Stavra Alexandra Xanthakos MD, MS

Dr. Stavra A. Xanthakos, MD, is an attending physician in the Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, the co-director of the Cincinnati Children’s Steatohepatitis Center, and the medical director of the Surgical Weight Loss Program for Teens. She is an assistant professor for the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. She also partners with physicians and staff in Cincinnati Children’s Center for Better Health and Nutrition in the evaluation and management of pediatric patients suffering from severe pediatric obesity and related complications.

Dr. Xanthakos received her medical degree from Duke University in 1997 and a Master of Science degree in molecular epidemiology from the University of Cincinnati in 2006. Her post-doctoral training, including residency, chief residency, and fellowship were completed at Cincinnati Children's and she joined the faculty within the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine in 2005. During her fellowship, Dr. Xanthakos investigated the prevalence and outcome of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in young adult women as her master’s thesis in molecular epidemiology. Her current clinical and translational research is focused on identifying the predictors and outcome of obesity-related liver disease (nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and steatohepatitis), in obese adolescents undergoing bariatric surgery.

She is also a co-investigator in the NIH-sponsored Teen LABS, a multicenter consortium investigating bariatric surgery in adolescents, and in the NIH-sponsored NASH Clinical Research Network. Additional research interests of Dr. Xanthakos include the treatment and prevention of pediatric obesity, outcomes of bariatric surgery in adolescents, malnutrition in pediatric obesity, as well as identifying genetic and environmental risk factors for pediatric nonalcoholic fatty liver disease to enable better evaluation and treatment options. She also leads clinical quality improvement initiatives in the Steatohepatitis Center, which are aligned with divisional and institutional initiatives to achieve measurable improvements in children’s health and disease outcomes.

Dr. Xanthakos has published extensively in the field of pediatric obesity, bariatric medicine, and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. She regularly is invited to speak about pediatric obesity evaluation and management, particularly bariatric medicine, and pediatric nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.