Pediatric Colorectal Conundrums

Marc A. Levitt, MD, has focused his career on enhancing the care of children with colorectal and pelvic reconstructive needs. He has cared for children from all 50 of the United States and over 75 countries and has performed more than 15,000 pediatric colorectal procedures. He has written five textbooks, and this is his sixth, as well as over 400 scientific articles in this subject area. Dr. Levitt received his undergraduate degree from the University of Pennsylvania and his medical degree from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. He completed his general surgery residency at Mount Sinai Medical Center, a fellowship in Pediatric Colorectal Surgery at Schneider Children's Hospital and a Pediatric Surgery fellowship at Children's Hospital of Buffalo. His work extends to educating students, surgeons, other medical colleagues, and nurses, as well as developing integrated centers throughout the world to ensure that all children have access to quality colorectal care. He is actively engaged in helping patients, their doctors, and nurses in resource limited locations through the organization Colorectal Team Overseas, www.ctoverseas.org, which he founded. He is the Chief of the Division of Colorectal & Pelvic Reconstruction at Children's National Hospital, in Washington DC, a uniquely integrated team of pediatric colorectal surgeons, urologists, gynecologists, gastroenterologists, and nurses and is a professor of surgery and pediatrics at the George Washington University School of Medicine.

Hussein Wissanji, MD is an attending colorectal and general pediatric surgeon at the Montreal Children's Hospital, and an assistant professor in the Department of Surgery and Pediatric Surgery at McGill University. Dr. Wissanji completed his medical school and general surgery residency at Laval University. He received a Master of Public Health degree at Johns Hopkins University before returning to Canada for his Pediatric Surgery fellowship at McGill University. He completed a six-month pediatric colorectal observership at the Children's National Hospital in Washington, DC. Following this experience with Dr. Levitt and his team, Dr. Wissanji returned to Montreal to open the Colorectal Centre of Excellence (COCOE), one of Canada's first multidisciplinary centers for children with Hirschsprung's disease and anorectal malformations. COCOE offers comprehensive clinical care using a collaborative approach, has an integrated pediatric colorectal research program, and develops educational material for patients, families, and healthcare practitioners. Since its opening, it has provided subspecialized integrated care to children from across Canada.

Thomas O. Xu, MD. His hometowns are Glastonbury, Connecticut and Gainesville, Florida. He graduated summa cum laude from the University of Connecticut with a BS in Chemistry. He received his MD from the University of Virginia School of Medicine. He is a resident of general surgery at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. After completing his initial two years of general surgery training, he pursued the Pediatric Colorectal Surgery Research and Clinical Fellowship under the guidance of Dr. Marc Levitt at Children's National Hospital. Throughout his career, he has served under multiple educational roles including serving as a teaching assistant for his medical school's anatomy course, creating a comprehensive pre-clinical question bank for his classmates, and organizing a variety of teaching sessions as both a medical student and resident. He has pursued a variety of research projects throughout his career, particularly in pediatric and colorectal surgery. In his spare time, he enjoys cooking for others and spending time outdoors. He is an avid soccer player and appreciates all sports and activities like golfing, skiing, hiking, and rock climbing.

Filipa Braganca Jalles, MD is an attending pediatric surgeon at Dona Estefania Hospital, in Lisbon, Portugal. After earning her medical degree at Nova Medical School in Lisbon, Dr. Jalles went on to complete her general pediatric surgical training at Santa Maria University Hospital, Lisbon. Currently, she is undertaking a research postdoctoral fellowship in pediatric colorectal surgery at Children's National Hospital Washington DC, further deepening her knowledge on complex colorectal and pelvic surgery cases in a uniquely integrated team of pediatric surgeons, urologists, gynecologists and gastroenterologists. With a strong commitment to improving surgical outcomes and therefore the quality of life for pediatric patients, Dr. Jalles is honored to be part of this book's editorial team and is passionate about contributing to enhance care for children facing colorectal challenges.She is a member of the Portuguese Society of Pediatric Surgery, the European Paediatric Surgeon's Association and Portuguese Society of Minimal invasive Surgery.