Glenn T. Furuta, MD, Professor and La Cache Endowed Chair for Gastrointestinal Allergic and Immunologic Diseases, has been named as the next Head of the Section of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition. Dr. Furuta was selected following a comprehensive internal search conducted over the past several months.
Dr. Furuta joined the University of Colorado and Children’s Hospital Colorado in 2007 as an Associate Professor of Pediatrics. Prior to coming to Colorado, he advanced through the academic ranks at Harvard University and Boston Children’s Hospital; first as a Fellow and Instructor (1990-1999) and lastly as an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics (2000-2006). Since joining our faculty, Dr. Furuta has served as Director of the Gastrointestinal Eosinophilic Diseases Program (GEDP), as a member of the Section’s Fellowship Steering Committee, and as a member of the Department’s Promotion Committee.
He received his medical degree from Baylor College of Medicine (Houston) in 1987. He completed a residency in pediatrics at Baylor and Texas Children's Hospital where he served as Chief Resident from 1989 to 1990. Dr. Furuta completed a combined fellowship in Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition at Boston Children’s Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital, and Harvard Medical School in 1993.
Dr. Furuta has outstanding track record of research accomplishment. As a fellow trainee, he successfully obtained a National Institutes of Health (NIH) Postdoctoral Individual National Research Service Award (F32- DK008791) focusing on mast cell cytokines and intestinal inflammation. As an early career faculty at Harvard, he was awarded a Clinical Investigator Award (K08-DK002564) from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) to study the role of the eosinophil in GI disease. He successfully advanced from his K-award funding upon awarding of a Research Project Grant (R01-DK062245) from NIDDK to advance his work exploring food allergic diseases including eosinophilic gastroenteritis.
Here at the University of Colorado, Dr. Furuta has furthered the development of his research program including the awarding of a Developmental Research Grant (R21-AI079925) from the National Institute of Allergy and Infection Diseases (NIAID), and a Mid-career Investigator Award in Patient-Oriented Research (K24-DK100303) from NIDDK. The latter award reflects the international reputation of the Section’s Gastrointestinal Eosinophilic Diseases Program (GEDP) in furthering the growth of junior faculty through mentorship and patient-oriented research in the field.
Lastly, Dr. Furuta currently serves as the project leader of the NIAID funded Specialized Center grant (U54-AI117804); Clinical Research Project: OMEGA2. This award is a national, multi-institutional project focusing on four distinct and rare diseases, Eosinophilic esophagitis, eosinophilic gastritis, eosinophilic gastroenteritis, and eosinophilic colitis, which have no FDA-approved treatments.
