EIC Council

Mark Donowitz, MD (Co-Chair)
Professor of Medicine and Physiology
Director of The Hopkins Center for Epithelial Disorders
LeBoff Professor for Research in Digestive Diseases
The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Baltimore, MD

Mark Donowitz, MD, is currently Professor of Medicine and Physiology, Director of The Hopkins Center for Epithelial Disorders, and LeBoff Professor for Research in Digestive Diseases at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland. Dr Donowitz completed his medical degree at The Johns Hopkins University Medical School and did his gastrointestinal (GI) training at the Yale University School of Medicine. His research interests include diarrheal disease and the study of the physiology and pathophysiology of transport proteins in epithelial cells of the GI tract. Dr Donowitz and his research lab first cloned the epithelial isoforms of the Na/H exchanger (NHE) gene family, including NHE3, the short term stimulation and inhibition of which occurs as part of normal digestion, the inhibition of which is duplicated in diarrheal diseases. He is past President of the American Gastroenterological Association (2006-2007) and has won the American Physiological Association on GI Section Distinguished Research Award and its Davenport Lectureship.

Dr Donowitz has published 230 original research articles in journals, including Nature, Science, Physiolgic Reviews, The EMBO Journal, The Journal of Clinical Investigation, Annuals Review of Physiology, the American Journal of Physiology, and The Journal of Physiology.

Henry Parkman, MD (Co-Chair)
Director, Gastrointestinal Motility Laboratory
Director, Temple Clinical Research Unit
Chair, Research Committee, Department of Medicine
Professor of Medicine
Temple University School of Medicine
Philadelphia, PA

Henry Parkman, MD, is currently Director of the Gastrointestinal Motility Laboratory, Director of the Temple Clinical Research Unit, Chair of the Research Committee in the Department of Medicine, and Professor of Medicine at Temple University School of Medicine in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Dr Parkman received his medical degree from Case Western Reserve University and completed both his internship and residency at The Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland.

His clinical interests include motility disorders of the esophagus, stomach, small intestine, and colon, in addition to clinical disorders, including esophageal: gastroesophageal reflux disease, achalasia, noncardiac chest pain, and esophageal spasm; gastric: gastroparesis and functional dyspepsia; small bowel: irritable bowel syndrome and intestinal pseudo-obstruction; and colorectal: constipation and fecal incontinence. Dr Parkman's research interests include the use of multichannel electrogastrography (EGG) to assess gastric myoelectrical activity to detect gastric motor function in patients with dyspeptic symptoms; development of a noninvasive test to measure simultaneously both gastric emptying and gastric volume after ingestion of a solid meal under physiologic conditions; in addition to gastric motility, breath tests for gastric emptying electrogastrography (EGG), new pharmaceutical treatments for gastroparesis and functional dyspepsia, small bowel motility recordings, esophageal pH, and motility recordings.

Dr Parkman's work has been published in several journals, including Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Digestive Diseases and Sciences, the American Journal of Gastroenterology, and The Journal of Nuclear Medicine.

Adil Bharucha, MD
Professor of Medicine
Department of Gastroenterology
Mayo Clinic
Rochester, MN

Adil Bharucha, MD, is currently Professor of Medicine in the Department of Gastroenterology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. Dr Bharucha completed his medical degree at the University of Bombay in India and the Mayo Clinic in Rochester. His clinical and research interests include motility disorders, chronic constipation, idiopathic pseudo-obstruction, dyspepsia and gastroparesis, pelvic floor dysfunction, and fecal incontinence.

Dr Bharucha's work has been published in several peer-reviewed journals, including the American Journal of Gastroenterology, Neurogastroenterology & Motility, the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology, and Gastroenterology.

Jonathan Kaunitz, MD
Professor of Medicine
Division of Digestive Diseases/Gastroenterology
David Geffen School of Medicine at University of California, Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA

Jonathan Kaunitz, MD, is currently Professor of Medicine in the Division of Digestive Diseases/Gastroenterology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at University of California, Los Angeles. Dr Kaunitz received his bachelor of arts and medical degrees from Columbia University, was a resident at the Presbyterian Hospital in New York, and completed his gastrointenstinal (GI) fellowship at the University of California, San Francisco and University of California, Los Angeles. Dr Kaunitz is an active reviewer for multiple journals, serves on the Editorial Board of the American Journal of Physiology, and was a member and Chair of the National Institutes of Health-National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases Clinical and Integrative Gastrointestinal Pathobiology study section.

Dr Kaunitz has a longstanding interest in intestinal ion transport mechanisms and acid-base balance, with particular reference to intestinal anion secretion. His laboratory was the first to report measurement of intestinal cell intracellular pH using fluorescent dyes in vitro and in vivo. Dr Kaunitz has a clinical interest in nutrition, serving as Director of Medical Nutrition for the West Los Angeles Veterans Affairs Medical Center.

Dr Kaunitz's work has been published in several journals, including the Journal of Clinical Investigation, Gastroenterology, Gut, Hepatology, the Journal of Physiology (London), the Journal of Biological Chemistry, Pflüger's Archiv, and the American Journal of Physiology. He has also authored chapters published in major texts, such as Yamada's Textbook of Gastrointestinal Disease and Johnson's Physiology of The Gastrointestinal Tract.

Satish Rao, MD, PhD
Professor of Medicine
Director of Neurogastroenterology and Gastrointestinal Motility
University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine
Iowa City, IA

Satish Rao, MD, PhD, is currently Professor of Medicine and Director of Neurogastroenterology and Gastrointestinal (GI) Motility at the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine in Iowa City. Dr Rao completed his medical degree at Osmania Medical College in Hyderbad, India. He has received several awards, including the Clinical Research Award from the American College of Gastroenterology in 1997 and 1998.

Dr Rao's research interests are in neurogastroenterology and motility. He has developed a new system for studying ambulatory colonic motility in humans. He is pioneering several new techniques for studying and treating anorectal dysfunction, particularly for patients with constipation and incontinence, including computerized anorectal manometry, video fluoromanometry, and biofeedback treatment. He is exploring the evaluation of combined techniques of motility with ultrasound or fluoroscopic imaging, in addition to applying a new system, impedance planimetry, for studying the biomechanical properties of the intact human gut and evaluating visceral hyperalgesia and noncardiac chest pain. Dr Rao is also the Director of the Neurogastroenterology and GI Motility and Anorectal Manometry and Biofeedback Program and directs the annual Iowa Symposium on GI Motility.

He is particularly interested in ambulatory colonic motility; new techniques of anorectal manometry, prokinetic drugs; impedance planimetry and assessment of biomechanical properties of gut; and neuromuscular conditioning and biofeedback therapy for constipation and fecal incontinence. Dr Rao's work has been published in several journals, including Annals of Internal Medicine, the European Journal of Gastroenterology & Hepatology, and the American Journal of Gastroenterology.

Julia Pallentino, MSN, JD, ARNP-BC, FNP
Clinical Practice in Gastroenterology
GI Associates of Tallahassee
Adjunct Professor
Florida State University College of Nursing
Tallahassee, Florida

Julia Pallentino, MSN, JD, ARNP-BC, FNP, is a registered nurse practitioner providing gastroenterology (GI) care since 2002 for patients at GI Associates of Tallahassee, a clinical practice located in Tallahassee, Florida. In addition, she serves as an adjunct professor at Florida State University (FSU) College of Nursing, also in Tallahassee. Dr. Pallentino earned a bachelor's degree in nursing from FSU. Continuing her education, she received a doctor of jurisprudence (JD) degree from the FSU School of Law in 1983. In 2001, she went on to earn a master's degree in nursing as a Family Nurse Practitioner.

Dr. Pallentino has a special interest in caring for individuals with irritable bowel syndrome and constipation. She is a national speaker on gastroenterology issues and medicolegal issues for nurse practitioners and physician assistants. She also serves as an Editorial Board advisor for Clinician Reviews and APCToday.

As an attorney, Dr. Pallentino clerked for a Federal District judge before entering private practice as a medical malpractice defense attorney representing physicians, nurses, and other health care professionals. During her legal career, she represented the Florida Nurses Association as a Governmental Relations Consultant. She has also served as the Florida State Representative for the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners. Dr. Pallentino considers the high point of her legal career to be the change in law allowing prescriptive privileges for nurse practitioners that resulted from legal actions she initiated. She has also served as a performance improvement director for the Florida Department of Health.