History of the Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition
Former Directors
William K. Schubert, MD
William Balistreri, MD
The Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition was founded in 1968 by William K. Schubert, MD, who was then the director of the Clinical Research Center of Cincinnati Children's. Dr. Schubert later served as chairman of the Department of Pediatrics (1979-1993) and President and Chief Executive Officer of CCHMC (1983-1996).
Dr. Schubert, who had previously been in private practice while being "The Pediatricians' Pediatrician," brought a generalist approach to the care of patients with liver disease (the whole patient, not just the right upper quadrant). Dr. Schubert made many important contributions to pediatric gastroenterology, hepatology, and nutrition:
Member, Initial Editorial Board, Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology and NutritionDr. Schubert was also a role model and mentor, stimulating many pediatric residents to a career in pediatric gastroenterology. He founded the pediatric gastroenterology fellowship program in 1972 with Drs. William Balistreri and Philip Bagnell as the first fellows. Among other awards, Dr. Schubert received the 2003 Murray Davidson Award from the American Academy of Pediatrics in recognition of his important contributions to pediatric gastroenterology, hepatology, and nutrition.
After Dr. Schubert was appointed Chairman of the Department of Pediatrics, he was succeeded as Division Director by John Partin, MD, who served from 1979-80, before departing to become Chairman of the Department of Pediatrics at the State University of New York-Stony Brook.
In 1980, William Balistreri, MD, succeeded Dr. Partin as Division Director. Under Dr. Balistreri's leadership, the division flourished, growing from a faculty of 3 to 17, and developing outstanding programs in clinical care, research, and education.
In July 2005, Dr. Balistreri was succeeded as division director by Mitchell B. Cohen, MD, who is continuing the division's emphasis on excellence in clinical care, research and teaching.
Throughout the division's history, the division and its fellowship program have continually produced leaders in pediatric gastroenterology, hepatology and nutrition and academic pediatrics in general. Highlights include:
- Presidency of the North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition (NASPGHAN) (Balistreri, Suchy, Sokol, Cohen)
- President of the Children's Digestive Health and Nutrition Foundation (Balistreri)
- Presidency of the American Association for the Study of Liver Disease (AASLD) (Balistreri, Suchy)
- Editorship of the Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition (Balistreri)
- Editorship of the Journal of Pediatrics (Balistreri)
- Harry Shwachman Award of NASPGHAN (Balistreri, Suchy)
- Murray Davidsion Award of the American Academy of Pediatrics (Balistreri, Schubert, Farrell)
- Distinguished Service Award of AASLD (Balistreri)
- NASPGHAN Young Faculty Investigator Award (Bates, Denson)
- NASPGHAN Fellow Research Award (Hochman, Erickson)
- Members of the American Board of Pediatrics and the gastroenterology subboard (numerous)
- National Institutes of Health study section memberships (numerous)
- Medical School Deans (Bagnell)
- Department Chairs (Partin, Suchy, Gremse, Bancroft)
- Program Directors of General Clinical Research Centers (Heubi)
- Division Directors (numerous)
- NASPGHAN committee chairs & committee members (numerous)
- 64 fellowship graduates, currently located in 26 states and 3 other countries
Learn more about the history of Cincinnati Children's.
References
Balistreri, William F. Presentation of the 2003 Murray Davidson Award from the American Academy of Pediatrics to William Schubert, MD, at the 2003 Annual Meeting of the North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, October 3, 2003.
Cohen, Mitchell B. The Shwachman Award of the North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition, 1999: Presentation. J Ped Gastroenterol Nutr 30:355-358, 2000.
Gerhardt, William J. Edward Lowell Pratt. Cincinnati: C.J. Krehbiel, 2002.
Walker-Smith, John & Walker, W. Allan. The development of pediatric gastroenterology: a historical overview. Pediatr Res 53:706-715, 2003. Read the article in Pediatric Research.
