THIS STUDY UTILIZES THE DHF BIOREPOSITORY Principal Investigator: Marie-Pier Tétreault, PhD, Assistant Professor of Medicine (Gastroenterology and Hepatology), Northwestern Medicine, Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) affects up to 27% of the adult U.S. population, resulting in more than seven million patient visits annually. Over time, GERD leads to serious complications such as erosive esophagitis, Barrett’s esophagus and esophageal cancers. However, how GERD functions at the molecular level is unclear, making it difficult to develop better treatments for patients living with this condition. This year, DHF is supporting Dr. Marie-Pier Tétreault’s work in identifying the molecular mechanisms that drive the development and progression of GERD, in the hopes of changing the future for patients living with this destructive esophageal condition. DHF funding will enable researchers to utilize state-of-the-art, single-cell RNA technology to rapidly look at the precise gene expression patterns of tens of thousands of cells in hopes of uncovering and identifying rare populations of diseased cells. Previous successful DHF funding of the Tétreault team uncovered valuable new insights and created new technology in profiling the unique cells involved in eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) and scleroderma esophageal disease. This year, the research team is focusing on the widespread disease of GERD with a focus on new, critical treatment options for patients to decrease the risks of major esophageal complications, including...
Principal Investigator: Keith C. Summa, MD, PhD, Instructor of Medicine (Gastroenterology and Hepatology), Northwestern Medicine, Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine A chronic autoimmune condition affecting over 1.6 million people in the U.S., inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) causes ongoing pain, infection, and debilitating symptoms for many people around the world. An umbrella term encompassing Crohn’s Disease, ulcerative colitis, and unspecified colitis, IBD is a growing global public health problem with more than 70,000 new cases, many in children, diagnosed each year in the U.S. Intestinal inflammation occurs in combination with sleep problems, fatigue, and circadian rhythm disturbances in patients with IBD. In fact, studies have found increased alternations in the circadian clock system of IBD sufferers. Yet the exact molecular mechanisms linking sleep to IBD remain unclear. This year’s grant from DHF funds a study led by Dr. Keith Summa to take a deep dive into the ways sleep and circadian rhythms influence gut health. His team will study, in a mice model of colitis, if and how sleep and circadian disruptions trigger gut microbial changes and activate signaling pathways to accelerate damaging inflammation. The researchers hope this novel scientific avenue yields better insight into the underlying causes of IBD, leading to more effective therapeutic strategies to improve patients’ quality of...
Principal Investigators: Ezra N. Teitelbaum, MD, MEd, Assistant Professor of Surgery (Gastrointestinal), Northwestern Medicine, Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine Eric S. Hungness, MD, S. David Stulberg, MD, Professor of Advanced Surgical Education, Professor of Surgery (Gastrointestinal) and Medical Education, Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine Hiatal hernias are a digestive disorder that has plagued patients for decades, developing when the stomach abnormally protrudes into the chest through a hole in the diaphragm. These hernias often cause heartburn, swallowing problems, vomiting, and sometimes worse. While laparoscopic hiatal hernia surgery is the gold standard for stitching closed the opening to fix hiatal hernias, this approach has a historically dismal hernia recurrence rate of up to 50%. This is due, in part, to the only suture material currently available for hernia repair that can often inadvertently pull through the tissue when under tension. Used for other types of hernias, permanent mesh reinforcement is the only alternative and cannot be used for hiatal hernias due to the risk of mesh erosion into the esophagus. Supported by this year’s DHF grant, Dr. Ezra Teitelbaum’s team plans to investigate the potential of new mesh sutures (Duramesh™) invented by Northwestern University researchers and just now available at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. The novel hybrid makeup of Duramesh™ offers the complementary advantages of both new, flexible mesh and traditional, strong suture materials. This research offers great promise for reducing hernia recurrence after repair to improve patient results and prevent the need for risky redo operations and/or the return of distressing, destructive digestive...
THIS STUDY UTILIZES THE DHF BIOREPOSITORY Principal Investigator: Xiaoying Liu, PhD, Research Assistant Professor of Medicine (Gastroenterology and Hepatology), Northwestern Medicine, Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine A rare liver disorder, primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) occurs when thickening of bile ducts block the normal, necessary flow of bile within the digestive system. Buildup of toxic bile acids can lead to irreversible liver cirrhosis, cancer, and the need for a risky, life-altering liver transplant. For unknown reasons, up to 70% of patients with PSC also have inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), especially ulcerative colitis. Today, effective treatments don’t yet exist to prevent this progressive and potentially fatal liver disease. Dr. Xiaoying Liu’s team is using this year’s DHF grant award to better understand the disease process of PSC in order to stop it from damaging the liver. The researchers are studying a molecular pathway called “unfolded protein response (UPR)” that springs into action to protect cells from toxicity in the liver. This exciting study stands on the shoulders of previously successful DHF funded research proving increased UPR pathway gene expression in post-liver transplant patients. Dr. Liu hopes to further delineate the protective role of UPR to create a first-in-the-world liver cell atlas in PSC to map cell signaling and cellular interactions. These studies offer important promise for identifying molecular targets to develop much needed new drug therapies for PSC...
THIS STUDY UTILIZES THE DHF BIOREPOSITORY Principal Investigator: David Escobar, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor of Pathology (Gastrointestinal Pathology), Northwestern Medicine, Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine The second leading cause of death in the U.S., colorectal cancer diagnoses have skyrocketed in recent years, especially in younger people in their 30s and 40s, for reasons that are still under investigation. In 2023 over 153,000 Americans will be diagnosed with colorectal cancer, with 30% of those diagnoses being rectal cancer. During the past 20 years, treatment for locally advanced rectal cancer has evolved from traditional chemotherapy, radiation and surgery, and then more chemotherapy, to a new standard of care known as total neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (TNT). This more personalized medicine strategy initially involves only chemotherapy and radiation. Many patients undergoing TNT do not need surgery—preserving crucial organs and normal function, as well as maintaining quality of life. Dr. David Escobar speculates that the radiation used in TNT uniquely sensitizes the tumors of these patients, leading to higher cancer cure rates without surgery in contrast to less successful, risker traditional therapy. This year’s grant from DHF will advance his team’s work investigating how radiation therapy may change the genetics of patients’ tumor cells by making the cells more responsive to cancer killing strategies like TNT. If this hypothesis proves to be true, further research could be launched, on strategies like immunotherapy, to help patients who still have residual cancer after TNT in avoiding colorectal surgery and the often serious, life-changing complications that come with...
