May 28, 2015
11 am to 12 pm EDT

Sponsored by

Webinar Description:

Crohn’s disease (CD) and Ulcerative Colitis (UC), collectively known as IBD, affect up to 500 per 100,000 individuals in the US, with a significant financial burden estimated at over $1.7 billion/year. Currently, there are no curative therapies available for IBD, only treatments intended to achieve and maintain remission from active flares of inflammation.

As the prevalence of IBD increases, there is an urgency to understand the underlying pathobiology and for researchers to develop new targets and potential therapies to treat/cure the condition. The use of predictive animal models that accurately replicate the human disease state are essential to this process.

This webinar discusses several sophisticated pre-clinical animal models of IBD. Included in this discussion are both the classical, chemically-induced, models, as well as more novel approaches to modeling IBD using immunological based methods (adoptive transfer). We will also discuss novel approaches that can be used to provide clinically relevant and actionable data from the aforementioned disease models.

Learning Objectives:

• Understand the Clinical Status of IBD and the Current Diagnostic / Therapeutic Approaches
• Discuss Clinically Relevant Animal Models of Colitis

Speakers:

Gregory D. Lyng, Ph.D.

Partner, Chief Operating Officer

Biomodels, LLC

Dr. Lyng is responsible for the oversight of all of Biomodels' preclinical research programs. Additionally, he works closely with Biomodels' clients to ensure proper study design and utilization of the most appropriate and clinically relevant models of disease in which to test potential therapeutics. Dr. Lyng's scientific expertise lies in the areas of inflammatory disease, cancer supportive care, and diseases of the central nervous system. Since joining Biomodels in 2007, he has been instrumental in the expansion of both the number and clinical translatability of the disease models offered by Biomodels. Dr. Lyng received his Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences from the University at Albany School of Public Health and his B.S. in Neuroscience from St. Lawrence University.

Dominic R. Beal, Ph.D.

Scientist

Biomodels, LLC

Dr. Beal joined Biomodels in 2013 after completing his doctoral studies at Boston University School of Medicine, where he studied the role of macrophage phenotypes in the immuno-pathology of asthma. He previously lived in England where he received his MSc in the immunology of infectious disease from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, studying the effects of malaria-schistosomiasis co-infections on dendritic cell function, and his MA from Trinity Hall at the University of Cambridge. Dr. Beal's main areas of interest are immune cell interactions and the mechanisms underlying the generation and manipulation of immune responses by pathogens and disease states