This page is a research page. For clinical information, please view our gastroenterology, liver, OA-TOF service page on the Sydney Children's Hospitals Network website.
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The Paediatric Gastroenterology Research Group is the research arm of the gastroenterology clinical service based at the Sydney Children’s Hospital, Randwick. We work closely with the University of NSW, Discipline of Paediatrics and Child Health. We conduct basic and clinical research on diseases such as irritable bowel syndrome, inflammatory bowel disease, eosinophilic oesophagitis and necrotising enterocolitis.
Objectives
Our current aim is to try and understand what may be causing diseases in each individual. To achieve this, we analyse their microbiome, immune response and cell response to specific bacteria. Once we can reliably identify the factors that cause disease in the individuals, we can tailor personalised therapy for each patient.
Impact
- We grow miniature guts, or organoids, in our laboratories from patient biopsies. This allows us to test how a patient would respond to certain treatments without directly administering them.
- Our research identified specific changes in gut bacteria that cause gastrointestinal inflammation that are unique and different for each person.