Pediatric Surgeons

Erica M. Carlisle, MD

Education

• BS, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wis.
• MD, University of Chicago, Pritzker School of Medicine, Chicago
• Residency, General Surgery, University of Chicago, Chicago
• Fellowship, Pediatric Surgery, University of Chicago, Chicago
• Fellowship, Surgical Ethics, MacLean Center for Clinical Medical Ethics, University of Chicago, Chicago

Academic profile

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Graeme Pitcher, MBBCh

Education

• MBBCh, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg
• Residency, Surgery, Johannesburg Hospital, Johannesburg
• Fellowship, Pediatric Surgery, Johannesburg Hospital, Johannesburg
• Fellowship, Pediatric Surgery, Royal Hospital for Sick Children, Glasgow, United Kingdom
• Fellowship, Transplant Surgery, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, Neb.

Academic profile

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Julia Shelton, MD, MPH

Education

• BS, Georgia State University, Atlanta
• MPH, Vanderbilt University, School of Medicine, Nashville, Tenn.
• MD, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, Ga.
• Residency, Medical Internship, Surgical Training, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tenn.
• Residency, General Surgery, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tenn.
• Fellowship, Surgical Education Research, Association for Surgical Education, Los Angeles
• Fellowship, Pediatric Surgery, University of Louisville, Louisville, Ky.

Academic profile

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Joel Shilyansky, MD

Education

• BS, Biology, University of California, Los Angeles
• MD, University of California, Los Angeles
• Residency, General Surgery, University of Michigan Medical Center, Ann Arbor, Mich.
• Fellowship, Surgical Oncology, National Cancer Institute Building, Bethesda, Md.
• Fellowship, Pediatric Surgery, University of Toronto Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto

Academic profile

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Nurse Practitioners

Anna M. Arens, ARNP, CPNP

Education

• MSN, University of Illinois, College of Nursing, Chicago
• BSN, University of Iowa, College of Nursing, Iowa City, Iowa

Stephany Walk, DNP, ARNP, CPNP

Education

• DNP, University of Iowa, College of Nursing, Iowa City, Iowa
• BSN, University of Iowa, College of Nursing, Iowa City, Iowa

Ashley Wilkens, ARNP, CPNP

Current Fellow

Alexis Bowder, MD, MPH 2023-2025

Residency: Medical College of Wisconsin, General Surgery

Why Iowa: In the future, I am very interested in practicing in the Midwest and was excited to move to Iowa City.  The opportunity here to operate on complex cases right away as a single fellow coupled with a large referral base was very appealing. The program also supports the fellow well with a strong resident and ARNP team to help with patient care and call distribution. Most importantly, the faculty are all very supportive and are dedicated to your education. 

Why pediatric surgery: Throughout my training I always enjoyed working with children and had a passion for global health. I have worked in several countries where children don’t have timely access to pediatric surgical care and as a mother, I can’t imagine living in a place where my children would not have access to lifesaving surgery. Therefore, I have chosen to dedicate my career to improving access to pediatric surgical care worldwide. 

Get to know Alexis: I was born, raised, and attended college and medical school in Omaha, Nebraska.  Throughout medical school and during my research years I have worked in Haiti with the Program in Global Surgery and Social Change at Harvard Medical School. I obtained a master's in public health from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. I have global health field experience in Brazil, Costa Rica, Haiti, India, Peru, and Nepal.  Outside of work and when I'm not traveling, I love to spend time with my two young boys, husband and Vizsla.  

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Alumni Fellow

Lindel Dewberry, MD 2021-2023

Residency: University of Colorado, General Surgery
Current Practice: Assistant Professor, University of Kentucky, Pediatric Specialty Clinic

Ben Farber, MD 2019-2021

Residency: Albert Einstein College of Medicine/Montefiore Medical Center
Current Practice: Assistant Professor, Albert Einstein College of Medicine/Montefiore Medical Center

Sarah K Walker, MD 2017-2019

Residency: University of Louisville
Current Practice: Assistant Professor, Texas Tech University at El Paso

 

Joel Shilyansky, MD

Joel Shilyansky, MD is the Robert and Hélène Soper Chair of Pediatric Surgery and surgeon-in-chief for University of Iowa Stead Family Children’s Hospital. 

• Medical school: University of California at Los Angeles
• Residency: University of Michigan Medical Center
• Fellowship: Surgical Oncology at National Institutes of Health
• Fellowship: Pediatric Surgery, University of Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children

His research focuses on the immune response in pediatric cancer patients, and additional studies in his laboratory related to cancer vaccine development. 

Why did you decide to be a physician?

Medicine is something I found fascinating, interesting, and exciting. Being a doctor provided me with an opportunity to serve the community and the people around me, and that’s always been important to me.
 

Why pediatric surgery?

With pediatric surgery, you must be very proactive. It involves being thoughtful. You make decisions, and you execute them, and you don’t get to ‘wait and see’ too much. But you also get to see the results of what you do—sometimes very quickly and very dramatically.
 

What attracted you to UI Stead Family Children’s Hospital?

I knew that Iowa was an outstanding university, and there was a really strong tradition of excellence in pediatric surgery. In Iowa I had the opportunity to build the division of pediatric surgery and add to that tradition. Most importantly I have really good colleagues and that makes work fun.
 

What makes our children’s hospital special?

It’s just an excellent environment for patient care and work because of the expertise and dedication of employees at all levels of care, from the people who clean the rooms to nurses and doctors and others. It has all the new technologies, is state-of-the-art, and the whole team is together