Christopher Gayer, MD, PhD, FACS, FAAP

Christopher Gayer, MD, PhD, FACS, FAAP, is Chief of the Division of Pediatric Surgery and Co-Director of the Colorectal and Pelvic Anomalies Program at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, as well as Associate Professor of Clinical Surgery at the Keck School of Medicine of USC.

Dr. Gayer joined CHLA in 2012 after completing his pediatric surgery training at Children’s Hospital of Michigan in Detroit. His interest in intestinal diseases led him to the role of surgical liaison for the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Program, and he helped establish the Colorectal and Pelvic Anomalies Program at CHLA, which he currently leads as Surgical Director. He also serves as Program Director of the Pediatric Surgery Fellowship Program.

Dr. Gayer received his PhD in anatomy and cell biology from Wayne State University in Detroit and has leveraged his experience and National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding to grow his laboratory at The Saban Research Institute of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. His laboratory is currently NIH-funded through the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.

His research focuses on signaling pathways in inflammatory intestinal disorders. Specifically, he is studying the nuclear farnesoid X receptor (FXR), a bile acid receptor. His team has found that mice without FXR are protected against intestinal epithelial injury; he is now exploring whether there’s a specific area—in either the intestine or the inflammatory pathway—where FXR is critical. His goal is to understand why this protection occurs to see if it can be manipulated in conditions, including IBD or necrotizing enterocolitis, where the intestinal barrier breaks down.

Dr. Gayer also has a passion for surgical education and mentorship, with numerous high school, college and medical students in the lab, as well as an annual rotation of surgical research and clinical fellows.