Portrait: Marc Levitt

Marc Aaron Levitt

MD
Professional Focus Dr. Marc Levitt is board certified in Pediatric Surgery specializing in colorectal, general pediatric surgery, and pelvic reconstructive surgery. Dr. Levitt is internationally recognized as an expert in conditions affecting the newborn, pediatric, and adolescent population affected with anorectal malformations (imperforate anus), cloacal malformations, Hirschsprung disease, as well as a variety of conditions leading to fecal incontinence, such as spinal conditions and functional constipation.

After receiving his undergraduate degree in Neuroscience from the University of Pennsylvania, Dr. Levitt earned his medical degree from Albert Einstein College of Medicine, where he was inducted into the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Society. He completed a residency in General Surgery at Mount Sinai Medical Center, where he became Chief Resident. He also completed a research and clinical fellowship in Pediatric Colorectal Surgery at Schneider Children's Hospital. He then went on to receive subspecialty Pediatric Surgery fellowship training at the Children's Hospital of Buffalo through State University of New York.

Dr. Levitt helped create the Colorectal Centers at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital and Nationwide Children’s Hospital at which he served as director until his recruitment to Children’s National Hospital in Washington, D.C. in 2019.  Currently, Dr. Levitt serves as Chief of the Division of Colorectal & Pelvic Reconstruction at Children’s National Hospital. It is the first program in the mid-Atlantic region to fully integrate surgery, urology, gynecology, and gastroenterology into one cohesive program for children. He also serves as a Consulting Surgeon at Seattle Children's Hospital, Nicklaus Children’s Hospital in Miami, Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, and is an Adjunct Faculty Member at Morgan Stanley's Children's Hospital Columbia-New York Presbyterian and Children's Mercy Hospital, in Kansas City, Missouri.

Academically, Dr. Levitt is a Professor of Surgery and Pediatrics with tenure at The George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences. Additionally, Dr. Levitt is the founder of the Colorectal Team Overseas (CTO), which is a group of international providers that travel to the developing world to provide care and teaching for patients with colorectal needs. He co-founded the Pediatric Colorectal and Pelvic Learning Consortium (PCPLC), which is an organization of collaborating Colorectal centers across the globe.

Dr. Levitt's research focuses on but is not limited to bowel management in children, fecal incontinence, constipation, anorectal malformations, cloacal malformations, and Hirschsprung disease. He has written over 300 peer-reviewed research publications, authored and co-authored 4 books and 110 book chapters, and has been a part of many clinical trials relating to his specialty.

Member Feedback:
"Dr. Levitt was personable and able to give sound advice. I appreciate his insight and am so thankful for this service as it has given me peace of mind. Dr. Levitt was able to answer my questions confidently and thoroughly."
Honors & Awards Selected Awards:

Top Doctor, Castle Connolly | 2013 - present

Top Doctors, Northern Virginia Magazine | 2021 - present

Top Doctors, Washingtonian | 2021 - present

Top Doctor, Columbus Monthly | 2017 - 2019

Best Doctors in America, Columbus Business First | 2015 - 2017

Service from the Heart Award, Nationwide Children’s Hospital | 2014

Lifetime Achievement Award, Ronald McDonald House | 2009
Research & Publications Selected Publications [310+]:

Tiusaba L, Jacobs S, Al-Shamaileh T, Bokova E, Russell T, Badillo A, Feng C, Levitt Ma. Gonzalez Hernia (Ischiorectal Fat Pad) Occurring During A Posterior Sagittal Anorectoplasty (Psarp) - The Historical Context Of A Technical Error That Led To A Helpful New Technique. European Journal Of Pediatric Surgery. [In Press]

Ahmad H, Rentea RM, Knaus ME, Wilbur JG, Halaweish I, Langer JC, Levitt MA, Wood RJ. Routine botulinum toxin injection one month after a Swenson pull-through does not change the incidence of Hirschsprung associated enterocolitis. Journal of Pediatric Surgery 57 (8), 1453-1457, August 1, 2022.

