Dr. Rebecca Winderman: The Pediatric Gastroenterologist Rebuilding Care From the Ground Up

Dr Rebecca Winderman

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Not every physician frames her professional purpose in a single sentence, but Dr. Rebecca Winderman does. Her mission, as she describes it, is to help end childhood obesity by expanding access to specialized pediatric care, including telehealth obesity medicine for adolescents. It is an approach rooted in the belief that effective treatment should meet families where they are rather than require them to overcome unnecessary barriers to care.

Dr. Winderman currently serves as a Pediatric Gastroenterologist at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA), a position she has held since April 2025. Alongside her hospital practice, she also operates KidsGastroDoc, a Los Angeles-based private practice that she launched in September 2024. Patients can schedule virtual consultations directly through the practice, reflecting her broader commitment to making pediatric gastroenterology and obesity care more accessible.

Training in Brooklyn

Dr. Winderman’s medical education and specialty training were centered at SUNY Downstate Medical Center, where she spent seven consecutive years developing her expertise.

She completed her Pediatric Residency in Brooklyn from July 2011 through July 2015 before continuing directly into a Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition Fellowship, which she completed in June 2018.

During the final months of her fellowship, she also completed a specialized Pediatric Liver Transplant rotation at Columbia University Irving Medical Center from May through June 2018, gaining additional experience in one of pediatric hepatology’s most complex areas.

Building Programs in Queens

Following fellowship, Dr. Winderman quickly assumed leadership responsibilities.

Beginning in November 2018, she became Director of Pediatric Gastroenterology at Jamaica Hospital, a role she held until September 2024. In March 2022, she added a second leadership position as Director of Pediatric Gastroenterology at Flushing Hospital, serving there until September 2024.

For more than two years, she simultaneously directed pediatric gastroenterology services at two hospitals within New York City’s Queens borough. Managing dual leadership responsibilities required balancing clinical care, program development, physician collaboration, and operational oversight across two separate institutions.

A New Model of Care

The year 2024 marked a significant transition in Dr. Winderman’s career.

In September, she launched KidsGastroDoc, a virtual pediatric gastroenterology practice with a strong emphasis on adolescent obesity medicine and improving access through telehealth. Rather than simply changing employers, she introduced a different model of care – one designed to reduce barriers that often prevent families from receiving timely specialty treatment.

Seven months later, in April 2025, she joined Children’s Hospital Los Angeles as a Pediatric Gastroenterologist. Together, these roles allow her to combine the resources of one of the nation’s leading children’s hospitals with the flexibility and accessibility of an independent virtual practice.

Building the Future of Pediatric Gastroenterology

Viewed as a whole, Dr. Winderman’s career reflects a physician who spent more than a decade building clinical and leadership experience within traditional hospital systems before applying that foundation to a more innovative model of pediatric care.

Her work now bridges two complementary settings: comprehensive pediatric gastroenterology within a major academic children’s hospital and technology-enabled care that expands access for adolescents and their families. Few pediatric gastroenterologists have combined hospital leadership, clinical expertise, and entrepreneurial innovation in this way.

As pediatric healthcare continues to evolve, Dr. Winderman’s career suggests that the future of digestive health may depend not only on advances in medicine but also on rethinking how, where, and when children are able to receive the specialized care they need.

Also Read: The 10 Most Visionary Leaders in Gut Health & Gastroenterology 2026