Dr. Whitcomb is a Professor of Medicine Emeritus whose research program involves a pancreatic disease focus for modeling complex, multistep gene-environment interactive disorders requiring a precision medicine approach. Dr. Whitcomb's multicenter, genotype-phenotyping hereditary pancreatitis, and North American Pancreatitis Study II (NAPS2) programs, plus acute pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer studies using reverse engineering and predictive modeling approaches serve as a foundation and pathway for diseases in multiple organ systems. Dr Whitcomb also studies the pathophysiology of severe acute pancreatitis and pain genetics.
- BS, Manchester College, 1978
- MS, Physiology, Ohio State University, 1979
- PhD, Physiology, Ohio State University, 1983
- MD, Ohio State University, 1985
- Residency, Duke University, 1988
- Fellowship, Gastroenterology, Duke University, 1990
Education & Training
Whitcomb DC, Frulloni L, Garg P, Greer JB, Schneider A, Yadav D, Shimosegawa T. Chronic pancreatitis: An international draft consensus proposal for a new mechanistic definition. Pancreatology. 2016; 16(2): 218-24.
Whitcomb DC, Bodhani A, Beckmann K, Sander-Struckmeier S, Liu S, Fuldeore M, Pollack PF, Khurmi RP. Efficacy and Safety of Pancrelipase/Pancreatin in Patients With Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency and a Medical History of Diabetes Mellitus. Pancreas. 2016; 45(5): 679-86.
LaRusch J, Lozano-Leon A, Stello K, Moore A, Muddana V, O'Connell M, Diergaarde B, Yadav D, Whitcomb DC. The Common Chymotrypsinogen C (CTRC) Variant G60G (C.180T) Increases Risk of Chronic Pancreatitis But Not Recurrent Acute Pancreatitis in a North American Population. Clin Transl Gastroenterol. 2015; 6: e68.
LaRusch J, Jung J, General IJ, Lewis MD, ..., Whitcomb DC & North American Pancreatits Study Group. Mechanisms of CFTR functional variants that impair regulated bicarbonate permeation and increase risk for pancreatitis but not for cystic fibrosis. Anderson MA, Banks PA, Conwell D, Lawrence C, Romagnuolo J, Baillie J, Alkaade S, Cote G, Gardner TB, Amann ST, Slivka A, Sandhu B, Aloe A, Kienholz ML, Yadav D, Barmada MM, Bahar I, Lee MG, Whitcomb DC; North American Pancreatitis Study Group. PLoS Genet. 2014; 10(7): e1004376.
Andersen DK, Andren-Sandberg A, Duell EJ, Goggins M, Korc M, Petersen GM, Smith JP, Whitcomb DC. Pancreatitis-diabetes-pancreatic cancer: summary of an NIDDK-NCI workshop. Pancreas. 2013; 42(8): 1227-37.
Whitcomb DC. What is personalized medicine and what should it replace?. Nat Rev Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2012; 9(7): 418-24.
Aoun E, Chang CC, Greer JB, Papachristou GI, Barmada MM, Whitcomb DC. Pathways to injury in chronic pancreatitis: decoding the role of the high-risk SPINK1 N34S haplotype using meta-analysis. PLoS One. 2008; 3(4): e2003.
Whitcomb DC, Gorry MC, Preston RA, Furey W, Sossenheimer MJ, Ulrich CD, Martin SP, Gates LK Jr, Amann ST, Toskes PP, Liddle R, McGrath K, Uomo G, Post JC, Ehrlich GD. Hereditary pancreatitis is caused by a mutation in the cationic trypsinogen gene. Nat Genet. 1996; 14(2): 141-5.
- Ranked as one of “20 Great Physicians in Pennsylvania”; Becker’s ACS Review, 2011
- Weser Lectureship - “Pancreatitis and Personalized Medicine” UTHSCAS Medical Ground Rounds, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, 2012
- Basil I Hirschowitz Visiting Professor Lectureship. University of Alabama at Birmingham, 2012
- The Berkowitz Distinguished Lecturer, Medicine Grand Rounds, Drexel University College of Medicine, 2012
- The Andrea Gianaris Pancreatic Cancer Lectureship. Indiana University School of Medicine, 2013
- Frank R. Burton MD Memorial Lecture, Saint Louis University Medical Center Medicine Grand Rounds, 2014
- David K Ginsberg MD Memorial Lecture, University of Pennsylvania, 2014
- Lifetime Achievement and Mentoring Award, Collaborative Alliance for Pancreatic Education and Research, 2015
- George E. Palade Medal for Lifetime Contributions to Pancreatic Research, the International Association of Pancreatology, Shanghai, China, 2015
- Fred B. Thomas Memorial Lecture, Internal Medicine Grand Rounds, The Ohio State University, Columbus Ohio, 2015
