Research

Area 3

Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Team manager
Julián Panés
(Hospital Clínic)
JPANES(ELIMINAR)@clinic.ub.es

Strategic objectives

The strategic objectives of the research group on inflammatory bowel disease include aspects of pathophysiology, diagnosis and treatment of thee processes, specifically, the following:

  • Development of new treatment strategies for Crohn disease and ulcerative colitis, focussing on cellular therapies and on identifying new therapeutic targets susceptible to modulation by drugs.
  • Increasing knowledge of the genetic and environmental factors responsible for susceptibility and implicated in the course of the disease in order to design personalized therapies.
  • Optimizing radiologic and biochemical diagnostic techniques with the aim of adapting treatment to the needs of each patient and avoiding invasive examinations.
Main lines of research

1. Autotransplant of hematopoietic stem cells in Crohn disease refractory to conventional treatment and biologic therapy.

2. Evaluation of the efficacy and safety of therapy with autologous dendritic cells derived from peripheral-blood monocytes in refractory Crohn disease.

3. Optimization of magnetic resonance imaging and ultrasound techniques with contrast medium to evaluating the extension and severity of the inflammatory lesions in Crohn disease and ulcerative colitis.

4. Evaluation of the prognostic value of radiologic findings in magnetic resonance imaging for predicting the outcome of the disease and therapeutic response.

5. Characterization of the genetic factors that determine susceptibility and phenotype of Crohn disease and ulcerative colitis. Construction of genetic diagnostic chips.

6. Study of the environmental factors that affect the susceptibility and outcome of inflammatory bowel disease.