Message from Norman Rosenblum, INMD Scientific Director
December 2020
2020 has been a year unlike any other—a year of great challenges. However, with these challenges have come opportunities for learning and growth. The arrival of COVID-19 raised urgent questions for clinicians and for patients with chronic diseases, including those with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Knowledge gaps included the need to better understand the degree to which IBD predisposes patients to increased risk of serious illness due to COVID-19 and how best to manage therapy during the pandemic.
To address these knowledge gaps, the IBD research community harnessed existing research infrastructure to collect data that was rapidly analyzed and reviewed. Researchers, clinicians and staff from health charities and health professional organizations, including Crohn’s and Colitis Canada, Canadian Digestive Health Foundation and the Canadian Association of Gastroenterology developed new resources to reach clinicians, patients (including youth and teenagers), and caregivers at a time when in-person meetings and appointments were not possible. This pool of knowledge resources in the form of webinars, podcasts, newsletters, and web articles can be widely accessed, allowing the sharing of evidence-based information with different audiences. This information has been vital to guide the decisions of clinicians and patients, to support virtual care, and as a source of information for the public.
During the pandemic, we have been reminded that while information has never been so freely available as it is now, there remains a critical need for timely, reliable, and accessible evidence-based sources of health information. The pandemic has created an urgent need to mobilize knowledge, which has catalyzed innovation and cooperation, and the research community must now consider how to continue to nurture and develop these pathways collaboratively.
I am sure that 2020 is a year that we will all be happy to see in our rear-view mirrors! Wishing you and your families’ good health and happiness this holiday season, and all the best in 2021!
Dr. Norman Rosenblum, MD, FRCPC
Scientific Director
CIHR Institute of Nutrition, Metabolism and Diabetes
- Date modified: