In recent years, the Section of Digestive Diseases has fortified the Yale Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) Program, originally formed in 2001 to treat patients with the complex and lifelong gastrointestinal and inflammatory diseases of Crohn's Disease and ulcerative colitis through clinical services, patient education, and research.
"Inflammatory bowel disease typically encompasses Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, but there are a small percentage of patients where the definite diagnosis is unclear," said Jill Gaidos, MD, associate professor of medicine and director of clinical research for the Yale Inflammatory Bowel Disease Program. “Inflammatory bowel disease is more common than many people are aware. There are over 3 million people in the U.S. with inflammatory bowel disease. This is an exciting area as several new treatments have recently become available and many more are on the horizon.”
One new development for the IBD Program is its centralization in a new location, the Dana Clinic Building at 789 Howard Ave. in New Haven where IBD doctors, colorectal surgeons, ostomy nurses and dietician see patients. Melanie Cullen, IBD Pharmacist, Sarah Halloran, IBD APP, and Cynthia Dabbraccio, IBD Nurse, round out the IBD team.
“Having a multidisciplinary team taking care of the patient provides patient-centric and efficient care,” said Badr Al Bawardy, MD, assistant professor of medicine (digestive diseases) and the director of the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Fellowship. The year-long fellowship is planned to launch next July, offering supervised clinical training in both the outpatient and inpatient care of patients with inflammatory bowel disease.
“I'm looking forward to continuing to grow our inflammatory bowel disease practice and our research,” said Al Bawardy, “as we are now participating in multiple national and international clinical trials of novel and new therapeutic agents to treat inflammatory bowel disease."
Research is a key focus of the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Program—as the team cares for patients, they are committed to researching novel therapies alongside their care to constantly improve patient outcomes.
That’s what we work towards—to improve quality of life for our patients living with this lifelong disease. It’s a wonderful thing to see. There’s a lot of enjoyment in making patients feel well.
Deborah Proctor, MD
That’s why Gaidos was hired in August 2020: to strengthen the clinical trials program in IBD research at Yale. Gaidos came to Yale from the VA Medical Center at Virginia Commonwealth University, where she helped to establish and develop an IBD clinic.
“Clinical trials are a great opportunity for our patients who have been through every other treatment, and really don't have other options,” said Gaidos. “I try and discuss clinical trials as an option whenever we're considering changing therapy. I think the more patients hear about clinical trials, the more normal they become.”
Rounding out the IBD team Deborah Proctor, MD, professor of medicine (digestive diseases) and the medical director of the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Program. Proctor has over 30 years of experience in gastroenterology. She was recently awarded the American Gastroenterology Association’s Distinguished Educator award, citing her nationally recognized expertise in gastroenterology training and education, as well as her outstanding contributions to the field of gastroenterology over the course of her career.
“I've followed many of my patients for 15-20 years, which is a significant period of their lives as they’re often quite young,” explained Proctor. “For many, their quality of life has severely diminished and they are unable to leave their homes. That’s what we work towards—to improve quality of life for our patients living with this lifelong disease, so they can return to some semblance of normalcy. It’s a wonderful thing to see. There’s a lot of enjoyment in making patients feel well.”
Since forming one of the nation’s first sections of hepatology and then gastroenterology over 50 years ago, Yale’s Section of Digestive Diseases has had an enduring impact on research and clinical care in gastrointestinal and liver disorders. To learn more about their work, visit Digestive Diseases.