Letter from the Chairs

Dear Colleague,

We are pleased to invite you to Advances in Inflammatory Bowel Diseases 2009, Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation’s Clinical & Research Conference. This conference has grown to become the foremost event for investigators and clinicians to come together, share their knowledge and experience, and learn about the latest advances and new insights for personalized care of patients with IBD.

The program this year includes expanded sessions for nurses and pediatric specialists, as well as a new session on endoscopy advances in IBD. In addition to the ongoing discussion of the ideal positioning of biologic therapies in both ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease, we will cover new biologics in development and debate whether combining biologics or using as monotherapy is preferable for Crohn’s disease. Another important debate is the risk of lymphoma with biologic therapies and whether that should guide treatment selection. The use of probiotic therapy and complementary medical therapy in IBD will be discussed for the first time at this meeting. Management of the pregnant IBD patient should be of interest, as well as fertility issues for this group. Case-based breakout sessions will provide a practical look at complicated clinical issues.

Researchers will meet in separate sessions to review the state of the art in basic science, genetics, microbiology and immune regulation in IBD and have the opportunity to meet with thought leaders in small sessions for interactive discussions of unanswered basic research questions. Animal models and mechanisms of inflammation in IBD will be addressed in separate sessions. Presentation of research abstracts will allow investigators to share their studies with colleagues.

The outstanding faculty is comprised of expert specialists, both the familiar and the new, including some of the top thought leaders from Europe.

We are certain that you will find this meeting to be informative and enjoyable and hope that you will join us.

Sincerely,
Richard P. MacDermott, MD
Stephen B. Hanauer, MD