Pediatric gastroenterology at the Mount Sinai hospital.

ABSTRACT

The history of pediatric gastroenterology at Mount Sinai begins in 1960. Early publications by Drs. Korelitz and Gribetz on the management of inflammatory bowel disease in children served as the preface to forty years of progress in this important area. The history of pediatric gastroenterology includes important work by many individuals, including Horace Hodes, Lotte Strauss and Frederick Kopel. Early observations on the nature of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), and its course, preceded work on nutritional therapies for IBD, mechanisms of gene-nutrient interactions, regulation of gene transcription, and molecular processes involved in bile transport in the liver and small intestine. Over the last twenty years, the division has grown in size and reputation. Today there are fourteen full-time faculty - 9 M.D.'s and 5 Ph.D.'s - who work in three funded research laboratories. There are also five advanced practice nurses (including three nurse practitioners), two social workers and two nutritionists, as well as several administrators and assistants. In addition to being recognized as a premier center for the treatment of children with general pediatric gastroenterological problems, especially inflammatory bowel disease, the division is also known as one of the nation's largest pediatric liver and liver transplant centers, and it is rapidly becoming one of the largest pediatric short gut syndrome and small bowel transplant centers.