St Vincent's Hospital Melbourne Fistula Research Group
The St Vincent's Hospital Melbourne Fistula Research Group is a passionate team of Australian researchers based in Melbourne, focused on expanding current and future research in the area of perianal fistulising Crohn’s disease. Our expert research team includes colorectal surgeon Dr. Cori Behrenbruch and Mr Michael Johnston, radiologist Dr. Leon Winata, gastroenterologists A/Prof John Ding and Dr. Michael De Gregorio, and research fellow Dr. Imogen Hartley and Dr Nicholas Clark.
The St Vincent’s research team is actively engaged in researching perianal fistulising Crohn’s disease, as evidenced by the recent completion of the FINESS study. This study evaluated a protocolised multidisciplinary approach to medical and surgical care for patients with perianal fistulising Crohn’s disease and demonstrated success, leading to improved healing rates for those patients with active disease. In addition to FINESS, our team has been strongly involved in PROACTIVE, which has been successfully rolled out and conducted across 30 tertiary hospitals nationally across Australia. Our team has also previously engaged closely with patients and patient advocates through Crohn’s and Colitis Australia, ensuring that the focus of our trials aligns with the needs of the affected patient population. Our group maintains close affiliations with the Australian and New Zealand Inflammatory Bowel Disease Consortium (ANZIBDC), the Colorectal Surgical Society of Australia and New Zealand (CSSANZ), and Treatment Optimisation and Classification of pfCD (TOPCLASS), an international perianal fistulising consortium.
From left to right: A/Prof Ding, Dr Winata, Dr Behrenbruch, Dr De Gregorio, Dr Hartley
