Research Coordinators & Assistants

Research Coordinator

Marsha Turner, MS - Ms. Turner is the Research Coordinator for Dr. Whitehead's research program. She is involved with the planning and preparation of new projects in the program, including NIH grant submissions and industry-sponsored outcomes research. She also manages all aspects of current studies and is responsible for correspondence with the Biomedical IRB and Clinical and Translational Research Center .  Ms. Turner furthermore coordinates activities within the national and international research network of collaborating institutions affiliated with the Gastrointestinal Biopsychosocial Research Center.

Ms. Turner has a B.A. from the College of William and Mary in Psychology/Anthropology and a M.S. in Early Childhood Education Old Dominion University. She has extensive experience in psychophysiological testing, behavioral medicine research and biofeedback. In the past, she performed quantitative EEG, psychological and neuropsychological assessments, and neurofeedback training with children with ADHD. She recently co-authored a guided imagery program to treat children with chronic abdominal pain.

Ms Turner has also participated in the invention of new mind-body technologies and currently has a biofeedback patent pending in collaboration with scientists at NASA's Langley Research Center . She is a co-author on 11 journal articles and more than fifty research abstracts.

Research Assistants

Christina Wrennell - Ms. Wrennell graduated from UNC-CH in May 2009 with a bachelor’s in Biology. As a clinical research assistant for Dr. Drossman, she will be involved with recruitment, clinical visits, data collection, and administrative activities for numerous ongoing and developing studies. She plans to attend graduate school in the future and in her spare time enjoys playing the piano and making jewelry.

Megan Bouma- Ms. Bouma is a research assistant working with Dr. Drossman and Dr. Weinland. She is in charge of file management and recruitment efforts for all of Drossman’s investigator-initiated studies. As primary coordinator for the Seroquel study, Megan is attempting to show a complementary effect of low dose anti-psychotics when used with a steady regimen of anti-depressant therapy in patients with treatment resistant functional bowel pain. Megan graduated in 2005 from UNC-Wilmington with a BA in Psychology, and has recently completed a degree in Clinical Trials Research from Durham Tech. She will marry Gavin in May 2011. Megan enjoys spending her free time with her rat terrier, Gandhi.

Renuka Kulkarni-Kelapure, MD, MHA