About the contributor

• Nonko Pehlivanov
• Pankaj Jay Pasricha

Nonko Pehlivanov

Dr Pehlivanov earned his M.D. degree from the Medical Academy, Sofia, Bulgaria. After his residency training in Internal Medicine and fellowship in Gastroenterology he stayed on faculty at the Division of Gastroenterology of the Transport Medical Institute, Sofia. Since 1997 he has held research positions at the University of Virginia, University of California, San Diego, and University of Kansas Medical Center. In 2003, he joined the faculty of the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston as Assistant Professor and Associate Director of the Gastrointestinal Motility Laboratory. Research interests include non-cardiac chest pain, heartburn, gastroparesis, and irritable bowel syndrome.

Pankaj Jay Pasricha

Dr. Pasricha received his M.D. degree from the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi in 1982. Subsequently he trained in internal medicine and pulmonology at Georgetown University-DC General Hospital and Tufts-New England Medical Center, respectively. Thereafter he trained in gastroenterology at Johns Hopkins Hospital and then stayed on faculty at Johns Hopkins University, as Director of Therapeutic Endoscopy at Johns Hopkins Hospital and Associate Director of the Marvin Schuster Center for Gastrointestinal Motility. In 1997 Dr Pasricha assumed leadership of the GI Division at the University of Texas Medical Branch, a position he holds today. He is currently the Bassel and Frances Blanton Distinguished Professorship in Internal Medicine and is also a Professor in the Departments of Pediatrics, Anatomy and Neurosciences and Biomedical Engineering. These diverse appointments reflect his research interests, which span endoscopic, clinical and bench research. He has been a recipient of federal funding for his research since 1995 and currently is principal investigator on two NIH RO1 grants, in addition to numerous other grants and awards. His laboratory is interested in molecular mechanisms of visceral pain and restoration of enteric neural function with novel strategies including neural stem cell transplants. His clinical interests include GI motility disorders and abdominal pain as well as the development of novel endoscopic procedures and devices. He was recently named by Castle Connelly as one of America's "Top Docs" in Gastroenterology. Dr Pasricha has served on numerous national gastroenterological committees and was Chair of the Research Committee of the American Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy until 1998 and currently serves as chair of the NIH Special Emphasis Panel on Endoscopic Clinical Research in Pancreatic and Biliary Diseases. He has several patents related to gastrointestinal diagnostics and therapeutics and is a consultant to many companies. He has authored more than 100 papers and book chapters. His work has been presented at several national and international forums.