Pediatric Liver and Biliary Disease Center

Schedule a Virtual Visit

Our team provides patients with virtual visits using video-based programs over a secure Internet connection to the patient’s desktop computer, laptop or tablet. Virtual visits give our patients and families a direct video link with their pediatric gastroenterologist without having to travel for an appointment. Patients may discuss symptoms and clarify treatment plans from the comfort of their home or another private setting. To arrange a virtual visit, please call 888-644-3211.

Overview

The Pediatric Liver and Biliary Disease Center at Mass General for Children diagnoses and treats infants, children and adolescents with diverse hepatic, biliary and pancreatic disorders ranging from gall stones and infectious hepatitis to rare metabolic and autoimmune liver diseases.

We are a multidisciplinary program that draws on all of the specialists at Mass General for Children as well as Massachusetts General Hospital to provide focused, comprehensive outpatient and inpatient care. We lead in the application of current knowledge to clinical care and are at the forefront in research, finding new cures for disease.

Working closely with the Mass General Center for Transplantation and Adult Hepatology, we comprise the medical component of the Pediatric Liver Transplant Program and oversee the care of pediatric patients who are waiting for a new liver as well as those who have undergone transplantation.

Our Neonatal Hepatology Program is a novel multidisciplinary program that draws on the expertise of several specialties, including Neonatology, Pediatric Hepatology, Pediatric Nutrition, Pediatric Surgery, Medical Genetics and Metabolism and Pediatric Imaging.

Reflecting the often-complex care of children with hepatobiliary disorders, our group works collaboratively with other pediatric specialists throughout Mass General for Children, including:

• Hepatologists
• Gastroenterologists
• Pediatric surgeons
• Transplant surgeons
• Endoscopists
• Interventional radiologists
• Liver and vascular radiologists
• Pathologists
• Infectious disease specialists
• Psychiatrists
• Geneticists
• Nurse practitioners and transplant coordinators
• Nutritionists
• Social workers
• Child Life

As part of our program’s pancreatic component, we work with specialists in pulmonology, cystic fibrosis, immunology, genetics and pediatric surgery.

Hepatologists specializing in transplant medicine provide state-of-the-art care for patients before and after transplant as an integral part of the Liver Transplant Program.

Conditions Treated

Hepatobiliary

All diseases involving the liver and the biliary system, such as:

• Genetic/metabolic disease
• Biliary atresia
• Choledochal cysts
• Gallstones
• Sphincter of Oddi dysfunction
• Infectious hepatitis
• Autoimmune hepatitis
• Neonatal jaundice
• Primary sclerosing cholangitis
• Cirrhosis
• Hepatic masses
• Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease

Storage diseases

• Cystic fibrosis
• Mitochondrial hepatopathy
• Liver failure
• Toxin induced hepatitis/failure

Pancreatic

• Acute and chronic pancreatitis
• Pancreatic cysts and tumors
• Cystic fibrosis

Mass General for Children has been designated as a National Pancreas Foundation Center for the treatment and care of children with pancreatitis. This designation recognizes our physicians' expertise and the center's team approach to the diagnosis and treatment of pancreatitis and related conditions.

Patient Resources

View the full collection of patient resources from the Pediatric Liver and Biliary Disease Center at MGfC.

Meet the Team

Director, Pediatric Liver and Biliary Disease Center

• Nanda Kerkar, MBBS, MD

Hepatologist 

• Stephen Clayton Hardy, MD
• Kayla Hartjes, MD
• Esther Jacobowitz Israel, MD

Child Psychiatrist

• Eric Hazen, MD

Nurse

• Rachel Ritter, RN

Dietician

• Simona Lourekas

Patient Services Coordinator

• Omayra Blackmon