Dr. Pezzone is an expert in neuroimmune interactions of the gut and lower urinary tract as they relate to visceral pain, afferent sensitization, and pelvic organ cross-sensitization leading to chronic pelvic pain.
Active primary research interests include the role of the gut microbiome in visceral pain pathways of the bowel and bladder, particularly microbiome-mast cell-nerve interactions. Dr. Pezzone is also interested in the prevention of gastrointestinal endoscopy-related infections.
Dr. Pezzone directs patient gastroenterology services for UPMC Mercy. He has extensive experience in the diagnosis and treatment of all gastroenterology diseases.
- AB, Chemistry and Biochemistry, Cornell University, 1987
- MD, PhD, Experimental Pathology, Neurobiology of Stress, University of Pittsburgh, 1994
- Residency, Internal Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, 1997
- Fellowship, Gastroenterology, University of Pittsburgh, 2000
Education & Training
Mussina L, Khoury F, Araujo D, Yadlapalli M, Pezzone M, Yassin M. Helicobacter pylori real-time quantitative PCR to examine efficacy of endoscope processing. Am J Infect Control. 2025 Oct;53(10):1076-1079. PMID: 40618895.
Khoury F, Pezzone M, Aijazi M, Fons I, Araujo D, Kondaveeti B, Ahuja A, Yassin M. Gastrointestinal endoscopy 30-day-associated bacteremia: Nonoutbreak 5-year review in an inner-city, tertiary-care hospital. Am J Infect Control. 2024 Oct;52(10):1166-1169. PMID: 38950827.
Silos-Santiago I, Hannig G, Eutamene H, Ustinova EE, Bernier SG, Ge P, Graul C, Jacobson S, Jin H, Liong E, Kessler MM, Reza T, Rivers S, Shea C, Tchernychev B, Bryant AP, Kurtz CB, Bueno L, Pezzone MA, Currie MG. Gastrointestinal pain: unraveling a novel endogenous pathway through uroguanylin/guanylate cyclase-C/cGMP activation. Pain. 2013 Sep;154(9):1820-1830. PMID: 23748116.
Fitzgerald JJ, Ustinova E, Koronowski KB, de Groat WC, Pezzone MA. Evidence for the role of mast cells in colon-bladder cross organ sensitization. Auton Neurosci. 2013 Jan;173(1-2):6-13. PMID: 23182915.
Ustinova EE, Fraser MO, Pezzone MA. Cross-talk and sensitization of bladder afferent nerves. Neurourol Urodyn. 2010;29(1):77-81. PMID: 20025032.
Liang R, Ustinova EE, Patnam R, Fraser MO, Gutkin DW, Pezzone MA. Enhanced expression of mast cell growth factor and mast cell activation in the bladder following the resolution of trinitrobenzenesulfonic acid (TNBS) colitis in female rats. Neurourol Urodyn. 2007;26(6):887-93. PMID: 17385238.
Christianson JA, Liang R, Ustinova EE, Davis BM, Fraser MO, Pezzone MA. Convergence of bladder and colon sensory innervation occurs at the primary afferent level. Pain. 2007 Apr;128(3):235-243. PMID: 17070995.
Ustinova EE, Gutkin DW, Pezzone MA. Sensitization of pelvic nerve afferents and mast cell infiltration in the urinary bladder following chronic colonic irritation is mediated by neuropeptides. Am J Physiol Renal Physiol. 2007 Jan;292(1):F123-30. PMID: 16926445.
Ustinova EE, Fraser MO, Pezzone MA. Colonic irritation in the rat sensitizes urinary bladder afferents to mechanical and chemical stimuli: an afferent origin of pelvic organ cross-sensitization. Am J Physiol Renal Physiol. 2006 Jun;290(6):F1478-87. PMID:16403832.
Pezzone MA, Liang R, Fraser MO. A model of neural cross-talk and irritation in the pelvis: implications for the overlap of chronic pelvic pain disorders. Gastroenterology. 2005 Jun;128(7):1953-64. PMID: 15940629.
- Audrey Love Charitable Foundation Award for Research in IBS, 2007
- UPMC Recognition for Service Excellence “Above and Beyond,” 2007
- Pittsburgh Top Doctor (Pittsburgh Magazine & Castle Connolly), 2008-Present
- Fellow, American Gastroenterological Association, 2010
- Visiting Scholar, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang City, Jiangxi, China, 2016
