Jeffrey L. Conklin MD

Dr. Conklin completed his undergraduate work at the University of Iowa with a Bachelor of Science degree in Journalism. He obtained his MD degree at the University of Iowa where he was elected to the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society. He completed Internal Medicine and Gastroenterology training at the University of Iowa. During his training he coauthored seminal papers exploring the physiological mechanisms controlling esophageal and colonic motor function. He then went to the University of Massachusetts Medical School where he completed a post doctoral fellowship and became an instructor in the Department of Physiology and Biophysics. While at the University of Massachusetts he studied physiological and pharmacological control of gastrointestinal smooth muscle. Dr. Conklin then returned to the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at the University of Iowa where he became Professor of Medicine.

While at the University of Iowa, he undertook ground breaking studies demonstrating nitric oxide is the neurotransmitter that controls relaxation of the lower esophageal sphincter and peristalsis in the smooth muscle esophagus. That work explored the biophysical and biochemical mechanisms by which nitric has its effects. His studies in humans were among the first to support the hypothesis that achalasia results from a loss of esophageal nerves that produce nitric oxide. He was also amongst the first investigators to provide evidence that interstitial cells of Cajal are pacemaker cells that control colonic motor function. He trained a number of investigators who became successful scientists in the US and abroad.