Current Research Priorities

The Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation has played a role in every major breakthrough in IBD research.

To continue to drive the development of next-generation treatments for IBD patients, we update our research agenda and identify new research funding priorities every five years in partnership with IBD scientists, patients, and caregivers. We publish our research roadmap in a document we call our Challenges in IBD Research report.

Our 2024 Challenges in IBD Research report is published in the Inflammatory Bowel Diseases Journal.

2024 Challenges in IBD Research

The Foundation convened scientists from within and outside the IBD field, including pediatric and adult gastroenterologists, surgeons and other clinicians, industry leaders, research leaders, patients and caregivers, and members of the Foundation’s National Scientific Advisory Committee (NSAC). Together, they formed five multidisciplinary workgroups to help us identify research gaps and unmet patient needs and redefine our research funding priorities.

In our 2024 research agenda, three overarching concepts to guide our efforts in our priority focus areas were identified:

• Interception - an action during the pre-clinical stage of IBD to prevent progression before symptoms appear.
• Remission - the stage of minimizing the symptoms and signs of IBD.
• Restoration - the stage of returning patients to normal functioning and physiology, and improved quality of life.

Our focus areas as outlined in our 2024 Challenges in IBD Research report: