András Arató received his medical education and trained in pediatrics and gastroenterology at Semmelweis University in Budapest, Hungary. He is a professor of pediatrics at the First Department of Pediatrics, Semmelweis University in Budapest.


Dr. Arato studied the distribution of lymphocyte subsets in the intestinal mucosa of children with celiac disease at the Children’s Hospital, University of Helsinki and wrote his PhD thesis on “Immunological changes in celiac disease” in 1989.


In 1990 he became the head of the Pediatric Gastroenterological Unit and in 2007 was appointed vice chairman of the First Department of Pediatrics, Semmelweis University.


Dr. Arato received a DSc for his contribution to research in immunopathogenesis of celiac disease and inflammatory bowel disease and has interests in mucosal immunology and infant nutrition.

Bob Baldassano earned his MD at SUNY Health Science Center, Brooklyn, College of Medicine. He completed a residency in pediatrics and fellowship in pediatric gastroenterology and nutrition at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. He is currently Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, and Director of the Center for Pediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.


He has chaired national and international programs including the Pediatric Affairs Committee for the CCFA, Pediatric Abstract Review Committee Pediatric for AGA, Inflammatory Bowel Disease Committee for NASPGHAN, and IBD Consortium. He has been a member of the IBD Classification Committee, IBD Guidelines Committee, Pediatric Affairs Committee (Patient Education, Clinical Trials) and the Pediatric Challenges in IBD Research Committee (Steering Committee, Genetics Focus Group, Clinical Trials Focus group, Quality Improvement/Adverse Event Tracking Focus Group) for NASPGHAN and CCFA.


Dr. Baldassano has served on the Board of Trustees for the CCFA at both the local and national levels, and as the co-chair for CDHNF IBD Committee. He is on the editorial advisory board for five journals, has published more than 100 papers on pediatric IBD and edited a pediatric IBD textbook.

Keith J. Benkov, M.D., is the Chief of Pediatric Gastroenterology and an Associate Professor of Pediatrics at MSSM. He is the Medical Director of the Children’s Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center at Mount Sinai, one of the largest centers for pediatric Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis in the country. Along with his extensive clinical practice, his main interest has been the outcome analysis of children and adolescents with various types of inflammatory bowel disease, based on a large database of over 1500 patients seen in the last 14 years at the Center.


He has written on topics that have included genetic aspects of Crohn’s disease, the unique clinical phenotype on young children presenting with inflammatory bowel disease, and he has been interested in interplay of normal intestinal flora and mucosal immunity and the inflammatory response. He has been a frequent contributor for projects involving banked specimens from children with Crohn’s disease. His current projects included analysis of growth outcomes in just 800 children with Crohn’s disease. He is also embarking on of the first clinical trials of a Chinese herbal preparation for children with Crohn’s disease.

Stan Cohen received his MD from Ohio State in his hometown of Columbus. His internship and residency were at Johns Hopkins. After serving as an Air Force physician, Dr. Cohen specialized in pediatric gastroenterology and nutrition with a fellowship at Harvard University and the MassGeneral Hospital. During this time he was Director of Pediatrics at the Massachusetts Rehabilitation Hospital.


In Atlanta, he is the Director of Combined Center for Inflammatory Bowel Disease bringing together the resources of Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, the Children's Center for Digestive Health Care, and Emory University.


Dr. Cohen is the founding chairman of the Committee on Nutrition for the Georgia Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics. He chairs the Physicians Advisory Board of The Georgia WIC Program. In 1987 he was elected President of the Medical Staff at Scottish Rite Children's Hospital. He remains an active at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, and recently founded the Children's Digestive Research Fund to support investigations in the areas of nutrition and gastrointestinal illnesses.


Dr. Cohen has published numerous articles, edited two textbooks for physicians and written a book for parents: Healthy Babies, Happy Kids: a Common Sense Guide to Nutrition for Growing Years. This popular book was syndicated by Associated Press and republished in London as Start Right.

George Ferry is currently a Professor of Pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine and Director of the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center at Texas Children's Hospital.


Dr. Ferry served as Chief of the GI/Nutrition Clinic at Texas Children's Hospital for 17 years and started the liver transplant program at TCH in 1988.


He is a member of the North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition and has served as past Chair of the Pediatric IBD Consortium as well as past President and Chair of Children’s Digestive Health and Nutrition Foundation.

Veres Gabor received his MD from Semmelweis Medical University, Budapest, Hungary. He is a pediatric gastroenterologist in the First Department of Pediatrics, Semmelweis Medical University, Budapest, Hungary.


