The American Gastroenterological Association Research Foundation recognized Ans Pauwels, PhD, as researcher of the month.
What you should know:
1. Dr. Pauwels received the 2016 AGA-Rome Foundation Pilot Award in Functional Gastrointestinal and Motility Disorders for conducting research on how psychological factors like stress, anxiety and depression influenced gastroesophageal reflux disease patients.
2. She's now conducting an AGA-funded project exploring why up to 40 percent of GERD patients still suffer from heartburn after using proton pump inhibitors. By understanding how a patient's emotional status, serotonin levels and heartburn severity are linked, researchers could develop more personalized treatments.
3. For this work, the International Foundation for Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders bestowed its Clinical Science Award on Dr. Pauwels in 2018.
4. She is a postdoctoral fellow at Catholic University of Leuven in Leuven, Belgium.
5. In addition to her work as a researcher, Dr. Pauwels is married with two children.