Spotlight on Research
November 17th Diet and Nutrition Educational Webinar for Patients featuring Courtney Schuchmann, RD
“If you are doing well, I highly encourage you to avoid overly restricting your diet… [but] IBD looks very different from one person to the next, and diet looks extremely different from one person to the next,” explains Courtney Schuchmann, RD.
Faculty Profile: Michael Charlton, MBBS, Treatment of Liver Disease and Liver Transplant at University of Chicago Medicine
“I also have the happy experience of patients who say, ‘I saw Dr. John Fung, and he saved my sister’s life. We’d been told nothing could be done.’ I recently treated a patient with bile duct cancer who had been told his cancer was inoperable, and he came here and it was taken care of. With Dr. Rubin, we recently had a patient who failed multiple therapies for Crohn’s disease, and Dr. Rubin simply said, ‘We’ll get you into remission.’ He wasn’t just bragging; he did it.”
The Multidisciplinary Team: Integrated Specialty Pharmacy Featuring David Choi, PharmD and Archariya Puangampai, PharmD
Fortunately for patients at the University of Chicago Medicine Digestive Diseases Center, specialty pharmacists David Choi, PharmD, BCACP, and Archariya Puangampai, PharmD, BCPS, have honed expertise in helping patients understand their medications, and also navigate other barriers such as insurance challenges to gain access to these life-changing medicines.
Montana Weissner, Empowered IBD Patient, “Taking care of your health is most important.”
Wise beyond her years, she has sage advice for patients with Crohn’s disease: “Don’t be afraid to grieve. It’s going to be really hard, and you are going to feel sad, and that’s okay. And also, don’t get caught up in what you think everyone else is doing.”
2021 GIRF Scholar Kinga Skowron Olórtegui, MD, Update: Pouchitis Risk Factors Database
Different risk factors, including the type of sutures used to create the pouch, BMI, patient’s sex, prior C. difficile infection, and prior use of anti-TNF medications, all predicted different types of pouchitis.
2021 GIRF Scholar Tina Rodriguez Update: Investigating Inflammation, IBD and Mental Health Disorders
Research suggests inflammation itself may influence a patient’s development of mental health disorders. In this way, treating inflammation could have benefits for a person’s mental state.
Billy Perry, former Hepatitis C patient, “I won’t waste their time. If they don’t work, then I can’t work. If I don’t work, I’m gone…”
“This is the only hospital I have ever known to sit down with you, literally. They don’t hand you papers and tell you what this medication is. They sit down with you…. and tell you how important it is to take this medicine.”
IBD Updates: New Medications and COVID-19 Vaccine Updates with Russell D. Cohen, MD, and David T. Rubin, MD
“For many years, we had just a few treatments, which we had to give to everyone… with the help of research, [we are hoping to] identify the predominant inflammatory pathway for each patient, and then choose the best agent, customized for that patient…”
Everyday Health 8/6/20
Want to Try Yoga to Relieve IBD Symptoms? MD-Backed Online Classes Are Available Now For people...
Other Recent News
A Triumphant Return: GIRF Champions for a Cure Ball
On Saturday, June 4, 2022, the GI Research Foundation Champions for a Cure Ball celebrated the courageous patients and devoted physician-scientists fighting to prevent, treat, and cure digestive diseases. Held at The Geraghty, a chic event space in Pilsen, the event marked the triumphant return to an in-person gala experience, and was a smash success – raising $1.5 million for research at the University of Chicago Medicine Digestive Diseases Center.
Ball Covid FAQs
Will the GI Research Foundation have safety measures in place? The GI Research Foundation will...
Honoring a living legend: David T. Rubin, MD, Joseph B. Kirsner Award Recipient
On Saturday, June 4th, 2022, the GI Research Foundation will host their Champions for a Cure Ball...
Gut-Healthy Recipe: Weeknight Ramp and Wonton Soup
Foraged or found at farmers’ markets, ramps (also known as wild leeks or onions) offer a mild onion and garlic flavor and beautiful deep green hue, showing off the first colors of the spring season. A gluten-free recipe, this meal is a great choice for those with Celiac disease. As a plant-based, lower-calorie, low fat main course, it can also support many other healthy lifestyle goals.
Patient Story: Prof. Kelli Morgan McHugh, Opera Singer and Professor
Explains Prof. McHugh, “In hindsight, I’m a person who is always going go to get up, take care of my kids, go to work… I’m going put on some lipstick and I’m going to do my best. But maybe part of the psychology of [a digestive disease], an invisible disease, is that people are accustomed to hiding it. But you have to get past that. I wish I’d gone to [Dr. Dalal], and that I had trusted my gut sooner about not getting the right care.”
2022 Ball Honoree: Ira Hanan, MD, Reflections on a Lifetime of Service
Dr. Hanan’s clinical expertise has helped thousands of patients with a variety of GI concerns and caring for patients was always the centerpiece of his work. “The most gratifying thing is seeing people get better,” he explains. “When they come to you, they’re sick. You give them a treatment plan, you listen to them, and they are getting well again. Now, when patients learn I’m retiring and leaving, I hear them say, ‘You’ve made such a change in my life.’ And that is what it’s all about.”
Honor a living legend: David T. Rubin, MD, Joseph B. Kirsner Award Recipient
On Saturday, June 4th, 2022, the GI Research Foundation will host their Champions for a Cure Ball...
Gut-Healthy Recipe: Turmeric Roasted Cauliflower with Almonds and Apricots
Spring celebrations call for beautiful meals featuring bright colors and flavors of the season....
GIRF Spotlight: Associates Board President, Jordan Hirsch
For Jordan Hirsch, current president of the GI Research Foundation Associates Board, his...