Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition

John C. Bucuvalas, MD

Title

Associate Medical Director, Pediatric Liver Care Center

Appointment

Professor of Pediatrics

Phone

513-636-4415

Fax

513-636-7805

Bio

John Bucuvalas, MD, came to Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center in 1982 as a fellow in gastroenterology. He joined the faculty in 1986. He graduated from Harvard College in 1974 and Harvard Medical School in 1978. He completed a pediatric residency at Massachusetts General Hospital and served there as Chief Resident from 1981 to 1982.

Over the last 10 years, the focus his patient care and research efforts have been outcomes research and improving the care delivery system for children with chronic liver disease who then may undergo liver transplantation. He has focused on integration of research into patient care and improving the care delivery system. Along the way, he has gained significant content knowledge through traditional research but additionally have learned how to improve processes, understand the sytem that is academic medicine, interpret variation and recognize the role of leadership both for research and clinical efforts. Dr. Bucuvalas has made significant contributions in the clinical and research arenas towards improving care, enhancing the delivery care and optimizing the outcome of children with chronic liver disease and pediatric liver transplant recipients.

Dr. Bucuvalas has been recognized as a leader in the field of pediatric hepatology and liver transplantation at a local, regional and national level.

Credentials

AB: Harvard College, Cambridge, MA, 1974.

MD: Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 1978.

Residency: Pediatrics, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, 1978 to 1981.

Chief Residency: Pediatrics, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, 1981 to 1982.

Fellowship: Gastroenterology, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, 1982 to 85.

Research Scholar: Gastroenterology, Children's Hospital Research Foundation, Cincinnati, OH, 1985 to 86.

Certification: Pediatrics, 1983; Pediatric Gastroenterology, 1990; recertified, 1997, 2004.

Awards and Honors

Awarded "2004 Best Doctors"
Awarded "2005 Best Doctors"
Best Doctors in America, 2008

Research

Outcomes after liver transplantation
Improving the quality of health care delivery

Research Grants and Contracts

National Institutes of Health (NICHD); Functional Outcome After Liver Transplantation; Co-investigator; 2005 to 2010.

National Institutes of Health (NIDDK); Multi-Center Study of Biliary Atresia; Co-investigator; 2001 to 2009.

National Institutes of Health (NIDDK); Multi-Center Study of Pediatric Liver Transplantation; Co-investigator; 2004 to 2008.

Publications, Most Recent

View John Bucuvalas's publications at Cincinnati Children's as listed by PubMed.

Magee JC, Bucuvalas JC, Farmer DG, Harmon WE, Hulbert-Shearon TE, Mendeloff EN. (2004) Pediatric transplantation.Am J Transplant 4 Suppl 9:54-71.
Bucuvalas JC, Zeng L, Anand R. (2004) Predictors of length of stay for pediatric liver transplant recipients.Liver Transpl 10:1011-7.
Fine RN, Alonso EM, Fischel JE, Bucuvalas JC, Enos RA, Gore-Langton RE. (2004) Pediatric transplantation of the kidney, liver and heart: summary report.Pediatr Transplant 8:75-86.
Cole CR, Bucuvalas JC, Hornung RW, Krug S, Ryckman FC, Atherton H, Alonso MP, Balistreri WF, Kotagal U. (2004) Impact of liver transplantation on HRQOL in children less than 5 years old.Pediatr Transplant 8:222-7.
Cole CR, Bucuvalas JC, Hornung R, Ryckman FC, Alonso MP, Balistreri WF, Kotagal U. (2004) Outcome after pediatric liver transplantation impact of living donor transplantation on cost.J Pediatr 144:729-35.
Shneider BL, Rinaldo P, Emre S, Bucuvalas J, Squires R, Narkewicz M, Gondolesi G, Magid M, Morotti R, Hynan LS. (2005) Abnormal concentrations of esterified carnitine in bile: a feature of pediatric acute liver failure with poor prognosis.Hepatology 41:717-21.
Utterson EC, Shepherd RW, Sokol RJ, Bucuvalas J, Magee JC, McDiarmid SV, Anand R. (2005) Biliary atresia: clinical profiles, risk factors, and outcomes of 755 patients listed for liver transplantation.J Pediatr 147:180-5.
Tiao GM, Bobey N, Allen S, Nieves N, Alonso M, Bucuvalas J, Wells R, Ryckman F. (2005) The current management of hepatoblastoma: a combination of chemotherapy, conventional resection, and liver transplantation.J Pediatr 146:204-11.
Tiao GM, Alonso M, Bezerra J, Yazigi N, Heubi J, Balistreri W, Bucuvalas J, Ryckman F. (2005) Liver transplantation in children younger than 1 year--the Cincinnati experience.J Pediatr Surg 40:268-73.
Tiao GM, Alonso M, Bezerra J, Yazigi N, Heubi J, Balistreri W, Bucuvalas J, Ryckman F. (2005) Liver transplantation in children younger than 1 year - the Cincinnati experience.J Pediatr Surg 40:268-73; discussion 273.
Bucuvalas JC, Alonso E. (2005) Outcome after liver transplantation: more than just survival rates.Liver Transpl 11:7-9.
Bucuvalas JC, Ryckman FC, Arya G, Andrew B, Lesko A, Cole CR, James B, Kotagal U. (2005) A novel approach to managing variation: outpatient therapeutic monitoring of calcineurin inhibitor blood levels in liver transplant recipients.J Pediatr 146:744-50.
Bucuvalas JC. (2005) Critical analysis of the pediatric end-stage liver disease scoring system: a single center experience.J Pediatr Gastroenterol Nutr 41:487-8.
Gross TG, Bucuvalas JC, Park JR, Greiner TC, Hinrich SH, Kaufman SS, Langnas AN, McDonald RA, Ryckman FC, Shaw BW, Sudan DL, Lynch JC. (2005) Low-dose chemotherapy for Epstein-Barr virus-positive post-transplantation lymphoproliferative disease in children after solid organ transplantation.J Clin Oncol 23:6481-8.
Campbell KM, Yazigi N, Ryckman FC, Alonso M, Tiao G, Balistreri WF, Atherton H, Bucuvalas JC. (2006) High prevalence of renal dysfunction in long-term survivors after pediatric liver transplantation.J Pediatr 148:475-80.
Bucuvalas J, Yazigi N, Squires RH, Jr. (2006) Acute liver failure in children.Clin Liver Dis 10:149-68, vii.
Xanthakos S, Miles L, Bucuvalas J, Daniels S, Garcia V, Inge T. (2006) Histologic spectrum of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in morbidly obese adolescents.Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol 4:226-32.
Bucuvalas JC, Campbell KM, Cole CR, Guthery SL. (2006) Outcomes After Liver Transplantation: Keep the End in Mind.J Pediatr Gastroenterol Nutr 43:S41-S48.
Squires RH, Jr., Shneider BL, Bucuvalas J, Alonso E, Sokol RJ, Narkewicz MR, Dhawan A, Rosenthal P, Rodriguez-Baez N, Murray KF, Horslen S, Martin MG, Lopez MJ, Soriano H, McGuire BM, Jonas MM, Yazigi N, Shepherd RW, Schwarz K, Lobritto S, Thomas DW, Lavine JE, Karpen S, Ng V, Kelly D, Simonds N, Hynan LS. (2006) Acute liver failure in children: the first 348 patients in the pediatric acute liver failure study group.J Pediatr 148:652-658.

Professional Organization Memberships

Society for Pediatric Research
American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases
American Gastroenterological Association
North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition
American Society of Transplantation

Other Memberships:

Member of the Pediatric Gastroenterology subboard of the American Board of Pediatrics, 2001 to 2006
Vice Chair of the Studies in Pediatric Liver Transplantation, 2003 to present
Member, American Board of Pediatrics, 2003
Co-leader of the Clinical System Improvement Team, Cincinnati Children's, 2002 to 2005
American Board of Pediatrics Transplant Hepatology Committee

Special Interests

Liver disease
Transplantation
Outcomes research

Presentations, Most Recent:

Guthery S, Pohl J, Bucuvalas JC, Ryckman FC, Alonso MH, Balistreri WF, Heubi JE. Bone Mineral Density following Liver Transplantation. Oral presentation at the Annual Meeting for the American Society of Transplantation. Washington, DC, 2002.

