Board Members





W. Grant Thompson

W. Grant Thompson, MD, FRCPC, FACG

Emeritus Professor of Medicine
University of Ottawa

I am Professor Emeritus (Medicine), University of Ottawa. From 1980 to 1997 I was Chief of the Division of Gastroenterology, University of Ottawa. I graduated from the University of Toronto in 1960. After a year of general practice in Tavistock, Ontario (Population 1000), I did postgraduate training in medicine and Gastroenterology at the Montreal General Hospital and the Vancouver General Hospital. A McLaughlin Foundation Fellowship supported a year of research at the Hammersmith Hospital, London, England before joining the University of Ottawa and Ottawa Civic Hospital in 1968. During 1977 78, a Nuffield Foundation Fellowship supported sabbatical leave at the University of Bristol. There, I wrote "The Irritable Gut", published by University Park Press in 1979. This book won an award from the American Medical Writers Association. A 2nd book "Gut Reactions" was published by Plenum, (now De Capo Press) and had four printings. A third book "The Angry Gut: Coping with Colitis and Crohn's Disease" was released in April, 1993 and is in its fifth printing. A 4th book "The Ulcer Story" was published in 1996. Collaborative books include "The Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders" with Dr. DA Drossman and others in 1993 and 2000 (Rome I, II & III), and "The Irritable Bowel" with Dr. KW Heaton, published by Health Press in 1999. The Irritable Bowel was "highly commended" by the British Medical Journal and a second edition was published in 2003. I am author of 290 scientific and lay articles dealing mainly with functional bowel disease and serve on several international committees concerned with the Classification and Diagnostic Criteria of Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders ("The Rome Criteria"). I have presented over 230 scientific or educational reports to professional audiences in 5 continents. From 1972 to 1984 I was responsible for the introduction of a new curriculum. I was Assistant Dean for Clinical and Community Affairs in the Faculty of Medicine (1984 to 199l) and served on the Ottawa-Carleton District Health Council. In 1994-5, I was Visiting Professor in Medicine at the University of Bristol. In 1998, I received awards for excellence from the University of Ottawa, and the Ontario Association of Gastroenterology. In 2000, I became a Life Member of the Ontario and Canadian Medical Associations and received a Janssen award for Gastroenterology at the American Gastroenterology Association meeting in San Diego. In 2006, while retired from clinical practice (30/06/99), I remain active in Clinical Trial Consulting, medical education, research medico legal work and writing about functional gastrointestinal disorders. I was president of the international Functional Brain-Gut Research Group from 2000-2002 and received their Senior Investigator award in 2006. My latest book, The Placebo Effect in Health: Combining Science and Compassionate Care was published in 2005. The 3rd edition of the Rome Criteria was published by Degnon Press (2006). my 8th book, Understanding the Irritable Gut, The Functiona Gastrointestinal Disorders was published in 2008. I received a lifetime achievement award from The Rome Foundation in 2008 and continue writing on scientific and non-scientific subjects.