Liver Care Center

William F. Balistreri, MD

Title

Medical Director, Pediatric Liver Care Center; Associate Chair for Subspecialty Training, Department of Pediatrics

Appointment

Professor of Pediatrics

Email

william.balistreri@cchmc.org

Phone

513-636-4594

Fax

513-636-7805

Bio

William F. Balistreri, MD, Medical Director, Pediatric Liver Care Center and Associate Chair for Subspecialty Training, Department of Pediatrics at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, received the 2001 Outstanding Pediatrician award from the Ohio Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics. The award is given annually to a pediatrician who is a member of the Ohio Chapter of the AAP for distinguished achievements in pediatric care and in the education of patients and physicians.

"I believe that his award reflects the respect of our colleagues for the entire Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center community rather than any one individual," says Balistreri. "Nevertheless, I am honored to be singled out among all of the outstanding pediatricians in the state of Ohio."

Balistreri is one of the world's foremost authorities on pediatric gastroenterology and liver disease. He is medical director of Cincinnati Children's Pediatric Liver Care Center and Pediatric Liver Transplantation Program.

Through more than 440 publications, including original articles, editorials, reviews and book chapters, Balistreri has helped to clarify the understanding of many aspects of pediatric hepatology -- the branch of medicine concerned with the liver and its diseases. These include bile acid metabolism, neonatal cholestasis (stoppage or suppression of the flow of bile), hepatitis and liver transplantation.

Balistreri has been editor of The Journal of Pediatrics since 1995. He is the former editor-in-chief of the Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition, and co-editor, associate editor, guest editor, reviewer and member of numerous editorial boards of several journals and periodicals. These include seminars in Liver Disease, Hepatology, Gastroenterology, and the New England Journal of Medicine. He is co-editor of the prestigious text Liver Disease in Children.

In 2000, Balistreri became the first pediatrician to serve as president of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases. He is or has been president or a member of numerous prestigious scholarly societies, including the North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition.

Balistreri has also served as a member of the board of directors of the American Board of Pediatrics, American Liver Foundation, Institute for Pediatric Medical Education, and the Society for Pediatric Research.

Balistreri has received awards from various societies. These include the Distinguished Leadership Award from the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America in 1995, the Andrew Sass-Kortsak Memorial Award from the Canadian Liver Foundation and the Canadian Association for the Study of Liver in 1998, the Murray Davidson Award from the American Academy of Pediatrics Section on Gastroenterology and Nutrition in 1999, and the prestigious Shwachman Award for 1999 from the North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition.

Balistreri earned a medical degree at the University of Buffalo School of Medicine in 1970. He was a pediatric resident at Cincinnati Children's from 1971 to 1972 and a post-doctoral fellow from 1972 to 1974. He did a research fellowship in the division of Gastroenterology at the Mayo Foundation, Mayo Clinic, before being appointed assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in 1976.

Balistreri joined Cincinnati Children's in 1978, when he also was named Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. In 1984, Balistreri was named Dorothy M. Kersten Professor of Pediatrics at Cincinnati Children's. In 1991, he was appointed Professor of Medicine at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. Balistreri has been listed multiple times in Best Doctors in America.

Credentials

BA: State University of New York at Buffalo, NY, 1966.

MD: University of Buffalo School of Medicine, NY, 1970.

Internship: Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center (University of Cincinnati School of Medicine), Cincinnati, OH, 1970 to 1972.

Residency: Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center (University of Cincinnati School of Medicine), Cincinnati, OH, 1971 to 1972.

Fellowship: Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, 1973 to 1974.

Research Fellowship: Gastroenterology, Mayo Foundation, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, 1973 to 1975.

Certification: Pediatrics, 1975 (renewed 1992); Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition, 1990 (renewed 1997 and 2004).

Awards and Honors

Best Doctors in America, 2008
Distinguished Service Award from the American Association for the Study of Liver Disease (AASLD)
Daniel Drake Award, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, 2006
Awarded "2005 Best Doctors"
Awarded "2004 Best Doctors"
Visiting Milwaukee Children's, May. 2006
Visiting Professor, University of West Virginia Grand Rounds, April, 2006
Visiting Professor, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT, March, 2006
The Children's Hospital at Montefiore Grand Rounds, March, 2006
Visiting Professor, University of Rochester, July 2005
Visiting Professor, UTSW, Dallas, TX, July, 2005
Visiting Professor, Buffalo Children's Hospital, April 2005
Visiting Professor, Phoenix Children's Hospital; University of Arizona, March 2005
Keynote Speaker: ESPGHAN Conference, "Neonatal Hepatitis", Ishia, Italy
Visiting Professor, Vermont Summer Pediatric Seminar, Manchester, VT, 2004
Visiting Professor, Grand Rounds University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine, San Francisco, CA, 2004
Visiting Professor, 42nd Annual Bilderback Lecture, Portland, OR, 2004
Visiting Professor, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 2004
Visiting Professor, Chicago Children's Hospital, Chicago, IL, 2003
Masters of Pediatrics Lecturer, University of Miami, FL, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004
"Outstanding Pediatrician of the Year," Ohio Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, 2001
Lowell Glasgow Invited Professor, Utah Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, February 2001
Harry Shwachman Award, North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition (NASPGN), 1999
Murray Davidson Award, American Academy of Pediatrics Section on Gastroenterology and Nutrition, 1999
Andrew Sass-Kortsak Memorial Award, Canadian Liver Foundation / Canadian Association for the Study of the Liver, 1998
Member, Scientific Advisory Board, SPLIT (Studies in Pediatric Liver Transplantation)
Guest Editor, Clinics in Liver Disease (Topic: Pediatric Liver Disease)
Member, International Editorial Board, Liver
President, Institute for Pediatric Medical Education
Co-Director, Annual Mead Johnson Neonatal Nutrition and Gastroenterology Symposium

