Jonah Essers, MD

Jonah Essers, MD, MPH, FAAP, is a board-certified pediatric gastroenterologist specializing in a wide range of gastrointestinal conditions. Dr. Essers provides comprehensive care to children with various digestive disorders. His areas of interest and deep expertise include Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, inflammatory bowel disease, eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE), celiac disease, food protein-induced enterocolitis syndrome (FPIES), aspiration of liquids, and aerodigestive disease.

Other conditions treated by Dr. Essers include failure to thrive, Hirschsprung's disease, esophageal stricture, gastroesophageal reflux disease, cyclic vomiting syndrome, cholestasis, feeding tube management, pancreatic insufficiency, Helicobacter pylori infection, short gut syndrome, juvenile polyposis, and gallstones.

Away from work, Dr. Essers enjoys seeing and playing live music, cooking, and exploring the Northwest and beyond with his wife and two children.

During his fellowship at Boston Children's Hospital and in collaboration with the Broad Institute, Dr. Essers studied the genetic underpinnings of pediatric inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). He received the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America (CCFA) Research Fellowship Award to conduct his research and spent four years primarily as a scientist.

Dr. Essers is a former member of the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation Medical Advisory Committee and is a regular speaker at Foundation-sponsored events. He also loves volunteering at Camp Oasis, a summer camp for children with IBD. Dr. Essers has been named a Seattle ‘Top Doctor’ every year for over a decade.

The services Dr. Essers provides include:

• Diagnosis and treatment of Crohn's disease
• Diagnosis and treatment of ulcerative colitis
• Management of inflammatory bowel disease
• Treatment of eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE)
• Diagnosis and management of celiac disease
• Treatment of food protein-induced enterocolitis syndrome (FPIES)
• Management of aspiration of liquids and aerodigestive disease
• Treatment of failure to thrive
• Management of Hirschsprung's disease
• Treatment of esophageal stricture
• Management of gastroesophageal reflux disease
• Treatment of cyclic vomiting syndrome
• Management of cholestasis
• Feeding tube management
• Treatment of pancreatic insufficiency
• Management of Helicobacter pylori infection
• Treatment of short gut syndrome
• Management of juvenile polyposis
• Treatment of gallstones

• MultiCare Mary Bridge Children's

• American Academy of Pediatrics
• North American Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition
• Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of America
• American Gastroenterological Association

