Robert E. Weesner , MD

Chief, GI and Liver VAMC Cincinnati Dr. Robert Weesner has spent most of his academic career here at the University of Cincinnati. After graduating from the Indiana University Medical School in 1972, he became a resident at Cincinnati General Hospital and, except for a two-year assignment in the U.S. Army, he has remained an integral part of the College of Medicine. In 1987, he became Director of Diagnostic Gastroenterology at the V.A. Medical Center. In this capacity, he serves as a critical member of the teaching faculty and supervisor of the GI Training Program at the VA. His research interests include alcoholism and its effect on the liver, pancreas and gastrointestinal tract, fecal occult blood testing and dysphagia.

Medical Degree: Indiana University Medical School 1972

Internship: Cincinnati General Hospital 1973 (Internal Medicine )

Residency: Cincinnati General Hospital 1975 (Internal Medicine)

Fellowship: Cincinnati General Hospital 1979 (Gastroenterology )

Alcoholism's Effect on the Liver, Pancreas and Gastrointestinal Tract, Fecal Occult Blood Testing.

1975 -1977 U.S. Army, Internal Medicine, Station Hospital, NY

1979 -1986 Assistant Professor of Medicine, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH

1979 -1987 Staff Gastroenterologist, V.A. Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH

1986 -To Present Associate Professor of Clinical Internal Medicine, Unviersity of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH

1987 -To Present Chief, Diagnostic Gastroenterology, V.A. Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH

Peer Reviewed Publications

Fischer, D R; Nussbaum, M S; Pritts, T A; Gilinsky, N H; Weesner, R E; Martin, S P; Giannella, R A (1999. ) Use of omeprazole in the management of giant duodenal ulcer: results of a prospective study. Surgery, , 126 (4 ) ,643-8; discussion 64

Park, S I; Saxe, J C; Weesner, R E (1993. ) Does use of the Coloscreen Self-Test improve patient compliance with fecal occult blood screening? .The American journal of gastroenterology, , 88 (9 ) ,1391-4

Mendenhall, C L; Chedid, A; French, S W; Ray, M; Roselle, G A; Grossman, C J; Weesner, R E; Gartside, P S (1991. ) Alpha-fetoprotein alterations in alcoholics with liver disease. V.A. Cooperative Study Groups. Alcohol and alcoholism (Oxford, Oxfordshire), , 26 (5-6 ) ,527-34

Park, S I; Genta, R S; Romeo, D P; Weesner, R E Colonic abscess and focal peritonitis secondary to india ink tattooing of the colon. Gastrointestinal endoscopy, , 37 (1 ) ,68-71

Romeo, D P; Weesner, R E; Giannella, R A (1990. ) Misdiagnosis of the Zollinger-Ellison syndrome due to hyperlipidemia. Gastroenterology, , 99 (5 ) ,1511-3

Mendenhall, C L; Gartside, P S; Roselle, G A; Grossman, C J; Weesner, R E; Chedid, A (1989. ) Longevity among ethnic groups in alcoholic liver disease. Alcohol and alcoholism (Oxford, Oxfordshire), , 24 (1 ) ,11-9

Weesner, R E; Kolinjivadi, J; Giannella, R A; Huitger-O'Connor, T; Genta, R M (1988. ) Effect of Strongyloides ratti on small bowel function in normal and immunosuppressed host rats. Digestive diseases and sciences, , 33 (10 ) ,1316-21

Roselle, G A; Mendenhall, C L; Grossman, C J; Weesner, R E (1988. ) Lymphocyte subset alterations in patients with alcoholic hepatitis. Journal of clinical & laboratory immunology, , 26 (4 ) ,169-73

Mendenhall, C; Roselle, G A; Lybecker, L A; Marshall, L E; Grossman, C J; Myre, S A; Weesner, R E; Morgan, D D (1988. ) Hepatitis B vaccination. Response of alcoholic with and without liver injury. Digestive diseases and sciences, , 33 (3 ) ,263-9

Petersen, J H; Weesner, R E; Giannella, R A (1987. ) Escherichia coli peritonitis after left-sided colonoscopy in a patient on continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis. The American journal of gastroenterology, , 82 (2 ) ,171-2

King, K; Genta, R M; Giannella, R A; Weesner, R E Congenital hepatic fibrosis and cerebral aneurysm in a 32-year-old woman. Journal of pediatric gastroenterology and nutrition, , 5 (3 ) ,481-4

Mendenhall, C L; Roselle, G A; Grossman, C J; Rouster, S D; Weesner, R E (1986. ) False positive tests for HTLV-III antibodies in alcoholic patients with hepatitis.The New England journal of medicine, , 314 (14 ) ,921-2 More Information

Mendenhall, C L; Tosch, T; Weesner, R E; Garcia-Pont, P; Goldberg, S J; Kiernan, T; Seeff, L B; Sorell, M; Tamburro, C; Zetterman, R (1986. ) VA cooperative study on alcoholic hepatitis. II: Prognostic significance of protein-calorie malnutrition. The American journal of clinical nutrition, , 43 (2 ) ,213-8

Weesner, R E; Ruffolo, J J; Murphy, R F; Dincsoy, H P; Mendenhall, C L (1985. ) Effect of chronic ethanol consumption on the pancreas of the hamster. Digestive diseases and sciences, , 30 (2 ) ,168-77

Mendenhall, C L; Anderson, S; Weesner, R E; Goldberg, S J; Crolic, K A (1984. ) Protein-calorie malnutrition associated with alcoholic hepatitis. Veterans Administration Cooperative Study Group on Alcoholic Hepatitis. The American journal of medicine, , 76 (2 ) ,211-22

Dincsoy, H P; Weesner, R E; MacGee, J (1982. ) Lipogranulomas in non-fatty human livers. A mineral oil induced environmental disease. American journal of clinical pathology, , 78 (1 ) ,35-41

Simko, V; McCarroll, A M; Goodman, S; Weesner, R E; Kelley, R E (1980. ) High-fat diet in a short bowel syndrome. Intestinal absorption and gastroenteropancreatic hormone responses. Digestive diseases and sciences, , 25 (5 ) ,333-9

Weesner, R E; Mendenhall, C L; Morgan, D D; Kessler, V; Kromme, C (1980. ) Serum alpha-fetoprotein: changes associated with acute and chronic ethanol ingestion in the resting and regenerating rat liver. The Journal of laboratory and clinical medicine, , 95 (5 ) ,725-36

Hertelendy, Z I; Mendenhall, C L; Rouster, S D; Marshall, L; Weesner, R (1993. ) Biochemical and clinical effects of aspartame in patients with chronic, stable alcoholic liver disease. The American journal of gastroenterology, , 88 (5 ) ,737-43

Genta, R M; Weesner, R; Douce, R W; Huitger-O'Connor, T; Walzer, P D (1987. ) Strongyloidiasis in US veterans of the Vietnam and other wars. JAMA, , 258 (1 ) ,49-52

1978 American Liver Foundation Travel Award

2004 The Ralph A. Giannella Award for Excellence in Clinical Teaching

2007 The Ralph A. Giannella Award for Excellence in Clinical Teaching

colon cancer, esophagus, anus, cirrhosis, acid-peptic disorders, hepatitis, gastroenterology

Academic - Medical Sciences Building
231 Albert Sabin Way ML 0595
Cincinnati  Ohio, 45267
Phone: 513-558-5244
Fax: 513-558-6013
robert.weesner@med.va.gov