Benjamin Lebwohl, MD
Overview
Dr. Lebwohl is a graduate of Harvard College, where he majored in music. He received his MD from Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons in 2003, and then completed his internship, residency, and chief residency in internal medicine at Columbia. He stayed at Columbia as a fellow in Digestive and Liver Disease, during which time he obtained a Master’s in Patient Oriented Research from the Department of Biostatistics at the Mailman School of Public Health. He was a post-doctoral fellow in a National Cancer Institute-funded Training Program in Cancer-Related Population Sciences under the mentorship of Alfred Neugut. He joined the faculty of the Celiac Disease Center at Columbia University in 2010.
Dr. Lebwohl is a past president of the Society for the Study of Celiac Disease, and is the Director of Clinical Research at the Celiac Disease Center at Columbia University, where he collaborates with investigators in the United States and abroad in epidemiology, patterns of care, natural history, and therapeutics. Dr. Lebwohl’s second and related research interest is quality of endoscopy, including improving the detection of colorectal adenomas. He has co-authored more than 300 peer-reviewed publications. His research is supported by the National Institutes of Health, and past research funding includes the American Gastroenterological Association, the Celiac Disease Foundation, and the American Scandinavian Foundation.
Dr. Lebwohl is the Louis and Gloria Flanzer Scholar at Columbia University Irving Medical Center. He serves as Chair of the Gastrointestinal Drugs Advisory Committee of the United States Food and Drug Administration. He is heavily involved in medical education and lectures regularly to trainees on topics including celiac disease, evidence-based medicine, clinical decision making, pseudoscience, diarrhea, the Beethoven string quartets, and colorectal cancer screening.
Areas of Expertise / Conditions Treated
- Celiac Disease
- Colon Cancer
- Colon Cancer Screening
- Colonoscopy
- Gastrointestinal (GI) Endoscopy Procedures
- General Gastroenterology
- Non-Celiac Gluten Sensitivity
- Ulcerative Colitis
- Upper Endoscopy
- Virtual Colonoscopy
Academic Appointments
- Associate Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology at the Columbia University Medical Center
Hospital Affiliations
- NewYork-Presbyterian / Columbia University Irving Medical Center
Gender
- Male
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Phone Appointments
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Location(s)
Insurance Accepted
Aetna
- Aetna Signature Administrators
- EPO
- NYP Employee Plan
- NY Signature
- Student Health
Affinity Health Plan
- Medicaid Managed Care
Cigna
- EPO
- Great West (National)
- HMO
- Medicare Managed Care
- POS
- PPO
Emblem/GHI
- Medicare Managed Care
- PPO
Emblem/HIP
- ConnectiCare
- EPO
- Essential Plan
- HMO
- Medicare Managed Care
- POS
- PPO
- Select Care (Exchange)
- Vytra
Empire Blue Cross/Blue Shield
- HMO
Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield HealthPlus
- Child/Family Health Plus
- Essential Plan
- Medicaid Managed Care
Fidelis Care
- Child/Family Health Plus
- Medicaid Managed Care
- Medicare Managed Care
Healthfirst
- Child/Family Health Plus
- Leaf (Exchange)
- Medicaid Managed Care
- Medicare Managed Care
Local 1199
- Local 1199
MagnaCare (National)
- MagnaCare
Medicare
- Railroad
- Traditional Medicare
Multiplan
- Multiplan
MVP Health Care
- Child/Family Health Plus
- Essential Plan
- HMO
- Medicaid Managed Care
Quality Health Management
- Quality Health Management
RiverSpring
- Special Needs
UnitedHealthcare
- Columbia University Employee Plan
- Compass (Exchange)
- Empire Plan
- HMO
- Medicaid (Community Plan)
- Oxford Freedom
- Oxford HMO
- Oxford Liberty
- POS
- PPO
VNSNY CHOICE
- SelectHealth
- Special Needs
WellCare
- Medicare Managed Care
- New Jersey Services (Medicaid Managed Care)
World Trade Center Health Plan
- World Trade Center Health Plan
Credentials & Experience
Education & Training
- Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons
- Residency: NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center
- Fellowship: NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center
Committees, Societies, Councils
- American Gastroenterological Association (AGA)
- American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ASGE)
- American College of Gastroenterology (ACG)
Board Certifications
- Gastroenterology
Honors & Awards
- Phi Beta Kappa honors society, 1999.
