Dr. Laurie Keefer is an academic health psychologist and the Director for Psychobehavioral Research within the Division of Gastroenterology at the Mount Sinai Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center. She is a Professor of Medicine and Psychiatry in the Division of Gastroenterology at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital. She specializes in the psychosocial care of patients with chronic digestive diseases, specifically inflammatory bowel diseases such as Crohn's or ulcerative colitis. Dr. Keefer came to Mount Sinai in January 2016 from Chicago, IL to lead a subspecialty medical home for inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD).
The Mount Sinai IBD medical home, known as GRITT-IBD(TM) focuses on gaining resilience through transitions as they occur across the lifespan of patients living with Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. Dr. Keefer's clinical and research interests are in the area of IBD disease self-management, gut-directed hypnotherapy, resilience, the psychosocial care needs of emerging adults with chronic disease and cognitive-behavior therapy. She chairs the Division of Psychogastroenterology within the Rome Foundation and is on the Council of the American Neurogastroenterology and Motility Society.
Dr. Keefer has published hundreds of articles, book chapters and reviews and is an in-demand speaker and mentor. Her work has been featured on NBC News, as well as a number of other media outlets. She is a co-editor of the first GI Psychology book, Psychogastroenterology for Adults: A Handbook for Mental Health Professionals.
Dr. Keefer received her Master's of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy in Clinical Psychology at State University of New York at Albany, Albany NY. She completed her Pre-Doctoral Residency in Health Psychology and Post-Doctoral Fellowship in Health Psychology-Gastroenterology at Rush University Medical Center, Chicago IL