Ritu Verma, MD
Ritu Verma, MD
Professor of Pediatrics
Chief, Section of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition
Medical Director, Celiac Disease Center
Specialties
- Pediatric Gastroenterology
- Pediatric Hepatology (Liver Diseases)
Locations
- Chicago - South Loop
- Chicago - Comer Children's Hospital
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- About
- Specialties & Areas of Expertise
- Locations & Patient Information
- Education & Research
- Accepted Insurance
- External Professional Relationships
Hi, I'm Ritu Verma. I'm the Section Chief for gastroenterology, hepatology, and nutrition here at the University of Chicago Medicine. So it was my mom who inspired me to become a physician. She had the hopes that her daughters would both be physicians. And she's a very strong dynamic woman who made sure that I became a doctor.
My main sort of passion that I have looking-- being here at the University of Chicago and in this section is really to work with patients and their families. I'm a strong believer in having multi-discipline centers of excellence for various diseases that we see in this institution. I do believe strongly that there should be easy access for patients. My special interests are anything with gluten-related disorders, food allergies, inflammatory bowel disease. But at the end of the day, I like to see any patient who really needs help.
The most rewarding is really seeing the smile on a child's face that you've been able to explain to them what's wrong with them and that you've really been able to reassure them. And then the second thing is to see the faces of the parents who are suddenly relieved that at least they have an answer or they have someone who's going to work with them to get onto this journey of healing.
Ritu Verma, MD, is a highly respected pediatric gastroenterologist who provides compassionate, comprehensive care to children suffering from complex gastroenterology conditions. Dr. Verma is a leading expert in celiac disease and works closely with her patients and their families to manage this condition. She is also committed to ensuring pediatric gastroenterology patients have a seamless continuum of care throughout their journey, which includes a coordinated transition from pediatric to adult gastroenterology programs.
In addition to her clinical practice, Dr. Verma is also passionate about creating a holistic approach to research that merges adult and pediatric robust basic science research in celiac disease, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and food allergies with clinical research so that all of gastroenterology is marching towards to the same goal, providing our patients with the latest therapies and access to innovative treatments.
Dr. Verma takes her responsibilities as educator seriously, and she has served as a course instructor, delivers lectures and participates in rounds to teach medical students, residents and fellows about current pediatric gastroenterology care. Dr. Verma has also been published in several peer-reviewed journals, such as the American Journal of Gastroenterology, Journal of Pediatrics, Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Gastroenterology, Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Pediatric Diabetes and Nature Genetics.
Board Certifications
- Pediatric Gastroenterology
Practicing Since
- 1992
Languages Spoken
- English
- Hindi
- Punjabi
Medical Education
- University of Zambia
Internship
- Bellevue Hospital Center
Residency
- New York University Langone Medical Center
Fellowship
- Children Hospital of Philadelphia
News & Research
Insurance
- Aetna Better Health *see insurance page
- Aetna HMO (specialists only)
- Aetna Medicare Advantage HMO & PPO
- Aetna POS
- Aetna PPO
- BCBS Blue Precision HMO (specialists only)
- BCBS HMO (HMOI) (specialists only)
- BCBS Medicare Advantage HMO & PPO
- BCBS PPO
- Cigna HMO
- Cigna POS
- Cigna PPO
- CountyCare *see insurance page
- Humana Medicare Advantage Choice PPO
- Humana Medicare Advantage Gold Choice PFFS
- Humana Medicare Advantage Gold Plus HMO
- Medicare
- Multiplan PPO
- PHCS PPO
- United Choice Plus POS/PPO
- United Choice HMO (specialists only)
- United Options (PPO)
- United Select (HMO & EPO) (specialists only)
- United W500 Emergent Wrap
- University of Chicago Health Plan (UCHP)
Our list of accepted insurance providers is subject to change at any time. You should contact your insurance company to confirm UChicago Medicine participates in their network before scheduling your appointment. If you have questions regarding your insurance benefits at UChicago Medicine, please contact our financial counseling team at OPSFinancialCounseling@uchospitals.edu.
Some of our physicians and health professionals collaborate with external pharmaceutical, medical device, or other medical related entities to develop new treatments and products to improve clinical outcomes for patients. In some instances, the physician has ownership interests in the external entity and/or is compensated for advising or speaking about the entity’s products or treatments. These payments may include compensation for consulting and speaking engagements, equity, and/or royalties for products invented by our physicians. To assure objectivity and integrity in patient care, UChicago Medicine requires all physicians and health professionals to report their relationships and financial interests with external entities on an annual basis. This information is used to review relationships and transactions that might give rise to potential financial conflicts of interest, and when considered to be significant a management plan to mitigate any biases is created.
If you are a patient at UChicago Medicine and would like more information about your physician’s external relationships, please talk with your physician. You may also visit the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Open Payments website at https://openpaymentsdata.cms.gov/ . CMS Open Payments is a national disclosure program that promotes a more transparent and accountable health care system. It houses a publicly accessible database of payments that reporting entities, including drug and medical device companies, make to covered recipients like physicians and hospitals.
Information in the CMS Open Payments database could potentially contain inaccurately reported and out of date payment information. All information is open to personal interpretation, if there are questions about the data, patients and their advocates should speak directly to their health care provider for a better understanding.