Inflammatory Bowel Disease Research Program

Investigators, led by Fabio Cominelli, MD, PhD, formed an integrated team to explore multiple aspects of intestinal inflammation utilizing clinical resources and animal models of Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis.

Some of the topics under investigation include intestinal cytokine regulation, immune-nonimmune cell interactions, extracellular matrix biology, tolerance to indigenous intestinal flora, and state-of-the-art gene expression profiling by single-cell RNA sequencing.  

In collaboration with the Division of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition, these investigators were previously awarded by the National Institutes of Health a large five-year program project grant to study pediatric inflammatory bowel disease, the only such program in the country during that period.

Basic research is complemented by a variety of clinical and translational studies. Dr. Jeffry Katz is actively participating in clinical trials with new therapies for inflammatory bowel disease, studies of natural disease history, evaluation of new diagnostic approaches and techniques, and assessment and prevention of colon cancer risk.