D. Eli Penn

Professional Designation: Medical Doctor

Specialities: Physician - Gastroenterology

Hospital Affiliations: Atrium Navicent Health System

Professional Boards and Affiliations: ABIM Gastroenterology ABMS

About these Clinics/Practices

Seven years into my practice after treating numerous young women with “idiopathic” gastroparesis and post-infectious dysmotility syndromes it finally dawned on me that these patients’ GI disorders had many other common features: joint pain, migraines, frequent UTIs, POTS, and joint hypermobility. This epiphany in my practice has led me to recognize the phenotype in many patients who would have otherwise gone undiagnosed (and under-treated). Since that time I have read everything that I can find on the peculiarly-common hEDS and its many manifestations and now diagnose 2-3 patients a week in my own clinic. I now perform genetic testing in addition to guiding therapy, and I connect patients with knowledgeable immunologists, cardiologists, urologists, nutritionists and physical therapists. My main research interest is now in finding a treatment for the neurologic manifestations of hEDS, something to halt or perhaps reverse the progressive dysautonomia that can be so disabling. I am currently writing a grant for a project to objective measure the effects of a therapeutic agent in hEDS patients with POTS and GI dysmotility.