New Research Initiative Aims to Improve the Health
and Well-being of Children

When it comes to pediatric IBD, children are not simply "little adults." They face unique issues, and the disease can come on during an important period of growth and development. To help address the challenges these younger patients face, CCFA has spearheaded the development of a new research initiative – Pediatric Challenges in IBD Research.

Last year CCFA convened a research conference focused exclusively on issues in pediatric IBD. The meeting provided a forum for 30 leading physicians and scientists to clarify issues and set a 5-year agenda for pediatric IBD research.  CCFA committed itself to shaping that new agenda -- a role the Foundation has played for the past 15 years in the field of IBD research generally.

"The pediatric perspective offers a uniquely fertile basis for research into what makes IBD tick," said Athos Bousvaros, M.D., a prominent pediatric gastroenterologist at Boston Children's Hospital and Chair of the meeting's Steering Committee. "By advancing our understanding of what factors initiate and trigger this disease in childhood and adolescence, we hope to not only improve the lives of children, but identify ways to treat and possibly prevent these illnesses from developing in the first place."

The meeting's immediate goal was to identify and order five broad research priorities on which CCFA will seek and fund quality research projects:

1. Growth/Bone Development – discover how inflammation causes growth failure and bone disease in children with IBD.

2. Genetics – identify early onset Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis genes.

3. Quality Improvement – given the wide variation in care provided to children with IBD, establish a collaborative network to standardize treatment and improve patients' growth and well-being.

4. Immune Response – determine how the immune system changes in early childhood, what alterations in the childhood immune system put a child at risk in IBD, and how the immune system changes with treatment of IBD.

5. Psychosocial Functioning – assess the extent and nature of depression and anxiety in children and compare treatment approaches to improve mood, coping, family function, and quality of life.

The final research agenda was published this month in CCFA's peer-reviewed professional journal, Inflammatory Bowel Diseases.  CCFA has also issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) on the first initiative, Growth/Bone Development, and is currently seeking funding for the first set of projects.

With your help, we can fund research that will change children's lives.  To contribute, click here or call 800/932-2423.