Grant: Operating Grant

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) includes diseases like Crohn's Disease and ulcerative colitis. IBD is caused by inflammation along the gastrointestinal tract that causes terrible symptoms like pain, nausea, and diarrhea. IBD is a lifelong disease and we 'manage' disease using anti-inflammatory medicines. Unfortunately, current treatments do not work for everyone and some people become resistant to treatment so we need to develop new treatments. My laboratory has found that macrophages, a specialized type of white blood cell, can cause inflammation and can cause IBD. In our research, we plan to define the mechanism that macrophages use to cause disease and block it to prevent inflammation and prevent disease. Our hope is that these studies will lead to new therapies to treat people with IBD.