Benjamin D. Gold, MD, went into private practice in 2009, joining CCDHC, GI Care for Kids after over 17 years in academic medicine. Dr. Gold had an outstanding academic career at Emory University where he had been a Marcus Chair of Pediatric Gastroenterology, a tenured Professor of both Pediatrics and Microbiology and the Director of the Division of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition. While at Emory, Dr. Gold was also Chief of Gastroenterology Service and Medical Director of the Gastrointestinal Diagnostics and Endoscopy Laboratory of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta’s Egleston hospital campus. Dr. Gold is a popular clinician with a loyal following of patients and is one of those rare “quadruple threats” that can do it all – research, teach, provide excellent clinical care to his patients, as well as manage health care programs involving research or clinical-care delivery.
Dr. Gold received his medical degree from The George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences in Washington DC in 1987. He completed an internship and a residency in Pediatrics at Emory University School of Medicine, followed by a fellowship in Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Canada. He completed his research fellowship at the Research Institute Hospital for Sick Children as a Medical Research Council of Canada Research Fellow.
Since arriving in Atlanta at Emory and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the early 1990’s, Dr. Gold has vigorously pursued his research interests in H. pylori-associated gastroduodenal disease, particularly as it pertains to the pediatric population. He was actively involved in NIH- funded studies of the impact, transmission, and epidemiology of H. pylori in children living in the US, as well as in other countries, and the impact of this gastric pathogen in underserved populations in the world (Bolivia, Guatemala, Tanzania). Dr. Gold is a national leader in the pursuit of critical questions regarding the epidemiology and pathobiology of acid-related diseases in children, in particular, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and other esophageal diseases (i.e. Eosinophilic Esophagitis, EoE). Dr. Gold continues to advance understanding of pediatric GERD by undertaking and spearheading a number of multicenter, multinational, clinical, and epidemiological trials in children. His particular interest is in the natural history of GERD, its epidemiology, association with asthma (i.e., extra-esophageal GERD), and risk factor characterization for disease prevention. Further, he has advised multicenter collaborative groups and led key clinical trials designed to test new agents for the treatment of EoE. In addition, 12 years ago, he established the Aerodigestive Center of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, and is the Director of Quality for this multidisciplinary center that now follows almost 400 fragile, medically complex children with Aerodigestive disease. Further, Dr. Gold has pursued his interest in infectious causes of inflammatory conditions of the gastrointestinal tract by studying inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and the role of both infectious pathogens and normal flora in the gastrointestinal tract in modulating disease. He is the co-Director of GI Care for Kids site for the Improve Care Now Quality Improvement Collaborative, which follows almost 1,100 children with IBD. Furthermore, he is co-investigator of multiple national pediatric inflammatory bowel disease consortia as well as being involved in characterizing the gut microflora and its relationship to diet and the development of IBD.
Finally, Dr. Gold has published over 150 peer-reviewed manuscripts, written or co-authored over 30 book chapters, and is a sought-after lecturer on upper GI disease in children. He is an international thought leader on pediatric esophageal disease (gastroesophageal reflux disease, GERD, eosinophilic esophagitis, EoE), Helicobacter pylori infection, as well as gut-microbial interactions which lead to intestinal inflammation and immune-mediated disease, including pediatric Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.
Dr. Gold has been married to his beautiful wife Wanda for almost 30 years and has two accomplished, talented children. His son, Christopher, is a brilliant and gifted young man, experienced in mixed martial arts, a graduate of Stanford University in Palo Alto, California, and now a software developer in Atlanta. His daughter, Bryana, is a stunningly beautiful, outgoing, multi-lingual, accomplished soccer player with national and international exposure, who received her degree in journalism from George Washington University and is living abroad pursuing a career in professional soccer and journalism.