News

In this issue of the NM DHC Research and Innovations Committee newsletter, we highlight the DHF Grant awardees and their proposals. In addition, in our continuing effort to bring light to the efforts of our Advanced Practice Providers during COVID-19, we have a special section dedicated to their “Call to Action” centered around their experiences and insight.

In honor of World Inflammatory Bowel Disease Day (IBD), the Digestive Health Foundation (DHF) Ambassador Board hosted an engaging chat with two digestive health experts about ways to stay healthy during the stay-at-home order. Click to view the online panel and learn tips and tricks for getting nutrients and how mindful eating can work for you!

First and foremost, we hope you and your families are safe and well during this challenging time. In an abundance of caution regarding the Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, the Digestive Health Foundation Gala scheduled for May 30, 2020 has been cancelled.

Tim Rooney, longtime Western Springs resident makes giving back a priority. Tim Rooney is a founding Digestive Health Foundation Board Member and Grants Committee Chair.

The Digestive Health Foundation (DHF) community will come together on May 30, 2020 for the fifth annual Digestive Health Foundation Gala. DHF is a passionate community of patients, families, and supporters who are working to raise critical resources to help prevent, treat, and cure debilitating digestive diseases from colon and pancreatic cancers to esophageal disorders, Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, celiac disease, hepatitis and others at Northwestern Medicine Digestive Health Center. This year’s gala will include a focus on funding research for digestive cancers.

If you’re looking to lose weight in 2020, you may have considered intermittent fasting… but is it right for you?

From the recent epidemic of colon cancer in younger individuals to the rapidly increasing incidence of esophageal diseases among young women; from the growing population of adults facing fatty liver disease to the debilitating symptoms of colitis or Crohn’s disease, or the diagnosis of pancreatic cancer, more than 1 in 5 Americans will face a digestive disease in their lifetime. These illnesses can often be invisible while causing pain, suffering, or worse. We need your help.

Join Athletes vs. Crohn’s and Colitis (AVC) and the Digestive Health Foundation (DHF) as Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) patient Larry Nance Jr. and the Cleveland Cavaliers take on the Chicago Bulls at the United Center on Saturday, Janauary 18 at 7pm!

The 2019 Digestive Health Foundation Gala: Celebrating the Power of Family raised more than $2.48 million for medical research to improve quality of life for digestive disease patients and their families at the Northwestern Medicine Digestive Health Center. Emceed by actress Bonnie Hunt and attended by more than 600 supporters.

Fall is apple-picking season, and it’s also a great time to incorporate the fruit into a salad, says Patricia P. Araujo, a clinical dietitian with Northwestern Medicine Digestive Health Center in Chicago. Apple slices can complement a salad that’s built on a bed of spinach with gouda, walnuts, cranberries and brie cheese, for example.

Results of a new phase 2 clinical trial using technology developed at Northwestern Medicine show it is possible to induce immune tolerance to gluten in individuals with celiac disease. The findings may pave the way for treated celiac patients to eventually tolerate gluten in their diet. After treatment with the technology, the patients were able to eat gluten with a substantial reduction in inflammation. The results also show a trend toward protecting patients’ small intestine from gluten exposure. The findings will be presented as a late-breaking presentation Oct. 22 at theEuropean Gastroenterology Week conference in Barcelona, Spain

More Americans than ever are ditching dairy and choosing milk alternatives instead, from almond milk, nut milk and even hemp milk. At grocery stores nationwide Americans are having a cow over non-dairy products. From almond to soy, milk alternatives have grown by 61 percent over the last five years, according to the market research group Mintel. Northwestern Dietician Bethany Doerfler says part of the reason is because we’re seeing more food allergies than ever before, but another big reason is the popularity of plant based diets.

Jonah Stulberg, MD, PhD, MPH, FACS, assistant professor of surgery, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, provided an update on the work he and his colleagues at the Illinois Surgical Quality Improvement Program are doing with the Minimizing Opioid Prescribing in Surgery (MOPiS) program. Although MOPiS has resulted in fewer opioid prescriptions, “Where we still seem to be failing is in addressing this culture of pain we’ve developed over decades,” Dr. Stulberg said. He said that if the principles curated through MOPiS were applied to all procedures and across all specialties, a natural institutional culture shift in opioid prescribing patterns would emerge.