Our Faculty
Thomas Wallach, MD
Chief of Pediatric Gastroenterology/Pediatric GI Fellowship Director
Dr. Thomas Wallach is a physician scientist and pediatric gastroenterologist currently taking new patients. Video introduction and informational videos are available here.
Training: Dr. Wallach attended Pomona College, and completed his medical education at the Medical College of Wisconsin. He then completed a pediatric residency at Columbia University right here in New York, followed by an extended research fellowship in Pediatric Gastroenterology at the University of California, San Francisco, where he engaged in research focused on the regulation of the intestinal epithelial barrier, as well as advanced training in pain medicine.
Expertise: Dr. Wallach is an expert on diseases of the intestinal epithelial barrier, with a specific focus on diseases of gut-brain interaction like irritable bowel syndrome, or other non-inflammatory causes of abdominal pain. Having trained at UCSF, a preeminent research site in inflammatory bowel disease and liver transplant center, he also has notable expertise in IBD, celiac disease, and liver diseases.
Special Services: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, IB-Stim trans-auricular therapy for abdominal pain, pain management
Annie Levine MD
Director - IBD Clinic
Dr. Annie Levine is our inaugural IBD Clinic director, with a practice focused primarily on diagnosis, management, and research into pediatric inflammatory bowel disease. She also holds general clinics at Downstate, Kings County, and Coney Island. She is accepting new patients.
Training: Dr. Levine received her BA in Slavic Languages from Harvard University. She attended medical school at the University of Pittsburgh, and complete a pediatric residency at Brown University. Her Pediatric Gastroenterology training was completed at Seattle Children’s Hospital.
Expertise: IBD (Ulcerative Colitis, Crohn’s Disease), general gastroenterology, genomics.
Special Services: Capsule Endoscopy
Simon Rabinowitz, MD, PhD
Director - Inpatient Feeding Therapy Unit
Simon S Rabinowitz, PhD MD has been the Vice Chairman of Pediatrics at Downstate for ten years while he continues to see new patients with gastrointestinal, hepatic, pancreatic, or nutritional complaints. He is currently taking new patients.
Training: Dr. Rabinowitz grew up in Brooklyn, and after graduating from Stuyvesant High School and Vassar College, he earned his PhD in Biochemistry at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. He completed his education in the PhD to MD program in Miami in 1983. He returned to NYC where he did his Pediatrics and his Pediatric Gastroenterology training at Mt Sinai.
Career: Dr. Rabinowitz served as the founding director of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition at Downstate in 1987. After leading the Downstate division for 12 years, he was recruited to LICH as the Vice Chair of Pediatrics and then became the Chairman of Pediatrics and Program Director for the Pediatric residency at St Vincent, Staten Island from 2003-2011. Throughout these years he maintained an active practice, attracting challenging children with digestive and nutritional diseases to share with his trainees. He has written about failure to thrive. malnutrition, gastroesophageal reflux, gastritis, Hepatitis C, intestinal polyps, and eosinophilic esophagitis.
Recognition: Dr. Rabinowitz’s expertise has been recognized by New York Magazine, Castle Connolly, Who’s Who in Medicine, and others for the quality of his work. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Gastroenterological Association and has consistently taught young doctors an empathetic approach to their patients. He specializes in children with complicated problems who are in need of a diagnosis, or of a second opinion to improve their growth or quality of life.
Special Services: Endoscopic Ultrasound, ongoing studies in eosinophilic esophagitis.
Steve Schwarz, MD
Dr. Steve Schwarz is a distinguished clinician with decades of experience. Dr. Schwarz is a highly decorated provider, having previously been awarded the American Academy of Pediatrics Charles Murray award recognizing an outstanding clinician, educator, and scientist who has made significant contributions to the field of pediatric gastroenterology and nutrition. Dr. Schwarz is generally not taking new patients, but is available for consultation upon request. .
Training: Dr. Schwarz attended Yale University, followed by completing his medical education and Pediatric Residency at Columbia University. He completed gastroenterology fellowships at Stanford University and Columbia University.
Expertise: Dr. Schwarz has practiced, researched, and led the field of pediatric gastroenterology for decades. He has broad expertise in nutrition, inflammatory disease, and allergic disease.
Radha Nathan, MBBS
Dr. Nathan is a part time faculty member splitting time between Kings County Medical Center and Brookdale Hospital. She has specific interests in constipation, milk protein intolerance, failure to thrive, and pediatric reflux.
Sushil Ahlawat, MD, MS, MBBS, FACP, FASGE, AGAF
Chief - Division of Gastroenterology/Hepatobiliary and Advanced Endoscopy Specialist
Dr. Ahlawat is board certified in Internal Medicine, Gastroenterology and Transplant Hepatology. He is a trained interventional gastroenterologist with expertise in advanced endoscopic procedures. He specializes in endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP), diagnostic and interventional endoscopic ultrasound (EUS), endoscopic mucosal resection/polypectomy, endoluminal stent placement and deep small bowel enteroscopy.
His specialty training includes a fellowship in Gastroenterology and Hepatology at Georgetown University School of Medicine in Washington, DC, and an advanced fellowship that focused in Therapeutic Endoscopy at Georgetown University School of Medicine in Washington, DC. He also completed a fellowship in Advanced Medicine at Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Rochester, MN. He earned his medical degrees from Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences in Rohtak (India) and M.S. (Clinical Research) from Mayo Clinic College of Medicine in Rochester, MN. He completed his internal medicine residency at Montefiore Medical Center in New York, NY.
Dr. Ahlawat is available for pediatric patients older than 2 years of age requiring ERCP for gall stones, chronic pancreatitis, or other relevant indications.
Shannon Stepan, PhD
Dr. Stepan works with the Pediatric GI division to support patients with comorbid pain syndromes, anxiety, or depression, which are common complications of chronic illness. She specializes in short and long-term psychotherapy aimed at increasing self-awareness and identifying patterns in thinking and behavior that contribute to mood symptoms and chronic pain. Dr. Stepan is able to provide her services to our patients via telehealth, and free of charge.
Training: Dr. Stepan earned a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology from The New School. Her doctoral research focused on child well-being and its relationship with parents’ representations of attachment. She trained in outpatient and inpatient settings in several New York City hospitals, including Maimonides Medical Center, LIJ Medical Center, Woodhull Medical Center, and Mt. Sinai Beth Israel. She completed my clinical internship at Maimonides Medical Center and also served as a Research Associate in the Psychiatry Residency program there.
Jennifer Vittorio, MD
Director - KCH/NYU Hepatology Outreach Clinic
Dr. Jennifer Vittorio is a pediatric transplant hepatologist, serving as the director of the Kings County Pediatric Liver Clinic, and the Course Director of our fellowship hepatology training at New York University.
Training: Dr. Vittorio is the Medical Director of Pediatric Liver Transplant at NYU. She completed her medical school and pediatric residency at Georgetown University, and her fellowship in pediatric gastroenterology and transplant hepatology at Columbia University. She is an expert in liver disease, transplant management, and publishes extensively in clinical research regarding transplant and liver disease.