Clean-Up on IL-23: Integrating the Science of Inflammatory Targets into Treatment Decision-making in IBD

Maria T. Abreu, MD is a Gastroenterologist who specializes in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). She completed her medical degree at the University of Miami, Miller School of Medicine. Her postdoctoral training included an internship and residency in medicine at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, and a clinical and research fellowship in gastroenterology at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Dr. Abreu is the Director of the Crohn’s and Colitis Center, Professor of Medicine, and Professor of Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine in Miami, Florida.

Dr. Abreu has more than 20 years of leadership experience in basic, translational, and clinical research and mentoring. She was elected to the American Society for Clinical Investigation in 2010 and, in 2018, to the Association of American Physicians (AAP). She completed a three-year term as Chair of the International Organization for the Study of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IOIBD) in 2022. In 2019, she was elected Councilor-at-Large of the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) Governing Board for a term of three years. Most recently, she is President-Elect of the AGA, on the path to becoming President in 2024. She will be the fifth woman and first Latina to hold this position.

Dr. Abreu is a recipient of the 2019 Sherman Prize by The Bruce and Cynthia Sherman Charitable Foundation, which recognizes outstanding achievements in IBD. In 2020, she received the Mentoring Award from the Immunology, Microbiology, and Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IMIBD) section of the AGA. In the Fall of 2020, she received the Healio’s Lifetime Disruptor Award. This award goes to a gastroenterologist or hepatologist who consistently pushed the gastroenterology field forward through innovative treatments, practice management, patient care, or research. She is the 30th alumnus inducted into the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine Hall of Fame. Dr. Abreu is frequently invited as a speaker (in English and Spanish) at symposia on basic science and clinical topics all over the world. She has authored more than 200 peer-reviewed articles, books, chapters, and reviews.

David T. Rubin, MD, FACG, AGAF, FACP, FASGE, FRCP (Edinburgh) is the Joseph B. Kirsner Professor of Medicine, a Professor of Pathology, Chief of the Section of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, and Director of the Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) Center at the University of Chicago Medicine in Chicago, Illinois. Dr. Rubin earned a medical degree with honors at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine in Chicago, Illinois and completed his residency in internal medicine and fellowships in gastroenterology and clinical medical ethics at the University of Chicago in Chicago, Illinois, where he served as Chief Resident and Chief Fellow. He also serves as Associate Faculty at the MacLean Center for Clinical Medical Ethics, Associate Investigator at the University of Chicago Comprehensive Cancer Center, and is a member of the University of Chicago Committee on Clinical Pharmacology and Pharmacogenomics. He is the chair of the National Scientific Advisory Committee of the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation, where he also serves as a Board of Trustees member. Dr. Rubin is the deputy chair of the Executive Committee of the International Organization for the Study of Inflammatory Bowel Disease. Prior to these appointments, he served as the Director of the Fellowship in Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition at the University of Chicago for 11 years. In 2018, Dr. Rubin completed the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health Leadership Development Course for Physicians.

Dr. Rubin is a Fellow of the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA), the American College of Gastroenterology (ACG), the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ASGE), the American College of Physicians (ACP), and the Royal College of Physicians (Edinburgh). He is on the Board of Trustees for the ACG. Among numerous awards and honors, Dr. Rubin was chosen by his peers as a member of Best Doctors (recognized for superior clinical ability) and America’s Top Physicians (gastroenterology). Additionally, he twice received the ACG’s Governor’s Award of Excellence in Clinical Research (2003 and 2013), and the UChicago Postgraduate Teaching Award in recognition of significant contributions for fellowship education (2006). In 2012, he received the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation’s Rosenthal Award, a national leadership award bestowed upon a volunteer who has contributed in an indisputable way to the quality of life of patients and families. He has previously served as an Associate Editor of the journal Gastroenterology and Editor-in-Chief of the ACG On-Line Education Universe. In 2020, Dr. Rubin received the Sherman Prize for Excellence in Crohn’s and Colitis.

Dr. Rubin is an editor of a best-selling book Curbside Consultation in IBD, now in its 3^rd edition, was an associate editor of the 11th edition and is senior editor of the upcoming 12^th edition of Sleisenger and Fordtran’s Gastrointestinal and Liver Disease, and an author or coauthor of over 500 articles on treatment and management of IBD, cancer in IBD and novel paradigms, as well as the first author of the 2019 ACG Guidelines for ulcerative colitis. His current research is in the area of novel approaches to monitoring of IBD (wearables and point of care intestinal ultrasound), prevention of progressive complications from uncontrolled inflammation, and a variety of collaborative and translational studies related to the causes of IBD and its complications. His H index is 74. He is also a featured media contact for issues related to IBD, appearing on satellite radio, television, print media and maintains a popular and verified twitter feed @IBDMD with over 20,000 followers.