain-in-the-gut.” He has presented his work at numerous conferences. Dr. Gisser’s clinical interest spans all of general pediatric gastroenterology, including inflammatory bowel disease, functional constipation, and gastroesophageal reflux.

Hayat M. Mousa, MD

Dr. Mousa is the Medical Director of the Center for Advanced Research in Neuromuscular Gastrointestinal Disorders (CARING) and the Director of the Advanced Training in Gastrointestinal Motility and Functional Disorders at Nationwide Children's Hospital, and an Associate Professor of Clinical Pediatrics at The Ohio State University College of Medicine. Dr. Mousa is interested in gastrointestinal motility disorders and functional disorders. She has served as the Medical Director of the Interdisciplinary Feeding Evaluation Clinic (IFEC). She has active trials studying acid and non-acid gastroesophageal reflux in children and she has published several articles about the association between gastroesophageal reflux disease and apnea and the effect of fundoplication on the gastric sensory and motor functions. She is currently conducting a trial studying the health consequences of sleep disorders in obese children and its association with gastroesophageal reflux disease. Dr. Mousa also is interested in the evaluation and management of children with constipation. She has published about the value of colonic motility in predicting the outcome of cecostomy placement in patients with severe constipation and is currently conducting with the motility team prospective studies to evaluate the difference between constipated children with or without lower urinary symptoms and comparing the ambulatory and stationary colonic manometry techniques. She presented the results of her research in different national meetings. Dr. Mousa was named among the “Best Doctors in America” in 2008.

Carol Potter, MD

Dr. Potter is an attending physician in the Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition at Nationwide Children's Hospital and an Associate Professor of Clinical Pediatrics at The Ohio State University College of Medicine. Dr. Potter specializes in liver disease. In addition to her clinical and teaching duties, she serves as the Gastrointestinal Medical Advisor for the national and international Cornelia de Lange Syndrome foundations. She also serves on the Nationwide Children's Hospital Institutional Review Board. Dr. Potter was named among the “Best Doctors in America” in 2008.

Jaya B. Punati, MD

Dr. Punati is an assistant professor of clinical pediatrics at The Ohio State University College of Medicine and an attending physician in the Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition at Nationwide Children's Hospital. Her research interests include intestinal mast cells in patients with motility disorders, and her clinical interests include patients with abdominal pain and motility disorders. Dr. Punati has presented her work at international gastroenterology conferences.

John Russo, MD

Dr. Russo is an attending physician in the Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition at Nationwide Children's Hospital and an Assistant Professor of Clinical Pediatrics at The Ohio State University College of Medicine. Dr. Russo’s previous research focused on epithelial wound healing; his poster presentation on the subject was awarded the Young Investigator Award at the 2004 World Congress of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition. Dr. Russo’s clinical interests include all types of general gastroenterology, including inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and celiac disease.

Jolanda (White) Denham, MD

Dr. Denham is an attending physician in the Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition at Nationwide Children's Hospital and an Assistant Professor of Clinical Pediatrics at The Ohio State University Colege of Medicine. Her research on Inflammatory Bowel Disease garnered a Poster of Distinction at Digestive Disease Week 2004. Dr. Denham’s clinical interests involve all aspects of pediatric gastroenterology, with a special interest in nutritional disorders.

Desale Yacob, MD

Dr. Yacob is an Assistant Professor of Clinical Pediatrics at The Ohio State University College of Medicine and an attending physician in the Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition at Nationwide Children's Hospital. He attended the University of Virginia for both his undergraduate and medical education and completed his pediatric gastroenterology fellowship here at Nationwide Children's Hospital. His clinical interest spans all areas of pediatric gastroenterology including inflammatory bowel disease and functional gastrointestinal disorders. Dr. Yacob's research interest is in the area of functional gastrointestinal disorders.