Elizabeth Spencer, MD

Elizabeth A. Spencer, MD, is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Pediatric Gastroenterology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and at the Mount Sinai Kravis Children’s Hospital. Dr. Spencer received her undergraduate degree from The College of William and Mary and her medical degree from Eastern Virginia Medical School where she graduated Alpha Omega Alpha and was also honored by the Gold Humanism Honor Society. She completed her Pediatric residency at The University of California, Los Angeles followed by three sequential fellowships at the Mount Sinai Medical Center in Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology, & Nutrition, Immunotherapy, and Pediatric Advanced Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD).

Her research focuses on precision medicine for IBD. This includes determining the relative contributions of the genome, microbiome, and metabolome to the development of IBD with the goal of identifying a target for preventative therapies for those at high risk for IBD. She also has a series of projects examining gene expression of the skin using painless skin tapes to target therapy for the gut since the skin is a more easily accessible window to the gut. Her work is supported by a K23 Career Development Award from the NIH as well as a number of other grants.

Her other interests include other non-invasive strategies for precision medicine (e.g. intestinal ultrasound), very early onset IBD and real world experiences with new therapies in pediatric IBD. She is one of the few pediatric gastroenterologists in the United States trained and certified by the International Bowel Ultrasound Group (IBUS) to perform intestinal ultrasound for monitoring of patients with IBD. She serves as a trainer for intestinal ultrasound for IBUS to disseminate this skill more widely.

She is also a representative for the Eureka Translational Medicine Institute, a member of the NASPGHAN IBD Committee, and a peer reviewer and/or editor for many prominent scientific journals.

Dr. Spencer specializes in the care of patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease, which includes ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease, Genetics & IBD (including monogenic/very early onset IBD), and the intersection of dermatology and IBD (e.g. paradoxical rashes associated with anti-TNF and atopic dermatitis and psoriasis in patients with IBD).