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 is also an Assistant Professor of Clinical Pediatrics at The Ohio State University College of Medicine. Dr. Venkatesh attended Wilkes University for her undergraduate education as a Wilkes Scholar. She attended SUNY Upstate Medical University for medical school and was selected as a National Institutes of Health Fogarty Clinical Scholar. She completed residency training in Pediatrics at Yale-New Haven Children’s Hospital, and fellowship training in Pediatric Gastroenterology at Massachusetts General Hospital for Children.

Her clinical interests span all gastrointestinal disorders with a special interest in eosinophilic GI disorders including eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE). She is the North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition (NASPGHAN) inaugural Gastroenterology / Immunology / Microbiome (GIM) Committee Chair. Her interests include innovation in clinical care including utilizing the EHR to improve patient outcomes as well as building the NCH transnasal endoscopy and string test program for eosinophilic esophagitis. She also serves on multiple national committees including the GHHS Advisory Council, American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Button Battery Taskforce and AAP SOGHN.

Dr. Venkatesh has a long-standing commitment to providing care to our most vulnerable children with chronic diseases through population health level interventions. Dr. Venkatesh completed her master's degree in public health with a focus in population health at the Ohio State School of Public Health in 2023. She is the Medical Director for the Chronic Conditions Service Line at Partners For Kids (PFK). PFK is the oldest and largest pediatric accountable care organization in the United States. Created in 1994 by Nationwide Children’s Hospital, PFK is now responsible for the care of more than 470,000 children covered by Medicaid Managed Care across 47 counties. PFK focuses on addressing inequities facing some of Ohio's most vulnerable children partnering to provide value-based, equitable care in pediatrics. In addition to her work at PFK, she serves as the ACO co-leader of the Outcomes Acceleration for Kids Learning Network (OAK) asthma statewide domain workgroup.