The IBD Program at Montefiore Hutchinson Campus, Bronx, NYThe Montefiore Einstein Program for Inflammatory Bowel Diseases offers innovative, multidisciplinary, comprehensive medical and surgical care for patients with inflammatory bowel disease, including Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis.
The IBD Program is a referral center for the care of complex IBD patients, offering joint medical-surgical appointments with an interdisciplinary network of IBD experts from departments including rheumatology, dermatology, and ophthalmology. Our IBD specialists are deeply committed to improving the health and lives of patients with IBD.
What is Inflammatory Bowel Disease?
Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) comprises a diverse range of health complications ranging from mild and asymptomatic to severe and debilitating inflammatory disease involving the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, as well as multiple other organ systems including the eyes, skin, joints, bones, kidneys, and others.
Symptoms of IBD (including abdominal discomfort or pain, cramping, gas, bloating, diarrhea, and/or constipation) may not be evident for many years, and patients who have active IBD may not experience symptoms. However, left untreated, IBD can increase the risk of serious complications such as:
- colon cancer
- inflammation in the skin, eyes, and joints
- liver disease
- osteoporosis and weakened bones
- toxic megacolon (a life-threatening condition involving an enlarged colon, with risk of severe colon disease or infection)
Medical Education and Research
It is imperative that patients with IBD are followed by clinicians who have expertise in treating GI and bowel disorders. Montefiore Einstein physician scientists collaborate to ensure that their patients' clinicians have experience with new medications, including biologic therapy, and that subtle indicators of IBD activity are detected.
Additionally, the IBD Program hosts a focused medicine-surgery IBD conference to educate physicians and physicians-in-training on developments in the diagnosis and treatment of patients with IBD.
The IBD Program seeks to further IBD research, with a number of IRB-approved studies and clinical trials under way. The Program encourages fellows, residents, medical students, and undergraduates to participate in its clinical and translational research, which affords the unique opportunity to examine IBD incidence among the Bronx's significant proportion of African American, Afro-Caribbean, and Hispanic patients, populations that are currently underrepresented in the medical research literature that covers this disease.
Our Physicians
Dana Lukin, MD, PhDDr. Dana Lukin joined the Montefiore Einstein Division of Gastroenterology & Liver Diseases as an assistant professor and attending gastroenterologist in 2013, following a gastroenterology & liver diseases fellowship at Columbia University Medical Center. He completed medical school (including a PhD in biology) and an internal medicine residency at Mount Sinai School of Medicine. Dr. Lukin is actively involved in clinical trials and translational research in IBD, including a study on the role of indole signaling in intestinal permeability in IBD. He serves on the Chapter Medical Advisory Committee (CMAC) for the New York Chapter of the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America (CCFA).
Rahul Narang, MDDr. Rahul Narang, the program's primary colorectal surgeon beginning in May 2015, completed a medical degree at Ross University School of Medicine, an internship in general surgery at North Shore University-LIJ Medical Center, and a surgical residency at Beth Israel Medical Center. As a surgical oncology research fellow at the University of Pittsburgh's Hillman Cancer Center, he studied the effects of alpha-dendritic cell vaccination on ovarian and colorectal cancer. Additionally, he completed a colon and rectal surgery fellowship and an advanced fellowship in minimally invasive colon and rectal surgery at Cleveland Clinic Florida. Dr. Narang has presented at multiple national surgical societies, including the national meetings for the American College of Surgeons and the American Board of Colon and Rectal Surgery.
Lawrence J. Brandt, MDGastroenterologist-surgeon Dr. Lawrence Brandt's research interests include inflammatory bowel diseases, colitis, ischemic and vascular disorders of the gastrointestinal system, geriatric gastroenterology, AIDS, and endoscopic technique. Dr. Brandt's research accomplishments include the finding that metronidazole can heal and maintain healing of perineal Crohn's disease; that most cases of newly diagnosed IBD in the elderly are actually ischemic colitis misdiagnosed as ulcerative or Crohn's colitis; the classification of ischemic colitis and description of its natural history; and the use of fecal transplantation to treat chronic and recurring C. difficile colitis.
Joann Kwah, MDGastroenterologist Dr. Joann Kwah completed a medical degree at Drexel University College of Medicine and an internal medicine residency (where she was chief resident) and gastroenterology fellowship at Boston Medical Center. She joined the Montefiore Einstein Division of Gastroenterology & Liver Diseases in 2013.
Schedule an Appointment
The Program for Inflammatory Bowel Disease, located at the Montefiore Hutchinson Campus (Hutchinson Metro Center, 1250 Waters Place), accepts patients on Tuesday mornings. Patients who wish to make an appointment, and physicians interested in referring patients or becoming involved in the Program should call 844-MMC-COLON (844-662-2656) or contact Dr. Lukin (dlukin@montefiore.org).