Bucuvalas JC, Krug S, Ryckman FC, Alonso MH, Balistreri WF, Kotagal U. A Prospective Longitudinal Assessment of Quality of Life in Pediatric Liver Transplant Recipients. Poster presentation at the Annual Meeting for the American Society of Transplantation. Washington, DC, 2002.

Bucuvalas JC, Krug S, Ryckman FC, Britto M, Alonso MH, Balistreri WF, Kotagal U. Predictors of Health-related Quality of Life in Long-term Survivors of Pediatric Liver Transplant Recipients. Poster presentation at the Annual Meeting for the American Society of Transplantation, Washington, DC, 2002.

Cole C, Bucuvalas JC, Ryckman FC, Alonso M, Balistreri W, Kotagal U. Comprehensive Cost Comparison of Pediatric Living Donor Liver Transplantation with Cadaver Donor Liver Transplantation. Presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases, Boston, MA, 2002.

Squires RH, Sokol RJ, Shneider B, Bucuvalas J, Soriano H, Murray K, Rosenthal P, Jonas M, Hynan LS, Simonds N and the Pediatric Acute Liver Failure Study Group (PALFSG). Encephalopathy (EN) at presentation predicts outcome for children with acute liver failure (ALF). Presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases, Boston, MA, 2002.

Gross TG, Julie J, Bucuvalas J, Langnas A, Kaufman S, McDonald R, Goldman F and Lynch J. Low-Dose Chemotherapy for Refractory EBV Associated Post-Transplant Lymphoproliferative Disease (PTLD) Following Solid Organ Transplant (SOT) in Children.Presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Society for Hematology, 2003.

Bucuvalas JC, Anand R, Zeng L and Split Research Group.Predictors of Length of Stay for Pediatric Liver Transplant Recipients. Oral presentation at the Annual Meeting for the American Society of Transplantation, Washington, DC, 2003.

Campbell K, Yazigi N, Ryckman F, Alonso M, Tiao G, Balistreri W, Atherton H, Bucuvalas J. Renal Function in Long-term Pediatric Liver Transplant Survivors. Oral presentation at the Annual Meeting for the American Society of Transplantation, Washington, DC, 2003.

Tiao G, Alonso M, Bucuvalas J, Yazigi N, Bezerra J, Heubi J, Balistreri W, Ryckman F. Retransplantation of the Liver in the Pediatric Population: The Impact of Early versus Late Graft Failure on Outcome. Oral presentation at the Annual Meeting for the American Society of Transplantation, Washington, DC, 2003.

Cole C, Bucuvalas JC, Hornung R, Ryckman FC, Alonso M, Balistreri W, Kotagal U. Impact of living donor transplantation on health-related quality of life in children less than 5 years old. Oral presentation at the Annual Meeting of the American Gastroenterological Association meeting, Orlando, FL, 2003.

Campbell KM, Bucuvalas JC, Anand R, Zeng L and the SPLIT Research Group. Renal Function in Pediatric Liver Transplant Survivors - A Report from the Split Database. Oral presentation at the Annual Meeting for the American Society of Transplantation, Boston, MA, 2004.

Yazigi N, Ryckman F, Alonso M, Tiao G, Balistreri W, Atherton H, Bucuvalas J. Diabetes in Long-Term Pediatric Liver Transplant Survivors. Poster presentation at the Annual Meeting for the American Society of Transplantation, Boston, MA, 2004.

Tiao G, Alonso M, Bucuvalas J, Bezerra J, Yazigi N, Heubi J, Balistreri W, Ryckman F. Liver Transplantation in Children under 5 kg. Poster presentation at the Annual Meeting for the American Society of Transplantation, Boston, MA, 2004.

Software Applications Development:

Development of web-based health portal for liver transplant recipients in which patients can access their own laboratory data and critical information regarding their care.