June 2026 Webinar

Elizabeth T. Jensen, MPH PhD Bio

Dr. Jensen is a professor of epidemiology with expertise in reproductive, perinatal, and pediatric epidemiology. Her research focuses on etiologic factors in pediatric immune-mediated chronic disease, including drivers of disparities in health outcomes. She earned her MPH and PhD from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) in biomarker-based epidemiology. She holds appointments in Epidemiology and Prevention, Internal Medicine, and Pediatrics at Wake Forest University School of Medicine, as well as an adjunct appointment in the Department of Medicine at UNC–Chapel Hill, and serves as Research Director for the GI Fellowship Program at Wake Forest. Dr. Jensen leads multiple cohort studies examining early-life environmental exposures and genetic susceptibility in the development of eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE), including work using Danish administrative databases and microspatial analysis of deciduous teeth to assess antibiotic exposure. As an investigator in the Consortium for Eosinophilic Gastrointestinal Disease Researchers (CEGIR), she co-leads studies on emergency department management of food bolus impaction and contributes to research identifying predictors of treatment response in EoE. She also serves on the EGID Partners registry scientific advisory committee and supports patient-directed research initiatives.

Nurit Azouz, PhD

Dr. Azouz is an Assistant Professor from the Division of Allergy and Immunology and the Center of Inflammation and Tolerance at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. Her research program combines basic and translational research to investigate the function and regulation of proteases in host defense and the onset and propagation of inflammatory and allergic diseases. The function of proteases is irreversible and therefore, highly regulated, particularly by protease inhibitors coupling to the proteases. Dr. Azouz uncovered that a loss of a protease inhibitor at the esophageal epithelium and alterations of proteolytic activity leads to tissue damage and may exert a paramount signal in the development of inflammation in eosinophilic esophagitis. Her lab aims to decipher the molecular mechanisms that disrupt the balance between proteases and protease inhibitors with the goal to develop strategies for controlling proteolytic activity as an approach to treating eosinophilic esophagitis and other allergic diseases.

Evan S. Dellon, MD, MPH

Evan S. Dellon, MD, MPH, is a Professor of Medicine and Adjunct Professor of Epidemiology at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine in Chapel Hill, and the Director of the UNC Center for Esophageal Diseases and Swallowing (CEDAS). Dr. Dellon received his medical degree from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. He completed internship and residency in Internal Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital.  He performed a clinical and a research fellowship in Adult Gastroenterology at UNC, during which he also received a Masters of Public Health degree in Epidemiology from the UNC School of Public Health. Dr. Dellon’s main research interest is in the epidemiology, pathogenesis, diagnosis, treatment, and outcomes of eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) and the eosinophilic GI diseases (EGIDs). The goal of his research is to improve the lives of patients with EoE and EGIDs by learning how to better diagnose, treat, and monitor these conditions.

Marc Rothenberg, MD, PhD

Marc Rothenberg is the Director of Allergy and Immunology at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, a Professor at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, the Founder and Director of the Cincinnati Center for Eosinophilic Disorders, the Founder and Director of the NIH’s Consortium of Eosinophilic Gastrointestinal Disease Researchers and the incumbent of the Bunning Chair of Allergy and Immunology. He has published over 500 peer review articles that have garnered >50,000 citations, an H-index of >130, and laid the foundation for therapeutics that are advancing the allergy/immunology field including the first drug approval by the FDA for eosinophilic esophagitis. He is a member of the National Academy of Medicine. He is the past President of the International Eosinophil Society (IES).

Alfred Doyle, PhD

Alfred D. Doyle, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Allergy, Asthma, and Clinical Immunology, with a joint appointment in the Department of Immunology, at Mayo Clinic Arizona. He earned his PhD in Immunology from the Mayo Clinic Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, where he was mentored by eosinophil biologist and transgenic modeling expert, James J. Lee, PhD.

Dr. Doyle’s research focuses on defining the mechanisms that drive food allergy and eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE), with the goal of translating these findings into disease prevention, improved diagnostics, and innovative therapies. His laboratory has identified a link between common household detergents and esophageal barrier dysfunction and inflammation, providing insight into environmental contributors to allergic disease. To investigate the mechanisms underlying food allergy and EoE, he has leveraged his expertise in transgenics to develop novel models that recapitulate key features of human disease. In partnership with physician-scientist Benjamin L. Wright, MD, Dr. Doyle leads a translational research program that aims to advance clinical strategies targeting allergic immune responses.