Welcome to our office, where we practice “Personalized Pediatrics” from cradle to college. James Garb, MD, FAAP, has been serving the Columbia area since 1978 when he joined the Boone Clinic Pediatric Group. In 1985 he began his solo private practice. He has been a resident of Columbia since 1961 and attended Jefferson Junior High, Hickman High and the University of Missouri. After graduation from MU in 1971 he went to medical school at Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska, graduating in 1975. Dr. Garb trained in Phoenix, Arizona, from 1975 to 1978 at the Phoenix Hospitals Affiliated Pediatric Program, his last year as Chief Pediatric Resident at Maricopa County General Hospital. He was Board Certified in Pediatrics in 1982. Dr. Garb and his wife, Candace, have three children, Adam, Amy, and Edwin, and two grandchildren, Morgan and Jensen. Melanie Boerio RN, MSN, CPNP, is Dr. Garb’s pediatric nurse practitioner. She grew up in Kansas City. She attended the University of Missouri – Columbia and received her BA in psychology in 1992 and her BSN (Bachelor of Science in Nursing) in 1994 graduating Summa Cum Laude. She started her nursing career in St. Louis working briefly at St. Luke’s Hospital and then became a pediatric nurse at St. Louis Children’s Hospital. She moved back to Columbia in 1998 and worked at Boone Hospital Center on the pediatric unit until she graduated from the University of Missouri receiving a Master of Science in Nursing in the Pediatric Nurse Practitioner program in 2005. She has been working for Dr. Garb for the past 10 years. She is a board Certified Pediatric Nurse Practitioner (CPNP) through the Pediatric Nurse Certification Board. Melanie and her husband, Brad, live in Columbia with their two daughters, Carlie and Sophie. Michelle Crowe, RN, BSN, IBCLC (Certified Lactation Consulant), started working in Dr. Garb’s office in September 2013, before joining his office, she worked with him for 10 years at Boone Hospital Center in maternal child health. She was recently certified by the International Board of Lactation Consultants as a lactation consultant. In 2005 she completed her BSN at the University of Missouri – Columbia. Trudy Merritt, Office Manager, has been keeping Dr. Garb organized since 2002. She efficiently runs the office and is in charge of billing, insurance, and scheduling appointments. Trudy and her husband, Stephen, live in Columbia with their two sons, John and Kaleb.
