TY - JOUR
T1 - The Israeli IBD Research Nucleus
T2 - collaborative advancements in Israeli IBD research
AU - on behalf of the IIRN Researchers
AU - Dotan, Iris
AU - Ben-Horin, Shomron
AU - Schwartz, Doron
AU - Bar-Yoseph, Haggai
AU - Fischman, Maya
AU - Shen-Orr, Shai S.
AU - Chowers, Yehuda
AU - Odes, Shmuel
AU - Eliakim, Rami
AU - Turner, Dan
AU - Biron, Irit Avni
AU - Banai, Hagar
AU - Ollech, Jacob
AU - Sharar, Tali Fischler
AU - Godny, Lihi
AU - Barkan, Revital
AU - Shakhman, Shelly
AU - Fatal, Sarine Elial
AU - Gik, Tamar Pfeffer
AU - Rabinowitz, Keren
AU - Kedar, Sarit Cohen
AU - Kaboub, Kawsar
AU - Abu-Taha, Hanan
AU - Gophna, Uri
AU - Reshef, Leah
AU - Pauker, Maor
AU - Friedberg, Adi
AU - Ungar, Bella
AU - Haberman, Yael
AU - Lahat, Adi
AU - Carter, Dan
AU - Amitai, Michal
AU - Ukashi, Ophir
AU - Selinger, Limor
AU - Talan-Asher, Adi
AU - Picard, Orit
AU - Fudim, Ella
AU - Yavzori, Miri
AU - Neuman, Sandra
AU - Efroni, Gilat
AU - Braun, Tzipi
AU - Levhar, Nina
AU - Amir, Amnon
AU - Engel, Tal
AU - Tzur, Mai
AU - Albshesh, Ahmad
AU - Levertovsky, Asaf
AU - Klang, Eyal
AU - Goren, Ganit
AU - Sarid, Orly
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s), 2026. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access pages (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage).
PY - 2026/1/1
Y1 - 2026/1/1
N2 - Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) are increasing worldwide, requiring multidisciplinary care and coordinated research infrastructures. Leveraging Israel’s integrated healthcare system with IBD centers of specific and complementary research expertise, a national collaborative consortium was established: the Israeli IBD Research Nucleus (IIRN). In this narrative article, we review a decade of IIRN structure, scientific outputs, and lessons learned. The IIRN included five tertiary academic IBD referral centers across Israel, with expertise in epidemiology, mucosal immunology, diet and microbiome, imaging, and psychosocial care. We summarized the IIRN key activities, findings, and contributions across these domains. Publications (2015–2025) were identified using a structured bibliometric approach and included studies aligned with core research programs of the IIRN. This collaborative consortium has been supported since its inauguration by the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust, providing funding, advice, and partnership. The IIRN provided significant contributions in several domains. It established a population-based nationwide registry (epi-IIRN) that integrates data from the four national health maintenance organizations, enabling studies of disease prevalence, course, comorbidities, and treatment patterns. Prospective cohorts of patients with Crohn’s disease provided longitudinal insights linking multidisciplinary programs, Mediterranean diet and lifestyle, and psychosocial interventions with patient-reported outcomes, inflammatory markers, and microbiome features. Integrating imaging, video-capsule endoscopy, and biomarker assessment informed monitoring strategies and treat-to-target concepts. Exploratory translational work in microbiome, transcriptomics, and therapeutic drug monitoring refined insights regarding treatment response and sequencing. Artificial intelligence applications explored image and report interpretation to predict Crohn’s disease. The IIRN experience illustrates how coordinated national collaborations can leverage epidemiology, prospective cohorts, translational research, and multidisciplinary care programs. This experience highlights both the opportunities and challenges of shared research infrastructure and may inform similar collaborative efforts in other healthcare settings.
AB - Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) are increasing worldwide, requiring multidisciplinary care and coordinated research infrastructures. Leveraging Israel’s integrated healthcare system with IBD centers of specific and complementary research expertise, a national collaborative consortium was established: the Israeli IBD Research Nucleus (IIRN). In this narrative article, we review a decade of IIRN structure, scientific outputs, and lessons learned. The IIRN included five tertiary academic IBD referral centers across Israel, with expertise in epidemiology, mucosal immunology, diet and microbiome, imaging, and psychosocial care. We summarized the IIRN key activities, findings, and contributions across these domains. Publications (2015–2025) were identified using a structured bibliometric approach and included studies aligned with core research programs of the IIRN. This collaborative consortium has been supported since its inauguration by the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust, providing funding, advice, and partnership. The IIRN provided significant contributions in several domains. It established a population-based nationwide registry (epi-IIRN) that integrates data from the four national health maintenance organizations, enabling studies of disease prevalence, course, comorbidities, and treatment patterns. Prospective cohorts of patients with Crohn’s disease provided longitudinal insights linking multidisciplinary programs, Mediterranean diet and lifestyle, and psychosocial interventions with patient-reported outcomes, inflammatory markers, and microbiome features. Integrating imaging, video-capsule endoscopy, and biomarker assessment informed monitoring strategies and treat-to-target concepts. Exploratory translational work in microbiome, transcriptomics, and therapeutic drug monitoring refined insights regarding treatment response and sequencing. Artificial intelligence applications explored image and report interpretation to predict Crohn’s disease. The IIRN experience illustrates how coordinated national collaborations can leverage epidemiology, prospective cohorts, translational research, and multidisciplinary care programs. This experience highlights both the opportunities and challenges of shared research infrastructure and may inform similar collaborative efforts in other healthcare settings.
KW - inflammatory bowel diseases
KW - multidisciplinary teams
KW - translational research
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105046409865
U2 - 10.1177/17562848261463603
DO - 10.1177/17562848261463603
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C2 - 42454214
AN - SCOPUS:105046409865
SN - 1756-283X
VL - 19
JO - Therapeutic Advances in Gastroenterology
JF - Therapeutic Advances in Gastroenterology
ER -