Research Priorities
The Center has developed a broad portfolio of research on the mechanisms of functional gastrointestinal (GI) and motility disorders, as well as their psychosocial correlates, health outcomes, and treatment. The Center Co-Directors - Dr. Douglas Drossman and Dr. William Whitehead - have been very successful in obtaining research support through the National Institutes of Health (NIH), pharmaceutical companies, and other sources. They head the largest research programs at the Center, but other investigators who have trained at the Center - Drs. Ringel, Palsson and Van Tilburg and Mr. Heymen - are also establishing their own independent research programs and funding.
The Center's research programs are multidisciplinary, involving collaborations between gastroenterologists, psychologists, neuroradiologists, psychiatrists, physician assistants, and nurses. Within the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, collaborators include investigators in the departments of Medicine, Psychology, Psychiatry, Surgery and Gynecology, as well as the schools of Dentistry and Public Health.
The Center has also developed a growing Research Network of institutions outside UNC, including the University of Toronto, Boston University Medical Center, University of Washington, Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale and Rochester, Tohoku University in Sendai, Japan, and the University of South Manchester in England. These strategic alliances have been developed to take advantage of the specialized skills and expertise of investigators at other sites and to increase the pool of research subjects participating in Center studies. The research network has benefited from the development of new technologies for web-based data acquisition and research subject recruitment, as well as a growing library of scannable questionnaires in different languages.
Research at the UNC Center has included studies on the pathophysiology and treatment of such prevalent functional GI disorders as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), functional dyspepsia, functional abdominal pain, fecal incontinence, and constipation. These disorders greatly impair quality of life and result in aggregate health care costs exceeding $25 billion annually. Research themes at the Center have included the role of visceral pain perception and its modulation by cognitive and psychological processes, neuroimaging studies of central nervous system mechanisms modulating visceral pain, effects of reproductive hormones on IBS, the role of stress, abuse history and other psychosocial factors on clinical outcomes, intergenerational transmission of IBS through heredity and social learning, and excess comorbidity of IBS with other somatic disorders. Clinical trials research at the Center includes the evaluation of cognitive behavior therapy (CBT), hypnosis, antidepressants, and patient education in the treatment of IBS, and biofeedback for fecal incontinence and constipation.
The Center has developed a broad portfolio of research on the mechanisms of functional gastrointestinal (GI) and motility disorders, as well as their psychosocial correlates, health outcomes, and treatment. The Center Co-Directors - Dr. Douglas Drossman and Dr. William Whitehead - have been very successful in obtaining research support through the National Institutes of Health (NIH), pharmaceutical companies, and other sources. They head the largest research programs at the Center, but other investigators who have trained at the Center - Drs. Ringel, Palsson and Van Tilburg and Mr. Heymen - are also establishing their own independent research programs and funding.
The Center's research programs are multidisciplinary, involving collaborations between gastroenterologists, psychologists, neuroradiologists, psychiatrists, physician assistants, and nurses. Within the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, collaborators include investigators in the departments of Medicine, Psychology, Psychiatry, Surgery and Gynecology, as well as the schools of Dentistry and Public Health.
The Center has also developed a growing Research Network of institutions outside UNC, including the University of Toronto, Boston University Medical Center, University of Washington, Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale and Rochester, Tohoku University in Sendai, Japan, and the University of South Manchester in England. These strategic alliances have been developed to take advantage of the specialized skills and expertise of investigators at other sites and to increase the pool of research subjects participating in Center studies. The research network has benefited from the development of new technologies for web-based data acquisition and research subject recruitment, as well as a growing library of scannable questionnaires in different languages.
Research at the UNC Center has included studies on the pathophysiology and treatment of such prevalent functional GI disorders as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), functional dyspepsia, functional abdominal pain, fecal incontinence, and constipation. These disorders greatly impair quality of life and result in aggregate health care costs exceeding $25 billion annually. Research themes at the Center have included the role of visceral pain perception and its modulation by cognitive and psychological processes, neuroimaging studies of central nervous system mechanisms modulating visceral pain, effects of reproductive hormones on IBS, the role of stress, abuse history and other psychosocial factors on clinical outcomes, intergenerational transmission of IBS through heredity and social learning, and excess comorbidity of IBS with other somatic disorders. Clinical trials research at the Center includes the evaluation of cognitive behavior therapy (CBT), hypnosis, antidepressants, and patient education in the treatment of IBS, and biofeedback for fecal incontinence and constipation.
