Psycho-Gastroenterology: A Holistic Approach to Bowel Disease

Antonina Mikocka-Walus (MA(Psych), PhD), is an associate professor of psychology at Deakin University. She is also visiting an associate professor of psychology at the University of Adelaide, an adjunct senior research fellow at the University of South Australia, and a visiting senior research fellow at Health Sciences, University of York, UK. She has a particular interest in the psychology of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), including the links between anxiety, depression, stress, inflammation and disease activity, as well as psychotherapy and antidepressants, with over 90 research publications and several research grants received from such organisations as the Wellcome Trust, the Broad Foundation, and Crohn’s and Colitis Australia. Her research has informed international guidelines on IBD: the American College of Gastroenterology IBD Guidelines (2017) and the European Crohn’s and Colitis Organisation IBD guidelines (2013). She currently leads the Mind-Body Working Group at the European Crohn’s and Colitis Organisation.