The major focus of Dr. Deckelbaum's laboratory is to determine regulatory mechanisms for cell-lipid particle interaction, cell cholesterol and triglyceride metabolism, and lipid-related gene expression. Current projects are defining the effects of lipid particle properties on their metabolism in the whole animal and with cells via receptor mediated and receptor independent pathways. Dr. Deckelbaum's laboratory has demonstrated that substantial amounts of lipoproteins and lipid emulsions can enter cells by receptor independent pathways. Integrated with these studies are studies on how different lipids, especially free fatty acids and various sphingolipids modulate sterol regulatory element binding protein (SREBP) mediated gene expression, focusing on genes affecting cell and whole body triglycerides and cholesterol homeostasis. Major areas of interest include: a) the role of triglyceride fatty acyl composition on modulating interaction of model lipid triglyceride-rich particles with apoprotein E and subsequent effects on cell and tissue metabolism in vitro, and in vivo, in mouse models. Dr. Deckelbaum's group is demonstrating that triglyceride-rich particles enriched in long chain omega-3 triglycerides do not enter tissues via classic receptor-dependent pathways but rather via other mechanisms which might relate to binding to non-receptor domains on the cell surface, such as phagocytosis or pinocytosis, and b) the actions of free fatty acids as potent regulators of a number of critical steps in cell lipid metabolism, via inhibition of expression mediated by sterol regulatory elements (SRE) in the promoter regions of lipid metabolism genes. Dr. Deckelbaum also coordinates programs related to the effects of varying nutrient intakes on expression of cardiovascular risk factors in children of different genetic backgrounds in both national and international studies. Overall, an important objective of Dr. Deckelbaum's program is to develop investigators who can translate basic nutritional questions into basic lipid and cellular biology.

Dr. DeFelice is an Associate Clinical Professor in Pediatrics, in the Division of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition. Dr. DeFelice is the Director, of the Nutrition Support Service, at the Children's Hospital of NY, which provides Inpatient, and Outpatient services, to children with special nutritional needs. Dr. DeFelice is also the Division representative to the Children's Hospital of New York, Quality Assurance Council.
Dr. DeFelice's special interest is in Celiac Disease, and is a Member of the Columbia University Celiac Center. She lectures extensively on the subject of Celiac Disease.
Dr. DeFelice maintains her clinical offices, where she sees patients at: Children's Hospital of NY-Presbyterian, NY, Columbia Eastside in NY City, and Northern Westchester Hospital, Mt. Kisco, NY

Jessica Fanzo is an Assistant Professor of Nutrition in the Institute of Human Nutrition and Department of Pediatrics at Columbia University Medical Center in New York. Before joining Columbia University, Jessica was the Evaluation and Monitoring Officer for the REACH Interagency partnership to combat child hunger at the United Nations World Food Programme. In 2010 and 2011, Jessica was a Senior Scientist at Bioversity International in Rome Italy, where she led their Nutrition program. From 2007 to 2010, Jessica served as the Nutrition Director for the Center for Global Health and Economic Development at the Earth Institute, and the Nutrition Regional Advisor for East and Southern Africa at the Millennium Development Goal Centre at the World Agroforestry Centre in Kenya. Prior to joining the Earth Institute, she was a Program Officer for the Medical Research Program at the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.

Jessica became the first laureate in 2012 of the Daniel Carasso Premio for her work on sustainable food and diets for long-term human health. Jessica serves on Columbia University’s Institute of Human Nutrition Food and Nutrition Council, the United Nations Standing Committee on Nutrition Working Group on Household Food Security, the Advisory Group for Agriculture and Nutrition to the Special Advisor to the UNSG, and the IASC Global Nutrition Cluster. She is an editor on several journals, has been commissioned by the Institute of Development Studies, World Food Programme and UNDP for global policy reports on nutrition and food security, and has authored a range of peer-reviewed scientific publications.

She currently works closely with the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition, World Bank, REACH, and UNICEF on international projects on nutrition sensitive projects and programmes. She is currently working with Seeds of Life on a nutrition project for the Ministry of Agriculture in Timor Leste.

Dr. Gross Margolis is a pediatric gastroenterologist whose research focuses on the role of the nervous system in the gut (the enteric nervous system), and neurotransmitters, in intestinal inflammation. Her translational research interests focus on inflammatory bowel disease (Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis) and necrotizing enterocolitis. She is also a site principal investigator on a multi-center clinical study examining the prevalence of gastrointestinal conditions in children with autism. Her clinical interests include intestinal inflammatory disorders (Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, eosinophilic esophagitis and celiac disease) as well as gastrointestinal conditions in children with autism.

