Center for Pediatric IBD and Celiac Disease Clinical Trials and Research

Clinical research is critical to increasing our understanding of the causes of pediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) and Celiac Disease and for developing new treatments. Children are not small adults–they are a unique population with distinct developmental and physiological differences from adults. Pediatric clinical research is needed to 1) understand the root causes of pediatric IBD and celiac disease, 2) developing treatment strategies specifically for children and adolescents, and 3) making medical treatments safer for children. Successful pediatric clinical research studies have the potential to create new standards of care, new therapeutic and treatment options, and meaningfully improve the lives of children with IBD and celiac disease.

The Stanford Medicine Children's Health Center for IBD and Celiac Disease is advancing the care of children with IBD and celiac disease everywhere through research. Composed of leading gastroenterologists and health care specialists, our Center integrates state-of-the-art interdisciplinary clinical care with cross-cutting innovative research to meaningfully improve the lives of children and adolescents affected by IBD and Celiac Disease. Our research is designed to improve the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of IBD and Celiac Disease in children, as well as advance the current knowledge of these diseases.

Our investigative efforts focus on the following areas of interest:

  • Developing noninvasive techniques to monitor disease
  • Investigating environmental factors in the development and course of IBD and Celiac Disease
  • Evaluating how psychosocial support for children and families affects symptom management and emotional well-being
  • Studying the impact of integrative GI therapies on disease management and quality of life
  • Learning how to create the most effective personalized pharmacotherapy (medication) plans by studying how drugs and the body affect each other
  • Exploring how we can change the health care system to improve care for children with IBD and Celiac Disease
  • Discovering ways to use nutritional therapies to manage Crohn’s Disease and Ulcerative Colitis.

You and your child can participate in clinical studies at Stanford University School of Medicine. Many of our studies bring children, families, clinicians, and researchers together to collaborate as equal and reciprocal contributors to produce new knowledge to improve health care and health outcomes. Talk with your provider about joining the most suitable active study that excites you. Feel free to also contact us at IBDCeliac@stanfordchildrens.org.

Research studies

Current studies

Your child has the opportunity to participate in clinical studies and to benefit from research advances. Many of our studies bring children, families, clinicians, and researchers together to collaborate as equal and reciprocal contributors to produce information (outcomes), knowledge (insights and/or formal research), and expertise to improve health care and health outcomes. Talk with your provider about joining the most suitable active study that excites you.

New methods of imaging in IBD. Ongoing assessment of predictability of disease activity using contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) compared with standard colonoscopic and MRI evaluations.

COMBINE study through IMPROVECARENOW. Stanford Medicine Children’s Health represents Northern California in the Clinical Outcomes of Methotrexate Binary treatment with infliximab or adalimumab in a practice study that looks at the outcomes of combination therapy (methotrexate plus infliximab or adalimumab) versus monotherapy in pediatric Crohn’s.

PRODUCE study through IMPROVECARENOW. Stanford Medicine Children’s Health is one of a few centers across the nation participating in the PRODUCE study—the first diet intervention study using a unique, scientific approach that compares the effectiveness of a strict versus a modified version of the specific carbohydrate diet (SCD).

The SCRUMPTIOUS (Specific Carbohydrate Diet Curriculum—Patient and Caretaker’s Outlooks) Study was completed in summer 2020 and will serve as a pilot project to show how a curriculum combining didactics and a teaching kitchen will impact patients’ and caretakers’ perspectives on implementing SCD for pediatric patients with IBD. Learn more about SCRUMPTIOUS >

Investigation of positive psychological outcomes in teens and young adults with IBD. A onetime survey in collaboration with IMPROVECARENOW to study the impact of positive psychological states like mindfulness and self-compassion on disease-related outcomes.

Crohn’s Exposome in collaboration with the Snyder Lab in the Department of Genetics. The study aims to identify and correlate potential environmental exposures that may contribute to the development and progression of Crohn’s disease. We will enroll patients and family members who are at least 8 years old with and without Crohn’s disease. Enroll by emailing: CrohnsExposome@list.stanford.edu.

Additional current studies:

  • Temporal co-occurrence and risk associations of children and adults with IBD to develop acute and chronic pancreatitis.
  • Intestinal immune and epithelial dysregulation in chronic pancreatitis.
  • In vitro epithelial-immune organoid model system of IBD.
  • Dysbiosis and Bile Acid Composition in Pediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease Patients with Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis.
  • Retrospective study on the disease phenotype of South Asian Children with IBD.
  • Determining the Role of the Appendix in Pediatric Ulcerative Colitis.
  • Children and Young Adults with Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Celiac Disease: A Descriptive Analysis.

Completed studies

Patient-reported outcomes in IBD. Screening tools that assessed symptoms of depression, anxiety, pain, medical nonadherence, and other important IBD-related outcomes.

Mindfulness-based virtual reality (MBVR) for IBD. Six-minute virtual reality experience, in conjunction with Stanford Medicine Children’s Health’s CHARIOT Program, for kids undergoing various diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. Preliminary studies found that MBVR decreased acute pain and anxiety.

Yoga pilot study. Patients participated in three yoga sessions, then employed a yoga app to use at home. Focus group feedback revealed that the majority felt empowered to control stress with yoga.