Q&A with Carmelo Cuffari, M.D., on inflammatory bowel disease - Children's National

Carmelo Cuffari, M.D., the new director of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) Program at Children's National Hospital is a pediatric gastroenterologist with over 25 years of expertise in managing children and adolescents with Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. His areas of research include drug development and the pharmacology and genomics of immunomodulatory drugs in inflammatory bowel disease and in transplantation.

Here, Dr. Cuffari tells us more about the program he is leading and what it means for the future of pediatric IBD patients at Children's National.

Q: What are some of the most valuable changes or advancements for the program you hope to see in the next couple of years?

A: In my position as director of IBD, Children's National supports my goals for the program which include:

• Expanded regional accessibility to an IBD specialist
• Potential to develop international services
• Potential to develop a multidisciplinary pediatric IBD program that would include surgery, psychology and genetics
• Expanding staff to include another IBD specialist to increase our reach

Q: What makes the IBD at Children's National unique from other programs in the country?

A: We have the unique possibility of developing a colorectal team with our surgical colleagues. This level of collaboration is unique and is a function of our division being under the department of pediatric surgery.

Q: Where do you see research in IBD going in the next few years?

A: There are many areas of exciting growth in research. The areas I am most excited about include:

• Developing a tailored therapeutic approach to disease management that is disease phenotype specific
• Developing biomarkers that may help identify which part of the immune system is dysregulated
• Very early onset IBD (<6yrs) will be better defined genetically and immunologically

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