Dr. Veres is an expert on pediatric endoscopy and organized the Hungarian Pediatric IBD Registry in 2007.

Ben Gold received his MD from George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences. He completed an internship and a residency in Pediatrics at Emory University School of Medicine, followed by a research fellowship in Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto.


Prior to joining the Children’s Center for Digestive Healthcare, Dr. Gold was the Marcus Chair of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Professor of Pediatrics and Microbiology and the Director of the Division of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition at Emory University School of Medicine. He was also Chief of Gastroenterology Service and Medical Director of the Gastrointestinal Diagnostics and Endoscopy Laboratory of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Egleston campus.


He also pursues his interest in infectious causes of inflammatory conditions of the gastrointestinal tract by studying inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and the role of both infectious pathogens and normal flora in the gastrointestinal tract in modulating disease. He is a co-investigator of the Pediatric IBD Consortium, and is working closely with the CDC to determine infectious etiologies of IBD.

Neera Gupta received her BS in Nutritional Sciences at Cornell and her MD at Tufts School of Medicine. She completed a residency in Pediatrics at Floating Hospital for Children at Tufts and research fellowships at UC San Francisco, where she is now Assistant Clinical Professor in the department of gastroenterology, hematology and nutrition.


Dr. Gupta has received two awards from the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America. She pursudes research in the areas of growth/puberty, outcomes, risk factors for IBD complications and epidemiology.

Almuthe Hauer received her medical degree from the University of Vienna, Austria. She is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics, Pediatric Gastroenterology, Department of Paediatrics, Medical University of Graz, Austria.


Dr. Hauer lectures at numerous national/international conferences and seminars and participates in multi-center research studies with ESPGHAN and GPGE. She has also authored over 70 peer-reviewed papers and book chapters.

Mel Heyman earned his MD and completed his pediatric residency training at UCLA. He completed postdoctoral training in nutrition earning an MPH, and completed a fellowship in pediatric gastroenterology and nutrition at UCLA. In 1981, he joined UC San Francisco, where he organized the clinical pediatric nutrition support service and established protocols for pediatric gastroenterology.


Dr. Heyman is chief of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition at UCSF Children's Hospital and is particularly interested in the care of children with inflammatory bowel disease, including Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, and nutrition-related problems.


In his research, he was one of the first to reveal the importance of nutrition support in sickle cell anemia. He helped develop procedures to diagnose problems related to the liver in infants and has pursued new treatments for children with inflammatory bowel disease and gastroesophageal reflux disease.


He serves on many local and national committees and is chair of the Executive Committee of the American Academy of Pediatrics section on Pediatric

Gastroenterology and Nutrition. As professor of pediatrics, he directs the teaching program in pediatric gastroenterology and nutrition in the UCSF School of Medicine.

Dr. Mark Integlia

Barbara Kirschner originally lived in Philadelphia and attended the Medical College of Pennsylvania, where her interest in pediatrics developed. She and her husband Robert, also a physician, came to the University of Chicago for residency training. Working with renowned gastroenterologists in Chicago, Dr. Kirschner started the program in pediatric gastroenterology. The complexity and individuality of the effects of inflammatory bowel disease in children and adolescents, especially the diversity in the natural history of these conditions and problems of growth and nutritional complications, sparked what was to become her career interest both clinically and in research.


Her studies resulted in over 100 publications predominantly related to the unique issues of IBD in children and teenagers. As a co-founder of the Pediatric IBD Consortium, she has actively contributed to the group's research projects and recognizes the importance of pediatric gastroenterology sub-specialists working together to better understand the pathogenesis of IBD, its impact on children's lives and improve therapeutic options and quality of life through participating in clinical trials.

Joel Lavine is Professor of Pediatrics at Columbia University and Chief of the Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition Division at New York - Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital.


He has served as Chief of the Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition at Rady’s Children’s Hospital San Diego, Director of UCSD Pediatric Fellowship Programs, as Fellowship Director of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition and on the Executive Board of Directors for Children’s Specialists, San Diego.


Dr. Lavine is an NIH-funded investigator for studies in fatty liver disease, and serves on the Executive Committee and Chairs the Steering and Pediatric Committees for the NIH-funded multi-center network.

Thomas Mülleris a pediatric gastroenterologist and hepatologist at the Department of Pediatrics, Medical University of Innsbruck, Austria. He earned his MD and completed a residency in pediatrics at the University of Innsbruck, where he is currently the acting Director of the University Hospital for Pediatrics II.


He has unraveled the etiology of microvillus inclusion disease, congenital sodium diarrhea and non-Wilsonian copper toxicosis prevalent in the Tyrol and northern Germany.

