The overarching goal of this project is to define and validate blood-based biomarkers that precede either the onset of Crohn’s disease (CD) or its post-operative recurrence (POR), enabling early risk prediction, mechanistic insight, and targeted prevention. We hypothesize that CD has a prolonged preclinical phase marked by molecular perturbations detectable in asymptomatic individuals before clinical disease develops or re-emerges after surgery.
Research Questions:
– What blood-based proteomic, metabolomic, glycomic, and antibody signatures predict future CD onset and POR?
– Can multi-omics integration uncover shared mechanistic pathways that trigger CD initiation or recurrence?
– When do these biomarkers emerge in high-risk individuals?
Objectives:
– Identify and validate pre-disease and pre-recurrence biomarkers using well-characterized cohorts, including the GEM cohort and a post-operative CD cohort.
– Integrate multi-omics datasets to identify convergent pathogenic networks underlying CD initiation and recurrence.
Scientific Rationale:
CD is a chronic inflammatory condition with complex pathogenesis. Most research focuses on established disease, missing the critical early window when pathogenic mechanisms emerge. Leveraging >2,000 pre-diagnostic blood samples across multiple cohorts, this project uses harmonized multi-omics platforms and integrative analyses to detect early biomarkers and define the sequence of molecular events preceding CD onset and POR. These findings will inform risk stratification, identify therapeutic targets, and lay the groundwork for precision prevention strategies in CD.