Author: Claire Hornung

Collagen Remodeling in Intestinal Fibrosis: Non-invasive monitoring and emerging therapies

Overview

Watch the replay of this webinar to learn more about intestinal fibrosis n inflammatory bowel disease, with a focus on extracellular matrix remodeling, collagen biomarker assessment, and emerging therapeutic strategies for fibrostenotic complications in Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.

Agenda

Introduction and welcome | Prof. Dr. Morten Karsdal

Navigating the Intestinal fibrosis landscape | Dr. Bram Verstockt

Fibro-inflammation in IBD | Dr. Joachim H. Mortensen

Emerging collagen biomarkers for fibrostenotic Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis | Dr. Anja Poulsen

Scientific topics

Intestinal fibrosis is a major complication of inflammatory bowel disease, particularly Crohn’s disease, where persistent inflammation and dysregulated tissue repair can lead to excessive extracellular matrix deposition, bowel wall thickening, and fibrostenotic disease. Despite its clinical impact, intestinal fibrosis remains difficult to monitor non-invasively, and effective anti-fibrotic treatment options are still limited.

This webinar explores the evolving intestinal fibrosis landscape, including the role of fibro-inflammation, extracellular matrix remodeling, and collagen turnover in disease progression. Particular focus is placed on how serological biomarkers may support non-invasive assessment of mucosal damage, intestinal fibrosis, and fibrostenotic complications in Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.

By highlighting advances from the FibroTarget consortium, emerging collagen biomarkers, and novel therapeutic approaches, the webinar addresses how improved disease monitoring and targeted anti-fibrotic strategies may help change the current status quo in IBD management.

Speakers

Dr. Bram Verstockt

• Dr. Bram Verstockt is a Principal Investigator and Assistant Professor at KU Leuven and a staff member of the IBD team within the Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at University Hospitals Leuven.
• He specializes in the care of patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and leads the multidisciplinary IBD clinic in close collaboration with colorectal surgeons and the broader IBD care team.
• Dr. Verstockt is a pioneer of intestinal ultrasound (IUS) in Belgium and became the country’s first ECCO-ESGAR certified IUS specialist after advanced fellowship training at Lüneburg University.
• His research focuses on non-invasive disease monitoring in IBD, with particular emphasis on intestinal ultrasound, imaging optimization, radiomics, and artificial intelligence.
• He completed a PhD entitled “Predicting outcome in inflammatory bowel diseases: a multi-omics approach – creating opportunities for personalised medicine”, supported by the Flemish Foundation for Scientific Research (FWO).
• His translational research integrates multi-omics approaches, proteomics, biomarkers, and organoid models to better understand IBD heterogeneity, including fibrostricturing disease, perianal disease, and fatigue.
• Dr. Verstockt is co-founder of the COLLIBRI proteomics consortium, advancing biomarker discovery and precision medicine in IBD.
• He has held major international leadership roles, including Chair of Y-ECCO, Chair of the IBUS Scientific Committee, and currently serves on multiple ECCO, IBUS, and Belgian IBD scientific boards.
• He is Associate Editor of the Journal of Crohn’s and Colitis and an active reviewer for leading journals, funding bodies, and international conferences.
• His achievements have been recognized with numerous awards, including the ECCO Young Investigator Award (2025)and the UEG Rising Star distinction (2025), highlighting his impact on translational gastroenterology and IBD research.

Dr. Anja Poulsen

• Dr. Anja Poulsen is a gastroenterologist specializing in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), with more than 15 years of clinical experience.
• Her work combines advanced patient care with translational research, clinical trial development, and implementation of novel therapies.
• She focuses on improving outcomes for patients with Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, fistulizing disease, microscopic colitis, and intestinal fibrostenosis.
• Dr. Poulsen is Founder and Lead of the CD-FIB initiative, a translational research program focused on fibrostenosing Crohn’s disease and progression to end-stage intestinal damage.
• The CD-FIB program integrates clinical data, imaging, biobanking, tissue analysis, and serological biomarkers.
• Her research emphasizes biomarker-driven endpoints for clinical trials, disease stratification, and monitoring of intestinal fibrosis progression.
• She has strong expertise in clinical trial design, evaluation of emerging treatments, program development, and research infrastructure.
• Dr. Poulsen is IBUS certified in intestinal ultrasound and uses it routinely in clinical practice.
• She works across multidisciplinary collaborations to connect clinical care, data-driven research, and translational biomarker development.
• Her work is closely aligned with ECM-focused research through its emphasis on fibrosis, intestinal tissue remodeling, and objective markers of disease progression.

Dr. Joachim H. Mortensen

• Dr. Mortensen joined Nordic Bioscience in 2013 and currently serves as Head of Department of Gastrointestinal Diseases.
• The group’s research activities span from biomarker discovery to preclinical and clinical trial exploration focusing on the development and validation of blood-based biomarkers to quantify fibro-inflammation which covers neutrophil activity, mucosal damage and intestinal fibrosis in serum of patients with gastrointestinal diseases e.g. inflammatory bowel disease.
• The group’s primary focus is to evaluate pharmacodynamics changes, efficacy and monitoring of response to various treatments using biomarkers reflecting fibro-inflammation.
• Biomarkers are developed to support and understand fibro-inflammation-associated IBD disease progression and response to treatment, where the biomarkers are applied from target selection to clinical trial monitoring.

