Investigating patient stratification in inflammatory bowel disease

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a debilitating disorder that is increasingly common in westernised countries. Normally, the cells of our immune system fight infections. During IBD, the actions of these cells are not controlled, which leads to severe damage to patients’ intestines. Current IBD treatment is successful for only one third of patients and relapses can also occur following initial success. It is likely that there are different types of IBD, caused by different faults in the immune system, and that these different types will need to be treated with different therapies. Our aim here is to apply recent advances generated in the host laboratory to understand how immune cells are different in both the blood and intestines of different patients with IBD.