Neera Gupta, MD, MAS is a physician-scientist with a particular interest in inflammatory bowel disease (Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis). Dr. Gupta recently joined NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital from UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital. Dr. Gupta is interested in studying natural history, outcomes, and risk factors for severe disease in inflammatory bowel disease, with the hope of improving the care we provide to our patients. She is especially interested in enhancing our understanding of the underlying mechanisms of growth impairment in inflammatory bowel disease. Among her research endeavors, Dr. Gupta is the Principal Investigator (PI) for a study examining sex differences in growth impairment in pediatric patients with Crohn’s disease.  This study is supported by awards from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America (CCFA), and the Children’s Digestive Health and Nutrition Foundation (CDHNF).  She is the PI for a study examining growth in pediatric patients with ulcerative colitis, supported by the NIH and the UCSF REAC Award.   She is a Co-Investigator and serves on the Steering Committee for the NIH-funded multicenter PROTECT study, a clinical trial that will determine response to standardized medical therapy and identify clinical, genetic, and immune markers that predict response to therapy in pediatric patients with ulcerative colitis.

Using advanced diagnostic techniques, Dr. Khlevner provides a comprehensive evaluation of children with functional abdominal pain and gastrointestinal motility disorders. Some of the conditions treated by Dr. Khlevner include: achalasia, recurrent vomiting, chronic abdominal pain, severe constipation and anorectal disorders. Dr. Khlevner is committed to advance the science of gastrointestinal motility in order to improve the treatment and prognosis of children with primary motility disorders.

Dr. Lamousé-Smith is Assistant Professor of Pediatrics in the Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition and a member of the Columbia Center for Translational Immunology. Her background and training in cellular immunology and pediatric gastroenterology has led to a specific interest in understanding the role that the gastrointestinal flora has to play on health and disease in children. More specifically, her research is focused on two major questions: What is the impact of antibiotic use during early infancy on the acquisition and stability of the gastrointestinal flora? How does an intestinal flora altered by antibiotic use during infancy impact immune system development and function? In the lab she studies how infant and juvenile mice that are treated with antibiotics at specific ages are able to fight infection or respond to immunization. Complementing these antibiotic treatment models, she has also used germ free mice (mice born and maintained without a gastrointestinal flora) to further shed light on mechanisms by which the gastrointestinal tract flora influences immune function. Dr. Lamousé-Smith also has a specific clinical interest in the use of probiotics to manage gastrointestinal disorders in children. Both of the experimental models that she is studying in the lab provide a platform to experimentally test the potential role of probiotic species in promoting, supporting, and potentially correcting immune dysfunction. Eventually, the lab discoveries may help to inform the design and implementation of studies in human infants and children to learn how we can safely complement the use of probiotics during antibiotic treatment to prevent changes to the intestinal flora that could have consequences for normal immune function.

Dr. Lavine is a faculty member in Pediatrics who is Chief of the Division of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition at Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital and Columbia University Medical Center. His research relates to the etiopathogenesis, genetics, natural history, environmental provocation, biomarker/bioimaging development and treatment of particular pediatric liver diseases, including fatty liver. He is the Co-Chair of the NIDDK Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis Clinical Research Network (NASHCRN) Steering Committee, Co-Chair of the NASH CRN Database Committee, Chair of the NASHCRN Pediatric Committee and a member of the Executive Committee. He is Chair of the NIDDK Data and Safety Monitoring Board of the Cholestatic Liver Disease Research and Education Network (ChiLDREN). He was Vice Chairman and tenured Professor at the University of California, San Diego through February, 2010.

Dr. Lobritto is the Pediatric Medical Director for Liver and Small Bowel Transplantation at the Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital of New York, and Associate Clinical Professor of Pediatrics and Medicine. His multi-disciplinary team consisting of transplant hepatologists, transplant surgeons, general pediatric surgeons, outpatient nurse practitioners, oncologists, inpatient physician assistant, dedicated nutritionist, dedicated social worker and gastroenterology fellows provide care for patients with liver disease of all types, patients with intestinal failure, and patients in need of liver, small bowel or multi-visceral transplantation. The efforts of the team are made possible by the dedication of the hospital to the care of multi-organ failure patients and the institutional commitment of the necessary resources. His research and clinical interests relate to novel Hepatitis B and C treatment in children, acute liver failure in children, alternative immunosuppressive minimization strategies in pediatric liver transplantation, bioartificial support devices in liver failure, and treatment and management of intestinal failure induced liver injury. His practice offers state-of-the-art treatment for biliary atresia, autoimmune liver disease, viral hepatitis, management of hepatic tumors, innovative interventions for the management of portal hypertension, liver storage diseases, intestinal failure, nutritional support, biliary disease and therapeutics and advanced endoscopy. His team strives to work in partnership with referral physicians including regional patients as well as national and international referrals. The team prides itself on the comprehensive medical-surgical approach to the management of advanced liver and intestinal disease.

