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Peer-reviewedCC BY-NCJournal of Crohn's & colitis

Building sustainable IBD clinical research units: a practical toolbox emerging from a Belgian multi-stakeholder initiative.

  • Ingrid Arijs1
  • Leonie Govaerts1,2
  • Lynn Debrun3
  • Liselotte Fierens2
  • Katleen Franc4
  • Hilde Kelchtermans5,6
  • Charlotte Minsart7
  • Catherine Reenaers8
  • Louise Vandenbroucke9
  • Laura Vansteenkiste1
  • Jolien De Rechter1
  • Belgian IBD Research and Development (BIRD)
1 more authors
  • Bram Verstockt2,10
10 affiliations
  1. 1Belgian Inflammatory Bowel Disease Research and Development (BIRD), Zaventem, Belgium.
  2. 2Department of Chronic Diseases and Metabolism, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
  3. 3Crohn-en Colitis ulcerosa Vereniging vzw (CCV-vzw), Leuven, Belgium.
  4. 4ASBL Crohn-RCUH, Waterloo, Belgium.
  5. 5UHasselt, Faculty of Medicine and Life Sciences, Agoralaan, Diepenbeek, Belgium.
  6. 6Limburg Clinical Research Center.
  7. 7Department of Gastroenterology-Hepato-Pancreatology and Digestive Oncology, H.U.B- CUB Hôpital Erasme, Brussels, Belgium.
  8. 8Department of Gastroenterology, CHU Liège, Liège, Belgium.
  9. 9Department of Gastroenterology, Oostende, AZ, Belgium.
  10. 10Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, University Hospitals Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
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Abstract

Clinical research is an essential pillar of modern inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) care, underpinning therapeutic innovation, biomarker discovery, precision medicine, and improvements in healthcare delivery. However, while international initiatives have successfully defined standards for clinical care, comparatively little attention has been devoted to the infrastructure required to conduct high-quality clinical research. Consequently, research capacity remains highly heterogeneous across centers, limiting patient access to clinical studies and reducing opportunities for collaborative research. To address this gap, a Belgian multi-stakeholder initiative involving patients, gastroenterologists, research nurses, study coordinators, and clinical researchers developed a practical toolbox for establishing and strengthening IBD clinical research units. Rather than defining rigid accreditation criteria, the toolbox distinguishes between essential components required for a functional research unit and important but non-essential elements that further improve quality, efficiency, and long-term sustainability. Structured across 3 complementary domains (administrative, operational, and collaborative) this framework provides a pragmatic roadmap that can support centers at different stages of research maturity. Beyond describing the toolbox, we discuss the concept of research readiness as a hallmark of excellence in modern IBD care and propose a roadmap for building sustainable research ecosystems. Although developed within the Belgian healthcare system, the principles presented are broadly applicable and may support the development of research capacity across healthcare systems and disease areas.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{arijs2026building,
  title = {{Building sustainable IBD clinical research units: a practical toolbox emerging from a Belgian multi-stakeholder initiative.}},
  author = {Ingrid Arijs and Leonie Govaerts and Lynn Debrun and Liselotte Fierens and Katleen Franc and Hilde Kelchtermans and Charlotte Minsart and Catherine Reenaers and Louise Vandenbroucke and Laura Vansteenkiste and Jolien De Rechter and Belgian IBD Research and Development (BIRD) and Bram Verstockt},
  journal = {Journal of Crohn's \& colitis},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.1093/ecco-jcc/jjag144},
  url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42901714},
  note = {CC BY-NC},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - Building sustainable IBD clinical research units: a practical toolbox emerging from a Belgian multi-stakeholder initiative.
AU  - Ingrid Arijs
AU  - Leonie Govaerts
AU  - Lynn Debrun
AU  - Liselotte Fierens
AU  - Katleen Franc
AU  - Hilde Kelchtermans
AU  - Charlotte Minsart
AU  - Catherine Reenaers
AU  - Louise Vandenbroucke
AU  - Laura Vansteenkiste
AU  - Jolien De Rechter
AU  - Belgian IBD Research and Development (BIRD)
AU  - Bram Verstockt
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/01
JO  - Journal of Crohn's & colitis
DO  - 10.1093/ecco-jcc/jjag144
UR  - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42901714
AB  - Clinical research is an essential pillar of modern inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) care, underpinning therapeutic innovation, biomarker discovery, precision medicine, and improvements in healthcare delivery. However, while international initiatives have successfully defined standards for clinical care, comparatively little attention has been devoted to the infrastructure required to conduct high-quality clinical research. Consequently, research capacity remains highly heterogeneous across centers, limiting patient access to clinical studies and reducing opportunities for collaborative research. To address this gap, a Belgian multi-stakeholder initiative involving patients, gastroenterologists, research nurses, study coordinators, and clinical researchers developed a practical toolbox for establishing and strengthening IBD clinical research units. Rather than defining rigid accreditation criteria, the toolbox distinguishes between essential components required for a functional research unit and important but non-essential elements that further improve quality, efficiency, and long-term sustainability. Structured across 3 complementary domains (administrative, operational, and collaborative) this framework provides a pragmatic roadmap that can support centers at different stages of research maturity. Beyond describing the toolbox, we discuss the concept of research readiness as a hallmark of excellence in modern IBD care and propose a roadmap for building sustainable research ecosystems. Although developed within the Belgian healthcare system, the principles presented are broadly applicable and may support the development of research capacity across healthcare systems and disease areas.
SN  - 1873-9946
SN  - 1876-4479
ER  -