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CCFA pilot research program yields 'groundbreaking' discoveries in IBD
The Broad Medical Research Program, a high-risk and high-return pilot research program funded by the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of America, has produced “groundbreaking” new understanding of inflammatory bowel diseases, according to a press release.
“The [Broad Medical Research Program-Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America] is important because it provides funding for potentially breakthrough IBD research that others aren’t willing to fund,” Caren Heller, MD, MBA, chief scientific officer of the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of America (CCFA), said in the release. “Our approach for this program is different in that we fund early-stage investigation. Innovative ideas need financial support for early testing if they are to ultimately lead to effective treatment, diagnosis and prevention of IBD.”
Caren Heller
The Broad Medical Research Program (BMRP) was founded in 2001 by Eli and Edythe Broad’s foundation, which then merged with the CCFA in 2014, the release said. It has expanded since that time to include grant-recipients from 43 countries, with almost 400 investigators awarded grants in the past 12 years, and over $47 million awarded to date, which has subsequently leveraged over $150 million in new IBD research funding.
Throughout its expansion, the program has maintained its support for pilot research “that enables scientists to test initial ideas and generate the preliminary data required to qualify for larger grants from other organizations, such as the [NIH],” the release said. “Because it’s based on the belief that great ideas can come from non-traditional sources, the BMRP-CCFA appeals to scientists from outside the IBD research community, such as immunologists, geneticists and those studying the human microbiome. Both basic and clinical investigators, scientists not currently working in IBD, and interdisciplinary teams are encouraged to apply.” According to the release, the application process requires a simple letter of interest, with no deadlines, a rapid review process and funding within 3 months upon approval.
Herbert “Skip” Virgin, MD, PhD, the Edward Mallinckrodt Professor and head of the department of pathology and immunology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, has received two grants from BMRP-CCFA in recent years, the release said.
“I'm an infectious disease immunologist, but Broad funding has made me an IBD researcher,” Virgin said in the release. “These grants allowed me and my team to test ideas that aren’t already out there. I can't overstate the importance of this type of funding not tied to current dogma.”
Research from his laboratory resulted in a new concept for how intestinal viruses affect IBD, which was published in Cell and Nature, and prompted continuation funding from the NIH.
His most recently-funded study demonstrated that viruses can affect levels and diversity in human gut microbiota. These findings could better the understanding of onset and progression of IBD, according to the release, “and lead to new ways of using bacteriophages to control intestinal bacteria, which is known to influence intestinal inflammation.”
“Our exploration of IBD patients’ enteric virome (ie, the collection of viruses in the human gastrointestinal tract) is entirely new and could not have happened without the high-risk investment made by the BMRP-CCFA,” Virgin said in the release. “Now we have the evidence required to attract funding to test our hypotheses using animal models, and move forward toward establishing proof of the role viruses may be playing in IBD. Our research could lead to effective treatment of IBD by manipulating a patient’s virome. While that is several future studies and perhaps years away, Broad funding has allowed us to take the first, crucial step toward a new way of understanding IBD and, someday, bettering the lives of patients.”