Dr. Kays is the medical director of the Center for Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia (CDH) at Johns Hopkins All Children’s and leads the first unit in the country exclusively dedicated to these patients. He also serves as director of the extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) program and co-director of the Fetal Diagnosis/Treatment program. He joined the medical staff in 2016. Dr. Kays has more than two decades of clinical and research leadership in the treatment of CDH, a life-threatening birth defect that affects about one in every 3,000 pregnancies. His research has focused on defining the best treatment strategies for this challenging neonatal diagnosis and contributed to significant advances in care and outcomes. Dr. Kays was previously with UF Health and Shands Children’s Hospital for more than 20 years. He was also surgeon in chief, professor of surgery and chief of the division of pediatric surgery in the University of Florida College of Medicine, Department of Surgery, where he led the ECMO and congenital diaphragmatic hernia program for over 20 years. He is the author or coauthor of more than 60 peer-reviewed original science publications and speaks nationally and internationally on CDH care and outcomes. Dr. Kays earned his medical degree from the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University. He completed a surgical residency at Strong Memorial Hospital, University of Rochester Medical Center, and then completed a pediatric surgery fellowship at Morgan-Stanley Children’s Hospital of Columbia University, New York. Dr. Kays is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons and the American Academy of Pediatrics and a member of the Children’s Oncology Group. Videos Meet David Kays, M.D. Dr. Kays is rated as a Distinguished provider by MediFind in the treatment of Diaphragmatic Hernia. His top areas of expertise are Diaphragmatic Hernia, Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia, Hernia, Donnai-Barrow Syndrome, and Appendectomy.

Dr. Smithers is an associate professor of surgery and director of the Esophageal and Airway Treatment (EAT) Program in the Department of Surgery at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital since 2019. He was honored for Innovations in Clinical Care at the Johns Hopkins Medicine Clinical Awards for 2020. As a leader in both innovation and expertise for pediatric thoracic surgery, he and his team see patients from all over the United States and internationally. The team also makes several invited trips per year around the country and world for lectures and conferences, in addition to helping patients and teaching other surgical teams regarding complex esophageal and airway surgical techniques in the operating room. Dr. Smithers previously served as assistant professor of surgery at Boston Children’s Hospital from 2009-2019, as part of their groundbreaking EAT program. His clinical specialties are congenital and acquired conditions of the esophagus and airway, vascular rings, congenital diaphragmatic hernia, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), surgical critical care, and minimally invasive surgery. He earned his medical degree from Albany Medical College and completed his residency in general surgery at Oregon Health and Science University in Portland. He served as fellow in pediatric surgery at Boston Children’s Hospital after completing a research fellowship and a surgical critical care fellowship at Boston Children’s Hospital. He also completed a global surgery clinical fellowship at Harvard Medical School. Videos Meet Jason Smithers, M.D. What is esophageal stricture and how is it treated? What is tracheomalacia and how is it treated? What is recurrent tracheoesophageal fistula (rTEF) and how is it treated? What is long gap esophageal atresia and how is it treated?. Dr. Smithers is rated as a Distinguished provider by MediFind in the treatment of Diaphragmatic Hernia. His top areas of expertise are Esophageal Atresia, Tracheoesophageal Fistula, Diaphragmatic Hernia, Gastrostomy, and Endoscopy.

Dr. Shieh is a pediatric surgeon in the Department of Surgery at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital. She joined the medical staff in 2021 and sees patients on our main campus in St. Petersburg, Florida, and also at Tampa General Hospital and Brandon Regional Hospital. Her clinical focus includes esophageal and airway treatment (EAT). Dr. Shieh earned her medical degree from the University of Arizona College of Medicine — Phoenix. She completed her general surgery residency at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center, during which she did a pediatric surgery research fellowship at Boston Children’s Hospital. She then completed her pediatric surgery fellowship at Boston Children’s Hospital. Dr. Shieh speaks Mandarin Chinese and Spanish. Dr. Shieh is rated as an Advanced provider by MediFind in the treatment of Diaphragmatic Hernia. Her top areas of expertise are Esophageal Atresia, Tracheoesophageal Fistula, Gastrointestinal Fistula, Endoscopy, and Gastrostomy.

