Eamonn Martin Quigley, MD

David M. Underwood Chair of Medicine in Digestive Disorders, Department of Medicine
Professor of Medicine, Academic Institute
Director, Lynda K. and David M. Underwood Center for Digestive Disorders
Houston Methodist
Weill Cornell Medical College


Biography

Dr. Eamonn M. M. Quigley, past president of the American College of Gastroenterology and the World Gastroenterology Organization, joined the faculty at Houston Methodist Hospital as head of its Gastroenterology and Hepatology division in 2013.

Prior to his move to Houston, Quigley was professor of medicine and human physiology and a principal investigator at the Alimentary Pharmabiotic Centre at the National University of Ireland in Cork. He is internationally known for his research on gastrointestinal motility disorders, primarily irritable bowel syndrome (IBS); gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD); neurogastroenterology (the relationship between the central nervous system and the gut); the gut microbiome and probiotics in health and disease. A highlight of his ongoing research includes how bacteria in the digestive tract play a major role in pulling nutrients from food to nourish the body, as well as participating in protecting the body from disease.

IBS is the most common, chronic medical condition in the United States. Approximately 40 percent of those with IBS have symptoms severe or frequent enough to disrupt their daily lives. While the cause of IBS has not been clearly identified, Quigley’s clinical research suggests that an alteration of the normal gut bacteria flora may be a cause. His research team is working toward developing new biomarkers for IBS which would eventually lead to the development of new treatments. Quigley’s clinical interests focus on the use of probiotics for the treatment of IBS.

He has published more than 800 peer-reviewed articles, reviews, editorials, book chapters and case reports, mostly in the areas of gut motility, functional gastrointestinal disorders, and GERD. Quigley has received numerous international honors and awards. He served as Editor-in-Chief of the American Journal of Gastroenterology from 1997 to 2003.

Quigley received his medical degree from  University College Cork in Cork, Ireland; completed internal medicine residency in Glasgow, Scotland; and did GI fellowship training at the Mayo Clinic and the University of Manchester in England.  He served as the Chief of Gastroenterology at the University of Nebraska from 1991 to 1998 and as Dean of the Medical School in Cork, Ireland from 2000 to 2007.

Description of Research

Some of his pioneering research over the past several decades has included how the function of the gut is affected in a variety of diseases and conditions, including chronic liver disease, high-dose chemoradiotherapy, intestinal failure and transplantation, and Parkinson’s disease.

Areas Of Expertise

Gastroesophageal Reflux Esophageal disorders/dysphagia Gastrointestinal motility disorders Functional GI disorders Irritable bowel syndrome Gastroparesis Constipation Diarrheal disorders Celiac disease Intestinal & colonic disorders Inflammatory bowel disease/colitis/Crohn's disease General gastroenterology EGD and colonoscopy Capsule endoscopy
Education & Training

Clinical Fellowship, University of Manchester
Residency, Western Infirmary & Associates Hospital
Internship, St. Finbarr's Hospital
MD, National University of Ireland;
Publications

Probiotics in irritable bowel syndrome and inflammatory bowel disease: review of mechanisms and effectiveness
So, D, Quigley, EMM & Whelan, K 2023, , Current opinion in gastroenterology, vol. 39, no. 2, pp. 103-109. https://doi.org/10.1097/MOG.0000000000000902

Editorial: bacterial gut symbionts as live biotherapeutic agents in IBS—a rosy future despite potential long-term safety concerns. Authors' reply
Quigley, EMM, Stevenson, A, Jeffery, I & Masters, J 2023, , Alimentary Pharmacology and Therapeutics, vol. 57, no. 3, pp. 347-348. https://doi.org/10.1111/apt.17354

Randomised clinical trial: efficacy and safety of the live biotherapeutic product MRx1234 in patients with irritable bowel syndrome
Quigley, EMM, Markinson, L, Stevenson, A, Treasure, FP & Lacy, BE 2023, , Alimentary Pharmacology and Therapeutics, vol. 57, no. 1, pp. 81-93. https://doi.org/10.1111/apt.17310

Editorial: 5-aminosalicylic acid fails to impact on irritable bowel syndrome—wrong population, intervention, target or hypothesis?
Quigley, EMM 2022, , Alimentary Pharmacology and Therapeutics, vol. 56, no. 10, pp. 1497-1498. https://doi.org/10.1111/apt.17210

Recognizing and Defining Occasional Constipation: Expert Consensus Recommendations
Rao, SSC, Lacy, BE, Emmanuel, A, Müller-Lissner, S, Pohl, D, Quigley, EMM & Whorwell, P 2022, , American Journal of Gastroenterology, vol. 117, no. 11, pp. 1753-1758. https://doi.org/10.14309/ajg.0000000000001945

Gastrointestinal effects of diets low in fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides and polyols
Quigley, EMM 2022, , Current Opinion in Clinical Nutrition and Metabolic Care, vol. 25, no. 4, pp. 260-264. https://doi.org/10.1097/MCO.0000000000000841

Serotonin type 3 receptor subunit gene polymorphisms associated with psychosomatic symptoms in irritable bowel syndrome: A multicenter retrospective study
Berens, S, Dong, Y, Fritz, N, Wahl, V, Martinez, C, Schmitteckert, S, Rappold, G, Engel, F, Tesarz, J, Walstab, J, DAmato, M, Zheng, T, Boekstegers, F, Bermejo, JL, Clevers, E, Gauss, A, Herzog, W, Spiller, R, Goebel-Stengel, M, Mönnikes, H, Andresen, V, Thomas, F, Keller, J, Pehl, C, Stein-Thöringer, C, Clarke, G, Dinan, TG, Quigley, EM, Sayuk, G, Simrén, M, van Oudenhove, L, Schaefert, R & Niesler, B 2022, , World Journal of Gastroenterology, vol. 28, no. 21, pp. 2334-2349. https://doi.org/10.3748/wjg.v28.i21.2334

