Clinical Trials for Ulcerative Colitis

The NIDDK conducts and supports clinical trials in many diseases and conditions, including digestive diseases. The trials look to find new ways to prevent, detect, or treat disease and improve quality of life.

What are clinical trials for ulcerative colitis?

Clinical trials—and other types of clinical studies—are part of medical research and involve people like you. When you volunteer to take part in a clinical study, you help doctors and researchers learn more about disease and improve health care for people in the future.

Researchers are studying many aspects of ulcerative colitis and other types of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), such as

• genes that are associated with IBD in African Americans
• whether a special diet can alter the bacteria in the large intestine and induce remission in children with ulcerative colitis
• how the immune system controls inflammation in the digestive tract in people with IBD
• new treatments for ulcerative colitis

Find out if clinical studies are right for you.

Watch a video of NIDDK Director Dr. Griffin P. Rodgers explaining the importance of participating in clinical trials.

What clinical studies for ulcerative colitis are looking for participants?

You can view a filtered list of clinical studies on ulcerative colitis that are federally funded, open, and recruiting at www.ClinicalTrials.gov. You can expand or narrow the list to include clinical studies from industry, universities, and individuals; however, the NIH does not review these studies and cannot ensure they are safe. Always talk with your health care provider before you participate in a clinical study.

What have we learned about ulcerative colitis from NIDDK-funded research?

The NIDDK has supported many studies to learn more about ulcerative colitis and other types of IBD. NIDDK-supported research efforts include

• the IBD Genetics Consortium (IBDGC), established in 2002 to identify genes that make some people more likely to develop IBD. The IBDGC, in collaboration with the International IBD Genetics Consortium, has enrolled thousands of people with IBD and identified about 200 regions of the human genome that are associated with risk of IBD.
• the Predicting Response to Standardized Pediatric Colitis Therapy (PROTECT) study, which has identified genetic factors and patient characteristics that may help researchers develop more personalized and effective treatment approaches for children with ulcerative colitis.
• studies through the NIH Integrative Human Microbiome Project, which have examined the relationship between the microbiome and IBD.