Principal Investigator: Sri Komanduri, MD, MS, FASGE, AGAF; Co-Principal Investigator: Robert Schenck, MD The thought of potentially having cancer is stressful enough without undergoing an invasive biopsy to diagnose it and finding out that the procedure needs to be repeated due to inadequate sample collection. This project aims to optimize strategies for acquiring tissue samples to assist gastroenterologists (and pathologists) in diagnosing many diseases, including cancers. Relying on endoscopic ultrasound guidance, the two methods currently utilized are fine needle aspiration, which is the gold standard, and a new method called fine needle biopsy. Drs. Komanduri and Schenck are conducting the largest study to date to compare these different strategies. After collecting data from patients who have undergone one of these procedures over a five-year period, the investigator will perform advanced statistical modeling to determine the strategy that best optimizes patient outcomes (including obtaining accurate diagnoses and minimizing repeat invasive procedures) and costs. Once identified, this strategy will ultimately be implemented throughout the Northwestern Digestive Health Center to enhance patient...
Principal Investigator: Marie-Pier Tetreault, PhD Patients with eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE), a chronic immune/allergic condition affecting children and adults, develop difficulty swallowing food and food obstructions in the esophagus (food tube between the mouth and stomach). Dr. Tetreault’s team has created a new mouse model that more accurately replicates the disease process of EoE and exhibit all the features observed in patients with the disease. This game changing animal model offers a unique opportunity to better understand the molecular mechanisms driving EoE. By performing “single-cell RNA sequencing”, Dr. Tetreault hopes to determine how changes in specific molecules in epithelial cells control the development of eosinophilic esophagitis. The team will perform these studies in mice that currently have the disease as well as in mice that have yet to show any obvious signs or symptoms. Dr. Tetreault believes that the early-stage disease models will help identify the initiating molecular events that lead to EoE and provide insight into the development of earlier intervention strategies now lacking in the field of...
Immune cells called neutrophils protect our body against invading pathogens, but when they accumulate in tissue, they can also cause recurring injury to cells of the gastrointestinal tract. The resulting chronic inflammation in the colon is a hallmark of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs). It is also a well-recognized risk factor for the development of colorectal cancer. Dr. Sumagin’s preliminary findings suggest that neutrophils may influence the transformation of normal cells into cancerous ones by increasing the occurrence of mutations, inhibiting the ability of cells to repair themselves and ultimately promoting cancer development. The team is focusing on specific mutations in the tumor suppressor gene TP53—the most frequently mutated gene in Colitis-associated colon cancer. The goal of this project will be to determine whether immune cell-mediated inflammation results in specific mutations in TP53 and to identify these mutations. If successful, this study will open the door to future prognostic biomarkers of inflammation-induced colorectal cancer. Funding will partially support the research personnel involved in this work and for purchases of essential reagents needed to complete these...
The thought of potentially having cancer is stressful enough without undergoing an invasive biopsy to diagnose it and finding out that the procedure needs to be repeated due to inadequate sample collection. This project aims to optimize strategies for acquiring tissue samples to assist gastroenterologists (and pathologists) in diagnosing many diseases, including cancers. Relying on endoscopic ultrasound guidance, the two methods currently utilized are fine needle aspiration, which is the gold standard, and a new method called fine needle biopsy. Drs. Komanduri and Schenck are conducting the largest study to date to compare these different strategies. After collecting data from patients who have undergone one of these procedures over a five-year period, the investigator will perform advanced statistical modeling to determine the strategy that best optimizes patient outcomes (including obtaining accurate diagnoses and minimizing repeat invasive procedures) and costs. Once identified, this strategy will ultimately be implemented throughout the Northwestern Digestive Health Center to enhance patient...
Principal Investigator: Mehul V. Rahul, MD; Co-Principal Investigator: Salva N. Balbale, MS, Doctoral Candidate Enhanced Recovery Protocols (ERPs) are evidence-based interventions that utilize perioperative education and counseling provided through surgery and recovery to safe discharge. ERPs have been found to decrease hospital length of stay, in-hospital costs, and complications among a variety of adult surgical populations, including those undergoing abdominal and gastrointestinal tract surgery. As many as 17 percent of the 70,000 children with IBD in the United States need surgery within five years of diagnosis to manage their disease. ERPs offer an opportunity to enhance the care of these young patients, yet these strategies are currently lagging in the pediatric setting. This study will lay the groundwork and provide a baseline assessment of ERPs in 15 pediatric surgical practice sites across the country. The investigators will evaluate the effectiveness and impact of ERPs on outcomes, and use their findings in the development of an implementation...
