Boston- Pediatric IBD Consortium

I traveled to Boston on Monday and Tuesday of last week. I love Boston. I was only there for Monday afternoon through Tuesday morning. I went to Boston for my first board meeting. I was privileged to be asked to serve as a board member for the Pediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD)Consortium. It was very fun and informative. I felt a bit intimidated by everyone at first. I was the youngest by 15 years. The board consisted of people from lawyers, physicians, CFO's, established bankers, and others. I was the only one on the board that actually has IBD, all the others are parents of children with IBD. Basically this non profit organization is doing research for Crohn's and Ulcerative Colitis to find better treatments and hopefully one day a cure. It was fascinating to learn that there really has been no research done for pediatric IBD, all the funds go to adult research. I am very excited to contribute to this consortium. They are doing a few different research projects. One has to do with the bacteria that grows in the digestive system to see if that has anything to do with the disease. Being a nurse, I get excited about the medical and research aspect of this organization. But I also get excited to bring more awareness to this disease so that others know about it and can be better educated.

I am uncertain of my exact role. But I hope to contribute personal experience and enthusiasm to this board. I unfortunately do not have the monetary contribution like many of them do, but hopefully one day will be able to contribute more. I truly believe the cure is out there. There are 12 brilliant pediatric gastroenterologists in this consortium working to find the cause and cure to these diseases. I am excited to be a part of this thrilling project.