McGovern Lab

The McGovern Lab studies the effects of genetic variation in the inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). Also called the Translational Genomics Group (TGG), the McGovern Lab is focused on identifying genetic variants associated with both Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis and then investigating their functional effects and also their role in determining disease behavior and natural history, including response to therapy. In addition to gene discovery in Northern European ancestry populations, the McGovern Lab focuses on gene discovery in African-American, Hispanic, Ashkenazi Jewish and East Asian populations. These studies are designed, in part, to discover new therapies for IBD as well as to enhance our ability to apply a personalized approach to managing our patients in the clinic and to ensure that all populations benefit from these advances. The McGovern Lab also investigates the role of the microbiome in IBD and particularly the relationship between genetic variation in the host (human) and microbiome-related changes. The TGG is an integral part of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases and International IBD Genetics Consortia as well as a member of the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation Microbiome Initiative and The Human Microbiome Project 2. Work in the McGovern Lab includes significant statistical and computational biology components, and the lab is developing novel methods for integrating multi-omic datasets together with clinical metadata.