Like many patients, Katy Weniger says that stress goes hand-in-hand with her ulcerative colitis symptoms. “I consider it my number-one trigger, even more than diet,” she says. “When my stress level is really high, I start to flare almost immediately.”

For many years, both patients and clinicians have speculated about the impact of stress on IBD. Now, thanks to our vision and desire to support research in this area, we’re much closer to understanding why psychological stress has such an impact and what to do about it.

Using funding from our Environmental Triggers initiative, Emeran Mayer, MD, and his colleagues at the University of California determined that about half of ulcerative colitis patients studied relapse when exposed to stress. These individuals have elevated levels of several gut bacteria species as well as changes in blood and stool metabolites. Functional MRI studies are ongoing to identify related brain changes.

Further research will aim to determine whether gut microbiome tests or even simple questionnaires can be used to flag vulnerable patients and whether behavioral interventions, such as mindfulness, can successfully stop flares in their tracks.

Our research analyzing over 6,000 post-camp surveys completed by campers and caregivers over an 8-year period, revealed that campers benefitted from increased confidence and independence. They also made strides in feeling more comfortable in managing their IBD. Perhaps most importantly, they say that their camp experience makes them feel like they belong. Dr. Steven Steiner, pediatric gastroenterologist at Riley Children's Health Indiana and medical director at Camp Oasis, tells us about the significant of these findings.

“One of the most important takeaways is that pediatric IBD can be a very isolating disease, and Camp Oasis Michigan has proven to be a mechanism for patients—and their families—to overcome this barrier and continue the process of becoming young adults who can practice self-care more effectively.

“Most of my patients do not know a single other young person with IBD until they attend camp,” says Dr. Steiner. “Once there, a new circle of friends with a shared experience opens up to them.

“The data provides objective evidence of what all camp volunteers have observed—the multiple important ways that Camp Oasis influences young people living with IBD.”

Many kids are reluctant to talk about their disease or symptoms with people who are not familiar with the disease, given its sensitive nature. But when everyone at camp has experienced these symptoms, it becomes easy to easy to share, talk and bond.

Meet Riya Bahadur, Camp Oasis counselor

“I was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis during sixth grade. I missed a lot of school and felt like no one my age understood anything about me,” says Riya Bahadur, Camp Oasis counselor, former camper, and student at the University of California, Berkeley. “The first time I went to Camp Oasis I was very nervous, but that changed as soon as I arrived. I couldn’t believe that I could have conversations with other kids about my colon, being constipated, going to the bathroom—things that weren’t normal to talk about at home.” 


Riya has returned to Camp Oasis every year and now she is a counselor. “Being a counselor for me is about giving back and giving other people the experience I had. The first thing I hear campers say when they get off the bus is ‘I want to see my friends.’ That’s what I like to hear.”

In January, more than 1,600 scientists, clinicians, and industry leaders joined us in Las Vegas for the 2024 Crohn’s & Colitis Congress, the premiere IBD conference co-sponsored by the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation and the American Gastroenterological Association.

Highlights included a keynote presentation by Cedars-Sinai’s Stephan Targan, MD, on an exciting new treatment target (an inflammatory protein called TL1A); panel discussions on how IBD impacts other parts of the body, sometimes causing problems like arthritis; reports of new surgical strategies; and ample opportunities for brainstorming and networking.

Congress is aimed at those with a professional stake in IBD, but our “patient reporters” Aaron Blocker and Maggie Tretton were on the scene and charged with bringing top highlights to other patients via a variety of social media platforms.

“It’s important for patients to know that so many people are working to help them by creating new drugs, tools, and approaches that could potentially have a huge impact on their lives,” says Blocker, who has Crohn’s disease and leads the Support For Crohn's Disease and Ulcerative Colitis community on Facebook.

Tretton, who also has Crohn’s disease and runs the LetsTalkIBD channel on YouTube, was impressed by the scientific advances that were presented as well as the patient-centered focus. “Being an IBD patient even five to 10 years ago is not what it is today, and there’s such a brighter future moving forward,” she says.