The Esophageal and Airway Treatment (EAT) Program at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital is dedicated to research that improves health care outcomes.

The Johns Hopkins All Children’s EAT program maintains a database to closely track short-term and long-term clinical outcomes. Our program is also helping to develop a national database registry to track and standardize outcomes across the United States.

Additionally, our program is part of a consortium of esophageal referral programs studying the use of magnet-based esophageal growth and anastomosis for cases involving long gap esophageal atresia and severe esophageal strictures. 

The EAT program is led by Jason Smithers, M.D., whose research topics include:

• Aortopexy
• Tracheopexy
• Foker process
• Jejunal interposition
• Tracheoesophageal fistula
• Esophageal strictures
• Esophageal injury

Select Publications

• Jennings RW, Hamilton TE, Smithers CJ, Ngerncham M, Feins N, Foker JE. Surgical approaches to aortopexy for severe tracheomalacia. J Pediatr Surg. 2014;49(1):66-70.
• Bairdain S, Smithers CJ, Hamilton TE, Zurakowski D, Rhein L, Foker JE, Baird C, Jennings RW. Direct tracheobronchopexy to correct airway collapse due to severe tracheobronchomalacia: Short term outcomes in a series of 20 patients. J Pediatr Surg. 2015;50(6):972-7.
• Bairdain S, Hamilton TE, Smithers CJ, Manfredi M, Ngo P, Gallagher D, Zurakowski D, Foker JE, Jennings RW. Foker process for the correction of long gap esophageal atresia: Primary treatment versus secondary treatment after prior esophageal surgery. J Pediatr Surg. 2015;50(6):933-7.
• Bairdain S, Foker JE, Smithers CJ, Hamilton TE, Labow BI, Baird CW, Taghinia AH, Feins N, Manfredi M, Jennings RW. Jejunal interposition after failed esophageal atresia repair. J Am Coll Surg. 2016 Jun;222(6):1001-8.
• Baird CW, Prabhu S, Buchmiller TL, Smithers C, Jennings R. Direct tracheobronchopexy and posterior descending aortopexy for severe left mainstem bronchomalacia associated with congenital pulmonary airway malformation and left circumflex aortic arch. Ann Thorac Surg. 2016 Jul;102(1):e1-4.
• Smithers CJ, Hamilton TE, Manfredi MA, Rhein L, Ngo P, Gallagher D, Foker JE, Jennings RW. Categorization and repair of recurrent and acquired tracheoesophageal fistulae occurring after esophageal atresia repair. J Pediatr Surg. 2016 (In press)

Publication Links

PubMed