Best Gastroenterologists for GI Motility Disorders in NY

Dr. Katzka leads the Esophagology and Swallowing Center at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center. He focuses on patients who have trouble swallowing, chronic heartburn that does not respond to medication, and eosinophilic esophagitis — an allergy-driven condition that narrows the esophagus. His 2015 review in the New England Journal of Medicine ¹ and an earlier study showing how common the disease is in the United States ² helped make sure primary care doctors now think to test for it. He has also written national guidance on celiac disease ³ and on achalasia, a condition where the lower esophagus will not open ⁵.

Dr. Katz directs the motility laboratories at the Jay Monahan Center for Gastrointestinal Health at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell. He sees adults with gastroesophageal reflux disease, non-cardiac chest pain, and swallowing problems, especially when earlier treatment has not worked. He was the lead author of the American College of Gastroenterology's reflux treatment guidelines in 2013 ⁶ and again in 2021 ⁷, which shape how U.S. gastroenterologists handle heartburn. His earlier work compared the major acid-reducing medications head to head ¹⁰ and examined how to test patients whose chest pain is not coming from the heart ⁹.

Dr. Traube is a professor at NYU Langone Hospitals who has spent his career on disorders of the esophagus. He treats patients with achalasia, diffuse esophageal spasm, and unexplained chest pain, and he was an early voice in studying how calcium-channel blockers affect esophageal muscle ¹⁴. His randomized, placebo-controlled trial of nifedipine in achalasia ¹² is still cited as one of the first rigorous medication trials for the condition. He also helped describe "nutcracker esophagus," a pattern of very strong but painful contractions ¹⁵.

Dr. Harary is a clinical assistant professor at NYU Grossman School of Medicine who practices at Lenox Hill Hospital and NYU Langone. He sees patients with a broad range of digestive complaints, including Crohn's disease of the upper GI tract ¹⁷, reflux, and medication-related esophageal and stomach problems ²⁰. His case reports have helped other gastroenterologists catch unusual presentations — for example, liver cancer that shows up as biliary colic ¹⁸ — that can be mistaken for more routine conditions.

Dr. Lucak is a clinical assistant professor at Weill Cornell Medical College and practices at Mount Sinai Beth Israel and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital. Her focus is functional GI disorders, especially irritable bowel syndrome, chronic constipation, and bloating — the kinds of problems where patients often feel dismissed because standard imaging and blood tests come back clean. She is a good fit if you have had symptoms for a long time and want a clinician who takes functional disorders seriously.

Dr. Piccione practices in Brooklyn and has affiliations with Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, Raritan Bay Medical Center, and Richmond University Medical Center. He evaluates a range of esophageal and upper-GI problems, including swallowing difficulties and unusual causes of bleeding. His 1987 JAMA report on pill-induced esophageal hematoma ²¹ is still one of the clearest descriptions of what happens when a pill gets stuck and irritates the esophagus — a problem that still sends people to the emergency room with sudden chest pain.