• Jostins L, Ripke S, Weersma RK, Duerr RH, McGovern DP, Hui KY, Lee JC, Schumm LP, Sharma Y, Anderson CA, Essers J, et al. Host-microbe interactions have shaped the genetic architecture of inflammatory bowel disease. Nature. 2012 Nov 1;491(7422):119-24. doi: 10.1038/nature11582. PMID: 23128233; PMCID: PMC3491803.
• Scherr R, Essers J, Hakonarson H, Kugathasan S. Genetic determinants of pediatric inflammatory bowel disease: is age of onset genetically determined? Dig Dis. 2009;27(3):236-9. doi: 10.1159/000228555. Epub 2009 Sep 24. PMID: 19786746.
• Tioseco JA, Aly H, Essers J, Patel K, El-Mohandes AA. Male sex and intraventricular hemorrhage. Pediatr Crit Care Med. 2006 Jan;7(1):40-4. doi: 10.1097/01.pcc.0000192341.67078.61. PMID: 16395073.
• McGovern DP, Gardet A, Törkvist L, Goyette P, Essers J, Taylor KD, Neale BM, Ong RT, Lagacé C, Li C, Green T, Stevens CR, Beauchamp C, Fleshner PR, Carlson M, D'Amato M, Halfvarson J, Hibberd ML, Lördal M, Padyukov L, Andriulli A, Colombo E, Latiano A, Palmieri O, Bernard EJ, Deslandres C, Hommes DW, de Jong DJ, Stokkers PC, Weersma RK, et al. Genome-wide association identifies multiple ulcerative colitis susceptibility loci. Nat Genet. 2010 Apr;42(4):332-7. doi: 10.1038/ng.549. Epub 2010 Mar 14. Erratum in: Nat Genet. 2011 Apr;43(4):388. PMID: 20228799; PMCID: PMC3087600.
• Cutler DJ, Zwick ME, Okou DT, Prahalad S, Walters T, Guthery SL, Dubinsky M, Baldassano R, Crandall WV, Rosh J, Markowitz J, Stephens M, Kellermayer R, Pfefferkorn M, Heyman MB, LeLeiko N, Mack D, Moulton D, Kappelman MD, Kumar A, Prince J, Bose P, Mondal K, Ramachandran D, Bohnsack JF, Griffiths AM, Haberman Y, Essers J, Thompson SD, Aronow B, Keljo DJ, Hyams JS, Denson LA; PRO-KIIDS Research Group; Kugathasan S. Dissecting Allele Architecture of Early Onset IBD Using High-Density Genotyping. PLoS One. 2015 Jun 22;10(6):e0128074. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0128074. PMID: 26098103; PMCID: PMC4476779.
• Imielinski M, Baldassano RN, Griffiths A, Russell RK, Annese V, Dubinsky M, Kugathasan S, Bradfield JP, Walters TD, Sleiman P, Kim CE, Muise A, Wang K, Glessner JT, Saeed S, Zhang H, Frackelton EC, Hou C, Flory JH, Otieno G, Chiavacci RM, Grundmeier R, Castro M, Latiano A, Dallapiccola B, Stempak J, Abrams DJ, Taylor K, McGovern D, et al. Common variants at five new loci associated with early-onset inflammatory bowel disease. Nat Genet. 2009 Dec;41(12):1335-40. doi: 10.1038/ng.489. Epub 2009 Nov 15. PMID: 19915574; PMCID: PMC3267927.
• Aly H, Hammad TA, Essers J, Wung JT. Is mechanical ventilation associated with intraventricular hemorrhage in preterm infants? Brain Dev. 2012 Mar;34(3):201-5. doi: 10.1016/j.braindev.2011.04.006. Epub 2011 Jun 15. PMID: 21680121.
• Walters TD, Kim MO, Denson LA, Griffiths AM, Dubinsky M, Markowitz J, Baldassano R, Crandall W, Rosh J, Pfefferkorn M, Otley A, Heyman MB, LeLeiko N, Baker S, Guthery SL, Evans J, Ziring D, Kellermayer R, Stephens M, Mack D, Oliva-Hemker M, Patel AS, Kirschner B, Moulton D, Cohen S, Kim S, Liu C, Essers J, Kugathasan S, Hyams JS; PRO-KIIDS Research Group. Increased effectiveness of early therapy with anti-tumor necrosis factor-α vs an immunomodulator in children with Crohn's disease. Gastroenterology. 2014 Feb;146(2):383-91. doi: 10.1053/j.gastro.2013.10.027. Epub 2013 Oct 23. PMID: 24162032.
• Essers JB, Lee JJ, Kugathasan S, Stevens CR, Grand RJ, Daly MJ; NIDDK IBD Genetics Consortium. Established genetic risk factors do not distinguish early and later onset Crohn's disease. Inflamm Bowel Dis. 2009 Oct;15(10):1508-14. doi: 10.1002/ibd.20922. PMID: 19322901; PMCID: PMC2768775.
• Lee JJ, Essers JB, Kugathasan S, Escher JC, Lettre G, Butler JL, Stephens MC, Ramoni MF, Grand RJ, Hirschhorn J. Association of linear growth impairment in pediatric Crohn's disease and a known height locus: a pilot study. Ann Hum Genet. 2010 Nov;74(6):489-97. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-1809.2010.00606.x. Epub 2010 Sep 15. PMID: 20846217; PMCID: PMC2955808.