Making Research Flourish Through ESPGHAN: A Position Paper From the ESPGHAN Special Interest Group for Basic and Translational Research.

ABSTRACT: Recent research breakthroughs have emerged from applied basic research throughout all scientific areas, including adult and paediatric gastroenterology, hepatology and nutrition (PGHAN). The research landscape within the European Society of Paediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition (ESPGHAN) is also inevitably changing from clinical research to studies involving applied laboratory research. This position paper aims to depict the current status quo of basic science and translational research within ESPGHAN, and to delineate how the society could invest in research in the present and future time. The paper also explores which research areas in the field of PGHAN represent the current and future priorities, and what type of support is needed across the ESPGHAN working groups (WGs) and special interest groups (SIGs) to fulfil their research goals.

Challenges in IBD Research 2024: Environmental Triggers.

Environmental factors play an important role in inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD; Crohn's disease, [CD], ulcerative colitis [UC]). As part of the Crohn's & Colitis Challenges 2024 agenda, the Environmental Triggers workgroup summarized the progress made in the field of environmental impact on IBD since the last Challenges cycle in this document. The workgroup identified 4 unmet gaps in this content area pertaining to 4 broad categories: (1) Epidemiology; (2) Exposomics and environmental measurement; (3) Biologic mechanisms; and (4) Interventions and Implementation. Within epidemiology, the biggest unmet gaps were in the study of environmental factors in understudied populations including racial and ethnic minority groups and in populations witnessing rapid rise in disease incidence globally. The workgroup also identified a lack of robust knowledge of how environmental factors may impact difference stages of the disease and for different disease-related end points. Leveraging existing cohorts and targeted new prospective studies were felt to be an important need for the field. The workgroup identified the limitations of traditional questionnaire-based assessment of environmental exposure and placed high priority on the identification of measurable biomarkers that can quantify cross-sectional and longitudinal environmental exposure. This would, in turn, allow for identifying the biologic mechanisms of influence of environmental factors on IBD and understand the heterogeneity in effect of such influences. Finally, the working group emphasized the importance of generating high-quality data on effective environmental modification on an individual and societal level, and the importance of scalable and sustainable methods to deliver such changes.

Environmental factors are important in inflammatory bowel diseases. It is a high priority to identify environmental factors impacting different disease stages and in different populations, develop biomarkers for such exposures, and generate evidence for modifying them to improve outcomes.