We are delighted to share that Mr Phil Tozer, Consultant Colorectal Surgeon at St Mark’s Hospital, travelled to the United States at the end of August for the Global Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) Visiting Professorship at the internationally-renowned Cleveland Clinic.
The Cleveland Clinic is one of the largest and most respected medical institutions in the U.S. Their IBD visiting professorship programme brings together top specialists from around the world to present new research and advances in the management of complex inflammatory bowel diseases. The purpose of the programme is to facilitate idea sharing and encourage collaboration between international centres of excellence.
Mr Tozer’s research within the Fistula Research Unit at St Mark’s Hospital focuses on the specialised diagnosis and surgical management of complex disorders affecting the colon, rectum, and anus and their relation to IBD. As a Visiting Professor, he shared his expertise with international clinical colleagues and delivered lectures on Crohn’s
disease, perianal fistulas, and the impact of IBD and IBD surgery on sex.
In addition, Mr Tozer, Consultant Gastroenterologist, Professor Ailsa Hart, and the entire St Mark’s Fistula Research Unit were recognised for their creation and leadership of the TOpClass Consortium. TOpClass—short for Treatment Optimisation and Classification of Perianal Crohn’s Disease—is an international collaboration that brings together world-class IBD experts to advance collective understanding and management of perianal Crohn’s disease.
Perianal Crohn’s disease causes inflammation of the anus and affects nearly 25% of people with Crohn’s disease. It can lead to painful complications such as fistulas, abscesses, and rectal strictures which often require patients to undergo surgery. By bringing together gastroenterology, surgery, radiology and translational science, the TOpClass consortium has developed practical, evidence-based tools to enhance patient care and bring greater consistency to perianal Crohn’s disease research worldwide.
St Mark’s Hospital Foundation is proud to support highly collaborative research like this. Our clinical colleagues partner with scientists and laboratories throughout the UK and specialist hospitals from across the globe to make wide-reaching impacts in the lives of people with bowel disease.
Read more about the research projects we support.