Simpson

There is growing evidence that Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) in people and animals is caused by an overly aggressive immune response to a subset of "commensal" enteric bacteria in genetically predisposed individuals. Elucidating the specific bacterial and host factors driving the chronic intestinal inflammation in people with IBD (predominantly Crohn's Disease and Ulcerative Colitis) is one of the major challenges in gastroenterology, and increasingly requires a multidisciplinary translational approach.

Dr. Simpson's laboratory is focused on host-bacterial interactions in the gastrointestinal tract, with an emphasis on the role of the mucosa-associated microflora in gastritis and IBD in dogs and cats.

Dr. Ellen Scherl is Head of the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center at Weill Medical Center and is spearheading patient based research initiatives in the GI Divisional Center established in 2001. She and her colleagues have established a tissue bank to facilitate a wide range of basic and applied research in patients with IBD.

This collaboration seeks to utilize the complimentary skills of the investigators to increase our knowledge of the mucosa associated bacterial flora in Crohn's Disease (CD). The proposed study could directly influence patient management. For example, we may find that bacterial colonization (density or species) is associated with the severity of disease, and use the information provided by the specific in situ methodologies described in this proposal to target, and monitor the efficacy of, antimicrobials and probiotics.

Institution: Cornell University-Cornell University Weill Medical School