Digestive disorders are common but complicated in human beings, which includes inflammatory bowel disease, gastrointestinal cancer, liver cirrhosis, pancreatitis, irritable bowel syndrome and so on. Genetic predisposition, environmental factors and lifestyle play important roles in development and progression of digestive disorders. Emerging evidence suggests an intricate interplay between digestive disorders and other diseases, such as metabolic disorders, depression, etc. However, the pathogenesis of such diseases is still unclear, and the disease progression is variable, which brings a huge economic burden to on families and society. The project is a collaborative effort of multidisciplinary researchers in epidemiology, basic medicine, and clinical medicine to address key questions in digestive disorders: (1) to evaluate potential factors and biomarkers that influence the onset, progression and prognosis; (2) to develop predictive models in disease diagnosis and prognosis; (3) to explore the relationships between digestive disorders and other diseases, such as metabolic disorders and so on; (4) to identify new genetic variants and candidate genes linked to digestive disorders and phenotypic traits; (5) to elucidate the mechanistic pathways through which candidate genes in specific cell types influence disease progression; (6) to search for potential drug targets, etc. This project will help to explore the pathogenesis and development of digestive disorders, with a view to achieving multilevel prevention, individualised treatment and improved prognosis, as well as alleviating the economic burden on families and society. We plan to complete the project at 36 months, but may apply for extensions based on study findings.
