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Collaborative Care and Practical Guidance in EoE, with Joy Chang, MD, MS
Chang explains the importance of collaboration between gastroenterologists and allergists in EoE care and praises recent ACG guidelines on disease management.
The care landscape for eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) is evolving rapidly, with new therapies and updated guidelines offering clinicians more tools than ever. However, managing EoE effectively—particularly in complex cases—requires more than just the right treatment. It demands cross-specialty collaboration, attention to patient experience, and clarity on how to put evolving evidence into practice.
In an interview with HCPLive, Joy Chang, MD, MS, an assistant professor of medicine in the division of gastroenterology at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. underscored the critical role of teamwork in EoE care, noting that both gastroenterologists and allergists bring essential expertise to the table, depending on the clinical setting.
“There are some places where the GIs really run the show,” she explained, “There are other parts of the country where the allergists are the primary people, and then there's some places where there's very equal GI and allergy involvement.”
She emphasizes the importance of addressing various atopic comorbidities frequently seen in patients with EoE, including food allergies, eczema, asthma. To properly manage their EoE while also addressing these atopic conditions, Chang says collaboration between allergists and gastroenterologists is necessary.
Beyond GI and allergy collaboration, she points to the value of including dietitians and feeding specialists, especially in pediatric care. She also highlights the often-overlooked importance of GI psychologists in helping patients navigate the long-term psychological burden of living with EoE.
As for what excites her most in the field, Chang cites the explosion of therapeutic options and the insight they offer into disease mechanisms, explaining how having so many different therapies “really opens up new doors.”
At the same time, Chang acknowledges how this progress can be overwhelming and praises the recently published 2025 American College of Gastroenterology guidelines on EoE for their practical clinical focus.
“There’s this big chunk of the guidelines that takes into account the practical points… how to use the medications, what the doses are,” she said. “I really like how the guidelines make it easily digestible for clinicians.”
Editors’ note: Chang has relevant disclosures with Takeda Pharmaceuticals, Sanofi-Regeneron, and Bristol Myers Squibb.
