Detailed Biography:

One of the recognized founders of the pediatric gastroenterology subspecialty in the United States, Dr. Ament established one of the premier training programs and has trained over 100 individuals in pediatric gastroenterology during his 38-year career at UCLA. He was also instrumental in establishing the liver and multivisceral transplantation program in 1984 at UCLA Medical Center and the small intestinal and multivisceral transplantation program in 1999-2000. Dr. Ament developed many of the tools and therapies now accepted as standard practice in pediatric gastroenterology. He is responsible for initially developing a pediatric small bowel biopsy instrument during his early years of training. He pioneered the development of flexible fiber optic upper and lower intestinal endoscopes for infants and children and is recognized as one of the authorities in this field. Dr. Ament was foremost in the recognition of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) in infants and children and was one of the early pioneers in developing the instrumentation for the evaluation of GERD. Dr. Ament is unique in that he is both a pediatric and adult gastroenterologist and has continued because of his special training to care for both children and adults throughout his medical career. Dr. Ament was the first gastroenterologist in the world to develop a home parenteral nutrition program for infants and children and was primary in establishing such a center at UCLA Medical Center in 1974. He also pioneered and established the first program for adults. The techniques he established for infants, children and adults became the standard for therapy in the U.S.