Sanford J. Grossman Charitable Trust Pledges $3 Million to Create Center for Integrative Studies in Inflammatory Bowel Disease at Mount Sinai
The Sanford J. Grossman Charitable Trust, founded by renowned economist and philanthropist Sanford J. Grossman, PhD, has committed $3 million to establish the Dr. Sanford J. Grossman Center for Integrative Studies in Inflammatory Bowel Disease.
The Sanford J. Grossman Charitable Trust, founded by renowned economist and philanthropist Sanford J. Grossman, PhD, has committed $3 million to establish the Dr. Sanford J. Grossman Center for Integrative Studies in Inflammatory Bowel Disease at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. The Center will focus on creating personalized medicine for treatment of Crohn's disease, with the overarching goal of understanding and predicting disease progression.
Crohn's Disease, a chronic inflammatory disorder of the bowel first described by Mount Sinai gastroenterologist Burrill B. Crohn, MD, affects nearly 700,000 people in the United States according to the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of America. Over time persistent inflammation can lead to bowel damage and create complications such as strictures, a narrowing section of the intestine that can lead to loss of function, reduce the quality of a patient's life and increase the need for surgical resection.
"Mount Sinai has a large and unique data set on patients: clinical symptoms and history, pathology reports on resected gut tissue, genomics and family history, and radiology," said Dr. Grossman. "My hope is that the integration and analysis of this data will enable a better understanding of the manifestations and natural histories of Crohn's Disease, and with that knowledge, therapies will be developed to beneficially alter the natural course of the disease. At the very least, I hope that there will be a better understanding of the biological processes that lead to various types of stricture formation, and some suggestions as to how strictures can be prevented," said Dr. Grossman.
"As leaders in IBD research, we appreciate the Sanford J. Grossman Charitable Trust's generous gift that will open a new area of investigation in Crohn's disease and help to provide a completely innovative approach to studying this chronic illness," says Dennis S. Charney, MD, Anne and Joel Ehrenkranz Dean of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and President for Academic Affairs for the Mount Sinai Health System.
Specifically, the Sanford J. Grossman Charitable Trust has committed $1 million, with an additional $2M to be received once the Center has reached milestones detailed in the agreement.
"There remains an enormous variability among patients as to who will develop conditions relating to IBD and their corresponding course of medical therapies," said Judy Cho, MD, Ward-Coleman Professor of Translational Genetics and Medicine and Vice-Chair of Translational Genetics and Gastroenterology, and the new Grossman Center's Director at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. "We are very grateful for Dr. Grossman's donation, which will fund this unique, integrative team and catalyze new research that will help us to more precisely understand individual patients with Crohn's disease and how to tailor therapies most effectively," said Dr. Cho.
"Dr. Grossman's magnificent generosity will enable an ideal collaboration among some of the nation's leading basic research scientists and clinician scientists in IBD, to distinguish different Crohn's disease types to better understand the disease course and selection of personalized therapies. It is the ideal paradigm of translational research," said Asher Kornbluth, MD, Clinical Professor of Medicine and Gastroenterology at the Icahn School of Medicine.
The Center will bring together a multidisciplinary group that will work to determine the fundamental mechanisms of intestinal inflammation and cellular differentiation and hypertrophy leading to formation of strictures in Crohn's disease. A team of investigators comprised of pathologists, radiologists, geneticists, immunologists and gastroenterologists will focus on more precise pathologic and radiologic evaluation, improved tissue banking systems, genetic and cellular analyses, and the integration of basic science and clinical discoveries.
About the Mount Sinai Health System
Mount Sinai Health System is one of the largest academic medical systems in the New York metro area, with more than 43,000 employees working across eight hospitals, over 400 outpatient practices, nearly 300 labs, a school of nursing, and a leading school of medicine and graduate education. Mount Sinai advances health for all people, everywhere, by taking on the most complex health care challenges of our time — discovering and applying new scientific learning and knowledge; developing safer, more effective treatments; educating the next generation of medical leaders and innovators; and supporting local communities by delivering high-quality care to all who need it.
Through the integration of its hospitals, labs, and schools, Mount Sinai offers comprehensive health care solutions from birth through geriatrics, leveraging innovative approaches such as artificial intelligence and informatics while keeping patients’ medical and emotional needs at the center of all treatment. The Health System includes approximately 7,300 primary and specialty care physicians; 13 joint-venture outpatient surgery centers throughout the five boroughs of New York City, Westchester, Long Island, and Florida; and more than 30 affiliated community health centers. We are consistently ranked by U.S. News & World Report's Best Hospitals, receiving high "Honor Roll" status, and are highly ranked: No. 1 in Geriatrics and top 20 in Cardiology/Heart Surgery, Diabetes/Endocrinology, Gastroenterology/GI Surgery, Neurology/Neurosurgery, Orthopedics, Pulmonology/Lung Surgery, Rehabilitation, and Urology. New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai is ranked No. 12 in Ophthalmology. U.S. News & World Report’s “Best Children’s Hospitals” ranks Mount Sinai Kravis Children's Hospital among the country’s best in several pediatric specialties.
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