Title: Professor of Pediatrics
Company: Columbia University Irving Medical Center
Location: New York, New York, United States
Ilene Fennoy, MD, MPH, professor of pediatrics at the Columbia University Irving Medical Center, has been recognized by Marquis Who’s Who Top Educators for dedication, achievements, and leadership in health care education.
Celebrating more than 45 years as an esteemed doctor and teacher, Dr. Fennoy has served as the professor of pediatrics at the Columbia University Irving Medical Center since 2013. While educating the next generation of pediatricians, she has also devoted a lot of her time and energy to researching endocrinology. Curious about the systems governing the growth of children from a young age, Dr. Fennoy embraced the field of pediatric endocrinology, wherein she aids young patients and their parents in understanding growth issues. Her primary focus is on obesity in children and adolescents, with an eye toward evaluating the impact of exercise programs, nutrition education curriculum and bariatric surgery on this condition.
Concurrently with her work as a professor, Dr. Fennoy sees patients as an attending associate in the division of pediatric endocrinology at NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital and an attending associate of pediatrics at Harlem Hospital Center, both of which are affiliated with Columbia University. She has held both positions since 2003. Dr. Fennoy originally joined Columbia University as a professor of pediatrics for the institution’s Vagelos College of Physicians & Surgeons in 1979 and was later promoted to associate clinical professor and then clinical professor of pediatrics. Alongside pediatrics and endocrinology, she has experience treating such conditions as bone disease, prediabetes, diabetes, hyper- and hypothyroidism, Klinefelter syndrome and more.
Dr. Fennoy’s previous appointments include several years as director of the division of pediatric endocrinology and attending senior at St. Luke’s Roosevelt Hospital; clinical associate professor of pediatrics at New York University School of Medicine; attending associate of pediatrics, medical director of employee health services, director of graduate medical education, director of ambulatory medicine and associate chief of staff at Brooklyn Hospital; and acting senior vice president of medical and professional affairs at the Health and Hospitals Corporation of NYC. She gained clinical experience early in her professional life as an attending assistant and chief of pediatric endocrinology at Harlem Hospital.
Before venturing onto her vocational path, Dr. Fennoy pursued a strong academic background, beginning with a Bachelor of Arts in psychology from Stanford University in 1968. She then obtained an MD from the University of California San Francisco’s School of Medicine in 1973. Dr. Fennoy completed a pediatric internship and subsequent pediatric residency at Montefiore Hospital. She pursued a postdoctoral fellowship at Columbia University’s Institute of Human Nutrition from 1975 through 1977 and contributed to an intramural research program as a clinical associate for the neonatal and pediatric medicine branch of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development from 1977 through 1979. Dr. Fennoy returned to academia later in her career, earning a Master of Public Health in health policy and administration from Columbia University in 1993. She is certified in pediatric endocrinology, nutrition, obesity medicine and clinical densitometry and is licensed as a doctor in California and New York.
Known for her scholarly output, Dr. Fennoy has published reviews, abstracts, chapters, editorials and articles in such publications as the Journal of Obesity, the Journal of Diabetes, the Journal of Pediatrics, the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, and the International Journal of Pediatric Obesity. Most recently, she authored “Childhood Obesity, Diabetes and Cardiovascular Disease Risk,” a paper showcased in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism in 2023. Dr. Fennoy has also garnered praise as a strong speaker and presenter in her field. Among many accolades, she was named one of the Best Doctors in New York by New York Magazine multiple times between 2002 and 2018 and received the Outstanding Leadership Award from the Endocrine Society in 2025.
In addition to her expansive career, Dr. Fennoy is a loving wife and mother. She is deeply proud of the students who have gone through her pediatric endocrinology fellowship program, many of whom have gone on to specialize in pediatric obesity. Continuing to advocate for this important health issue, Dr. Fennoy has accepted a leadership position in the Society of Pediatric Obesity. Her research in the field and her work teaching others entering it are sure to continue having a positive impact on the health of children and adolescents across the country.
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