Presentation

The Copenhagen Center for Inflammatory Bowel Disease in Children, Adolescents, and Adults — CPH-IBD — is a clinical and translational research centre focused on inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), including Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. The centre is based at the Gastro Unit, Hvidovre Hospital, and integrates research, patient care and education across children, adolescents and adults with IBD.

Our overall aim is to improve the lives of patients with IBD through earlier diagnosis, more precise risk assessment, better monitoring and more individualised treatment.

About the centre

CPH-IBD covers the full spectrum of IBD research — from population-based epidemiology and clinical cohorts to translational studies, biomarkers, imaging, artificial intelligence and advanced treatment strategies. The centre is closely integrated with the IBD clinic at the Gastro Unit, where the department is responsible for the diagnostic work-up, treatment and follow-up of more than 5,000 patients with IBD. This large clinical volume provides a strong foundation for patient-centred research, clinical studies and the development of new methods for disease monitoring and treatment.

The centre is built on a close interaction between clinical expertise and research infrastructure. We combine systematic clinical data collection, biobanks, patient-reported outcomes, endoscopy, intestinal ultrasound, diagnostic imaging and biological analyses. This allows us to follow patients from the time of diagnosis and investigate how the disease develops over time.

Research focus

A central focus of CPH-IBD is population-based cohorts and longitudinal studies, which make it possible to investigate the early disease course, complications, extraintestinal manifestations, treatment response and quality of life in a real-world clinical context.

Our research particularly focuses on:

• early risk stratification and predictors of disease course
• individualised treatment and treatment selection
• intestinal ultrasound and non-invasive monitoring
• endoscopy and objective assessment of disease activity
• artificial intelligence and machine learning to improve endoscopy and intestinal ultrasound
• development of prediction models to support treatment, monitoring and clinical decision-making
• extraintestinal manifestations and comorbidity
• patient-reported outcomes, fatigue, functional ability and quality of life
• multi-omics, microbiome, immunology and biomarker development
• clinical trials and real-world effectiveness of new and established treatments

An expanding area of research is the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning to analyse complex clinical, imaging and biological data. The aim is both to improve the quality and precision of endoscopy and intestinal ultrasound, and to develop prediction models that can help forecast disease course, treatment response and the need for closer monitoring. In this area, we collaborate with DIKU, the Department of Computer Science at the University of Copenhagen.

What makes CPH-IBD distinctive is the combination of a large clinical volume, population-based data, biobanks, advanced digital methods and multidisciplinary collaboration. We work closely with gastroenterologists, paediatricians, surgeons, dermatologists, rheumatologists, radiologists, bioinformaticians, computer scientists and basic researchers to generate knowledge that can rapidly be translated into better patient care.

CAG PRECISE IBD

CPH-IBD is a central part of the Clinical Academic Group PRECISE IBD, which brings together clinical and academic environments in the Capital Region of Denmark, Region Zealand and the University of Copenhagen with a shared focus on precision medicine in inflammatory bowel disease. CAG PRECISE IBD aims to develop and validate new methods to predict disease course, treatment response and complications in patients with IBD.

Through CAG PRECISE IBD, collaboration between clinical departments, research units and basic research environments is strengthened. This provides a unique opportunity to combine clinical data, biological samples, advanced analyses, artificial intelligence and patient-centred outcomes in large, well-characterised patient cohorts.

Projects

CPH-IBD leads and contributes to a range of national and international research projects. Key initiatives include the Copenhagen IBD Inception Cohort, the Danish IBD Biobank, the Center for Intestinal Immune Regulation, and clinical and translational projects within treatment strategies, intestinal ultrasound, comorbidity, extraintestinal manifestations, artificial intelligence and precision medicine.

Our projects are characterised by a strong link between clinical questions and research methods. We aim to answer questions that are directly relevant to patients and clinicians: Who will develop a complicated disease course? Who benefits from early advanced treatment? How can we monitor the disease more gently? How can AI and machine learning improve the assessment of endoscopy and ultrasound? And how can we use clinical, imaging and biological data to select the right treatment for the right patient at the right time?

Vision

Our vision is to be a leading international centre for clinical and translational IBD research. We aim to contribute new knowledge, new technologies and improved treatment strategies that can improve prognosis and quality of life for patients with IBD.

This page also includes links to the centre’s publications and to researchers affiliated with CPH-IBD.