IBD Research: Advancing Towards Cures
Our goal is to fund the best IBD research wherever it is being done in the world, and ensure we are careful stewards of the funding our donors entrust to us. To do this, we have implemented a thorough peer-and-patient-review process that ensures that only the most promising and relevant projects and grant applications are funded.
We are proud to have played a role in the key scientific breakthroughs in this field, but our work is far from done. Today we are prioritizing innovative research projects that address the unmet needs of IBD patients and move more people with IBD into long-term remission (no evidence of active disease or symptoms) as we continue to search for cures.
Our Research Accomplishments
Discoveries made possible by Foundation funding have been instrumental in advancing our understanding of IBD leading to all of the classes of effective treatments currently available to patients and so to improving patient care.
We provided funding that supported the pioneering labwork that eventually led to the very first biologic drug to treat IBD, and continued to support research that gave us a deeper understanding of these biologics and how to use them effectively in patients. We supported work that identified more than 240 genes linked to IBD, which has led to new treatments in the pipeline for Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, as well as groundbreaking research on the gut microbiome (the bacteria, fungi and viruses that live in the gut), also leading to new types of treatments in development. We are working to identify those people at greatest risk for disease progression and complications of IBD in children and adults, and so much more.
With decades of experience and continued innovation, we are on the path to significantly better treatments, and ultimately cures for IBD.
Our Research Strategies and Programs
Our research strategy, outlined in a published document known as Challenges in IBD, ensures that we’re funding the most promising research to identify and address critical unmet patient needs and provides a roadmap not only for the Foundation but the entire IBD research community.
We offer unique funding opportunities for scientists at all levels—from junior researchers to leaders in the field—to investigate new therapies that improve remission rates, uncover cures, and make life better for people with IBD. We champion additional innovation by running our own signature research programs that we direct and oversee.
