Fecal transplants—a procedure in which stool from a healthy person is transferred into another person’s intestines to re-populate good bacteria—have shown promise as a treatment for Clostridium difficile (C. diff.) infection, as well as for digestive and autoimmune diseases, including irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.
Lawrence J. Brandt, MD, a gastroenterologist with the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore Health System who has done pioneering work in fecal transplantation, will discuss “Disease Causality and Intestinal Microbiota: Is Fecal Microbiota Transplantation the Answer?,” at a free public lecture on Friday, March 23, noon to 1 p.m.
Dr. Brandt’s presentation will cover the intestinal microbiome and how it can be changed to alter the outcome of patients suffering from a variety of illnesses—including C. difficile infection, irritable bowel syndrome, inflammatory bowel disease, autism and others—as well as the future of fecal transplantation and manipulation.
Part of the Flinn Foundation Buffmire Lecture series, the lecture will be held in DuVal Auditorium at Banner – University Medical Center Tucson, 1501 N. Campbell Ave. Light lunch will be available beginning at 11:40 a.m. Please RSVP by Thursday, March 23, at http://medicine.arizona.edu/buffmire-lecture-brandt-march-23. For more information, please email Ross DuBois, UA College of Medicine – Tucson, 520-626-9037, email duboisr@email.arizona.edu
Please note: There is a parking fee of $1.50 per hour, cash only, in the Banner – University Medical Center Tucson Visitor/Patient Parking Garage, just south of the hospital; metered parking spaces also are available in UA Zone 1 parking lot 2030, at East Mabel Street and North Martin Avenue, south of the parking garage.
About Lawrence J. Brandt, MD
Dr. Brandt is professor of medicine (gastroenterology and liver diseases) and surgery at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and emeritus chief of gastroenterology Montefiore Health System in New York.
His research interests include ischemic and vascular disorders of the gastrointestinal system, inflammatory bowel diseases, colitis, geriatric gastroenterology, AIDS and endoscopic technique. Long-standing major interests include the patient-doctor relationship and the way that a patient's psychologic makeup influences his/her illnesses and treatments.
He performed the first non-operative gastric polypectomy and the first laser-induced regression of Barrett's epithelium, and he developed and patented a cytology balloon to diagnose infectious esophagitis in AIDS patients. His contributions also include the use of fecal transplantation to treat chronic and recurring C. difficile colitis; the demonstration that gastrointestinal bacteria produce cobamides from dietary vitamin B12 that may inhibit vitamin B12 absorption, that metronidazole can heal and maintain healing of perineal Crohn's disease; that most cases of newly diagnosed IBD in the elderly actually are ischemic colitis misdiagnosed as ulcerative or Crohn’s colitis; and the classification of ischemic colitis and description of its natural history.
About the Flinn Foundation Buffmire Lecture Series
Initiated in 1997, the Flinn Foundation Buffmire Lecture series continues the Flinn Foundation’s commitment to bring to Arizona leading practitioners and thinkers in the medical field. The lectureship offers physicians, students and community members opportunities to hear from distinguished leaders in the field of medicine and medical education. In 2008, the annual lecture was expanded to a bi-annual event and includes presentations at both the UA College of Medicine – Phoenix and UA College of Medicine – Tucson.
The lectureship is named for the late Donald K. Buffmire, MD, in recognition of his distinguished career as a medical practitioner in Arizona and his leadership role with the Flinn Foundation in supporting the UA Colleges of Medicine. Dr. Buffmire, who died in July 2008 at age 85, served on the board of the Flinn Foundation for 36 years, from 1965 to 2001, including 14 years as its chair.
The Phoenix-based Flinn Foundation is a privately endowed organization that awards grants to non-profit organizations in Arizona, primarily to improve the competitiveness of the state’s biomedical research enterprise.
About the UA College of Medicine – Tucson
The University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson is celebrating 50 years of innovation and advancing health and wellness through state-of-the-art medical education programs, groundbreaking research, and advancements in patient care in Arizona and across the United States. Founded in 1967, the College ranks among the top medical schools in the nation for research and primary care and is leading the way in academic medicine through its partnership with Banner – University Medicine, a new division of one of the largest nonprofit health-care systems in the country. For more information, please visit medicine.arizona.edu