Research Grants and Contracts

A Pilot Study to Evaluate the Bioavailability of Ursocarb vs Actigall in Chronic Cholestatic Liver Disease and in Patients with Cystic Fibrosis-related Liver Disease, Study Director.
A Phase III Double Blind, Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Study of the Safety and Efficiacy of Adefovir Dipivoxil in Children and Adolescents (age 2 to <18) with Chronic Hepatitis B, Principal Investigator.
Pegylated Interferon +/- Ribavirin for children with HCV (Peds-C), Principal Investigator.
Studies of Pediatric Liver Transplant, SPLIT. Co-investigator.
Acute Liver Failure Study Group, R01 DK 58369, Co-investigator

Publications, Most Recent

View William Balistreri's publications at Cincinnati Children's as listed by PubMed.

McLin VA, Balistreri WF (2004). Approach to neonatal cholestasis. Pediatric Gastrointestinal Disease: Pathophysiology, Diagnosis, Management, 4th Edition. WA Walker, O Goulet, RE Kleinmanet al. Hamilton, Ontario, B.C. Decker: 1079-1093.
Campbell KM, Balistreri WF (2004). "Inflammatory Bowel Disease". Pediatrics. DT Osborn L, First LR, Zenel JA, Harcourt Health Sciences: 947-954.
Bates MD, Balistreri WF (2004). Morphogenesis of the liver and biliary system. Nelson Textbook of Pediatrics. RE Behrman, R Kliegman and HB Jenson. Philadelphia, Saunders: 1304-1308.
Balistreri WF, Noel RJ (2004). Pediatric liver disease. Handbook of Liver Disease, 2nd edition. LS Friedman and EB Keeffe. Edinburgh, Churchill Livingstone: 293-303.
Bove KE, Heubi JE, Balistreri WF, Setchell KD. (2004) Bile acid synthetic defects and liver disease: a comprehensive review.Pediatr Dev Pathol 7:315-34.
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.
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.
Balistreri WF. (2005) Fatty liver of obesity-An inflammatory disease?J Pediatr 147:A3.
Balistreri WF, Bezerra JA, Jansen P, Karpen SJ, Shneider BL, Suchy FJ. (2005) Intrahepatic cholestasis: summary of an American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases single-topic conference.Hepatology 42:222-35.
Balistreri WF. (2005) Mining for Hirschprung's disease in the overflowing stream.J Pediatr 146:A1.
Leonis MA, Balistreri WF. (2005) Neonatal hemochromatosis: it's OK to say "NO" to antioxidant-chelator therapy.Liver Transpl 11:1323-5.
Balistreri WF, Jobe A, Boat TF. (2005) Pediatric Subspecialty Training Fellowships at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center (CCHMC).J Pediatr 147:277-8.
Cohen M. (2006) Introduction of WF Balistreri Festschrift.J Pediatr Gastroenterol Nutr 43:S1-S3.
Campbell K, Balistreri W (2006). The Liver and Parenteral Nutrition. Hepatology: A Textbook of Liver Disease. T Boyer, M Manns and T Wright. Philadelphia, W.B. Saunders Company: Chapter 57.
Leonis MA, Balistreri WF (2006). Neonatal Jaundice. Therapy of Digestive Disorders. M Wolf, W. B. Saunders: Chapter 46.
Wieman R, Balistreri W (2006). Nutritional Support in Children with Liver Disease. Pediatric Nutrition Support. R Baker, S Baker and A Davis. Massachusetts, Jones and Bartlett Publishers: 445-461.
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.
Brady MS, Garson JL, Krug SK, Kaul A, Rickard KA, Caffrey HH, Fineberg N, Balistreri WF, Stevens JC. (2006) An enteric-coated high-buffered pancrelipase reduces steatorrhea in patients with cystic fibrosis: a prospective, randomized study.J Am Diet Assoc 106:1181-6.
Balistreri WF, Bezerra JA. (2006) Whatever happened to "neonatal hepatitis"?Clin Liver Dis 10:27-53, v.

Professional Organization Memberships

President, Children's Digestive Health & Nutrition Foundation (CDHNF), 2005-2008
Past President, American Association for the Study of Liver Disease (AASLD)
Past President, North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition
Board of Directors, American Board of Pediatrics (ABP)
Credentials Committee, American Board of Pediatrics (ABP)
Member, American Liver Foundation (ALF) -- Pediatric Liver Council

Special Interests

Liver disease (cholestasis, hepatisis, metabolic liver disease) and inflammatory bowel disease

Editing

Editor, Journal of Pediatrics
Editorial Board, Physicians Guide for Rare Disorders (National Organization for Rare Diseases)
Editorial Board, Liver, 1998 to 2004
Editorial Board, Journal of Hepatology, 1999 to 2003
Editor, Liver Disease in Children (Suchy, Sokol, Ballistreri, editors), 2001