Peter Church

Staff Physician, Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition

Dr. Peter Church is a gastroenterologist in the Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition at SickKids in Toronto. He received his B.Sc. from the University of New Brunswick with honours in Biology and Chemistry. Dr. Church received his MD from Memorial University of Newfoundland. He stayed in St. John’s, Newfoundland to complete his residency in Paediatrics at the Janeway Child Health and Rehabilitation Centre. He carried out subspecialty training in Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition at SickKids in Toronto, focusing in inflammatory bowel disease.

Research

As an academic clinician, he spends most of his time caring for children with inflammatory bowel disease. His clinical research supports this clinical care in 3 main areas: 1) the assessment of disease activity and complications using endoscopy and MRI, 2) long-term outcomes of biologic therapies, and 3) systematic review and meta-analysis methodologies.

Education and experience

• 2024–Present: Associate Professor of Pediatrics, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
• 2016–2024: Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, University Of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
• 2013–Present: Staff Pediatric Gastroenterologist, SickKids Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
• 2011–2015: Master’s Degree in Clinical Epidemiology and Health Care Research, Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Supervisor: Dr. Brian Feldman
• 2010–2013: Clinical Fellow, Pediatric Gastroenterology, University of Toronto, SickKids Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
• 2006–2010: Resident, Pediatrics, Memorial University, Janeway Child Health and Rehabilitation Centre, St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada
• 2002–2006: Doctor of Medicine, Memorial University, St. John’s, Newfoundland
• 1999–2002: Bachelor’s Degree in Science – Honours Biology/Chemistry with First Class Honours University of New Brunswick, Saint John & Fredericton, New Brunswick

1. Ricciuto A*, Carman N, Benchimol EI, Siddiqui I, Putra J, Khanna R, Griffiths AM, Walters TD, Church PC. Prospective Evaluation of Endoscopic and Histologic Indices in Pediatric Ulcerative Colitis Using Centralized Review. Am J Gastroenterol. 2021 Oct 1;116(10):2052-2059. PMID: 34388139. Impact Factor 12.045. Cited 1 time. (Trainee publication, pediatric IBD clinical research fellow supervised by me for this project). Senior Responsible Author.
2. Ricciuto A*, Dhaliwal J*, Walters TD, Griffiths AM and Church PC. Clinical Outcomes with Therapeutic Drug Monitoring in Inflammatory Bowel Disease: A Systematic Review with Meta-Analysis. J Crohn’s Colitis. 2018 Nov; 12 (11):1302-1315. Impact Factor 10.020. Cited 38 times. (Trainee publication, pediatric IBD clinical research fellow supervised by me for this project). Senior Responsible Author.
3. Church PC, Ho S, Sharma A, Tomalty D, Frost K, Muise A, Walters TD and Griffiths AM. Intensified infliximab induction is associated with improved response and decreased colectomy in steroid-refractory paediatric ulcerative colitis. J Crohns Colitis. 2019 Jan, 10.1093/ecco-jcc/jjz019. Impact Factor 10.020. Cited 9 times. Principal Author.
4. Church PC, Greer MLC, Cytter-Kuint R, Doria AS, Griffiths AM, Turner D, Walters TD and Feldman BM. Magnetic resonance enterography has good inter-rater agreement and diagnostic accuracy for detecting inflammation in pediatric Crohn disease. Pediatric Radiology. 2017 May; 47 (5):565-575. Impact Factor 3.005. Principal Author.
5. Scarallo L, McKay HE, Schneider R, Ricciuto A, Walters TD, Greer MC, Griffiths AM, Church PC. Improvement of Transmural Inflammation With Adalimumab Versus Immunomodulator Maintenance Therapy in Pediatric Crohn's Disease: Single-Center Prospective Evaluation Using the Pediatric Inflammatory Crohn's Magnetic Resonance Enterography Index. Inflammatory Bowel Diseases. 2025 Jun 13;31(6):1520-1528. doi: 10.1093/ibd/izae227. PMID: 39688854. Impact Factor 4.3. Senior Responsible Author.

Funding

• 2017–2020: Validation of endoscopic scores in pediatric inflammatory bowel disease. Principal Investigator. Future Leaders of Inflammatory Bowel Disease; Academic Grant Program. Principal Investigator: Church PC.
• 2015–2018: Perfectionism and the psychosocial profile of youth with Inflammatory Bowel Disease. Co-investigator. Hospital for Sick Children, Trainee Start-up Fund.
• 2013–2018: The Canadian Children Inflammatory Bowel Disease Network: A Joint Partnership of CIHR and the C.H.I.L.D Foundation. Site Principal Investigator. Canadian Institutes of Health Research & CHILD Foundation.
• 2009: Probiotics in Practice: A Survey of Canadian Pediatricians. Principal Investigator. Janeway Research Advisory Committee.