Dr. Maria M. Oliva-Hemker is the Stermer Family Professor of Pediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Professor of Pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Her areas of clinical expertise include gastrointestinal diseases, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and pediatric gastroenterology. She serves as the chief of the Division of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition at the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center. 

Dr. Oliva-Hemker received her M.D. from Johns Hopkins. She completed her residency in pediatrics followed by a fellowship in pediatric gastroenterology at Johns Hopkins. She joined the Johns Hopkins faculty in 1993.

In 2008, Dr. Oliva-Hemker was appointed chief of the Division of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition. Since taking on that leadership role, she has more than doubled the number of faculty members and dramatically expanded the academic clinical practice while also enhancing strong research and education programs. The division is highly ranked among the top programs in the country by U.S. News & World Report.

In 1998, she launched the Pediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) Center at Johns Hopkins, which specializes in the evaluation, diagnosis, and treatment of hundreds of children and teens with Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis from all over the world. She is the inaugural recipient of the Stermer Family Professorship in Pediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease. 

Dr. Oliva-Hemker is an active clinical researcher who has co-authored more than 100 articles and book chapters and has given more than 100 invited talks nationally and internationally. She has served on multiple editorial boards and organizational leaders positions including the Subboard of Pediatric Gastroenterology of the American Board of Pediatrics and the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America (CCFA) Board of Trustees and the editorial board for the Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition. She is Co-Chair of the IBD Education Campaign for the North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition (NASPGHAN) Foundation. She is an editor-in-chief of the book Your Child with Inflammatory Bowel Disease: A Family Guide for Caregiving (JHU Press).

Her clinical practice focuses on inflammatory intestinal disorders such as IBD, autoimmune enteropathy, celiac disease and eosinophilic gastroenteritis. However she also sees children with a wide variety of gastrointestinal symptoms and concerns. She is highly respected among her peers and provides second opinions for patients referred to her from throughout the United States. Dr. Oliva-Hemker actively teaches medical students, residents, and fellows. In addition to her outpatient clinics she routinely performs a variety of endoscopic procedures and attends on the inpatient and consultation pediatric gastroenterology services. 

 Dr. Oliva-Hemker has been named among "America's Top Doctors" by Castle Connolly Medical Ltd. for more than 15 years and is included in Marquis' "Who's Who in Medicine and Healthcare." She has been repeatedly named a Baltimore "Top Doc" by peer physicians and has received a U.S. News & World Report "Top Doctor" designation for being in the top 1% of pediatric gastroenterologists in the nation.

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