Clinician-scientist Dr. Stephen Vanner in his lab at KGH.
Clinician-scientist Dr. Stephen Vanner in his lab at KGH.
Credit
Matthew Manor/KGH

A research team at Kingston General Hospital is looking for local residents interested in taking part in a Canada-wide study of gastrointestinal disease.

The Kingston portion of the study, led by Dr. Stephen Vanner, will study the effects of a diet low in some types of carbohydrates on children and adults with Irritable Bowel Syndrome. He and his five research teams are looking for between 300 and 400 individuals with IBS.

“We want to transform the management of these chronic, painful diseases,” says Dr. Vanner, Director of the Gastrointestinal Research Unit at Kingston General Hospital.  “We believe that food and gut bacteria interact to cause symptoms of Irritable Bowel Syndrome and Inflammatory Bowel Disease. Our goal is to understand these interactions and find treatments by altering one or both of these factors, and improve patient’s lives.”

Anyone who has been diagnosed with IBS who would like to learn more about getting involved with the study can contact the research team by email at simmersc3@hdh.kari.net .

Kingston is one of 17 centres taking part in the national study. Its 88 researchers hope to recruit 6,000 IBS/IBD patients and 2,000 healthy controls, creating the largest-ever study group for GI disease in Canada. The aim is to develop new treatments, from dietary changes and probiotics to fecal transplants,  antibiotics and other therapies that improve both physical and mental health of IBD and IBS sufferers.

The study is funded under the Canadian Institutes of Health Research Strategy for Patient-Oriented Research program