David Joel Hackam, MD, PhD

David J. Hackam, M.D., Ph.D., is the Garrett Family Professor of Pediatric Surgery at The Johns Hopkins University, and Pediatric Surgeon-in-Chief and co-Director of the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center.

Dr. Hackam’s clinical practice focuses on complex neonatal surgery. His laboratory is focused on unraveling the molecular mechanisms that underlie several important surgical diseases, including necrotizing enterocolitis and inflammatory bowel disease, and seeks to develop novel therapeutic strategies to prevent or reverse these disease processes. Dr. Hackam’s team has developed techniques of intestinal stem cell isolation and culture, and are working with tissue engineers and chemists towards the development of an artificial intestine, which has been tested in large and small pre-clinical models.  

Dr. Hackam’s work has led to the filing of several international patents, and has been funded by the National Institutes of Health as well as several industry collaborations. Dr. Hackam seeks to work with industry partners, as well as nurses, doctors and families of patients around the country, in order to develop novel regimens to safely and effectively deliver appropriate nutrition to the most vulnerable infants, who are at risk for the development of intestinal disease.

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