A Summary of the C&C Open Evening: February 2020
Contents
On Tuesday 4 February 2020, more than 200 members of the public affected by Crohn’s Disease or Ulcerative Colitis attended a ‘Crohn’s and Colitis Open Evening’ at the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford.
On arrival, delegates were welcomed by the wonderful teams of CCUK-Oxford, CICRA, OUH Trust, Local Clinical Research Network, Translation Gastroenterology Unit and members of the Gastroenterology Clinical Research Team, offering a unique opportunity to meet and greet alongside refreshments.
The event was a great success and emphasized the need for continued research into the causes, treatments and monitoring of the conditions. The programme was action packed with little room to spare! The content of the presentations shared many valuable messages to the IBD audience, including current and future developments.
The programme included Sarah Sleet (CE of CCUK), Nick Posford (CEO CICRA) who both talked of their charities passion to improve the quality of life of patients with IBD, detailing the support that they provide in all areas to patients and their families.
The Gastroenterology Clinical Trials Facility would like to invite anyone with a diagnosis of Crohn’s or Colitis that would like to find out more about their research department and taking part in clinical trials to fill in a brief form to give their consent to be contacted. Leaflets can be requested from CTF.Researchnurses@nhs.net
A warm introduction was then given to two inspiring guest speakers. Talking about how they had overcome challenges of an IBD diagnosis and how they had benefitted from participation in clinical trials. This offered a valued experience which was positively absorbed by all.
Three of Oxford's leading gastroenterologist clinicians also spoke:
Professor Holm Uhlig presented on “We are what we eat” discussing the relationship between diet and the gut microbiome (the bacteria), the involvement of genetics and the need for more research into understanding how the microbiome affects the immune system.
Dr Oliver Brain provided an introduction to the challenges of discovering new therapies in IBD, the recent discovery of three new classes of drugs and future IBD treatments on the horizon.
Dr Alissa Walsh discussed the success of ‘True Colours’, outlining how they are using technology to increase patient disease awareness and control, increase quality of life, improve patient care and streamline clinic appointments. Dr Walsh also spoke of two new studies due to start soon; Rainbow and Wearables. If you would like to receive further information on True Colours, Rainbow or Wearables, please email CTF.Researchnurses@nhs.net
Following the presentations, there was a responsive Q&A session covering in depth discussions regarding diet, environment, genetics, lifestyle, emotional and other support.
All of the feedback stated that delegates found the event useful and most would recommend the event to others. Any comments received have been taken on board and will form the basis of the next event.
Thank you to everyone involved! We look forward to seeing you again soon.
The event was hosted by the University of Oxford’s Gastroenterology Unit in collaboration with Crohn’s and Colitis UK [Oxfordshire Group], and the NIHR Clinical Research Network Thames Valley and South Midlands.