Eric Benchimol

Eric Benchimol is the co-Chair of the Pediatric Track of Advances in Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (AIBD). He holds the Northbridge Chair of Inflammatory Bowel Disease at the SickKids Inflammatory Bowel Disease Centre. He is a Professor of Paediatrics and Clinical Epidemiology at University of Toronto. He is a pediatric gastroenterologist and Associate Program Director of the GI Fellowship program at SickKids Hospital in Toronto. Dr. Benchimol is also an epidemiologist, and chairs the Canadian Gastro-Intestinal Epidemiology Consortium (CanGIEC), which conducts epidemiology, pharmaco-epidemiology, outcomes, and health services research using the health administrative data from multiple provinces. He also has an interest in improving the research methodology and transparency of research using routinely collected health data. In that capacity, he co-Chairs the RECORD (REporting of studies Conducted using Observational Routinely collected data) Steering Committee which has produced multiple reporting guidelines. Dr. Benchimol is Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of the Canadian Association of Gastroenterology.

Trusha Patel, MD, is an attending pediatric gastroenterologist in the Very Early Onset Inflammatory Bowel Disease (VEO-IBD) Program and the Center for Pediatric IBD at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and is an Assistant Professor of Clinical Pediatrics at The University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Patel completed her undergraduate education at The Pennsylvania State University and her medical education at Duke University School of Medicine. She completed her general pediatrics residency and pediatric gastroenterology fellowship at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Her clinical practice and academic work focus on VEO-IBD and pediatric IBD. She is a physician leader in the quality improvement group in the IBD Center at CHOP and is an active member of the North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition (NASPGHAN) and ImproveCareNow (ICN). She has co-authored multiple peer-reviewed research publications and book chapters about IBD and VEO-IBD. Dr. Patel is dedicated to providing personalized, comprehensive and compassionate care for children and young adults living with VEO-IBD and IBD.

Eric Benchimol is the co-Chair of the Pediatric Track of Advances in Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (AIBD). He holds the Northbridge Chair of Inflammatory Bowel Disease at the SickKids Inflammatory Bowel Disease Centre. He is a Professor of Paediatrics and Clinical Epidemiology at University of Toronto. He is a pediatric gastroenterologist and Associate Program Director of the GI Fellowship program at SickKids Hospital in Toronto. Dr. Benchimol is also an epidemiologist, and chairs the Canadian Gastro-Intestinal Epidemiology Consortium (CanGIEC), which conducts epidemiology, pharmaco-epidemiology, outcomes, and health services research using the health administrative data from multiple provinces. He also has an interest in improving the research methodology and transparency of research using routinely collected health data. In that capacity, he co-Chairs the RECORD (REporting of studies Conducted using Observational Routinely collected data) Steering Committee which has produced multiple reporting guidelines. Dr. Benchimol is Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of the Canadian Association of Gastroenterology.

Dr. Amanda Ricciuto completed her medical degree and General Paediatrics training in Montreal at McGill University. She then moved to Toronto to complete fellowship training in Paediatric Gastroenterology at SickKids, including advanced training in the management of paediatric inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). During that time, she obtained a PhD in Clinical Epidemiology and Health Care Research at the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation at the University of Toronto. Her PhD focused on IBD-associated liver disease, with an emphasis on primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC).

Areas of Specialty
Dr. Ricciuto’s areas of specialty include paediatric inflammatory bowel disease and IBD-associated liver disease, particularly primary sclerosing cholangitis.

Research Interests
Dr. Ricciuto’s research interests include paediatric IBD generally, as well as the complex inter-relationship between IBD and primary sclerosing cholangitis. Her work has served to better delineate the phenotype of PSC-associated IBD in children and to guide monitoring strategies in this population. From a methodologic standpoint, she has expertise in longitudinal data analysis.

Elizabeth A. Spencer, MD, MS is a pediatric gastroenterologist and Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. She specializes in inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) in children and adolescents, with a focus on early detection, precision care, and noninvasive disease monitoring.

