Fayez K. Ghishan, MD, is a professor and chair of the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Arizona Health Sciences Center, and director of the University’s Steele Children’s Research Center in Tucson, Arizona. Dr. Ghishan received his medical degree from Ankara University in Turkey, completed a residency in pediatrics at Pennsylvania State University, and conducted postdoctoral research in pediatric gastroenterology at the University of Iowa.
An internationally renowned expert in pediatric gastroenterology and nutrition, Dr. Ghishan’s clinical interests include inflammatory bowel disease, Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, eosinophilic esophagitis, eosinophilic gastroenteritis, and autoimmune disorders. The majority of these conditions are also the focus of his research, much of which is funded, on an ongoing basis, by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Dr. Ghishan’s work has been recognized with numerous awards including the NIH’s prestigious MERIT Award for “Consistent and Excellent Contributions to Scientific Knowledge.” The award, which Dr. Ghishan has received twice, is designed to provide stable, long-term funding support to outstanding investigators whose productivity is deemed superior.
Dr. Ghishan’s current research projects include the study of a probiotic-derived protein to regulate epigenetic programming in intestinal epithelial cells for long-term prevention of colitis, bile acids in necrotizing enterocolitis, a novel therapeutic delivery system for pediatric IBD, modulation of dendritic cell function in the pathogenesis of IBD, and novel roles of sodium hydrogen exchanger 8 in mucosal homeostasis.
Among Dr. Ghishan’s major scientific contributions are cloning the gene responsible for absorbing sodium in the GI tract, thereby advancing the understanding of diarrheal disorders and their relationship to zinc deficiency. His discovery led to World Health Organization recommendations on zinc supplements which continue to guide the treatment of diarrheal disorders globally.
The author of more than 500 articles, abstracts, book reviews and chapters, Dr. Ghishan has also made significant contributions to a number of textbooks in pediatric gastroenterology, hepatology and nutrition. He was an associate editor of the highly referenced resource, Physiology of the Gastrointestinal Tract, now in its sixth edition.