Digestive Health Center
Meet the Team

Meet our Experts

Associate Members

A photo of Maisam Abu-El-Haija.

Maisam A. Abu-El-Haija, MD, MS

Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
A photo of Akihiro Asai.

Akihiro Asai, MD, PhD

Research Interests
Pediatric hepatology; genetic and molecular mechanism of liver development and pathophysiology
A photo of Nurit Azouz.

Nurit Azouz, PhD

Assistant Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Allergic diseases; the mechanisms by which protease–protease inhibitor imbalance promotes barrier breaches and loss of immunologic tolerance in...
A photo of William Balisteri.

William F. Balistreri, MD

Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
A photo of Alexander Bondoc.

Alexander Bondoc, MD

Associate Professor, UC Department of Surgery
Research Interests
Liver tumors
A photo of Jasbir Dhaliwal.

Jasbir Dhaliwal, MBBS, MRCPCH, MSc

Assistant Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Artificial intelligence; deep learning; machine learning; predictive analytics; clinical decision support tool and social determinants of health
A photo of Maria Fields.

Maria E. Fields (Moreno-Fernandez), PhD

Assistant Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Immune regulation; inflammation; obesity; diabetes; liver disease; aging
A photo of Fred Finkelman.

Fred D. Finkelman, MD

Research Interests
Cytokine and antibody roles in disease and host protection.
A photo of David Haslam.

David B. Haslam, MD

Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
A photo of Rana Herro.

Rana Herro, PhD

Assistant Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
A photo of Pooja Khandelwal.

Pooja Khandelwal, MD

Associate Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Acute graft versus host disease biology; treatment of steroid refractory acute graft versus host disease; management of refractory autoimmune...
A photo of Mansa Krishnamurthy.

Mansa Krishnamurthy, MD, MSc

Assistant Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Disorders of beta cell function; monogenic diabetes; congenital hyperinsulinism
A photo of Lisa Martin.

Lisa J. Martin, PhD

Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Statistical genetics; genetics of heart malformations; pharmacogenetics; genetics of allergic disorders
A photo of Jonathan Merola.

Jonathan Merola, MD, PhD

Assistant Professor, UC Department of Surgery
Research Interests
Hepatocyte Transplantation; immunosuppression monitoring; genetic modification of human allografts; CRISPR / Cas9
A photo of Sarah Orkin.

Sarah H. Orkin, MD

Assistant Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Impact of social determinants of health on gastrointestinal illnesses
A photo of Joseph Palermo.

Joseph J. Palermo, MD, PhD

Assistant Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Acute, recurrent and chronic pancreatitis; cystic fibrosis related liver disease
A photo of Jose Peiro.

Jose L. Peiro, MD, PhD

Professor, UC Department of Surgery
Research Interests
Myelomeningocele intrauterine repair; fetal tracheal occlusion for CDH
A photo of Anna Peters.

Anna L. Peters, MD, PhD

Instructor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Liver transplant rejection
A photo of Juan Sanchez Gurmaches.

Juan Sanchez Gurmaches, PhD

Assistant Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Adipocytes; brown and white fat; animal models; adipocyte development and heterogeneity; insulin signaling; animal models
This is a photo of Dr. Tetsuo Shoda.

Tetsuo Shoda, MD, PhD

Assistant Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Severe allergies; eosinophilic gastrointestinal disorders; precision medicine; molecular and genetic mechanisms
A photo of Nikolai Timchenko.

Nikolai Timchenko, PhD

Professor, UC Department of Surgery
A photo of Ty Troutman.

Ty D. Troutman, PhD

Assistant Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Disease; gene regulation; immunology; innate immunity; macrophages; myeloid cells
A photo of Stephen Waggoner.

Stephen N. Waggoner, PhD

Associate Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Viral immunology; natural killer cells; immunoregulation; vaccines; autoimmunity; immune dysfunction in aging.
A photo of Jessica Woo.

Jessica G. Woo, MHSA, PhD

Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Early life influences on the development of pediatric obesity; severe obesity in childhood; breastfeeding and complementary food; life-course...
A photo of Nives Zimmermann.

Nives Zimmermann, MD

Associate Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Asthma; eosinophils; lung inflammation

Leadership

A photo of Theresa Alenghat.

Theresa Alenghat, VMD, PhD

Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
A photo of Lee A. Denson.

Lee A. Denson, MD

Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
A photo of Alexander Miethke.

Alexander G. Miethke, MD

Associate Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Immune mediated liver injury, specifically the role of regulatory T cells in biliary atresia and primary sclerosing cholangitis; genetic basis for...
A photo of Nicholas Ollberding.

Nicholas J. Ollberding, PhD

Associate Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Nutritional epidemiology; microbial metagenomics; quantitative methods; dietary assessment and analysis methodology
A photo of Cynthia Wetzel.

Cynthia C. Wetzel, PhD

Assistant Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics

Members

A photo of Theresa Alenghat.

Theresa Alenghat, VMD, PhD

Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
A photo of Bruce Aronow.

Bruce J. Aronow, PhD

Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
A photo of Artem Barski.

Artem Barski, PhD

Associate Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Epigenetics; epigenomics; immunology; T cell memory
A photo of Lee A. Denson.

Lee A. Denson, MD

Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
A photo of Jonathan R. Dillman.

Jonathan R. Dillman, MD, MSc

Associate Chief of Research, Department of Radiology
Research Interests
Ultrasound and MRI evaluation of Crohn's disease; ultrasound and MRI detection and measurement of liver fibrosis
A photo of Senad Divanovic.

