Our Impact

Our goal: Achieving remission for all IBD Patients, as we search for cures

The Foundation has invested more than $400 million in research toward cures since its inception. In 2020 alone, $31 million has funded over 200 studies at over 100 US and international institutions.

Driving toward better patient quality of life and improved remission rates

Laser-focused on reducing time to disease diagnosis and improving disease management.

  • Launched Public Service Awareness campaign to increase familiarity with IBD, and educate people experiencing symptoms about the importance of seeing a specialist to get diagnosed faster and reduce suffering.

  • Patient Impact Survey: Over 70% of patients connected with the Foundation stated that the Foundation has had a positive impact on their IBD journey. These patients also reported better symptom control than non-Foundation- connected patients. (Foundation Tracking Study, 2020)

  • Increased IBD Qorus® sites: This patient quality of care initiative is now engaged with 55 GI practices serving over 20,000 patients. IBD Qorus has developed approaches to keep patients out of emergency rooms and hospitals and diminish the unnecessary use of CT scans, steroids, and opioids. This initiative is improving patients’ quality of life.

  • Launched the Surgical Research Network, our first-ever coordinated-funding effort to study surgical outcomes in IBD, with over 50 centers participating.

Catalyzing and accelerating critical research in our search for better treatments and cures

Leading the way in new, critically important areas of IBD research, and accelerating novel therapies and innovative products that address unmet patient needs.

  • Launched the most extensive IBD-focused precision nutrition effort, to better understand the direct impact that food may have in the management of IBD and on patient quality of life. The goal: delivering personalized and effective diet recommendations.

  • Providing researchers access to critical data: Designed to cut years off the research process, IBD Plexus®, our innovative research platform, is the single largest IBD database in the US. It currently provides researchers with data from over 25,000 patients, including 160,000 biosamples (blood, stool, and intestinal tissue).

  • Addressing unmet needs in IBD: The Novel Technologies Initiative harnesses cutting-edge technologies and supports innovative projects. Currently in development: a patient-friendly, wearable, sweat-sensing device, designed to detect and monitor gut inflammation through sweat, potentially enabling non-invasive early detection of IBD flares.

  • Advancing promising and innovative products: IBD Ventures, the Foundation’s venture philanthropy program, is funding such products as the first prognostic tool for pediatric Crohn’s disease patients. This tool, currently in development, grew from our work to translate findings from our Pediatric RISK Stratification Study into a clinical test. This breakthrough test can predict at diagnosis whether children will later experience specific disease complications (strictures or fistulas) and is expected to help identify which patients need aggressive treatment plans

Engaging and empowering patients/caregivers in the country’s largest IBD community

Over 3 million patient and professional connections (a 50% increase) were made in 2020 through our education, support, and advocacy programs—including our timely COVID-19 resources.

We are leading the charge for our community in the fight against Crohn’s & colitis.

  • Created COVID-19 resources: Increased support for patients during COVID-19, who turned to us in greater numbers than ever. Over 1 million people visited our COVID-19 web resources in 2020.

  • Expanded pediatric support: More than 1,300 pediatric patients, including 455 new campers, attended our virtual Camp Oasis Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation®, the largest number of new campers ever to participate in Camp.

Improving access to care

Striving to ensure that all members of our diverse IBD community have access to the resources they need.

  • Influencing important legislation: The Foundation has been instrumental in growing momentum to pass step therapy (AKA “fail first”) reform bills on both the state and federal levels. 28 states have now passed step therapy legislation.

  • Expanding resources in key areas: We significantly increased our resources on complementary treatments and therapies, including addressing pain and fatigue, nutrition, and mind-body therapies.

  • Focusing on diversity and inclusion: The Foundation is including diverse patients (with respect to race, ethnicity, age, gender, disease experiences, and other factors) in the development of all our research and education initiatives, as we work to provide the right resources and improve access to care for the IBD community.

  • Expediting access to care for IBD patients: The Foundation held a series of small group discussions and online programs to improve the dialogue between clinicians and insurers. 79% of participants said that they intend to make changes in their practice and/or that their current practice has been improved or reinforced by their participation.

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