Dr. Ilana Fortgang received her undergraduate degree in English, AB, magna cum laude, from Harvard and Radcliffe Colleges in 1986. She worked as a journalist in New York City until, inspired by her reporting on physicians and hospitals, she decided to go to medical school. Dr. Fortgang graduated from Johns Hopkins in 1996 and came to New Orleans to train in Surgery at Tulane University School of Medicine. During this time, she completed a research fellowship in cancer genetics and, then, transitioned to Pediatrics, also at Tulane.

She completed her clinical fellowship in Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in 2007. Dr. Fortgang and her family returned to New Orleans that year, in part, inspired to be part of rebuilding the city following Hurricane Katrina. She has been academic faculty at Tulane and in private practice at Metropolitan Gastroenterology Associates.

In 2018, Dr. Fortgang joined the Divisions of Gastroenterology and Liver Transplant at Ochsner. Her clinical interests include pediatric liver disease and transplant, autoimmune disorders, the intestinal microbiome and nutrition. What drew her to Ochsner, she says, is the “quality and camaraderie of the medical staff and, with that, the relentless commitment to excellence and patient care."