Bo Shen, MD, PhD, is one of the world’s pre-eminent leaders in interventional inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) due to his specialized expertise in treating a wide range of pouch-related disorders. Dr. Shen is the director of the IBD Center at Columbia. He is also the Vice Chair for Innovation in Medicine and Surgery and a Professor of Medicine (in Surgery).

Dr. Shen comes to NewYork-Presbyterian from the Cleveland Clinic, where he served as medical director for the Center of Inflammatory Bowel Diseases, Digestive Disease and Surgery Institute. While there, Dr. Shen established a subspecialty Pouchitis Clinic and Interventional IBD Clinic - the first and largest of its kind in the United States. He also created an IBD Board, modeled after oncology tumor boards, to help manage the most challenging cases with multiple specialists.

A prolific researcher in the field with more than 400 peer-reviewed articles, Dr. Shen is funded by a number of government and philanthropic organizations, including the NIH, American College of Gastroenterology, and the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America.

Columbia University Irving Medical Center

Columbia University Irving Medical Center (CUIMC) is a clinical, research, and educational enterprise located on a campus in northern Manhattan. We are home to four professional colleges and schools that provide global leadership in scientific research, health and medical education, and patient care.

Bo Shen, MD, and Neal LeLeiko, MD, PhD, leaders in caring for adults and children with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), are taking on key roles at VP&S and NewYork-Presbyterian/CUIMC.

 Trichuris Suis Ova Treatment in Left-sided Ulcerative Colitis

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of trichuris suis ova (TSO) in ulcerative colitis (UC). We will look at how TSO affects the body's immune response and if there are related changes in participants' UC.

The cause of UC is not well understood. It is believed to be caused from an abnormal immune response to the normal bacteria that live in the gut (intestines and colon). This response acts as an "attack" on the healthy tissue of the bowel by a person's own immune cells which leads to disease.

It is well known that autoimmune diseases such as IBD, asthma, diabetes, and multiple sclerosis are more common in industrialized, well-developed countries with better sanitation and hygiene, as in the United States. These "cleaner" environments reduce exposure to germs and parasites naturally found in the environment. This reduced exposure may trigger responses in the body that make people more prone to diseases such as UC. People in non-industrialized countries and the tropics, where parasites are common, rarely develop these diseases. This observation has led researchers to want to better understand the relationship between the lack of natural bacteria in the gut and the onset of autoimmune diseases like as UC.

Estimated Enrollment: 120
Study Start Date: November 2013
Estimated Study Completion Date: September 2016
Estimated Primary Completion Date: March 2016 (Final data collection date for primary outcome measure)