The second annual IBDHorizons (IBDH) Conference will focus on inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) management and include a host of renowned experts.
The conference, set for Feb. 23 in Columbus, Ohio, at the Hilton Columbus Downtown, is targeted to adult and pediatric gastroenterologists, advanced registered nurse practitioners, physician assistants, medical staff, dietitians, surgeons and pharmacists. In addition to presentations, the event, in conjunction with the University of California-Irvine School of Medicine, offers a collaborative forum for experience and concept sharing.
Supported by Prometheus Laboratories, a leader of precision healthcare in gastroenterology, the accredited Continuing Medical Education conference is free, although pharmacists must pay a $40 certification fee. Go here to register.
“This will be a stimulating and informative program, which will be attended by renowned doctors,” according to an IBDHorizons news release. “This will also serve as the platform for discussing key topics related to IBD.”
Topics will include personalized IBD treatment, management of proctosigmoiditis beyond mesalamine, management of preclinical and mild Crohn’s ileitis, choosing an IBD therapy from increasing options, management of severe refractory ulcerative colitis, medical and surgical management of perianal Crohn’s disease, surgical and medical management of the failing pouch, and treatment of pregnant IBD patients with active disease.
The conference’s goals include enabling participants to assess the benefits and limitations of personalized medicine with regard to IBD management; to list factors relevant to the selection of patient therapies and how to align them with patient goals; to list predictors of suboptimal therapy response and describe approaches for monitoring and predicting treatment response; and to identify the most molecules in late-stage clinical development, with emphasis on immunological targets and pharmacological properties.
By the conference’s end, participants should also be able to identity clinical care gaps, apply evidence-based medical management of mild to moderate ulcerative colitis, incorporate evidence-based treatment strategies to optimize outcomes in patients who are suboptimally controlled or considered as treatment failures, and apply the latest evidence regarding family planning and pregnancy.
Speakers include Anita Afzali, a gastroenterologist at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, and medical director of OSU’s Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center; and Brian Feagan, a gastroenterologist at London Health Sciences Centre, and director of Robarts Clinical Trials at Robarts Research Institute.
Other slated physician speakers are to include Heather Frey, a Columbus, Ohio-based obstetrician-gynecologist; Scott Lee of the Digestive Health Center at the University of Washington Medical Center; Raymond Cross, director of the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Program at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore; Marla Dubinsky, chief of the division of pediatric gastroenterology at Mount Sinai Kravis Children’s Hospital; Feza Remzi, a colorectal surgeon at New York University Langone Medical Center; and Ghassan Wahbeh, director of the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center at Seattle Children’s Hospital.
Working in conjunction with disease experts, the non-profit IBDHorizons is focused on education related to the diagnosis, management and advancement of IBD research. It provides educational symposia in areas where access to IBD specialists and experts is limited.
The first IBDH conference focused on IBD therapies. Inflammatory bowel disease is a broad term that includes conditions such Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, characterized by chronic inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract.
According to the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America, IBD affects as many as 1.6 million people in the U.S.