This past year was a year of change – we transitioned back to in-person and hybrid events, returned to our physical offices, and began to regain some normalcy that we lost during the peak of the pandemic. 2022 saw the launch of several new awareness and education campaigns, advancemen...

Army veteran and security subject matter expert Trei McMullen was finally diagnosed with ulcerative colitis when he was 26 years old, after struggling with symptoms since he was 18. Today, McMullen has joined the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation’s Business Advisory Council and wants to ...

Have you ever felt uncomfortable or sensitive talking to your doctor about symptoms and emotional concerns you’re experiencing? If so, you are not alone.   A global survey concluded that four out of 10 people living with ulcerative colitis (UC) in the U.S. were worried that if th...

More than one billion people around the world live with some form of a disability. For over three decades, July has been observed as Disability Pride Month, coinciding with the enactment of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Tomorrow is the 32nd anniversary of the ADA, and I wa...

Many conditions that we’re now comfortable talking about – from breast cancer to diabetes – were once taboo topics. Decades ago, it was rare to hear celebrities talk about their medical problems and treatments or even for our friends and family to share their cancer diagnoses. Times hav...

I was one of the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation's initial Visiting IBD Fellows in the spring of 2007. At the time of my rotation, I had already accepted a faculty position at Washington University to join one other IBD physician and con...

June is observed as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Questioning/Queer (LGBTQ) Pride Month to commemorate the 1969 Stonewall Uprising in Manhattan. Pride Month has meant a great deal to me ever since as a member of the community I...

Nearly four decades have passed since former NFL kicker Rolf Benirschke underwent ostomy surgery for ulcerative colitis after all other treatments failed to control his disease. Since that time, many new therapies have been developed to better treat patients and the prognosis for patien...

In October 2021, the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation sent me an email to ask about a generous – yet puzzling – gift. The Foundation had recently received more than $500,000 from the estate of Ted Scholnick. The gift was unexpected, the Foundation had no known connection to Ted Scholnic...

Of all the surgical procedures and medical devices available, few are more stigmatized than ostomy surgery.  Ostomy surgery diverts waste from the intestines to a pouch outside your body. If you or someone you love is undergoing ostomy surgery or living with an ostomy, knowing the...