Dr. Fortunato's academic and research focus relates to better defining the mechanism underlying motility and functional gastrointestinal disorders. Specifically, he and his team study the relationship between disorders of the autonomic nervous system and functional GI symptoms, notably chronic nausea. To better study this field, he collaborates extensively with other specialities including cardiology, neurology and psychology aimed towards taking a multidisciplinary approach. He has also designed technology directed towards intelligent collection of patient symptom data using a web-based data collection tool, which can auto-populate into the electronic medical record and serve as a patient reported outcome tool for follow-up.

Dr. Fortunato's clinical focus is the diagnostic and therapeutic approach to pediatric motility and functional gastrointestinal disorders ranging from gastroparesis to refractory constipation, pseudoobstruction, functional abdominal pain and nausea. As director for the Neurointestinal and Motility Program, he has assembled a multidisciplinary team integrating specialists such as psychology directly into the clinic team.

Dr. Fortunato is the Director of the Neurointestinal and Motility Program in Pediatric Gastroenterology. He graduated from Tufts University School of Medicine and trained in general surgery for 5 years at the University of Chicago before pursuing pediatrics. He completed his training in pediatrics and pediatric gastroenterology at Johns Hopkins University. He has been a member of the faculty at Wake Forest University, University of Colorado, and Virginia Commonwealth University before joining Northwestern in 2016. Dr. Fortunato is a Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Air Force Reserve where he serves as a flight surgeon at the 445th Aerospace Medicine Squadron (AMDS).