This webinar is hosted co-hosted together with the International Society of Extracellular Matrix Pharmacology.

From Heterogeneity to Biology: ECM Remodeling and Precision Trials in Pulmonary Diseases

Overview

Watch this webinar to explore whether current approaches truly capture the underlying biology of pulmonary diseases such as COPD and lung cancer. This session focuses on extracellular matrix (ECM) remodeling as a central disease mechanism, its role in disease heterogeneity, and how ECM-derived biomarkers may support precision trials and improved prognostic assessment.

Agenda

• Welcome and introduction
• COPD heterogeneity and extracellular matrix remodeling as a core disease mechanism
• ECM biomarkers as tools for disease activity and prognosis – Assessing critical pathways of disease
• From COPD to Lung Cancer – The ECM as a pro-tumor environment

Scientific topics

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is traditionally defined and monitored using functional parameters such as airflow limitation. However, COPD is biologically heterogeneous, reflecting distinct pathological processes that are not fully captured by spirometry alone. Structural remodeling of the extracellular matrix (ECM) is increasingly recognized as a central mechanism underlying disease progression.

Persistent inflammation, protease–antiprotease imbalance, and dysregulated tissue repair drive continuous ECM turnover in the lungs. This remodeling alters airway structure, contributes to emphysematous destruction, and shapes the microenvironment that sustains chronic disease activity. Understanding these matrix-driven processes provides a biologically grounded framework for redefining disease subtypes.

ECM-derived biomarkers offer the potential to quantify ongoing tissue remodeling in real time. By reflecting specific collagen formation and degradation pathways, these biomarkers may enable improved assessment of disease activity, stratification of patients, and evaluation of therapeutic response in precision clinical trials.

Beyond COPD progression, ECM remodeling also influences the broader pulmonary microenvironment. Altered matrix composition and stiffness can create conditions that support tumor initiation and growth, linking chronic lung disease biology to lung cancer risk. Exploring the ECM as a pro-tumor niche expands the discussion from chronic inflammation to oncogenic transformation.

This webinar examines how shifting focus from symptoms and physiology to measurable biology may redefine endpoints, improve patient selection in trials, and advance precision medicine in COPD.

Speakers

Dr. Janette Burgess

• Dr. Janette Burgess is Professor of Extracellular Matrix in Disease Pathogenesis at the University Medical Center Groningen and a Rosalind Franklin Fellow.
• Her research focuses on the role of the extracellular matrix (ECM) in lung diseases, particularly how structural changes in lung tissue and airways drive disease development and progression.
• She investigates whether ECM alterations are causal drivers or consequences of pathology in chronic lung conditions.
• Dr. Burgess leads translational research integrating primary human lung cells, patient tissue samples, and clinical data to characterize ECM remodeling.
• Her group employs advanced in vitro models, ex vivo human lung tissue systems, and high-resolution microscopy to study ECM regulation and mechanics.
• She is embedded within the Groningen Research Institute for Asthma and COPD (GRIAC), contributing to interdisciplinary respiratory research.
• Her work aims to identify ECM-driven mechanisms as therapeutic targets for lung diseases affecting large patient populations.
• Dr. Burgess is actively involved in international scientific leadership, including chairing and speaking at major conferences such as the European Respiratory Society Lung Science Conference.
• She has received multiple recognitions, including the Solbert Permutt Trailblazer Award (2025) and Fellowship of the American Thoracic Society (2021).
• In addition to research, she contributes to education and mentorship in matrix biology and tissue regeneration at the graduate level.
• This webinar is hosted co-hosted together with the International Society of Extracellular Matrix Pharmacology.

Dr. Diana Julie Leeming

• Dr. Diana Julie Leeming is the Senior Director of Fibrosis, Hepatic, and Pulmonary Research at Nordic Bioscience.
• She joined Nordic Bioscience in 2004 and assumed the role of Director of Fibrosis in 2010, later being promoted to Senior Director in 2024.
• Dr. Leeming focuses on developing serologically assessed markers to evaluate extracellular matrix remodeling in patients with pulmonary or hepatic fibrosis, aiding in diagnosis and pharmacodynamic evaluation.
• She is a principal inventor of the PRO-C3 assay, a fibrogenesis marker utilized in multiple clinical trial studies.
• Dr. Leeming has authored over 280 peer-reviewed publications, demonstrating her extensive contributions to the field.
• Her H-index is 69, her I10-index is 195, and her research has garnered over 15,736 citations as of February 2026.

Dr. Martin Pehrsson

• Dr. Martin Pehrsson, a Senior Scientist and Scientific Alliance Manager working with Pulmonary Research at Nordic Bioscience.
• He joined Nordic Bioscience in 2017, assumed the role of Senior Scientist in 2023 and Manager in 2025.
• Dr. Martin Pehrsson focuses on the application of extracellular matrix remodeling biomarkers in clinical trials of patients with respiratory diseases, such as IPF and COPD, aiding in mode of action and pharmacodynamic evaluation.
• He was part of the initial development of the CTX-III biomarker, a marker used to assess fibrosis resolution.
• Dr. Martin Pehrsson has authored 38 peer-reviewed publications with an H- and i10-index of 8 and 287 citations as of April 2026

This webinar is hosted co-hosted together with the International Society of Extracellular Matrix Pharmacology.