Educational enrichment activities offered by the Center for the Study of Inflammatory Bowel Disease.
The CSIBD conducts an annual symposium and workshop focusing on an area of basic investigation relevant to IBD and the research community. The annual symposium has been highly effective in providing a forum for Center investigators, especially those receiving support through the Pilot and Feasibility Program, to share their most recent work with the local research community. The annual symposium is coupled with a workshop. Topics for this workshop are chosen to complement the scientific interests within the Center and as a basis to explore areas of targeted research development for the Center. Workshops are organized to involve participation of active investigators from around the country and abroad in an area of focused discussion and a format that allows extended interaction.
Our annual summer course titled "Current Techniques in Molecular Genetics" is run by Hans-Christian Reinecker and has annually attracted an average of 200 attendees (comprised predominantly of graduate students and postdoctoral fellows from the laboratories of CSIBD investigators as well as young investigators) to its series of lectures.
The CSIBD supports seminar series presented by investigators within the Boston area research community as well as from other national and international institutions. In conjunction with their seminar, speakers from outside the Boston area typically spend one to two days at the Center offering the opportunity for Center investigators to meet with them to discuss research interests.
Over the past 24 years, CSIBD investigators have held a monthly IBD seminar in which young investigators or postdoctoral fellows discuss ongoing IBD-related research progress. These highly interactive sessions have provided invaluable input to investigators in guiding future work and have stimulated many new collaborations.
The CSIBD Enrichment Program has a history of facilitating the exchange of information between the various CSIBD-affiliated institutions through a series of special seminars designed to promote collaboration across institutions.
Massachusetts General Hospital researchers have found how a variant in an important epigenetic enzyme – previously associated with Crohn’s disease and other immune disorders – interferes with the action of the innate immune system, potentially upsetting the balance between the microbial population of the gastrointestinal tract and the immune response.
