Gail E. Besner, MD, is Chief of Pediatric Surgery at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. She is also a Principal Investigator in the Center for Perinatal Research at The Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital and Associate Program Director of the Pediatric Surgery Residency program. She also holds the H. William Clatworthy Jr. Professorship in Surgery at The Ohio State University College of Medicine and is a Professor of Surgery and Pediatrics at The Ohio State University College of Medicine. Dr. Besner’s clinical interests include neonatal surgery, necrotizing enterocolitis, and pediatric burn care. Her research interests involve the identification of novel strategies to protect the intestines from injury using growth factors and stem cells, as well as the production of tissue engineered intestine. Dr. Besner’s research has been continually funded by grants from the National Institutes of Health for over two decades. Dr. Besner is currently serving a 4-year term as a member of the National Institute of General Medical Sciences Advisory Council of the National Institutes of Health.