Dr. Spencer is the Director of the Pediatric Translational Medicine, Interim Director of Intestinal Ultrasound, and Co-Director of the Mount Sinai IBD-Dermatology Clinic, an innovative multidisciplinary program for children with overlapping gastrointestinal and dermatologic immune-mediated diseases. She also founded and directs the first-ever IBD Prevention Program, which provides proactive care for children and adults at high risk of developing IBD.

Her research leverages large-scale biorepositories and real-world data to evaluate treatment effectiveness and safety in pediatric IBD. She serves as an investigator on PCORI- and NIH-funded studies, including COMPARE, and leads national efforts to standardize intestinal ultrasound training and care pathways. She contributes to international pediatric IBD guideline development.

Dr. Spencer received her MD with honors (AOA, GHHS) from Eastern Virginia Medical School and completed her pediatric residency at UCLA, followed by pediatric gastroenterology and advanced IBD fellowships and a master’s degree in clinical research at Mount Sinai, Icahn School of Medicine. In 2025 alone, she has received awards for her collaborative research, her communication with patients, and her academic rigor. A pediatric IBD patient herself, she is deeply committed to advancing child-centered innovation in IBD prevention, diagnosis, and treatment.

Eric Benchimol is the co-Chair of the Pediatric Track of Advances in Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (AIBD). He holds the Northbridge Chair of Inflammatory Bowel Disease at the SickKids Inflammatory Bowel Disease Centre. He is a Professor of Paediatrics and Clinical Epidemiology at University of Toronto. He is a pediatric gastroenterologist and Associate Program Director of the GI Fellowship program at SickKids Hospital in Toronto. Dr. Benchimol is also an epidemiologist, and chairs the Canadian Gastro-Intestinal Epidemiology Consortium (CanGIEC), which conducts epidemiology, pharmaco-epidemiology, outcomes, and health services research using the health administrative data from multiple provinces. He also has an interest in improving the research methodology and transparency of research using routinely collected health data. In that capacity, he co-Chairs the RECORD (REporting of studies Conducted using Observational Routinely collected data) Steering Committee which has produced multiple reporting guidelines. Dr. Benchimol is Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of the Canadian Association of Gastroenterology.

Trusha Patel, MD, is an attending pediatric gastroenterologist in the Very Early Onset Inflammatory Bowel Disease (VEO-IBD) Program and the Center for Pediatric IBD at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and is an Assistant Professor of Clinical Pediatrics at The University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Patel completed her undergraduate education at The Pennsylvania State University and her medical education at Duke University School of Medicine. She completed her general pediatrics residency and pediatric gastroenterology fellowship at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Her clinical practice and academic work focus on VEO-IBD and pediatric IBD. She is a physician leader in the quality improvement group in the IBD Center at CHOP and is an active member of the North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition (NASPGHAN) and ImproveCareNow (ICN). She has co-authored multiple peer-reviewed research publications and book chapters about IBD and VEO-IBD. Dr. Patel is dedicated to providing personalized, comprehensive and compassionate care for children and young adults living with VEO-IBD and IBD.

Dr. de Zoeten is a Professor of Pediatrics at the Univeristy of Colorado Anschutz School of Medicine and the Director of the Pediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center at the Children's Hospital Colorado. He is a physician scientist, who has been funded by the NIH, DoD, NASPGHAN and Crohn's and Colitis Foundation. He has studies both basic and clinical immunologic mechanisms, focusing on the evaluation of regulatory processes and specifically how the immune system regulates itself in the intestine. All with the goal of developing safe and effective therapies for Pediatri IBD patients.

Trusha Patel, MD, is an attending pediatric gastroenterologist in the Very Early Onset Inflammatory Bowel Disease (VEO-IBD) Program and the Center for Pediatric IBD at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and is an Assistant Professor of Clinical Pediatrics at The University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Patel completed her undergraduate education at The Pennsylvania State University and her medical education at Duke University School of Medicine. She completed her general pediatrics residency and pediatric gastroenterology fellowship at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Her clinical practice and academic work focus on VEO-IBD and pediatric IBD. She is a physician leader in the quality improvement group in the IBD Center at CHOP and is an active member of the North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition (NASPGHAN) and ImproveCareNow (ICN). She has co-authored multiple peer-reviewed research publications and book chapters about IBD and VEO-IBD. Dr. Patel is dedicated to providing personalized, comprehensive and compassionate care for children and young adults living with VEO-IBD and IBD.

