A multidisciplinary team of physicians at University of Minnesota Children’s Hospital, Fairview worked together to launch the University of Minnesota Pediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center. It is the first of its kind in the Upper Midwest. The center concentrates on the evaluation and treatment of children with inflammatory bowel diseases and on basic and clinical research.

In the United States, approximately 1 million people have inflammatory bowel disease (IBD); for at least 25 percent of them, the disease began in childhood. The Pediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center is a collaboration of experts from gastroenterology, hepatology and nutrition, clinical nutrition, surgery, psychology, internal medicine gastroenterology, endocrinology, dermatology, ophthalmology, radiology, rheumatology and spirituality and healing.

The cause of and cure for IBD are unknown, and a lifetime of care is required. However, IBD can be managed through early intervention and proper care. “The goal of the center is to build a strong partnership with referring providers so that patients can be seen quickly and efficiently to improve their quality of life,” says Boris Sudel, M.D., pediatric gastroenterologist, director, Pediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center.

For more information about the Pediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center at University of Minnesota Children’s Hospital, Fairview, call 612-624-1133 or e-mail pIBD@umn.edu.