Desiree F. Baaleman, Alexandra Hallagan, Devin R. Halleran, Danielle K. Orsagh-Yentis, Marc A. Levitt, Richard J. Wood, Marc A. Benninga, Neetu Bali, Karla H. Vaz, Desale Yacob, Carlo Di Lorenzo, Peter L. Lu. Anal Botulinum Toxin in Children with Hirschsprung Disease and Functional Constipation: A Prospective Cohort study. European Journal of Pediatric Surgery

Lukish J, Levitt MA, Burd R, Kane T, Sandler A. More Evidence Against Appendectomy at the Time of a Ladd Procedure. Journal of Pediatric Surgery. [Letter] [In Press]

Yaning Wang, Laura Tiusaba, Shimon Jacobs, Michele Saruwatari, Bo Ning, Marc A. Levitt, Anthony D. Sandler, So-Hyun Nam, Jin U. Kang, and Jaepyeong Cha. Unsupervised and quantitative intestinal ischemia detection using conditional adversarial network in multimodal optical imaging. Journal of Medical Imaging [In Press].

Shimon E. Jacobs, Laura Tiusaba , Tamador Al-Shamaileh, Elizaveta Bokova, Teresa Russell, Christina P. Ho, Briony K. Varda, Hans G. Pohl, Allison C. Mayhew, Veronica Gomez-Lobo, Christina Feng, Andrea T. Badillo, and Marc A. Levitt. Fetal and Newborn Management of Cloacal Malformations. Children. [In Press]

Elise McKenna, Christina Ho, Andrea Badillo, Gustavo Villalona, Marc A. Levitt. A Rare Case of Colonic Triplication with Associated Imperforate Anus in a Newborn Male. European Journal of Pediatric Surgery Reports [In Press].

Wendy Jo Svetanoff, Irene Lim-Beutal, Richard J Wood, Marc A Levitt, Rebecca M Rentea. The Utilization of Botulinum Toxin for Hirschsprung Disease. Seminars in Pediatric Surgery [in press]

Hira Ahmad, Desale Yacob, Devin R. Halleran, Alessandra C. Gasior, Carlo Di Lorenzo, Richard J. Wood, Jacob C. Langer, Marc A. Levitt. Evaluation and Treatment of The Post Pull-through Hirschsprung Patient Who is Not Doing Well; Update for 2022. Seminars in Pediatric Surgery [In Press]

Annamarie C. Lukish, Vivien Pat, Anisha Apte, Marc A. Levitt. Battery Ingestion with Colonic Perforation after Colostomy Closure in a Toddler. European J Pediatr Surg Reports 2022;10:e41– e44.

Jacobs, Shimon; Tiusaba, Laura; Bokova, Elizaveta; Al-Shamaileh, Tamador; Russell, Teresa; Rutan, Emily; Haroyan, Harutyun; Wang, Yong; Feng, Christina; Badillo, Andrea; Levitt, Marc . A Deeper Curse: A Hirschsprung Patient’s Evaluation Unmasks a Rare Association with Congenital Central Hypoventilation Syndrome and Neuroblastoma. European Journal of Pediatric Surgery Reports. [In Press].
Conditions
Anorectal malformations
Cloacal malformations
Fecal incontinence in children
Hernia
Hirschsprung disease
Pediatric complex colorectal conditions
Pediatric complex pelvic conditions
Umbilical hernia
Procedures
Pediatric general surgery
Colorectal reconstructive surgery
Pelvic reconstructive surgery
Umbilical hernia repair
University at Buffalo | Pediatric Surgery
Fellowship
Schneider Children's Hospital | Pediatric Colorectal Surgery
Fellowship
Mount Sinai School of Medicine | General Surgery
Residency
Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University
Medical School
Board Certifications
American Board of Surgery
Pediatric Surgery
Other Certifications
Subspecialties: Pediatric General Surgery
Hospital Affiliation
NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital
Children’s National Hospital
Seattle Children’s Hospital
Children’s Mercy Hospital
Children’s Hospital Los Angeles
Nicklaus Children’s Hospital
Texas Children’s Hospital
Place of Work
Chief | Division of Colorectal and Pelvic Reconstruction | Children’s National Hospital | Hospital Based | Current
Professor | Surgery and Pediatrics | The George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences | Academic | Current
Languages
English
Links