Why We Walk
Why Should You Walk for Hope?
Faster diagnosis. Improved treatments. Revolutionary research.
Walk for Hope creates breakthroughs at CHOP’s Center for Pediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) through 40+ active research studies. This event is creating new hope for children with this painful disease. But we can’t do it alone.
Did you know?
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More than 100,000 young Americans under the age of 20 live with inflammatory bowel disease.
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The Center for Pediatric IBD at CHOP annually treats more than 2,400 young patients.
Breakthrough research
The past few years have produced an explosion of knowledge about the genetics of IBD and expanded treatment options. Our expert gastroenterologists, immunologists, geneticists and researchers are actively working together to evaluate human DNA and the microbiome with the goal of developing the next innovative treatments for individuals with IBD. Below are some of the breakthrough research studies funded by Walk for Hope.
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Using genetics to develop treatments
The Very Early Onset Inflammatory Bowel Disease research program is at the forefront of providing precision medicine for infants and young children with IBD. The VEO-IBD team uses cutting-edge technology to understand the genetic causes of IBD in this rare – but rapidly growing – group of IBD patients. Our team’s discoveries have led to innovative treatment approaches for children not previously used before and personalized medicine for thousands of children with VEO-IBD. -
Tracking real-world patient outcomes
There are a growing number of new treatment options available for pediatric patients with IBD and VEO-IBD. At CHOP, our IBD center is actively researching many of these treatments with an eye towards bringing the very best options to our patients. We have created a Pediatric IBD Therapies Registry as a way of cataloging each new medication or therapy, analyzing how effective each treatment is in a wide variety of pediatric patients, as well as tracking patients’ progress and real-world outcomes. -
Learning how nutrition impacts IBD in youth
Optimal nutrition for children with pediatric IBD is critical to their long-term health and wellness. At CHOP, we have prioritized the use of nutritional therapies in children with IBD and continue to study how diet can be used to improve patients’ symptoms, disease activity and long-term health. CHOP is collaborating with Seattle Children’s Hospital in the multi-center Smoothie Study examining the effects an exclusive enteral nutritional therapy of blended whole food may have in patients with Crohn’s disease.
Our ambassadors
Patient ambassadors for Walk for Hope have a big job to do. It’s up to them to represent the millions of children living with inflammatory bowel disease. As they share their stories, they help the world understand the toll that IBD takes and why it’s worth supporting institutions like Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.