Healing the Damaged Gut in Inflammatory Bowel Diseases - From the scientist, the patient and the doctor

Gwo-Tzer Ho, Emily Thompson and Kris McGuire, Centre for Inflammation Research 

Our amazing gut is responsible for the digestion of food to provide energy and nutrients. Despite containing 100 trillion bacteria and exposure to a daily array of foreign particles, additives and toxins, it remains remarkably healthy. In Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), this fine balance breaks down and the gut becomes inflamed giving rise to many debilitating symptoms. IBD is currently incurable and increasingly common. Edinburgh has amongst the highest prevalence of IBD in the Western world and IBD is set to affect 30 million individuals globally by 2025.

Join us to hear about our ‘Science-to-Medicine’ research program in Edinburgh, where we are finding new ways to repair and heal the gut damaged by IBD, that go beyond merely blocking inflammation. Hear how our recent discoveries have led to new clinical drug trials, how we take on the ‘all-ages’ scientific approach, focusing on IBD in children and the elderly IBD; and how we creatively engage the IBD community to develop better and safer treatments.