Necrotizing enterocolitis, or NEC, is a life-threatening illness with a mortality rate as high as 50% that almost exclusively affects neonates. The complex pathophysiology of NEC is based on an immature intestinal system that makes babies more susceptible to injury once they are fed. Ultimately, this can result in a breakdown of the gut, necrosis and then sepsis and death. There’s still no known cure for NEC, but we will discuss the potential of probiotics, specifically lactobacillus reuteri, with our guest Gail Besner, MD. As part of our Women in Medicine series, we are pleased to talk to Dr. Besner, whose research at Nationwide Children’s Hospital focuses on identifying novel therapeutic strategies to protect the intestines from intestinal injury, including necrotizing enterocolitis.  

Guest: 

Gail Besner, MD, is a surgeon-scientist at Nationwide Children’s Hospital and The Ohio State University, holds the H. William Clatworthy, Jr. Chair in Surgery, and has been the Chief of Pediatric Surgery at Nationwide Children’s Hospital for the past eleven years. She is a member of the Center for Perinatal Research at the Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. She was the Program Director of the Pediatric Surgery Residency Training Program for many years, and now serves as the Associate Program Director.  She’s also a scientific Co-Founder of Scioto Biosciences, Inc., a company designed to bring scientific findings from the laboratory to the bedside.    

For more information on Children’s Hospital Colorado, visit: childrenscolorado.org