Dr. Abell is the Arthur M Schoen MD Chair in Gastroenterology at the University of Louisville, where he has been since 2012. Originally trained in Internal Medicine and Primary Care, Dr. Abell is also trained in Gastroenterology, GI Motility, and several related areas.  Dr Abell has been instrumental in setting up GI Motility Clinics for over 30 years at universities in the in the Mid-South (Tennessee, Arkansas, and Mississippi) and now at the University of Louisville, Kentucky.

While interested in all types of GI motility disorders, a special emphasis has been on the gastroparesis syndromes, as an original member of the NIH Gastroparesis Clinical Research Consortium. His team in Memphis pioneered the current technique used for GI Neuromodulation of the upper GI tract. The use of temporary gastric electric stimulation has been a focus in Louisville, which currently implants about 10% of the world’s permanent GI Bio-Electric devices. Dr Abell has a long interest in GI manifestations of neurologic disease including spinal cord injury for which he is involved with several related NIH studies. Dr Abell’s newest NIH work involves high resolution gastric electrical/body surface mapping as a diagnostic tool for GI motility disorders.

Primary Areas of Training and Expertise:

Internal Medicine, Gastroenterology, Gastrointestinal Motility, Neuromodulation, Behavioral Medicine, Transplantation Medicine, Autonomic Medicine, Nutritional Medicine

Secondary Areas of Training and Expertise:

Family Medicine, Urogynecology, Geriatrics, Emergency Medicine, Hospitalist Medicine, Pediatric Gastroenterology, Developmental Disabilities