Dr. Russell “Rusty” Jennings, a pioneer of pediatric surgical procedures for malformed esophageal and tracheal conditions, is a surgeon in the Esophageal and Airway Treatment (EAT) Program at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital, which he joined in 2022. A pediatric surgeon for more than 40 years, Dr. Jennings founded and directed the world’s first Esophageal and Airway Treatment (EAT) Center at Boston Children’s Hospital. There he led a multidisciplinary team that worked on solving unsolved problems, and developed innovative techniques for evaluation, diagnosis and successful treatment of: complex esophageal strictures esophageal atresia “long gap” esophageal atresia esophageal replacement tracheo-esophageal fistulas recurrent tracheo-esophageal fistulas laryngo-tracheo-esophageal clefts tracheomalacia bronchomalacia tracheal reconstruction aberrant subclavian artery vascular compression syndromes vascular rings pectus excavatum chest wall deformities asphyxiating thoracic dystrophies recurrent laryngeal nerve monitoring during thoracic surgery Dr. Jennings has many publications on these topics including the largest series of successful treatment of complex recurrent tracheoesophageal fistulas in the literature with excellent outcomes, techniques to grow patients’ tissues to allow repair and connection of the esophagus in cases of esophageal atresia and esophageal injury, esophageal replacement with jejunum, and treatment of tracheomalacia. He has frequently taught and presented on these and numerous other related topics regionally, nationally, and internationally. Dr. Jennings’ prior work includes establishing the first fetal surgery center in New England; Dr. Jennings developed the first successful fetal cardiac surgery program in the world treating HLHS before birth. Dr. Jennings earned his medical degree from the University of California, San Francisco. His general surgery residency was done at the University of California, San Francisco. He was a postdoctoral research fellow for three years in the Fetal Treatment Center and Fetal Treatment Laboratory while completing the residency. He completed a pediatric surgery fellowship at Boston Children’s/Harvard Medical School. Dr. Jennings is rated as an Experienced provider by MediFind in the treatment of Diaphragmatic Hernia. His top areas of expertise are Esophageal Atresia, Tracheoesophageal Fistula, Gastrointestinal Fistula, Double Aortic Arch, and Endoscopy.

Dr. Snyder is a pediatric surgeon at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital. He is the director of the pediatric surgery research program and the medical director of the pediatric trauma program at the Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital. He joined the medical staff in 2018. After earning his medical degree from the University of Florida, Dr. Snyder completed a research fellowship, Master of Science in Public Health degree, and residency in general surgery at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He completed his clinical fellowship in pediatric surgery at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital. Dr. Snyder previously served as a staff surgeon in the U.S. Air Force, performing general, trauma and acute care surgery for adults and children. His military service included assignments to Anchorage, Alaska, and Tampa, Florida, as well as overseas deployments. In conjunction with his military service, he has held adjunct clinical faculty positions with the University of Washington, Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences, and the University of South Florida. He received an honorable discharge in 2016. Dr. Snyder’s clinical and research interests include neonatal thoracic and gastrointestinal surgery, comparative outcomes research, pediatric trauma systems, minimally invasive surgical techniques, and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). Dr. Snyder is rated as an Experienced provider by MediFind in the treatment of Diaphragmatic Hernia. His top areas of expertise are Pectus Excavatum, Hernia, Omphalocele, Thyroidectomy, and Endoscopy.

Nadia Jivani is a primary care provider, practicing in Internal Medicine in Tampa, Florida. Dr. Jivani is rated as an Experienced provider by MediFind in the treatment of Diaphragmatic Hernia. Her top areas of expertise are Hypertension, Glucocorticoid-Remediable Aldosteronism, Familial Hypertension, and Familial Combined Hyperlipidemia. Dr. Jivani is currently accepting new patients.