Dr. Drossman is Professor of Medicine and Psychiatry (UNC School of Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology & Hepatology) and Co-Director of the UNC Center for Functional GI & Motility Disorders. He has had a long-standing interest in the research and evaluation of difficult to diagnose and treat GI disorders. He established a program of research in functional GI disorders at UNC almost 30 years ago, and has published more than 400 books, articles and abstracts relating to epidemiology, psychosocial and quality of life assessment, design of treatment trials, and outcomes of research in GI disorders. He has also published two books, a GI procedures manual, and a textbook on Functional GI Disorders (Rome I, Rome II and Rome III). In addition, he serves on six editorial boards in medicine, gastroenterology and psychosomatic medicine, was associate editor of Gastroenterology and GI section editor of the Merck manual, and is currently editor of Digestive Health Matters published by IFFGD as well as the newsletter of the Functional Brain-Gut Research Group.
Dr. Drossman received his MD degree from Albert Einstein College of Medicine in 1970, and completed his medical residency at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine and New York University-Bellevue Medical Center. After his residency, he sub-specialized in psychosocial (psychosomatic) medicine at the University of Rochester School of Medicine under the mentorship of Dr. George Engel from 1975 to 1976 and in gastroenterology at the University of North Carolina in from1976 to 1978.
Dr. Drossman has been involved in several national and international activities which include President of the Rome Foundation and Scientific Director and member of the Board of the International Foundation for Functional GI Disorders (IFFGD).
Dr. Whitehead is Professor of Medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Adjunct Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology in the Division of Urogynecology, and Co-Director of the UNC Center for Functional Gastrointestinal and Motility Disorders. Dr. Whitehead heads a research team whose primary goals are (1) to delineate the physiological and psychological mechanisms responsible for the etiology and course of functional bowel disorders, (2) to explain the excess overlap of irritable bowel syndrome with other somatic and psychiatric disorders, and (3) to identify the causes and best treatments for pelvic floor disorders such as fecal incontinence, constipation, and chronic rectal pain.
Dr. Whitehead is a career investigator who has been continuously funded by NIH since 1977. He was supported by a National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) research scientist award for 22 years and has received research support from NIDDK, NICHD, NIA, NINR, and NIMH. His 29 NIH grants (19 as principal investigator, 10 as co-investigator) have included studies of (1) the causes and treatment of fecal incontinence in special populations such as spina bifida and the elderly, (2) the causes and treatment of constipation, (3) treatment of rumination syndrome in developmentally disabled children, (4) the role of visceral perception in IBS, (5) comorbidity of IBS with other disorders, and (6) psychological and behavioral treatment of IBS. He has published over 280 journal articles, books, and book chapters and over 250 abstracts on these topics.
Dr. Whitehead received his PhD from the University of Chicago in clinical psychology and physiology in 1973 and did his dissertation research on the biofeedback conditioning of gastric acid secretion. After graduation, he joined the faculty of the Department of Psychiatry, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, and worked for seven years in the Psychosomatic Service where he began his research on visceral perception and IBS.
