Dr. Emily R. Perito is a pediatric gastroenterologist and specialist in liver and pancreatic disorders. Her expertise includes liver transplantation, and she serves as associate medical director of UCSF's multidisciplinary pediatric liver transplant team. She also co-directs the UCSF Pancreas Program for children.
Perito's research focuses on children awaiting liver transplant, looking at how to improve access to transplant, organ allocation and waiting list outcomes. She works with the Starzl Network for Excellence in Pediatric Transplantation on making post-transplant immunosuppression more efficient and less difficult for children. She leads UCSF's work in multicenter trials sponsored by the National Institutes of Health, including an international study on pancreatitis in children and adolescents. Her work on chronic pancreatitis includes research on pain management, opioid use and outcomes after total pancreatectomy with islet autotransplantation (an innovative procedure in which a patient's ability to produce insulin can be preserved despite removal of the pancreas).
Perito also advocates for children nationally. She is a regional representative on the pediatric transplantation committee of the United Network for Organ Sharing, vice chair of the Society of Pediatric Liver Transplantation's advocacy committee, and a steering committee member of the pediatric special interest group of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases.
Perito earned her medical degree at Columbia University's Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, where she completed a residency in pediatrics. She completed fellowships in pediatric gastroenterology and pediatric transplant hepatology at UCSF, where she also earned a master of advanced study degree in clinical research.
Perito is a member of the North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition and American Gastroenterological Association.
