Reflections and content from IBD Edinburgh 2022

IBD Causes and Consequences opening lecture; COVID and IBD Keynote Lecture

Initial impressions and feedback all indicate that IBD Edinburgh 2022 was a resounding success.

From concept to execution in a little over 3 months, I believe we have set a new standard for virtual meetings. We had:

• 824 pre-registrations

• 9 hours of broadcasting

• incredible live viewing numbers

• 16 in person faculty involved in the studio all day

• 5 remote faculty joining us by live link-up from UK, Europe and USA

• On demand content already available to registered users - watch back in full

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IBD: Causes and Consequences

I kicked the event off with an opening lecture: IBD - causes and consequences.

• Background to IBD
• What causes Crohn's and UC
• What are the consequences of IBD
• Treatment principles and paradigms
• Horizon scanning in inflammatory bowel disease

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Keynote talk: COVID and IBD

Our day finished with a keynote on COVID and IBD which featured

• Jeff Barrett who led the SARS-CoV2 sequencing efforts at the Sanger Institute, discussing the detection of variants

• Tariq Ahmad who led the CLARITY Study, discussing the impact of infliximab on serological response to vaccination and vaccine effectiveness

• Nick Powell who led the VIP Study, discussing the impact of other IBD medicines (including thiopurines, ustekinumab and tofacitinib) on vaccine response

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On demand content available and patient event to follow

Those who pre-registered will have been sent a link to access a replay of the event.

You can still register for on demand content if you are a clinician, academic or working in industry.

We have lots more content to share in the coming days and weeks.

An event specifically for people living with IBD and other non-professionals will follow. A lot of the content for that event was recorded behind the scenes on Thursday.

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Personal thank yous from me

This event was made possible by unrestricted sponsorship by Galapagos. They were totally hands off which enabled us a completely free reign to design curate and run the meeting independently but at a very high production quality

Through the I were a tremendous partner as our production company. Aaron and team were a pleasure to work with throughout, frequently going above beyond. They come very highly recommended from me.

Our faculty were incredibly engaged and totally brilliant throughout the process. It was a real joy to work with friends and colleagues at all stages of their careers. We brought a fresh, lively and at times challenging agenda to life thanks to your care, attention and energy.

Thank you to Tine Jess (PREDICT, Copenhagen), Nick Kennedy (Exeter), Laura Fachal (Sanger Institute), Robin Dart (Crick and Guy’s), James Lindsay (Bart’s and the London), Mark Samaan (Guy’s), Lauri Keefer (Mount Sinai, New York and Trellus Health), David Bulmer (Cambridge), Phil Tozer (St Mark’s), Kevin Whelan (King’s College London), Nik Plevris (Edinburgh IBD Unit), Alissa Walsh (Oxford), Peter Irving (Guy’s), Bea Gros (Edinburgh IBD Unit), Jeff Barrett (Sanger Institute and Nightingale Health), Nick Powell (Imperial College London) and Tariq Ahmad (Exeter).

A special thank you to Ailsa Hart (St Mark’s) and Tim Raine (Cambridge) for co-creating the event with me. Together we had the courage to set an ambitious and challenging agenda and the tenacity to deliver on it.

Congratulations to Ailsa for being newly appointed as Dean of St Mark’s!

Finally thanks to all of you for following along, for being engaged and interested as we build deep community across the global IBD family.

We have shown that we are making huge progress

There are many challenges for IBD patients that we can address today.

We have shown you many practical ways in which IBD care can be improved right now with existing tools despite on-going pressures in the NHS and broader healthcare system. Sometimes it is simply about asking the right questions of our patients. This costs nothing and can be life-changing. Watch back Phil Tozer’s talk if you don’t believe me.

But the urgent unmet need is real and substantial.

We need bigger investment in IBD services and for IBD research. We need to recover from pandemic pressures to ensure we are delivering quality care. We need better tools and a deeper evidence base in order that we can truly effect change.

Only then will we be able to help our patients reach an holistic remission with their IBD.