Rajitha D. Venkatesh, MD, MPH

Rajitha D. Venkatesh, MD, MPH, FAAP, is an attending pediatric gastroenterologist at Nationwide Children’s Hospital and co-director of the Eosinophilic Gastrointestinal Disease Program. She also serves as an associate professor of Clinical Pediatrics at The Ohio State University College of Medicine.

Dr. Venkatesh earned her undergraduate degree as a Wilkes Scholar at Wilkes University and completed medical school at SUNY Upstate Medical University, where she was selected as a National Institutes of Health Fogarty Clinical Scholar. She went on to complete her pediatric residency at Yale-New Haven Children’s Hospital and her fellowship in Pediatric Gastroenterology at Massachusetts General Hospital for Children.

Her clinical expertise spans the full spectrum of gastrointestinal disorders, with a special focus on eosinophilic GI diseases, including eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE). She currently serves as the inaugural Chair of the Gastroenterology/Immunology/Microbiome (GIM) Committee for the North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition (NASPGHAN). Dr. Venkatesh is passionate about innovation in clinical care, including leveraging the electronic health record (EHR) to improve patient outcomes. She has also been instrumental in developing Nationwide Children’s transnasal endoscopy and esophageal string test (EST) program for EoE. In addition, she contributes to multiple national committees, including the GHHS Advisory Council, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Button Battery Taskforce, and AAP SOGHN.

Dr. Venkatesh is deeply committed to improving care for vulnerable children with chronic diseases through population health initiatives. In 2023, she earned a Master of Public Health degree with a focus on population health from The Ohio State University College of Public Health. She currently serves as Medical Director for the Chronic Conditions Service Line at Partners for Kids (PFK)—the oldest and largest pediatric accountable care organization in the United States. Established in 1994 by Nationwide Children’s Hospital, PFK now manages care for more than 470,000 children covered by Medicaid Managed Care across 47 counties. Its mission is to address health inequities and deliver value-based, equitable pediatric care. Beyond her work with PFK, Dr. Venkatesh co-leads the Outcomes Acceleration for Kids Learning Network (OAK) asthma statewide domain workgroup.