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IBD Research
IBD researchers at UCLA enjoy the advantages of being part of a major research university, collaborating with colleagues in a number of different disciplines. In exploring new means of IBD diagnosis and treatment, they have made advances that have helped create standards of IBD care.
Current research includes study of the role of vitamin D deficiency as a possible contributor to disease development, and supplementation as a means of modulating the immune system. Physician-scientists also investigate the intestinal bacteria present in IBD patients and ways of influencing how the body recognizes and reacts to these bacteria. UCLA researchers are also developing new PET/CT (positron emission tomography/computed tomography) imaging modalities that will detect very early signs of an immune response to allow earlier intervention. New medications are being evaluated and a pediatric IBD program study coordinator helps enroll appropriate patients in clinical trials of promising new drugs before they are widely available in the community.
