Originally from Washington D.C., Dr. Jonah Essers completed his medical degree at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. He then moved back to his home town for his pediatric residency at Children’s National Medical Center. He went on to complete a pediatric gastroenterology fellowship at Boston Children’s Hospital. Dr. Essers also obtained a Master’s in Public Health degree at Harvard University during his in Boston. At Harvard, Dr. Essers began studying the genetic underpinnings for pediatric inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) under the mentorship of Dr. Mark Daly at the Broad Institute. He received the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America (CCFA) Research Fellowship Award as a senior fellow. This funding that helped Dr. Essers secure a faculty position at Boston Children’s, and allowed him to focus his efforts on his research. Dr. Essers spent four years working on understanding how genes play a role in dictating clinical behaviors in IBD.

Dr. Essers joined the staff at Swedish Medical Center in 2012, and currently practices pediatric gastroenterology at Swedish. He is proud to be a part of the IBD Center at Swedish and particularly enjoys the challenging but very successful IBD transition program where older children with IBD transition to an adult gastroenterologist for the next phase of their life. In the Northwest, Dr. Essers is a member of the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation Medical Advisory Committee. He is a regular speaker at Foundation-sponsored events. He also loves volunteering at Camp Oasis, a summer camp for children with IBD. Dr. Essers was named a Seattle ‘Top Doctor’ for the last five years by Seattle Metropolitan Magazine.