Jessie Hulst, MD, PhD
Staff gastroenterologist, The Hospital for Sick Children
Associate Professor, Departments of Pediatrics and Nutritional Sciences, University of Toronto

Dr. Jessie Hulst is a staff gastroenterologist at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) in Toronto, as well as an Associate Professor in both the Departments of Pediatrics and Nutritional Sciences at the University of Toronto. She joined SickKids in 2018, having previously worked as a staff gastroenterologist at Erasmus Medical Center-Sophia Children’s Hospital in Rotterdam from 2011 to 2018 following her Pediatric GI fellowship there. Dr. Hulst earned her PhD in 2004, focusing on nutritional assessment in critically ill infants and children.

Dr. Hulst research aims to find and apply appropriate methods for nutritional screening and nutritional assessment in children with medical conditions predisposed to malnutrition, with the ultimate goal of improving their short and long-term outcomes through personalized intervention that evolves from screening, assessment and follow-up protocols. Notably, she co-developed the STRONGkids nutritional risk screening tool which is widely used around the world. Dr. Hulst has led and collaborated on multiple multicenter studies regarding (mal)nutrition and intestinal failure. She has made significant contributions to the academic literature, with over 115 peer-reviewed manuscripts and more than 15 book chapters to her credit.

Throughout her career, Hulst has been deeply involved in advancing the field of paediatric nutrition. Internationally, she served as a member of the ESPGHAN committee on Nutrition (2014-2018) and acted as the previous chair of the ESPGHAN Clinical Malnutrition Special Interest Group. Currently, she is a member of the ASPEN malnutrition committee, NASPGHAN Nutrition committee, ESPEN pediatric Special Interest group and ESPGHAN Clinical Malnutrition Special Interest group.

On a national level, she was the secretary of the Dutch Nutrition Committee of the Pediatric Society (2009-2016) and the Chair of the Pediatric section of the Dutch Malnutrition Taskforce (2014-2018). Currently Dr Hulst co-chairs the Paediatric Working Group of the Canadian Malnutrition Task Force and leads the implementation of a national paediatric Malnutrition Pathway in Canada. She serves as the Alexander Lawson Distinguished Fellow in Child Nutrition at the Joannah & Brian Lawson Centre for Child Nutrition, University of Toronto, with a mission to enhance physician competency and engagement in both clinical and public health nutrition through educational initiatives and resource development.

In her clinical practice, Dr. Hulst manages complex nutrition cases and patients with intestinal failure within the Group for Improvement of Intestinal Function and Treatment (GIFT). She serves as the hospital's Parenteral Nutrition Medical lead and acts as the chair of the Hospital Nutritional Advisory Committee.

Since 2022, she has been the initiator and co-director of the 1-year Advanced Pediatric Clinical Nutrition Fellowship, designed to prepare pediatric gastroenterologists for academic careers in pediatric nutrition. She is also actively involved in teaching and mentoring at local, national, and international levels, serving as both speaker and organizer, and has supervised master’s and PhD students.