NEW YORK, July 29, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The
Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of America (CCFA) announced today
that groundbreaking scientific discoveries about Crohn's disease
and ulcerative colitis have been identified through its Broad
Medical Research Program (BMRP-CCFA), a high-risk/high-return
program of pilot research funding. Representing a variety of
approaches and fields, grant-awarded investigators from 43
countries are bringing new insights and understanding into
potential new treatments and diagnostic approaches for Crohn's
disease and ulcerative colitis, collectively known as inflammatory
bowel diseases (IBD).
One such investigator is Dr. Herbert "Skip" Virgin, MD, PhD, the
Edward Mallinckrodt Professor and Head of the Department of
Pathology and Immunology at Washington
University School of Medicine in St. Louis. In recent years, his laboratory has
received two grants from BMRP-CCFA, resulting in an entirely new
concept for how intestinal viruses influence IBD. His findings were
published in Cell and Nature, and he received
significant continuation funding from the National Institutes of
Health (NIH). "I'm an infectious disease immunologist, but
Broad funding has made me an IBD researcher," Dr. Virgin
said. "These grants allowed me and my team to test ideas that
aren't already out there. I can't overstate the importance of this
type of funding not tied to current dogma."
Dr. Virgin and his laboratory's most recently-funded study,
"Viruses as Potential Triggers for Ulcerative Colitis," showed that
viruses can impact the levels and diversity of bacteria in the
human gut. If better understood, these changes could increase our
understanding of IBD onset and progression, and lead to new ways of
using bacteriophages to control intestinal bacteria, which is known
to influence intestinal inflammation.
"Our exploration of IBD patients' enteric virome (i.e., the
collection of viruses in the human gastrointestinal tract) is
entirely new and could not have happened without the high-risk
investment made by the BMRP-CCFA," concluded Dr.
Virgin. "Now we have the evidence required to attract
funding to test our hypotheses using animal models, and move
forward toward establishing proof of the role viruses may be
playing in IBD. Our research could lead to effective treatment of
IBD by manipulating a patient's virome. While that is several
future studies and perhaps years away, Broad funding has allowed us
to take the first, crucial step toward a new way of understanding
IBD and, someday, bettering the lives of patients."
Established in 2001 by Eli and Edythe
Broad through their foundation, The Broad Medical Research
Program merged with CCFA in 2014 to become the Broad Medical
Research Program at CCFA. Since then, it has expanded its reach and
funding while maintaining its innovative strategy of supporting
pilot research that enables scientists to test initial ideas and
generate the preliminary data required to qualify for larger grants
from other organizations, such as the National Institutes of Health
(NIH). Because it's based on the belief that great ideas can come
from non-traditional sources, the BMRP-CCFA appeals to scientists
from outside the IBD research community, such as immunologists,
geneticists and those studying the human microbiome. Both basic and
clinical investigators, scientists not currently working in IBD,
and interdisciplinary teams are encouraged to apply.
"The BMRP-CCFA is important because it provides funding for
potentially breakthrough IBD research that others aren't willing to
fund," said Caren Heller, MD,
MBA, Chief Scientific Officer of CCFA. "Our approach for
this program is different in that we fund early-stage
investigation. Innovative ideas need financial support for early
testing if they are to ultimately lead to effective treatment,
diagnosis and prevention of IBD."
To date, over $47 million has been
awarded to scientists and researchers from around the world through
the Broad Medical Research Program, support that has, in turn,
leveraged more than $150 million in
new research funding targeting IBD. The application process for
BMRP-CCFA funding is designed to be user-friendly and streamlined,
enabling investigators to first present their idea in a simple
letter of interest. There are no deadlines, and those invited to
submit full applications receive a rapid review and, if approved,
funding within three months. Over the past dozen years, the program
has awarded one- and two-year grants to almost 400 investigators,
half of whom are internationally based.
About CCFA
The Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of
America (CCFA) is the largest voluntary non-profit health
organization dedicated to finding cures for Inflammatory Bowel
Diseases (IBD). CCFA's mission is to cure Crohn's disease and
ulcerative colitis, and to improve the quality of life of children
and adults who suffer from these diseases. The Foundation works to
fulfill its mission by funding research, providing educational
resources for patients and their families, medical professionals,
and the public, and furnishing supportive services for those
afflicted with IBD.
CCFA has funded a total of more than $250
million in research targeting areas of science with a high
probability of advancing treatment. We are currently funding
a roster of over 220 investigator-initiated research projects that
are multi-institutional, multi-disciplinary, and collaborative. In
the past five years, researchers have made significant inroads in
the study of genetics, as well as the gut microbiome. CCFA is
dedicated to advancing research for both adults and pediatrics, and
this year alone will invest $30
million and fund investigators in the U.S., Canada and over a dozen foreign
countries. For more information, visit www.ccfa.org,
call 888-694-8872 or email at info@ccfa.org.
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SOURCE Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of America