Our Philosophy

Dr. Robert Craig established one of the first home parenteral nutrition (HPN) programs in the world at Northwestern University Medical School and Northwestern Memorial Hospital (NMH) in 1972, and continues to direct the nutrition support service. Dr. Alan Buchman, an adult gastroenterologist specialized in intestinal failure and inflammatory bowel disease, directs the Intestinal Rehabilitation Program. He works in close collaboration with Dr. Valeria Cohran, a pediatric gastroenterologist with special interest in Intestinal Failure and Transplantation, of Children’s Memorial Hospital (CMH). Northwestern also has an Intestinal Transplant program, which is directed by Dr. Jonathan Fryer, and achieved Medicare Certification in 2006. Together the NMH and CMH programs follow more than 200 intestinal failure patients.

Northwestern’s Intestinal Failure management optimizes existing clinical strategies, while developing new approaches through clinical and basic science research. Our multidisciplinary, integrated approach combines medical/dietary (including hormonal therapy), surgical (including gut-lengthening procedures) and nutritional strategies to reduce or eliminate PN dependency. Our goal is to improve the quality of life for every patient we see by teaching them new techniques and how to better accomodate nutritional support through prevention of complications.

Northwestern has also strived to better define the role and timing of intestinal transplantation in intestinal failure management. High risk patients who remain PN dependent are monitored closely so that intestinal transplantation can be performed before the situation becomes irretrievable due to severe parenteral nutrition associated liver disease or other life-threatening PN-associated complications. On the other hand, we believe that some patients may be transplanted prematurely we believe out program is unique in its intergration of intestinal rehabilitation and transplantation.

Northwestern’s clinicians are international leaders in the refinement of techniques for dietary, medical, and surgical management of patients with intestinal failure, have lectured worldwide and have published their discoveries and recommendations in the leading scientific journals.