On-going 

Approximately 0.7% of Canadians are diagnosed with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), which consists of Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. In Canada, IBD costs the healthcare system over $1 billion per year. Because ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease are chronic, incurable diseases typically contracted during youth, the number of people afflicted by IBD continues to steadily rise in Canada. The goal of the proposed project is to prepare Canada’s healthcare system to meet the challenges that patients with IBD and society will face over the next decade from the rising burden of IBD. We address this challenge by building statistical models that predict the future needs to care for patients with IBD. This research facilitates the implementation of innovations in healthcare delivery to improve the quality of care for patients with IBD. This research program is a partnership with Crohn’s and Colitis Canada, and Alberta Health Service’s Digestive Health Strategic Clinical Network.