Rate My Professor James Bayrer

James Bayrer, MD, PhD, serves as Professor of Pediatrics and Chair in Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) School of Medicine. He is Director of the Training Program in Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition and Principal Investigator of the Bayrer Research Laboratory. Bayrer's academic background includes a PhD in Pharmacology from Case Western Reserve University in 2005 and an MD from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in 2007. He graduated magna cum laude from Claremont McKenna College in 1998 with honors in Chemistry and Literature, receiving the top thesis in the sciences award. As a pediatric gastroenterologist and physician-scientist, he addresses challenges in pediatric gastrointestinal disorders through his clinical and research roles at UCSF.

Bayrer's research utilizes human intestinal organoids and animal models to investigate how the intestinal epithelium, the body's largest sensory and endocrine organ, senses and responds to regular and inflammatory stimuli. His work identifies molecular pathways to promote intestinal wound healing and modulate signals contributing to visceral pain syndromes, with applications to diseases like inflammatory bowel disease. Key publications include "Gut enterochromaffin cells drive visceral pain and anxiety" (Nature, 2023), "Enterochromaffin Cells Are Gut Chemosensors that Couple to Sensory Neural Pathways" (Cell, 2017), "LRH-1 mitigates intestinal inflammatory disease by maintaining epithelial homeostasis and cell survival" (Nature Communications, 2018), "A thermogenic fat-epithelium cell axis regulates intestinal disease tolerance" (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2020), "Advances in Enteric Neurobiology: The 'Brain' in the Gut in Health and Disease" (Journal of Neuroscience, 2018), and "Intestinal Organoids: New Frontiers in the Study of Intestinal Disease and Physiology" (Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition, 2017). Bayrer has earned major awards including the Society for Pediatric Research New Member Outstanding Science Award (2024), National Academy of Sciences Kavli Fellow (2024), Mayo Clinic Kelsey Family Named Professor Lectureship (2024), Society for Pediatric Research Elected Member (2023), American Gastroenterological Association Early Career Investigator Certificate of Recognition (2018), and NASPGHAN Young Faculty Investigator Research Award (2015).