Dr. Raquel Gonzalez

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. 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 VACTERL Association. His top areas of expertise are Esophageal Atresia, Tracheoesophageal Fistula, Diaphragmatic Hernia, Gastrostomy, and Endoscopy.