#52 Inflammatory Bowel Disease in 2026: Treat-to-Target, Multidisciplinary Care, and What’s Next with Prof. dr. Jean-Frederic Colombel

In this episode we sit down with Professor Jean-Frédéric Colombel, director of the Susan and Leonard Feinstein Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center at Mount Sinai (New York).

We break down the essentials of Crohn’s disease vs ulcerative colitis, why diagnosis is often delayed, and how clinicians use biomarkers, endoscopy, and imaging to detect and monitor disease. Prof. Colombel dives into the interplay of genetics and environment, including diet, antibiotics, smoking, and early-life factors shaping the microbiome and explains how risk stratification guides treatment decisions.

We also explore modern therapy: when to escalate beyond 5-ASA, how to think about biologics, and why aiming for deep remission (not just symptom control) is changing outcomes. Finally, we discuss multidisciplinary care models, inequities in access to specialist IBD care, and where precision medicine may take us next—potentially even identifying at-risk patients before symptoms start.

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Timestamps:

0:15 Introduction to Inflammatory Bowel Diseases

1:19 Understanding Inflammatory Bowel Diseases

4:46 Environmental Factors and Diet

7:02 The Role of Smoking and Appendectomy

9:10 Diagnostics and Early Detection