Dr Laurie Keefer is a well-known academic health psychologist who specializes in the psychosocial care of patients with chronic digestive diseases including irritable bowel syndrome, esophageal disorders, and inflammatory bowel diseases such as Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis.

She is Professor of Medicine and Psychiatry in the Division of Gastroenterology at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital.

Dr Keefer has published hundreds of articles, book chapters and reviews and is an in-demand speaker and mentor. She chairs the Division of Psychogastroenterology within the Rome Foundation, a non-profit organization helping those with functional gastrointestinal disorders.

She is also a member of the Board for the Rome Foundation and recently served on the Council of the American Neurogastroenterology and Motility Society. Her integration as a psychologist into the field of gastroenterology has been recognized by multiple societies, and many of her students have gone on to set up their own integrated GI Psychology programs.

Her clinical and research interests focus on such topics as inflammatory bowel disease self-management, gut-directed hypnotherapy, resilience and positive psychology, integration of psychology into GI care, the psychosocial care needs of emerging adults with chronic digestive disease and adaptation of cognitive-behavior therapy and related principles for chronic illness. She is also interested in the scalability of behavioral interventions through digital tools.

Dr Keefer’s work has been featured on NBC News, as well as a number of other media outlets. She is a co-editor of the first GI Psychology book, Psychogastroenterology for Adults: A Handbook for Mental Health Professionals.