Over 300,000 Canadians live with chronic inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), including Crohn’s and ulcerative colitis. These conditions are complicated and challenging to manage. Although diet significantly affects disease outcomes, each person’s gut microbiome, made up of trillions of microorganisms that affect digestion and inflammation, is highly individualized.
This individuality means that one-size-fits-all dietary strategies often fail to yield consistent results and can make nutritional management of IBD unpredictable.
Rather than relying on one-size-fits-all dietary recommendations, we are working toward personalized microbiome-informed approaches that will match specific types of carbohydrates to individual patients.
Dr. Alain Stintzi, Full Professor, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa
Dr. Alain Stintzi is receiving funding alongside project co-chair Dr. Heather Armstrong from the University of Alberta.
At the heart of this initiative is RapidAIM, a high-throughput platform developed by uOttawa researchers that evaluates how an individual’s gut microbiome responds to a variety of dietary carbohydrates. By combining RapidAIM data with the expertise of teams from uOttawa, the University of Alberta, and partner clinical centers across Canada, the project will lay the groundwork to train an artificial intelligence (AI) model capable of providing personalized dietary guidance.
This collaboration seeks to move beyond generic nutritional advice toward individualized recommendations, aiming to improve health and quality of life for people living with IBD.
The goal is to provide Canadians with better tools to support their health. We envision this tool as a resource for healthcare providers to integrate microbiome-based dietary guidance into IBD management.
Dr. Alain Stintzi, Full Professor, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa
Dr. Stintzi is also the Director of uOttawa’s School of Pharmaceutical Sciences.
IBD affects roughly 1 % of Canadians, among the highest prevalence rates globally. Current treatments can be expensive, may cause side effects, and do not always prevent disease flare-ups. By providing patients and clinicians with microbiome-based insights into dietary carbohydrate responses, this research could enable nutritional strategies that complement existing therapies and ultimately enhance the quality of life for Canadians living with IBD.
This level of investment reflects our belief that bold ideas, supported by rigorous science and the opportunity to make real-world change, can alter the trajectory of health care and improve lives for Canadians. These projects are tackling pressing challenges that impact Canadians, and we are proud to support homegrown research that could lead to entirely new paradigms in treatment, prevention, and care.
Garfield Mitchell, Chair, Weston Family Foundation