James Bayrer, MD, PhD

As a pediatric gastroenterologist and physician scientist, I am keenly aware of the challenges faced by our pediatric population. The intestinal epithelium comprises the human body’s greatest environmentally exposed surface and is the largest sensory and endocrine organ. My research utilizes human intestinal organoids and animal models to understand how the intestine senses and responds to both regular and inflammatory stimuli. By investigating the molecular pathways involved, we aim to discover new ways to promote intestinal wound healing and modulate the signals contributing to visceral pain syndromes.
Education
M.D., 2007 - School of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University
Ph.D., 2005 - Pharmacology, Case Western Reserve University
Honors and Awards
  • Best of DDW, ACG-CCFA IBD Circle Spotlight, 2015
  • Poster of Distinction, American Gastroenterological Association, DDW, 2015
  • Poster Award, Kenneth Rainin Foundation Innovations Symposium, 2015
  • Young Faculty Investigator Research Award, NASPGHAN, 2015
  • Poster of Distinction, American Gastroenterological Association, DDW, 2014
  • Teaching and Tomorrow Travel Award, NASPGHAN, 2008
  • Outstanding Poster Presentation Award, Lepow Research Day, CWRU, 2005
  • Sigma Xi Award for Poster Presentation, ShowCase, CWRU, 2004
  • President's Award for Outstanding Poster Presentation, Graduate Student Symposium, CWRU, 2003
  • Honors in Chemistry, Claremont McKenna College, 1998
  • Honors in Literature, Claremont McKenna College, 1998
  • Magna cum Laude, Claremont McKenna College, 1998
  • Top Thesis in the Sciences, Joint Science Program, Claremont McKenna College, 1998
Websites

  1. Bayrer JR, Castro J, Venkataraman A, Touhara KK, Rossen ND, Morrie RD, Maddern J, Hendry A, Braverman KN, Garcia-Caraballo S, Schober G, Brizuela M, Castro Navarro FM, Bueno-Silva C, Ingraham HA, Brierley SM, Julius D. Gut enterochromaffin cells drive visceral pain and anxiety. Nature 2023. PMID: 36949192


  2. Man K, Bowman C, Braverman KN, Escalante V, Tian Y, Bisanz JE, Ganeshan K, Wang B, Patterson A, Bayrer JR, Turnbaugh PJ, Chawla A. A thermogenic fat-epithelium cell axis regulates intestinal disease tolerance. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 2020. PMID: 33257580


  3. Ryan David Morrie, James Bayrer, Stuart Brierley, Holly Ingraham, David Julius. SPARC - Mapping Gut-Spinal Cord Connections in Visceral Pain. The FASEB Journal 2020. PMID:


  4. Herber CB, Krause WC, Wang L, Bayrer JR, Li A, Schmitz M, Fields A, Ford B, Zhang Z, Reid MS, Nomura DK, Nissenson RA, Correa SM, Ingraham HA. Estrogen signaling in arcuate Kiss1 neurons suppresses a sex-dependent female circuit promoting dense strong bones. 2019. PMID:


  5. Pervinder K. Choksi, Holly A. Ingraham, James Bayrer. 948 – Nuclear Receptor Liver Receptor Homolog-1 Promotes Intestinal Notch Signaling and Enteroendocrine Cell Development. 2019. PMID:


  6. Herber CB, Krause WC, Wang L, Bayrer JR, Li A, Schmitz M, Fields A, Ford B, Zhang Z, Reid MS, Nomura DK, Nissenson RA, Correa SM, Ingraham HA. Estrogen signaling in arcuate Kiss1 neurons suppresses a sex-dependent female circuit promoting dense strong bones. 2019. PMID: 30635563


  7. Kulkarni S, Ganz J, Bayrer J, Becker L, Bogunovic M, Rao M. Advances in Enteric Neurobiology: The "Brain" in the Gut in Health and Disease. 2018. PMID: 30381426


  8. Bayrer JR, Wang H, Nattiv R, Suzawa M, Escusa HS, Fletterick RJ, Klein OD, Moore DD, Ingraham HA. LRH-1 mitigates intestinal inflammatory disease by maintaining epithelial homeostasis and cell survival. Nature communications 2018. PMID: 30305617


  9. James Bayrer, Hazel Escusa, Ophir D. Kein, Holly Ingraham. 273 - Nuclear Receptor LRH-1 Mitigates Intestinal Inflammatory Disease by Promoting Stem Cell Survival and Directing Normal Epithelial Composition. 2018. PMID:


  10. Bellono NW, Bayrer JR, Leitch DB, Castro J, Zhang C, O'Donnell TA, Brierley SM, Ingraham HA, Julius D. Enterochromaffin Cells Are Gut Chemosensors that Couple to Sensory Neural Pathways. 2017. PMID: 28648659


  11. Wallach TE, Bayrer JR. Intestinal Organoids: New Frontiers in the Study of Intestinal Disease and Physiology. 2017. PMID: 27632431


  12. James R. Bayrer, Robert Fletterick, Holly Ingraham. Tu1824 Targeting Intestinal Stem Cells to Promote Healing in Inflammatory Bowel Disease. 2015. PMID:


  13. Bayrer JR, Mukkamala S, Sablin EP, Webb P, Fletterick RJ. Silencing LRH-1 in colon cancer cell lines impairs proliferation and alters gene expression programs. 2015. PMID: 25675535


  14. James R. Bayrer, Sridevi Mukkamala, Elena Sablin, Robert Fletterick. Sa1803 Dissecting the Oncogenic Activity of the Nuclear Receptor LRH-1 in the Colon. 2014. PMID:


  15. Yang Y, Zhang W, Bayrer JR, Weiss MA. Doublesex and the regulation of sexual dimorphism in Drosophila melanogaster: structure, function, and mutagenesis of a female-specific domain. 2008. PMID: 18184648


  16. Bayrer JR, Zhang W, Weiss MA. Dimerization of doublesex is mediated by a cryptic ubiquitin-associated domain fold: implications for sex-specific gene regulation. 2005. PMID: 16049008


  17. Bayrer J, Wan Z, Li B, Weiss MA. Expression, crystallization and preliminary X-ray characterization of the Drosophila transcription factor Doublesex. 2004. PMID: 15213406