Five-Year NIH Grant Awarded on Mind-Body Interactions and Health
October 2004
Chapel Hill, NC -- The UNC Center for Functional GI & Motility Disorders has received a grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to foster interdisciplinary research on interactions between the mind and body in health and disease, with a specific focus on the causes and treatment of functional gastrointestinal (GI) disorders. The five-year, $4.3 million grant will establish a Gastrointestinal Biopsychosocial Research Program within the Center for Functional GI & Motility Disorders, as part of the School of Medicine.
William E. Whitehead, PhD, Co-Principal Investigator for the NIH grant and Co-Director of the UNC Center said: “We are very pleased to be funded through the NIH initiative on mind-body interactions and health. This grant will enable us to carry out longer-term collaborations with other disciplines in health and medicine, and with a variety of institutions nationally and internationally. We are excited about the prospects for using this award to build on our longstanding record of NIH-funded research in mind-body interactions and to develop both new research partners and new areas of research.”
Funding for mind/body research centers is provided through the Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR) within the NIH Office of the Director, as a cooperative effort of about a dozen institutes within NIH. This broad-based initiative evolved from growing evidence that interdisciplinary research which integrates the study of social, behavioral, psychological and biological factors holds particular promise in understanding the causes of disease and in promoting health. NIH funded the first five centers in 1999. An additional five centers were selected for funding in 2004, with funding for the UNC grant being provided through the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK).
Research at the UNC Center has included studies related to the illness and treatment of such prevalent functional GI disorders as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), functional dyspepsia, functional abdominal pain, fecal incontinence, and constipation. Irritable bowel syndrome is a chronic, recurring illness affecting 30 million Americans, or between 10 and 20 percent of the US population. These disorders greatly impair quality of life and are associated with $25 billion in direct and indirect costs annually, according to the International Foundation for Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders (IFFGD).
Research conducted by Douglas A. Drossman, MD, Co-Principal Investigator for the NIH grant and Co-Director of the UNC Center, has shown that irritable bowel syndrome accounts for considerable work and school absenteeism. People with IBS miss three times as many workdays as those without bowel symptoms and are more likely to report they are too sick to work.
Examples of mind-body research at the Center include: studies of the role of stress, abuse history and other psychosocial factors in IBS and their outcomes; brain imaging to assess the association between psychological factors and central pain regulation; hereditary and learned-behavior aspects of IBS and recurrent abdominal pain (RAP); the effects of reproductive hormones on IBS; and the tendency of IBS to co-exist with other disorders. Center researchers have also studied the effectiveness of treatment strategies that combine cognitive behavior therapy (CBT), hypnosis, antidepressants, and/or patient education with medications for IBS, and biofeedback for fecal incontinence and constipation.
The new Gastrointestinal Biopsychosocial Research Center will be used to provide core resources in a number of areas: Research Network to facilitate large-scale, multi-center studies with other institutions in the US and internationally; Data Technology Core for internet-administered questionnaires, automated telephone systems for data acquisition, and internet software to track enrollment and manage multi-center studies; Biometry Core for biostatistical support and data management; Seed Grant Core to fund pilot projects by young investigators; and an Education Core to disseminate research findings to patients and other professionals. With the help of this grant, the UNC Center for Functional GI & Motility Disorders will become university-wide and include investigators from psychology, psychiatry, surgery (gynecology division), neuroradiology, dentistry, the school of public health, and other disciplines.
The UNC Center for Functional GI & Motility Disorders was established in 1994 as a center of excellence within the School of Medicine’s Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology.
Gastrointestinal Biopsychosocial Research Program
October 2004
Chapel Hill, NC -- The UNC Center for Functional GI & Motility Disorders has received a grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to foster interdisciplinary research on interactions between the mind and body in health and disease, with a specific focus on the causes and treatment of functional gastrointestinal (GI) disorders. The five-year, $4.3 million grant will establish a Gastrointestinal Biopsychosocial Research Program within the Center for Functional GI & Motility Disorders, as part of the School of Medicine.
William E. Whitehead, PhD, Co-Principal Investigator for the NIH grant and Co-Director of the UNC Center said: “We are very pleased to be funded through the NIH initiative on mind-body interactions and health. This grant will enable us to carry out longer-term collaborations with other disciplines in health and medicine, and with a variety of institutions nationally and internationally. We are excited about the prospects for using this award to build on our longstanding record of NIH-funded research in mind-body interactions and to develop both new research partners and new areas of research.”
Funding for mind/body research centers is provided through the Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR) within the NIH Office of the Director, as a cooperative effort of about a dozen institutes within NIH. This broad-based initiative evolved from growing evidence that interdisciplinary research which integrates the study of social, behavioral, psychological and biological factors holds particular promise in understanding the causes of disease and in promoting health. NIH funded the first five centers in 1999. An additional five centers were selected for funding in 2004, with funding for the UNC grant being provided through the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK).
Research at the UNC Center has included studies related to the illness and treatment of such prevalent functional GI disorders as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), functional dyspepsia, functional abdominal pain, fecal incontinence, and constipation. Irritable bowel syndrome is a chronic, recurring illness affecting 30 million Americans, or between 10 and 20 percent of the US population. These disorders greatly impair quality of life and are associated with $25 billion in direct and indirect costs annually, according to the International Foundation for Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders (IFFGD).
Research conducted by Douglas A. Drossman, MD, Co-Principal Investigator for the NIH grant and Co-Director of the UNC Center, has shown that irritable bowel syndrome accounts for considerable work and school absenteeism. People with IBS miss three times as many workdays as those without bowel symptoms and are more likely to report they are too sick to work.
Examples of mind-body research at the Center include: studies of the role of stress, abuse history and other psychosocial factors in IBS and their outcomes; brain imaging to assess the association between psychological factors and central pain regulation; hereditary and learned-behavior aspects of IBS and recurrent abdominal pain (RAP); the effects of reproductive hormones on IBS; and the tendency of IBS to co-exist with other disorders. Center researchers have also studied the effectiveness of treatment strategies that combine cognitive behavior therapy (CBT), hypnosis, antidepressants, and/or patient education with medications for IBS, and biofeedback for fecal incontinence and constipation.
The new Gastrointestinal Biopsychosocial Research Center will be used to provide core resources in a number of areas: Research Network to facilitate large-scale, multi-center studies with other institutions in the US and internationally; Data Technology Core for internet-administered questionnaires, automated telephone systems for data acquisition, and internet software to track enrollment and manage multi-center studies; Biometry Core for biostatistical support and data management; Seed Grant Core to fund pilot projects by young investigators; and an Education Core to disseminate research findings to patients and other professionals. With the help of this grant, the UNC Center for Functional GI & Motility Disorders will become university-wide and include investigators from psychology, psychiatry, surgery (gynecology division), neuroradiology, dentistry, the school of public health, and other disciplines.
The UNC Center for Functional GI & Motility Disorders was established in 1994 as a center of excellence within the School of Medicine’s Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology.
Gastrointestinal Biopsychosocial Research Program
