Handbook of Gastrointestinal Motility and Disorders of Gut-Brain Interactions

Dr. Rao is professor at Georgia Regents University as well as chief of Gastroenterology/Hepatology and founding director of the Digestive Health Center and the GI Service Line. He is leading an initiative to expand the university's capabilities in treating digestive disorders that includes a new Digestive Health Center and neurogastroenterology and motility suite. He is working with colleagues in surgery, urology, otolaryngology, and neurology to create a model system of interdisciplinary care for GI motility patients. Dr. Rao is past president of the American Neurogastroenterology and Motility Society. He received the 3 highest honors from the American Gastroenterological Association: The Distinguished Clinician Award, the Masters Award for Outstanding Clinical Research, and the Distinguished Educator Award. He received the Auxiliary Research Award from the American College of Gastroenterology and several international awards for his research and teaching. He is cochair of AGA Council on Neurogastroenterology and GI Motility.Dr. Parkman has been actively involved in studying GI motility at Temple University School of Medicine at the basic science and clinical levels. His clinical focus has been treating patients with GI motility disorders. Clinically, Dr. Parkman oversees the GI Motility Laboratory. His clinical laboratory has developed expertise in a comprehensive array of GI motility tests for clinical evaluation of patients. Dr. Parkman was funded for 10 years with an NIH K24 Midcareer Investigator Award in Patient-Oriented Research where he mentored young investigators in clinical research. Dr. Parkman is currently a funded member of the NIH Gastroparesis Clinical Research Consortium. During his presidency of the American Neurogastroenterological and Motility Society, Dr. Parkman helped standardize the radionuclide gastric emptying study resulting in a standardized test. He remains active with an initiative to develop a patient-reported outcome (PRO) for gastroparesis that meets the approval of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).Dr. McCallum is a professor and founding chairman of the Department of Internal Medicine, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center. He also serves as director of the Center for Neurogastroenterology and GI Motility and Functional Bowel Disorders. He is a pioneer in gut electrophysiology and developed the concept of electrical "pacing” of the stomach to treat gastroparesis and nausea and vomiting, particularly related to diabetes mellitus. He has contributed to major advances in understanding and management of cyclic vomiting syndrome in adults, "dumping syndrome,” and rumination syndrome and has revolutionized the field of gastroparesis and functional dyspepsia by developing and reporting a new technique to non-surgically obtain gastric smooth muscle tissue by endoscopic ultrasound biopsy. Dr. McCallum was recently awarded funding from the International Foundation for Functional Gastrointestinal Diseases (IFFDG) to study a new therapy, transcutaneous electrical stimulation, in patients with nausea, vomiting, and idiopathic gastroparesis.