Dr. David C. Whitcomb

Dr. Whitcomb’s research group is organized to determine the mechanisms of complex disorders including acute pancreatitis, chronic pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer. The program has evolved over the past decade as new opportunities to gain insight into basic mechanisms became available.

Dr. Whitcomb has been funded to study complex neurohormonal feedback mechanisms controlling pancreatic function (especially mechanisms of pancreatic polypeptide and peptide YY), the genomic changes in alcoholic pancreatitis and the genetics of hereditary pancreatitis. This work led to the discovery of the gene responsible for hereditary pancreatitis, genes that have profound impact on the susceptibility to pancreatic diseases or modify severity. A gene for pancreatic cancer has also been mapped…