Dr. Jason Smithers

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 a Distinguished provider by MediFind in the treatment of VACTERL Association. His top areas of expertise are Esophageal Atresia, Tracheoesophageal Fistula, Gastrointestinal Fistula, Double Aortic Arch, and Endoscopy.

Dr. Gonzalez is a pediatric and surgical critical care surgeon at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital. She joined the hospital staff in 2017. She was previously the surgical critical care fellowship program director at the Detroit Medical Center and also served as a member of the American Pediatric Surgical Association Surgical Critical Care Committee. Dr. Gonzalez received her medical degree from the University Of Puerto Rico School Of Medicine and trained in general surgery at Saint Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston, New Jersey. Dr. Gonzalez then completed a surgical critical care fellowship at University of Michigan Health Systems & CS Mott Children’s Hospital and a pediatric surgery fellowship at the Children’s Hospital of Michigan. She subsequently completed a Master’s in Health Care Management at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. She is fluent in Spanish. Videos Meet Raquel González, M.D. Dr. Gonzalez is rated as an Experienced provider by MediFind in the treatment of VACTERL Association. Her top areas of expertise are Omphalocele, Umbilical Hernia, VACTERL Association, Appendectomy, and Oophorectomy.