Greater Overlap of Rome IV Disorders of Gut-Brain Interactions Leads to Increased Disease Severity and Poorer Quality of Life
Sperber, AD, Freud, T, Aziz, I, Palsson, OS, Drossman, DA, Dumitrascu, DL, Fang, X, Fukudo, S, Ghoshal, UC, Kellow, J, Khatun, R, Okeke, E, Quigley, EMM, Schmulson, M, Simren, M, Tack, J, Whitehead, WE, Whorwell, P & Bangdiwala, SI 2022, , Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, vol. 20, no. 5, pp. e945-e956. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cgh.2021.05.042

Editorial: risky business. What do sufferers' perceptions of risk from interventions for irritable bowel syndrome really mean?
Quigley, EMM 2022, , Alimentary Pharmacology and Therapeutics, vol. 55, no. 9, pp. 1218-1219. https://doi.org/10.1111/apt.16909

Lost microbes of COVID-19: Bifidobacterium, Faecalibacterium depletion and decreased microbiome diversity associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection severity
Hazan, S, Stollman, N, Bozkurt, HS, Dave, S, Papoutsis, AJ, Daniels, J, Barrows, BD, Quigley, EMM & Borody, TJ 2022, , BMJ Open Gastroenterology, vol. 9, no. 1, e000871. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjgast-2022-000871

Clinical Trials of Probiotics in Patients With Irritable Bowel Syndrome: Some Points to Consider
Quigley, EMM 2022, , Journal of Neurogastroenterology and Motility, vol. 28, no. 2, pp. 204-211. https://doi.org/10.5056/jnm22012

Esophageal Stricture: Not Your Usual Culprit?
Ahmed, Z, Schwartz, MR & Quigley, EMM 2022, , Gastroenterology, vol. 162, no. 2, pp. 399-400. https://doi.org/10.1053/j.gastro.2021.10.022

World gastroenterology organisation global guidelines: Diet and the gut
Makharia, G, Gibson, PR, Bai, JC, Karakan, T, Lee, YY, Collins, L, Muir, J, Oruc, N, Quigley, E, Sanders, DS, Tuck, C, Yurdaydin, C, Le Mair, A & Melberg, J 2022, , Journal of Clinical Gastroenterology, vol. 56, no. 1. https://doi.org/10.1097/MCG.0000000000001588

Author Correction: Reply to: Postbiotics — when simplification fails to clarify (Nature Reviews Gastroenterology & Hepatology, (2021), 18, 11, (827-828), 10.1038/s41575-021-00522-5)
Salminen, S, Collado, MC, Endo, A, Hill, C, Lebeer, S, Quigley, EMM, Sanders, ME, Shamir, R, Swann, JR, Szajewska, H & Vinderola, G 2022, , Nature Reviews Gastroenterology and Hepatology, vol. 19, no. 4, pp. 275. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41575-022-00596-9

Alterations in brain activation patterns in women with functional defecatory disorder: A novel fMRI rectal balloon expulsion study
Neshatian, L, Karmonik, C, Khavari, R, Shi, Z, Elias, S, Boone, T & Quigley, EMM 2022, , Neurogastroenterology and Motility, vol. 34, no. 12, e14389. https://doi.org/10.1111/nmo.14389

Author Correction: The International Scientific Association of Probiotics and Prebiotics (ISAPP) consensus statement on the definition and scope of postbiotics (Nature Reviews Gastroenterology & Hepatology, (2021), 18, 9, (649-667), 10.1038/s41575-021-00440-6)
Salminen, S, Collado, MC, Endo, A, Hill, C, Lebeer, S, Quigley, EMM, Sanders, ME, Shamir, R, Swann, JR, Szajewska, H & Vinderola, G 2022, , Nature Reviews Gastroenterology and Hepatology, vol. 19, no. 8, pp. 551. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41575-022-00628-4

Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth—Pathophysiology and Its Implications for Definition and Management
Bushyhead, D & Quigley, EMM 2022, , Gastroenterology, vol. 163, no. 3, pp. 593-607. https://doi.org/10.1053/j.gastro.2022.04.002

La microbiota bacteriana fecal en pacientes estreñidos previa y posterior a ocho semanas de administración diaria de Bifidobacterium infantis 35624
Amieva-Balmori, M, García-Mazcorro, JF, Martínez-Conejo, A, Hernández-Ramírez, GA, García-Zermeño, KR, Rodríguez-Aguilera, O, Aja-Cadena, M, Cortes-Barradas, M, Quigley, EMM & Remes-Troche, JM 2022, , Revista de Gastroenterologia de Mexico. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rgmx.2022.04.005

Interactions between symptoms and psychological status in irritable bowel syndrome: An exploratory study of the impact of a probiotic combination
Groeger, D, Murphy, EF, Tan, HTT, Larsen, IS, ONeill, I & Quigley, EMM 2023, , Neurogastroenterology and Motility, vol. 35, no. 1, e14477. https://doi.org/10.1111/nmo.14477

Physician Perceptions on the Use of Antibiotics and Probiotics in Adults: An International Survey in the Asia-Pacific Area
Ghoshal, UC, Gwee, KA, Holtmann, G, Li, Y, Park, SJ, Simadibrata, M, Sugano, K, Cohen, H & Quigley, EMM 2021, , Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology, vol. 11, 722700, pp. 722700. https://doi.org/10.3389/fcimb.2021.722700