The Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital Esophageal and Airway Treatment Program (JHACH EAT) is a multidisciplinary team caring for patients with complex esophageal and airway anomalies. The team diagnoses and treats a variety of esophagus and airway conditions such as Tracheoesophageal fistula (TEF), Tracheomalacia, Tracheal Diverticulum, and Bronchomalacia.
The team is led by a pediatric surgeon, Jason Smithers, MD, and care plans are customized based on patient needs. Patients are treated using a team approach comprised of providers from various specialties including pediatric surgeons, gastroenterologists, otolaryngologists, pulmonologists, critical care physicians, nutritionists, and speech/swallowing specialists.
Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital Esophageal and Airway Treatment Program (EAT)
Dr. Smithers is a leading pediatric surgeon who heads up the department for the condition known as Esophageal atresia, Ea, and tracheoesophageal fistula and esophageal, Tef, in short Ea-Tef. After joining the team in 2019 Dr. Smithers previously served as a surgeon at Boston Children’s Hospital from 2009-2019, as part of their EAT program.
At Johns Hopkins Children’s Hospital, Dr. Smithers leads the EAT program because he specializes in Esophageal and Airway Treatment treating, infants, children, and young adults with complex esophageal and airway problems. He sees patients at the Johns Hopkins Children’s Hospital, main campus, and at Bayfront Health St. Petersburg. His clinical specialties are minimally invasive surgery, surgical critical care, esophageal atresia, airway malformations, and congenital diaphragmatic hernia.
He served as an associate chief surgical resident, and then chief surgical resident in pediatric surgery at Boston Children’s Hospital after completing a research fellowship in vascular anomalies, and also a surgical critical care fellowship at Boston Children’s Hospital. He has also completed a global surgery clinical fellowship at Harvard Medical School, where he served as an assistant professor, and earned his medical degree from Albany Medical College, he completed his internship and residency in general surgery at Oregon Health and Science University in Portland.
Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital Esophageal and Airway Treatment Program (EAT)
Dr. Danielson is an associate professor of surgery at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He retired as a colonel from the U.S. Army Reserve in 2017, after serving in both Iraq and Afghanistan.
Before joining Johns Hopkins All Children’s, he served as director of pediatric surgical oncology at the University of Massachusetts. earning a medical degree from the University of Rochester where he also completed the residency program in general surgery. He completed a research fellowship in pediatric surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital and a clinical fellowship in pediatric surgery at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. He specializes in general surgery and was an early adopter of minimally invasive surgical techniques, developing expertise in treating chest wall deformities.
He founded the first fellowship sponsored by Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital in pediatric surgery and was also instrumental in bringing the National Quality Improvement in Surgery Program to the institution. He was named Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital physician of the year in 2015, Johns Hopkins Medicine Clinical Excellence Awards, and in 2017 was named director of innovative training and education. He joined the hospital staff in 2008.
Dr. Danielson became chair of the Johns Hopkins All Children’s Department of Surgery in 2020 after serving in that role on an interim basis beginning in December 2018.