Professor David C. Whitcomb MD PhD is a pioneer in the use of mathematics, genetics, neurosciences, immunology, epidemiology and clinical sciences to study complex inflammation disorders and cancer risks of the digestive system focusing on pancreatic diseases. His 30+ year academic career has been at the University of Pittsburgh and UPMC where he served as Chief, Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition from 1999 to 2016. He served as principal investigator on multiple NIH-funded programs including hereditary pancreatitis genetic risk, North American Pancreatitis Study II (NAPS2) and site director for the Consortium for the Study of Chronic Pancreatitis, Diabetes and Pancreatic Cancer (CPDPC) and genetic so pain in chronic pancreatitis. He as published over 400 papers, reviews and book chapters with > 35,000 citations, an h-index of >90 and i10index of >300. His research, education and organizational innovations in precision medicine continue to be studied and emulated by other leading programs throughout the world. His work on complex pancreatic disorders led to co-founding Ariel Precision Medicine in 2015 to provide guidance to physicians and patients to improve their quality of life and to reduce the cost of care.