Pediatric gastroenterology

Dr Andrew Day

The gastroenterology research group led by Dr Andrew Day is based at the Sydney Children’s Hospital, Randwick. The overall objectives of the research group are to delineate interactions occurring at the gastrointestinal epithelial border between the host and the environment, including description of mucosal inflammatory responses, and to ascertain the relative importance of selected host factors in determining outcomes of gastro-intestinal inflammatory disease. More specifically, the group is utilizing a variety of complementary in vitro and in vivo models to define colonic epithelial cell and mucosal events, and inflammatory responses in the setting of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD): a condition where interactions between the epithelium and the environment (e.g. food and luminal bacteria) are critical pathogenetic factors. Focused research themes include defining epithelial responses to inflammatory stimuli and to modulation of these responses with therapeutic intervention, investigations of intestinal flora patterns in IBD, and investigations of novel markers of gut inflammation. Related work looks at the development of flora in early life, the impact of probiotics upon gut health and the interactions between gut inflammation and bone health.