- Alpha Omega Alpha honors society, 2003.
- Medicine House Staff Award, New York Presbyterian Hospital, 2004.
- Arnold P. Gold Foundation Circle of Excellence, 2004.
- Physician of the Year Award, New York Presbyterian Hospital, 2008.
Research
I am a clinical gastroenterologist with a research focus on the epidemiology of celiac disease, with a specific focus on risk factors, quality, and outcomes. During my training in preventive oncology and population sciences in an NCI-funded fellowship under the mentorship of Alfred I. Neugut, I performed studies in bowel preparation prior to colonoscopy and adherence to biopsy standards in the diagnosis of celiac disease. I have used the analytical skills gained from that fellowship and from the master’s degree in Patient-Oriented Research to study these conditions using large data sets from the US and Sweden. My research activities include the conduct of epidemiologic analyses including cohort and case-control studies and clinical trials.
Research Interests
- Epidemiology and outcomes in celiac disease
- Field of quality in endoscopy
Selected Publications
- Krigel A, Prasad VK, Lebwohl B. News Coverage of the American Cancer Society's Update to Colorectal Cancer Screening Guidelines. Mayo Clin Proc. 2020; 95(3):617-618. PMID: 32138893
- Wolf RL, Morawetz M, Lee AR, Koch P, Contento IR, Zybert P, Green PHR, Lebwohl B. A Cooking-Based Intervention Promotes Gluten-Free Diet Adherence and Quality of Life for Adults with Celiac Disease. Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2019 Sep 20. pii: S1542-3565(19)31024-9. PMID: 31546057
- Axelrad JE, Joelson A, Green PHR, Lawlor G, Lichtiger S, Cadwell K, Lebwohl B. Enteric Infections Are Common in Patients with Flares of Inflammatory Bowel Disease. Am J Gastroenterol. 2018 Oct;113(10):1530-1539. PMID: 30072777
- Lebwohl B, Kapel RC, Neugut AI, Green PH, Genta RM. (2011) Adherence to biopsy guidelines increases celiac disease diagnosis. Gastrointest Endosc 74:103-9
- Lebwohl B, Kastrinos F, Glick M, Rosenbaum AJ, Wang T, Neugut AI. (2011) The impact of suboptimal bowel preparation on adenoma miss rates and the factors associated with early repeat colonoscopy. Gastrointest Endosc 73:1207-14
- Lebwohl B, Stavsky E, Neugut AI, Green PHR (2010) Risk of colorectal adenomas in patients with celiac disease. Aliment Pharmacol Ther 32:1037-43
- Neugut AI, Lebwohl B. (2010) Colonoscopy versus sigmoidoscopy screening: Getting it right. JAMA 304:461-2
- Lebwohl B, Wang TC, Neugut AI. (2010) Socioeconomic and other predictors of colonoscopy preparation quality. Dig Dis Sci 55:2014-20
- Lebwohl B, Ballas L, Cao Y, Chan G, Grossman R, Sherr DL, Woodhouse S, Neugut AI. (2010) Treatment interruption and discontinuation in radiotherapy for rectal cancer. Cancer Invest 28:289-94.
- Neugut AI, Lebwohl B (2009) Screening for colorectal cancer: The glass is half full. Am J Public Health :592-4
- Rundle AG, Lebwohl B, Vogel R, Levine S, Neugut AI. (2008) Colonoscopic screening in average-risk individuals ages 40 to 49 vs 50 to 59 years. Gastroenterology 134:1311-15.
- Lebwohl B, Deckelbaum RJ, Green PHR. (2003) Giardiasis. Gastrointest Endosc 57:906-13.
- Lo W, Sano K, Diamond B, Lebwohl B, Green PHR. (2003) Changing presentation of adult celiac disease. Dig Dis Sci 48:395-8.
For a complete list of publications, please visit PubMed.gov