World IBD Day: Cluster of Excellence PMI and Kiel University want to raise awareness of chronic inflammatory bowel disease

Chronic inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) such as Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis lead to permanently recurring diarrhea, fever and pain as well as serious psychological stress. It is estimated that more than 1% of the population in industrialized countries will be affected soon. On May 19th, World IBD Day is therefore being held worldwide to draw attention to the disease and the associated need for research. The Cluster of Excellence “Precision Medicine in Chronic Inflammation” (PMI) and Kiel University (CAU) are also taking action. 

On World IBD Day, buildings and landmarks around the world are illuminated in purple to raise awareness of IBD. Following this initiative, the Cluster of Excellence PMI and the student project Lighthouse are drawing attention to IBD with a light installation at the main University tower at Olshausenstraße and the Juridicum in the Leibnizstraße. Researchers from the Institute of Clinical Molecular Biology (IKMB) at Kiel University and the University Medical Center Schleswig-Holstein (UKSH) have also produced a music video with self-written lyrics, which they released today on the occasion of World IBD Day. It tells the love story of two patients who share their experiences with IBD. The graphics for the video were created by the Kiel comic artist Volker Sponholz (“Berti's Buben”).

Scientists at Kiel University and the UKSH have been conducting intensive research into these diseases for decades - as part of the PMI Cluster of Excellence and other research initiatives such as the EU project “miGut-Health” and the DFG Research Group “miTarget”. “In recent years, we have made great progress in better understanding chronic intestinal inflammation, the underlying mechanisms of disease development and found new therapeutic approaches. Nevertheless, there is still a great need for research,” explains Professor Andre Franke, Director of the IKMB, steering committee member of the PMI Cluster of Excellence and coordinator of ‘miGut-Health’ and ‘miTarget’. Franke wrote the lyrics of the song and wants to use this initiative to draw attention to the great suffering of those affected, but also to the progress made in research and the continuing need for better therapies. 

For patients with chronic inflammatory bowel diseases there is a specialized inflammation outpatient clinic in Kiel, the Comprehensive Center for Inflammation Medicine (CCIM), at the UKSH, Campus Kiel. Here, patients receive interdisciplinary treatment that is as precise as possible and can also benefit directly from the latest research findings by participating in clinical studies. “The treatment of chronic inflammatory bowel disease is complex and varies from person to person. In Kiel, we can draw on decades of experience and research in this field. At the CCIM, we treat inflammation patients on an interdisciplinary basis and in line with the latest scientific findings. Increasingly, we are also using precision medicine approaches that look at and treat the disease individually,” explains Cluster spokesperson Professor Stefan Schreiber, Director of the Department of Internal Medicine I, UKSH, Kiel Campus and Director of the IKBM.