Dr. Shrager Lusman's clinical and research interests are primarily in the areas of nutrition and cystic fibrosis. Specifically, she is studying the effect of gastrointestinal symptomatology and abdominal pain on quality of life in pediatric cystic fibrosis, as well as caloric intake and nutritional status in school-aged children with cystic fibrosis. In addition, she has an interest in the nutritional management of children with neuromuscular disorders. Dr. Shrager Lusman is actively involved in the education of medical students and pediatric residents.

Dr. Martinez is a pediatric gastroenterologist and transplant hepatologist, working with an amazing team at the Center for Liver Disease and Transplantation. She has a special interest in caring for children with hepatobiliary diseases. In addition, she provides state of the art care for children with a multitude of liver and intestinal issues, including children with liver and intestinal failure that require transplantation, children with intestinal failure and for those with intestinal failure associated liver disease. Her research interests include liver tumors in children, autoimmune liver diseases, metabolic disorders, nutritional deficiencies associated with liver diseases and intestinal failure.

Dr. Mencin is an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics whose basic research focuses on the pathophysiology liver of disease, with a focus on liver fibrosis and the role of toll like receptors. Along with his basic science interests, Dr. Mencin also is studying non alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in children as an investigator in the national research study referred to as the NAFLD Pediatric Database 2. The purpose of this prospective follow-up study is to evaluate the etiology, pathogenesis, natural history, diagnosis, treatment and prevention of NAFLD. Dr. Mencin has an active general pediatric gastroenterology practice and plays a central role in the fellowship program as a clinic preceptor/instructor and the director of the fellowship lecture curriculum.

Dr. Ovchinsky's clinical and research interests relate to pediatric liver disease, health outcomes of pediatric liver transplantation, metabolic disorders of childhood affecting liver and intestinal tract, as well as medical rehabilitation for children with intestinal failure and intestinal failure associated liver disease. Dr. Ovchinsky is also a director of pediatric resident and medical student education in the division of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Hepatology.

Dr. Rizkalla Reilly welcomes patients with any gastrointestinal issue, but has a clinical and research interest in celiac disease and its manifestations in children. She has also trained in wireless capsule endoscopy, which may be used to non-invasively visualize areas of the small bowel which traditional endoscopy and colonoscopy are unable to reach.

Dr. Wei Shen is the Director of Image Analysis Lab and the Associate Director of the Body Composition Unit at the New York Obesity Nutrition Research Center. She has 12 years experience in body composition research, especially in MRI and MRS. Dr. Shen proposed the imaging adipose tissue classification (2003) and developed protocols for bone marrow (2007), intraperitoneal, extraperitoneal (2003, 2010), perimuscular and intramuscular adipose tissue (2003). Using statistical approach, Dr. Shen validated 3-D tissue volume models (2003) and identified the best single slice location (2004, 2008) and slice gap for MRI tissue quantification in adults and children (2010).Her NIH funded projects involve investigating visceral fat and health risks in children; and marrow fat with bone loss using MRI. Ongoing studies include developing regional marrow and organ fat measurement using fat fraction MRI, bone health in pregnant women, and lean tissue change during weight loss. Dr. Shen has collaborated with many investigators in applying body composition methods in areas including insulin resistance, Acromegaly, Cushing’s disease, Premature Adrenarche, Idiopathic Osteoporosis, Anorexia Nervosa, HIV infection, Spinal Muscular Atrophy and motor vehicle collision.

Dr. Volpert takes primary interest in the treatment of obesity and fatty liver disease. She is one of the leading physicians in the adolescent bariatric program together with a specialized clinical nutritionist. The program is headed by Dr. J. Zitsman the pediatric surgeon. The aim of the program is to provide full nutritional assessment and support before, during and after bariatric surgery. Dr. Volpert is a recipient of recent grant which supports investigating the link between nutritional supplements and the treatment of fatty liver disease.