Senad Divanovic, PhD

Associate Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
A photo of Michael Helmrath.

Michael A. Helmrath, MD

Professor, UC Department of Surgery
Research Interests
Intestinal diseases research
A photo of Kevin A. Hommel.

Kevin A. Hommel, PhD

Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Use of technology to promote self-management in chronic conditions; adherence and self-management assessment methodology; behavioral treatment of...
A photo of Stacey Huppert.

Stacey S. Huppert, PhD

Associate Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Hepatic cell plasticity, development and regeneration; reprogramming; three-dimensional hepatic architecture; Notch signaling; hepatobiliary disease
A photo of Makiko Iwafuchi.

Makiko Iwafuchi, PhD

Assistant Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Chromatin regulation; pioneer transcription factors; cell programming and reprogramming
A photo of Jennifer Kaplan.

Jennifer Kaplan, MD, MS

Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
A photo of Leah Kottyan.

Leah C. Kottyan, PhD

Associate Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Genetic basis of lupus; genetic basis of eosinophilic esophagitis; immunological mechanisms mediating genetic association with disease
A photo of Alexander Miethke.

Alexander G. Miethke, MD

Associate Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Immune mediated liver injury, specifically the role of regulatory T cells in biliary atresia and primary sclerosing cholangitis; genetic basis for...
A photo of Phillip Minar.

Phillip Minar, MD, MS

Associate Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Application of personalized medicine in the care of children and young adults with IBD through the discovery of surrogate biomarkers of intestinal...
A photo of Marialena Mouzaki.

Marialena Mouzaki, MD, MSc

Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Pediatric MASLD
A photo of Takahisa Nakamura.

Takahisa Nakamura, PhD

Associate Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
A photo of Nicholas Ollberding.

Nicholas J. Ollberding, PhD

Associate Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Nutritional epidemiology; microbial metagenomics; quantitative methods; dietary assessment and analysis methodology
A photo of Joseph Palumbo.

Joseph S. Palumbo, MD

Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Defining the role of hemostatic system components in disease pathogenesis, particularly malignancy; examining novel approaches to limit the...
A photo of Chandrashekhar Pasare.

Chandrashekhar Pasare, DVM, PhD

Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Innate immunity; toll-like receptor signaling; dendritic cell biology; innate control of adaptive immunity; regulation of inflammation
A photo of Marc Rothenberg.

Marc E. Rothenberg, MD, PhD

Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Eosinophils; chemokines
A photo of Soona Shin.

Soona Shin, PhD

Associate Professor, UC Department of Surgery
Research Interests
Liver cancer; tumor initiation; cell-cell communication; hepatic progenitor cells
A photo of Takanori Takebe.

Takanori Takebe, MD, PhD

Associate Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Organoid; organogenesis; stem cell biology; transplantation; drug development Visit the Takebe Research Lab.
A photo of Gregory Tiao.

Greg M. Tiao, MD

Professor, UC Department of Surgery
A photo of Kelli VanDussen.

Kelli L. VanDussen, PhD

Assistant Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Intestinal epithelium; inflammatory bowel disease; primary cell culture; basic research; translational research
A photo of Sing Sing Way.

Sing Sing Way, MD, PhD

Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
A photo of James Wells, PhD.

James M. Wells, PhD

Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Understanding the development of the pancreas, and gastrointestinal organs; generating 3-dimensional human tissues from pluripotent stem cells and...
A photo of Susanne Wells.

Susanne Wells, PhD

Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
A photo of Kathryn Wikenheiser-Brokamp.

Kathryn A. Wikenheiser-Brokamp, MD, PhD

Professor, UC Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
A photo of Stavra Xanthakos.

Stavra A. Xanthakos, MD, MS

Associate Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Prevalence, determinants and outcome of pediatric obesity-related liver disease (Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and steatohepatitis); bariatric...
A photo of Chunyue Yin.

Chunyue Yin, PhD

Assistant Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Liver biology; cholestasis; molecular genetics of pediatric liver diseases
A photo of Margaret Zeller.

Margaret "Meg" H. Zeller, PhD

Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Barriers to weight management.
A photo of Yi Zheng.

Yi Zheng, PhD

Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Using transgenic and gene targeted mouse models to study the physiological and pathological roles of Rho GTPases and their regulators in...
A photo of Basilia Zingarelli.

Basilia Zingarelli, MD, PhD

Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Signal transduction mechanisms regulating the inflammatory response in sepsis, hemorrhage, ischemia and reperfusion injury; inflammatory bowel...
A photo of Aaron Zorn.

Aaron M. Zorn, PhD

Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Development of lung, liver, pancreas and gastrointestinal tract; vertebrate embryology Learn more about CuSTOM.

University of Cincinnati Researchers

Christian I. Hong, PhD, Department of Pharmacology and Systems Physiology

Min Liu, PhD, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine

Rajat Madan, MBBS, PhD, Department of Internal Medicine; Division of Infectious Diseases

Ardythe L. Morrow, PhD, Department of Environmental and Public Health Sciences; Division of Epidemiology

Yvonne Ulrich-Lai, PhD, Department of Pharmacology and Systems Physiology

Senu Apewokin, MD, Department of Internal Medicine; Infectious Diseases

Jason T. Blackard, PhD, Department of Internal Medicine; Division of Digestive Disease

Karthickeyan Chella Krishnan, PhD, Department of Pharmacology and Systems Physiology

David Y. Hui, PhD, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine

Shinsmon Jose, MSc, PhD, Department of Internal Medicine; Infectious Diseases

Shailendra Patel, BM, ChB, DPhil, Department of Internal Medicine; Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism

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