I am a gastroenterologist and mucosal immunologist focused on basic research to understand the causes and to develop new therapies for inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) affects over 2 million Americans. While pharmacologic advances have improved the care of these patients, many still have refractory disease with significant morbidity. IBD includes two distinct clinical phenotypes called Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. Genetic polymorphisms correlate with disease susceptibility, but they are rarely fully penetrant reflecting a central role for environmental triggers in disease pathogenesis. While indeed certain luminal microbes may act as opportunistic pathogens causing infection and inflammation, we and others have shown that microbiota function as a double-edged sword to simultaneously suppress aberrant immune cell activation (homeostatic inhibition) and maintain homeostasis (homeostatic induction) at mucosal surfaces. Thus, the major focus of our work is to define cellular and molecular regulation of innate intestinal barrier immunity and to harness the power of IBD-associated microbiota to develop novel diagnostic and therapeutic approaches to medically refractory IBD.
Education and Training
- M.D., Weill Cornell Medical College 2007
- Ph.D., The Rockefeller University 2002 - 2006
- B.S., M.S., Yale University 2000
View Recent Publications
Grants awarded
- TL1A Regulation of Group 3 Innate Lymphoid Cells in Colitis awarded by National Institute of Diabetes & Digestive & Kidney Diseases Principal Investigator 2020 - 2024
- Screening for Resistant Enteric Bacteria to Personalize Infection Prevention Strategies in Neutropenic Patients awarded by National Institute of Allergy & Infectious Diseases Co-Investigator 2020 - 2024
- Cell-free DNA as a non-invasive test of bacterial translocation, ileal inflammation, and extra-internal Crohn''s disease awarded by Kenneth Rainin Foundation Principal Investigator 2019 - 2021
- The efficacy of Fecal Microbiota Transplantation (FMT) and subsequent dietary fiber in patients with moderate Ulcerative Colitis (MINDFUL) awarded by Crohn''s & Colitis Foundation of America, Inc. Principal Investigator 2019 -
- Cellular and Microbial regulation of Crohn''s disease AIEC Th17 immunity awarded by Crohn''s & Colitis Foundation of America, Inc. Key Personnel 2019 - 2022
- Targeting the mycobiome in Crohn''s Disease: development of targeting strategy and biomarkers for prospective clinical trial awarded by Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust, The Key Personnel 2019 - 2021
- The Impact of Time Restricted Feeding in Crohn''s Disease awarded by Kenneth Rainin Foundation Key Personnel 2019 - 2020
- Anti-phage antibodies in stratifying Crohn''s disease diagnosis and treatment response awarded by W. M. Keck Foundation Principal Investigator Subaward 2019 - 2020
- Host-Microbiota Interactions in Crohn''s Disease-Associated Spondyloarthritis awarded by National Institute of Diabetes & Digestive & Kidney Diseases Principal Investigator 2018 - 2023
- SHINE Collaboration Framework Agreement: Strategy and Platforms to Define Transferable Therapeutic Microbiota for Inflammatory Disease awarded by Boehringer Ingelheim Ltd Principal Investigator 2017 - 2020
- Defining Immunologically Relevant Microbiota in CD-associated Spondyloarthritis awarded by New York Crohn''s Foundation Principal Investigator 2017 - 2018
- Investigating Microbial Regulation of Intestinal Mononuclear Phagocyte Production of TL1A in ILC3-Dependent Barrier Immunity awarded by National Institute of Diabetes & Digestive & Kidney Diseases Principal Investigator 2017