Translation of Scottish macrophage-associated IBD immunopathotypes in Canadian patient cohorts

Scotland and Canada are the two nations with the highest incidence of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) world-wide and, therefore, have a big requirement for more in-depth research on its disease mechanisms to create more potent therapies. Macrophages are a type of immune cell that monitor our tissues for potential unwanted intruders and substantially contribute to tissue inflammation, making them a very common and useful target in anti-inflammatory therapies. Previous evidence based on computational analyses of a Scottish IBD cohort predicted that the nature of interaction between intestinal macrophages and the gut epithelium in IBD can identify patients that are more likely to respond to specific front-line treatments. During my placement at the University of British Columbia I will have the rare opportunity to learn a unique technique that isolates and grows both cell types from intestinal tissue which will allow me to study interaction in a biological model.

Faculty Supervisor:

Ted Steiner

Student:

Partner:

University of Glasgow

Discipline:

Life Sciences

Sector:

Education

University:

The University of British Columbia

Program: