Due to the frequency of gastrointestinal diseases such as gastrointestinal cancers and Helicobacter pylori infection in Ardabil province, the Digestive Disease Research Center of Ardabil University of Medical Sciences began its activities in April 2017 with the aim of conducting basic and applied research in the field of gastrointestinal diseases based on community needs.

The digestive Disease Research Center is a group of experts in gastroenterology who specialize in controlling gastrointestinal diseases, through expanding knowledge, epidemiology, diagnostic and treatment methods, and identifying risk factors.

Activities of Digestive Disease Research Center

• Carrying out Persian Cohort plan
• Registration and follow-up of patients with celiac disease
• Registration and follow-up of patients with Inflammatory bowel disease IBD
• Enigma 1 project (Prevalence of H. pylori in people aged 1 to 69 years in Ardabil)
• Performing the Enigma 2 project (examining the prevalence of pre-cancerous lesions in people aged 35 to 69)
• Evaluation of diagnostic accuracy of urea respiratory test using carbon 13 in Ardabil
• Study of General Genomic Survey of Gastric Cancer in Ardabil: A Region with a High Incidence of Gastric Cancer in the World
• Coordinating the implementation of the follow-up phase of Persian cohort study and the implementation of the training workshop scheduled to be held in July.

Research priorities of the center

• Capacity building and expansion of infrastructure to improve the quality and quantity of research projects in the research center
• Dyspepsia
• Achieving the role of Helicobacter pylori in important diseases of the upper gastrointestinal tract
• Molecular and genetic study of Helicobacter pylori in Iran
• Liver disease
• Gastrointestinal diseases transmitted from water and food
• Health system research
• Inflammatory bowel disease IBD - (Crohn’s Disease and Ulcerative Colitis)
• Cellular and molecular studies of gastrointestinal diseases
• Celiac disease
• Gastrointestinal cancers with special attention to the epidemiology and genetics of gastric, esophageal, and colorectal cancers
• Genetic study of gastrointestinal and liver diseases
• Gastrointestinal and liver viruses (Hepatitis B, C, D, E)

Affiliation

Digestive Disease Research Center, Ardabil University of Medical Sciences, Ardabil, Iran