Last week I talked about how researchers had uncovered a new genetic mechanism that could explain why some people develop inflammatory bowel diseases like Ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s. The discovery by a six-member Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) Genetics Consortium of a genetic risk factor for IBD was reported in Science Express, the online publication of the journal Science. It may lead to new understanding of the disease process and the development of new treatments to fight the disease.

• Dr. John Rioux, associate professor of medicine at the Université de Montréal and director of the Laboratory in Genetics and Genomic Medicine of Inflammation at the Montreal Heart Institute and one of the Canadian principal investigators. He is also visiting scientist of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard and holder of the Canada research chair in Genetics and Genomic Medicine of Inflammation.