Laurel Prestridge received her MD from the University of Texas Medical School and did her Pediatric Residency at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.


Dr. Prestridge is a Pediatric Gastroenterologist at the Boys Town National Research Hospital in Boys Town, Nebraska and is also a diplomat for the North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition.

Rubén Quirós is a Professor of Pediatrics & Surgery and Chief of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition at University of Nebraska Medical Cente in Omaha. He is also the Director of the Pediatric GI Fellowship Program at UNMC. He joined the team at UNMC in June 2009.


Dr. Quirós completed his MD at the National University of Panama, followed by a 3-year pediatric residency at Hospital del Niño in Panama. From 1993-1995 he was a pediatric resident at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia. From 1995-1998, he was a pediatric GI fellow at UCLA. After completing his 3-year fellowship he continued as an advanced clinical fellow and conducted clinical research, which allowed him to gain additional experience in the areas of pediatric hepatology and parenteral nutrition.


In July 2000, Dr. Quirós became Director of Pediatric Hepatology at the University of Rochester in New York. In 2002, he joined Texas Children’s Hospital/Baylor College of Medicine as the Medical Director of Pediatric Liver Transplantation.


In October 2004, Dr. Quirós was appointed Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Texas Health Sciences Center (UTHSC) and MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. He was the Director of Pediatric Hepatology at UTHSC.


Brian Regan is a pediatric gastroenterologist at Tufts Medical Center, Floating Hospital for Children. After attending medical school at the New York College of Osteopathic Medicine, he completed a residency in Pediatrics at Winthrop University Hospital, and a Fellowship in Gastroenterology at Schneider Children’s Hospital in New York.


His research interests during fellowship included studying the association between 6-mercaptopurine metabolites and their concomitant effects with anti TNF agents. He is currently developing impedance program at Tufts Medical Center in addition to his interests in Inflammatory Bowel Disease.

Jennifer Strople received her MD from the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Medicine and did her Pediatric Residency at Cincinnati’s Children’s Hospital.


Dr. Strople is the Director, Inflammatory Bowel Disease Program; Assistant professor of Pediatrics, Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine with special interests in inflammatory bowel disease and outcomes research.

Jon Vanderhoof received his MD from University of Nebraska College of Medicine and did his Pediatric Residency at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.


Dr. Vanderhoof is a Pediatric Gastroenterologist at the Boys Town National Research Hospital in Boys Town, Nebraska and is also a diplomat for the North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition.

Harland Winter is a pediatric gastroenterologist and the Director of the Pediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) Center at the MassGeneral Hospital for Children. He earned his MD and completed a residency in Pediatrics at UCLA, a Clinical Fellowship in Gastroenterology at Children’s Hospital, Boston, and a Resewarch Fellowship at Harvard.


As President of the NA Society of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition from 2000-2002, he served as the Chair of the First World Congress of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition in August 2000.


He currently directs a laboratory that studies neurotransmitters in children and has established a biorepository for the study of the microbiome and genome in children and families with autoimmune gastrointestinal disorders. As one of the principal investigators of the Pediatric IBD Consortium, he is studying outcomes, pathogenesis and new therapies for chronic gastrointestinal diseases in children. He has been involved in many clinical trials involving children with gastro-esophageal reflux disease, constipation, Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.


Dr. Winter has authored over 100 articles and chapters, and published books on infant nutrition, pediatric inflammatory bowel disease, and recently a comprehensive textbook and atlas on endoscopy in children.

David Ziring received his MD and MS in Clinical Immunology from the Chicago Medical School. His thesis topic was the current state of understanding the immune system in IBD. He completed his residency in Pediatrics at Children’s Hospital Orange County. As a senior resident, he developed a research proposal on the regulation of the immune system in IBD with his mentor, Dr. Jonathan Braun. He then pursued subspecialty training in Pediatric Gastroenterology at UCLA with Dr. Marvin Ament.


Dr. Ziring performs research on the regulation of the immune system in IBD, working first with mouse models of disease and then with patient samples. He helped discover an IBD-associated gene, working with collaborators at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. He was recently awarded a Broad grant to study the immunomodulatory effects of large doses of vitamin D in children with Crohn’s disease.


Dr. Ziring is Director of the UCLA Pediatric IBD Center, a multi-disciplinary approach to holistic care for children with IBD and their families. He is a member of the IBD Committee for the North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition (NASPGHAN). A frequent lecturer, he also publishes extensively on a wide variety of issues pertaining to pediatric IBD.