Eric Benchimol is the co-Chair of the Pediatric Track of Advances in Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (AIBD). He holds the Northbridge Chair of Inflammatory Bowel Disease at the SickKids Inflammatory Bowel Disease Centre. He is a Professor of Paediatrics and Clinical Epidemiology at University of Toronto. He is a pediatric gastroenterologist and Associate Program Director of the GI Fellowship program at SickKids Hospital in Toronto. Dr. Benchimol is also an epidemiologist, and chairs the Canadian Gastro-Intestinal Epidemiology Consortium (CanGIEC), which conducts epidemiology, pharmaco-epidemiology, outcomes, and health services research using the health administrative data from multiple provinces. He also has an interest in improving the research methodology and transparency of research using routinely collected health data. In that capacity, he co-Chairs the RECORD (REporting of studies Conducted using Observational Routinely collected data) Steering Committee which has produced multiple reporting guidelines. Dr. Benchimol is Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of the Canadian Association of Gastroenterology.

Eric Benchimol is the co-Chair of the Pediatric Track of Advances in Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (AIBD). He holds the Northbridge Chair of Inflammatory Bowel Disease at the SickKids Inflammatory Bowel Disease Centre. He is a Professor of Paediatrics and Clinical Epidemiology at University of Toronto. He is a pediatric gastroenterologist and Associate Program Director of the GI Fellowship program at SickKids Hospital in Toronto. Dr. Benchimol is also an epidemiologist, and chairs the Canadian Gastro-Intestinal Epidemiology Consortium (CanGIEC), which conducts epidemiology, pharmaco-epidemiology, outcomes, and health services research using the health administrative data from multiple provinces. He also has an interest in improving the research methodology and transparency of research using routinely collected health data. In that capacity, he co-Chairs the RECORD (REporting of studies Conducted using Observational Routinely collected data) Steering Committee which has produced multiple reporting guidelines. Dr. Benchimol is Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of the Canadian Association of Gastroenterology.

Dr. de Zoeten is a Professor of Pediatrics at the Univeristy of Colorado Anschutz School of Medicine and the Director of the Pediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center at the Children's Hospital Colorado. He is a physician scientist, who has been funded by the NIH, DoD, NASPGHAN and Crohn's and Colitis Foundation. He has studies both basic and clinical immunologic mechanisms, focusing on the evaluation of regulatory processes and specifically how the immune system regulates itself in the intestine. All with the goal of developing safe and effective therapies for Pediatri IBD patients.

David Gardinier is a registered dietitian with the Cleveland Clinic Center for Human Nutrition. He specializes in inflammatory bowel disease and is a part of the Cleveland Clinic IBD medical home. David's research interests include peri-operative nutrition in elective Crohn's disease and use of computed tomography as a monitoring tool for nutrition interventions.

Trusha Patel, MD, is an attending pediatric gastroenterologist in the Very Early Onset Inflammatory Bowel Disease (VEO-IBD) Program and the Center for Pediatric IBD at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and is an Assistant Professor of Clinical Pediatrics at The University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Patel completed her undergraduate education at The Pennsylvania State University and her medical education at Duke University School of Medicine. She completed her general pediatrics residency and pediatric gastroenterology fellowship at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Her clinical practice and academic work focus on VEO-IBD and pediatric IBD. She is a physician leader in the quality improvement group in the IBD Center at CHOP and is an active member of the North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition (NASPGHAN) and ImproveCareNow (ICN). She has co-authored multiple peer-reviewed research publications and book chapters about IBD and VEO-IBD. Dr. Patel is dedicated to providing personalized, comprehensive and compassionate care for children and young adults living with VEO-IBD and IBD.