Why Precision Medicine Could Change the Future of Pediatric IBD
For children and young people living with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), the stakes of getting treatment right, and getting it early, are especially high. Disease that begins in childhood can impact growth, puberty, bone health, and emotional wellbeing, often carrying consequences that last a lifetime.
Dr. Anne Griffiths, a pediatric gastroenterologist at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) and a national leader in pediatric IBD care, has spent decades caring for children whose disease does not follow a predictable path.
That uncertainty is exactly where precision medicine comes in.
Initial treatment is often a guessing game
“One of the biggest challenges in pediatric IBD,” Dr. Griffiths explains, “is that we often don’t know which child will respond to which therapy, or how aggressive their disease will become over time.”
Today, treatments are often chosen using a trial and error approach. Some children respond well to first line therapies, while others do not, losing precious time as inflammation continues unchecked. When all patients are treated the same way, some may be overtreated and exposed to unnecessary risk and increased side-effects to strong treatments, while others are undertreated when they urgently need more intensive care like surgeries, that can stop inflammation before it spreads.
Precision medicine aims to change that by using biological markers in the patient’s DNA, blood or microbiome to match each patient with the right treatment at the right time, before children miss out on key stages in their development.
Childhood: a critical window for intervention
There is growing evidence that, for many people with Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis, inflammation begins long before symptoms appear. This preclinical phase may represent a powerful window of opportunity, especially in children.
“If we can identify the earliest biological signs of disease,” Dr. Griffiths says, “there is real potential not just to treat IBD earlier, but to alter the disease course altogether.”
For children diagnosed young, precision medicine could help prevent repeated flares, reduce hospitalizations, and avoid irreversible bowel damage. In the future, it may even make prevention possible for children at highest risk, such as siblings or first degree relatives of people with IBD.
A message of hope for families
For parents and young people facing an IBD diagnosis, Dr. Griffiths emphasizes an important message: there is real reason for optimism.
“We already have much better therapies than we did a generation ago,” she says. “Most children can go on to live full, active lives.”
Precision medicine represents the next leap forward: helping clinicians choose treatments more wisely, avoid unnecessary harm, and deliver care that is tailored to each child’s unique biology.
“We’re not there yet,” she adds, “but we are moving toward a future where every child gets the care that’s right for them—not just what works for the average patient.”
Thanks to national investment, collaboration, and the leadership of organizations like Crohn’s and Colitis Canada, that future is closer than ever.
Interested to hear more from Dr. Griffiths in her own words? Watch the video below where she speaks to the potential of precision medicine for children and youths living with IBD: