Research Programs

The Gastroenterology Section in the Department of Medicine at Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University has been consistently ranked as one of the best GI sections in the country by US News and World Report. In addition to being known for providing outstanding patient care, the GI section has national recognition from its clinical research activities. The clinical research has been primarily in gastrointestinal motility disorders, and has been expanding to include Barrett’s Esophagus and novel endoscopic approaches to evaluate and treat gastrointestinal disorders. The clinical research of the GI section is supported by NIH grants as well as pharmaceutical and foundation sources. The following lists some of the research interests of the members of the Gastrointestinal Section:

Henry Parkman, MD

Interested in areas of GI Motility, Functional GI Disorders, and Neurogastroenterology:

• GI Disease States
  • Achalasia, Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease
  • Gastroparesis, Functional Dyspepsia
  • Chronic Constipation
  • Chronic Abdominal Pain
• GI Testing Procedures
  • Gastric emptying scintigraphy
    • Enhancing evaluation of gastric motility disorders using scintigraphy
    • Correlating regional dysfunction of the stomach with symptoms
  • Esophageal manometry / impedance / pH monitoring
    • Assessment of esophageal bolus transit
  • Anal manometry
• Treatments of GI Disorders
  • Novel therapies and comparing different treatments for gastroparesis
    • Medical – antiemetics, prokinetics, symptom modulators
    • Surgical (Gastric electric stimulation, endoscopic pyloromyotomy)

Adam Ehrlich, MD, MPH

• Epidemiology of inflammatory bowel disease in minority populations
• Monitoring disease activity in inflammatory bowel disease
• Management of recurrent Clostridium difficile infection
• Quality improvement in gastroenterology

Frank Friedenberg, MD, MS

• Epidemiology of GI disorders using large data sets
• Clinical Trial Design