Crohn’s Disease

The causes of Crohn’s disease involve a complex interplay among a patient’s genetic makeup, their immune system, and environmental factors, but the details are poorly understood. We support research to uncover further its root causes and identify how the disease develops.

The number of people living with Crohn’s disease is on the rise globally, particularly in newly industrialized countries across Africa, Asia, and South America, where previously there were few cases. Studying the factors driving this increase could provide important new insights into its causes and identify how the disease develops.

Diet plays a major role in Crohn’s disease. We fund research to better understand the effects of different foods on intestinal health, and on gut microbes, which are known to play a role in the disease, and to guide dietary choices that will benefit patients.

Accessible, accurate, non-invasive, and cost-effective diagnostics will enable more precise treatment decisions as well as timely monitoring for people with Crohn’s disease – which can inform further fine-tuning of therapeutic plans. Helmsley funding supports the development of biomarkers, indices and standards, patient reported outcomes, imaging modalities, and other novel technologies and devices, to improve personalized care and lead to better outcomes.

About half of Crohn’s disease patients do not respond to available therapies, so the need for new and more effective treatments is critical. Helmsley invests in research to understand the mechanisms underlying the disease and to identify and test novel therapies to accelerate the development of new treatments.

As the underlying mechanisms driving the disease are thought to vary among patients, individualizing patient treatment is a priority in Crohn’s disease. Investigating new therapeutics and optimizing existing treatment regimens will allow for improved patient outcomes.

Once a person is diagnosed with Crohn’s disease, they are met with a lifelong challenge that requires daily action and care to help with managing their disease. Patients deserve easily accessible, high-quality care built on informed, collaborative decision-making with their providers.

Patients and their caregivers need better tools and resources which are accessible for all regardless of geography. This includes leveraging technology to improve quality of life, monitoring symptoms to detect and predict flares, and improving access to mental healthcare resources, which can help mitigate the stress that is often caused by dealing with a chronic disease like Crohn’s.

Research into how environmental factors imprint on biological processes like gene expression may help reveal underlying causes of Crohn’s disease.

Breakdown of the intestinal mucosal barrier, and loss of the ability to self-repair if damaged, is a sign of Crohn’s disease and its complications.

The link between a dysregulated immune response and environmental and systemic factors such as the microbiome may be key to understanding the pathogenesis of Crohn’s disease.