(Vincent Joustra (r) with Menne Scherpenzeel (director Crohn & Colitis NL)
Each year, the Dutch Young-ICC (Initiative on Crohn’s and Colitis) board presents the Young-ICC Research Award during ICC Day, recognizing outstanding research in the field of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).
Young-ICC members who are first or second authors on an IBD-related article published in 2024 or 2025 (either as epub ahead-of-print or in print) are eligible to apply. After a pre-selection process, the top three submissions are invited to pitch their work during ICC Day. The jury then awards prizes to the finalists.
EPIC-CD
This year’s ICC Day took place in Amsterdam. Vincent Joustra was awarded the 1st prize for his research pitch, for the study “Development and validation of peripheral blood DNA methylation signatures to predict response to biological therapy in adults with Crohn’s disease (EPIC-CD): an epigenome-wide association study”, aims to identify predictive biomarkers that can help personalize treatment strategies in Crohn’s disease by using blood-based DNA methylation signatures. The EPIC-CD study forms the basis for the METHYLOMIC project.
Joustra: “After a 3-minute pitch, my research was selected by the jury as the winning project — a great recognition of the importance of epigenetics in the future of IBD care. I’m very grateful to the Young-ICC board, the jury, and all fellow researchers for their support and inspiring work.”