Full Name
Nikhil Pai
Job Title
Pediatric Gastroenterologist, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia; Director, Clinical Trials Division, CHOP Center for Microbial Medicine; Associate Professor, University of Pennsylvania
Company/Institution/ Organization
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP); University of Pennsylvania
Speaker Bio
Dr. Nikhil Pai is board certified in general pediatrics and pediatric gastroenterology by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada and the American Board of Pediatrics, with additional certification as a Nutrition Support Clinician. His clinical practice focuses on pediatric intestinal failure and short bowel syndrome, metabolic dysfunction–associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD), and advanced nutrition support, including enteral and parenteral therapies for medically complex children.
He completed his pediatric gastroenterology fellowship through the physician-scientist track at Boston Children’s Hospital, with additional specialization in pediatric obesity medicine through the Obesity, Metabolism and Nutrition Institute at Massachusetts General Hospital. Prior to joining the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), Dr. Pai spent nearly a decade as an attending pediatric gastroenterologist at McMaster Children’s Hospital, where he directed the Intestinal Rehabilitation Program and founded the Pediatric Nutrition Advisory Committee. He continues to hold an appointment as Associate Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at McMaster University.
Dr. Pai is currently a staff physician in the Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition at CHOP and the inaugural Director of the Clinical Trials Division for the CHOP Center for Microbial Medicine. He leads a translational research program spanning CHOP and McMaster University focused on microbiome-based therapeutics in children, integrating clinical trials with multi-omics diagnostics and biomarker discovery. His work includes fecal microbiota transplantation, intestinal failure, MASLD, and host–nutrition–microbiome interactions. He has led the development of the first pediatric donor FMT stool banks in both Canada and the United States and has conducted early-phase randomized trials of FMT across pediatric diseases. His work has been recognized by ASPEN’s Stanley Dudrick Mid-Career Research Award and the Canadian Nutrition Society’s Early Career Investigator Award.
He completed his pediatric gastroenterology fellowship through the physician-scientist track at Boston Children’s Hospital, with additional specialization in pediatric obesity medicine through the Obesity, Metabolism and Nutrition Institute at Massachusetts General Hospital. Prior to joining the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), Dr. Pai spent nearly a decade as an attending pediatric gastroenterologist at McMaster Children’s Hospital, where he directed the Intestinal Rehabilitation Program and founded the Pediatric Nutrition Advisory Committee. He continues to hold an appointment as Associate Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at McMaster University.
Dr. Pai is currently a staff physician in the Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition at CHOP and the inaugural Director of the Clinical Trials Division for the CHOP Center for Microbial Medicine. He leads a translational research program spanning CHOP and McMaster University focused on microbiome-based therapeutics in children, integrating clinical trials with multi-omics diagnostics and biomarker discovery. His work includes fecal microbiota transplantation, intestinal failure, MASLD, and host–nutrition–microbiome interactions. He has led the development of the first pediatric donor FMT stool banks in both Canada and the United States and has conducted early-phase randomized trials of FMT across pediatric diseases. His work has been recognized by ASPEN’s Stanley Dudrick Mid-Career Research Award and the Canadian Nutrition Society’s Early Career Investigator Award.
Speaking At
