Dr. Francisco A. Sylvester

Professor of Pediatrics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Dr. Sylvester, a native of Perú, went to medical school at the Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia in Lima, Perú (1977 - 1985), where he graduated at the top of his class. After graduation he worked for 18 months at the Instituto de Investigación Nutricional (Nutrition Research Institute) in La Molina, Perú (1985 – 1987). He then moved to the United States to train in Pediatrics at SUNY Downstate, Brooklyn, New York, where he was Chief Resident (1987 – 1991) under Dr. Laurence Finberg. He continued his training in Pediatric Gastroenterology at the Hospital for Sick Children, University of Toronto, Canada (1991 – 1995), where he performed basic science studies on microbial adherence to glycolipid receptors under Dr. Janet Forstner. After he completed his training, he returned to the United States, where he worked at Connecticut Children’s Medical Center as an attending gastroenterologist under the direction of Dr. Jeffrey Hyams and as an investigator at the University of Connecticut Health Center from February 1996 to October 2014, partnering first with Dr. Ernesto Canalis and then with Dr. Anthony T. Vella. He became Professor of Pediatrics and Immunology in 2012. In November 2014, Dr. Sylvester relocated to the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, where he became Head of the Division of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition. Dr. Sylvester is an expert in pediatric inflammatory bowel diseases and in the effects of IBD on the skeleton. Dr. Sylvester has received research grants from the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America (CCFA), Donaghue Foundation, and the National Institutes of Health. He has published numerous original research articles, reviews, and book chapters. He is the Chair of CCFA’s PROKIIDS, a collaborative research network, and is a member of the CCFA Board of Trustees