Digestive Diseases Research
More than 70 years of discovery, innovation and impact.
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Conducting groundbreaking studies
One of the division’s greatest strengths is its vibrant community of talented investigators working across basic, translational, clinical, and population sciences. Combined with UCLA’s expansive research ecosystem, this creates exceptional opportunities for collaboration both within the division and across disciplines throughout the university and beyond.
Shaping the future of microbiome research worldwide
The Goodman-Luskin Microbiome Center at UCLA is a leading center for innovative, translational, and interdisciplinary microbiome research. Its investigators study the trillions of microorganisms that inhabit the human gut and their impact on gastrointestinal, immune, metabolic, neurological, and psychiatric diseases.
Pioneering research on metabolic liver diseases
Dr. Bishuang Cai heads a research team that is focusing on endocytic membrane trafficking in MASH and MASH-related cardiometabolic diseases, most often through human genetic studies.
Research news
Digestive Disease Week Abstracts 2026
One in four transplant hepatologists shows signs of unhealthy alcohol use
Dr. Arpan A. Patel said the findings underscore the need to create systemic support structures to encourage hepatologists to reduce their alcohol intake. Among the recommendations in the study: normalizing access to physician wellness and treatment programs; confidential access to counseling and alcohol use disorder treatments; and reducing stigma about attending state physician health wellness programs, which Patel said have shown success.
Kids with autism show altered gut microbiome-brain interactions
A collaborative study by scientists from UCLA and USC may have unlocked new information about autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and the gut microbiome. Changes in the relative amounts of such metabolites may interfere with the signaling between the gut and brain, influencing emotions and associated behaviors.
Chronic stress and obesity work together to accelerate pancreatic cancer development and growth
A new study led by UCLA investigators suggests that chronic stress and an unhealthy diet may work together to fuel the early development of pancreatic cancer, shedding light on how lifestyle factors contribute to one of the deadliest malignancies.
$3M NIH grant to improve follow-up care for colorectal cancer screening in underserved populations
The new study will focus on increasing follow-up care for underserved patients who receive abnormal results from stool-based fecal immunochemical tests (FIT).
$9.5M grant to study relationship between polyphenol intake, Alzheimer’s prevention & brain-gut-microbiome system
Polyphenols — a key component of Mediterranean diets and found in berries, grapes, green tea, and cocoa — may delay cognitive decline.
UCLA researchers tackle challenges in Barrett’s esophagus (BE) diagnosis and management
Drs. V. Raman Muthusamy and Jennifer Kolb are conducting research addressing issues that include which patients to screen, how to identify the condition in a more timely manner, and how to better predict which patients found to have BE will progress to esophageal cancer and thus should be treated immediately with endoscopic eradication techniques.
UCLA Health is the only institution awarded two NIH SCORE grants
Science is still ignoring women's health, but UCLA Health researchers are fixing that. “Men and women could have different disease pathogenesis, different risk levels and different responses to treatments,” said Lin Chang, MD, co-principal investigator. “You really have to consider sex as a biological variable.”