A UAB Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) Center was approved by the UA System Board of Trustees today, with plans for it to grow into a regional resource. Ernesto R. Drelichman, M.D., assistant professor of surgery and a gastrointestinal surgeon, will serve as the center’s initial director.

Posted on September 16, 2005 at 2:55 p.m.

BIRMINGHAM, AL — A UAB Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) Center was approved by the UA System Board of Trustees today, with plans for it to grow into a regional resource. Ernesto R. Drelichman, M.D., assistant professor of surgery and a gastrointestinal surgeon, will serve as the center’s initial director.

The Board noted that an estimated 1 million Americans have chronic inflammatory bowel diseases, and that there are no other multidisciplinary IBD centers in the Southeast.

The IBD Center plans to integrate several specialties and their clinical, educational and research resources to provide opportunities to patients, scientists and health care providers.