Dr. Joseph A. Picoraro, MD

I am a pediatric gastroenterologist who strives to provide comprehensive care for children in the context of their families. I specialize in conditions that affect the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, and focus on inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)—both Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.   As Director of the Pediatric IBD Center at Columbia and former director of Pediatric GI Inpatient Services at New York-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital, I collaborate with a team of experts who regularly tackle the most unique and complex challenges in medicine. If your child is experiencing a routine condition, we will treat it as the most important condition your family has faced. We combine advanced techniques of diagnosis—in the lab and through state-of-the-art endoscopy and comprehensive imaging—with targeted treatment that includes both medication and advanced procedures.   I am naturally an educator, of children and families and also of medical students, residents, and fellows. …I lead the training of future healthcare professionals in both the Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons and the Institute of Human Nutrition.   I also serve in local and national efforts to improve the care of gastrointestinal diseases. I am the vice chair of the Clinical Care and Quality Committee of the North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition and former co-chair of the greater New York chapter Healthcare Professional Engagement Committee of the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation. In these roles I have collaborated with colleagues across many institutions to make fundamental improvements in medicine across the country.   Finally, I am committed to advancing pediatric medicine and facilitating innovation. My research focuses on improving the ways in which we deliver care, spanning specialized techniques of endoscopy to targeted treatments in Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. I am the recipient of the North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition Advanced Fellowship in Pediatric Endoscopy award.