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Announcement: Dr. Vipul Jairath re-appointed Dr. John W.D. and Susan McDonald Chair in Inflammatory Bowel Disease
Office of the Dean
I am pleased to announce that Dr. Vipul Jairath has been re-appointed as the Dr. John W.D. and Susan McDonald Chair in Inflammatory Bowel Disease at the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, Western University, effective February 1, 2026 to January 31, 2031.
Dr. Jairath is an internationally recognized clinician-scientist whose work has had a major influence in the field of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Since joining Western and London Health Sciences Centre in 2016 from Oxford University, he has built a renowned academic program in IBD therapeutics, clinical trials and outcome measure development.
A Professor of Medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology with a cross-appointment in Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Dr. Jairath is very well published, including in major medical and specialist journals, and is recognized globally for advancing innovative approaches to evaluating and treating Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. His research has directly influenced clinical trial design, regulatory science and patient care.
Dr. Jairath is passionate about strengthening Western’s position as an international hub for IBD clinical research and advanced fellowship training. He established the Advanced IBD Clinical Research Fellowship Program, which is now regarded as one of the premier training programs in Canada and attracts fellows from around the world. Dr. Jairath has led landmark clinical trials that are shaping treatment standards for inflammatory bowel disease and developed novel disease activity indices and patient-reported outcome measures now used routinely in clinical research. He has supervised multiple students and research fellows at the undergraduate and postgraduate level and trained countless trainees and fellows in clinical trials and clinical research methods.
Recently, Dr. Jairath secured major international research funding, including a recent $6.5 million grant from The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust, and was inducted into the International Organization for the Study of Inflammatory Bowel Disease, a distinguished global body of leading IBD scientists and clinicians.
As he begins his third term as the Dr. John W.D. and Susan McDonald Chair in Inflammatory Bowel Disease, Dr. Jairath will continue advancing innovative clinical trials on behalf of Western, artificial intelligence–enabled disease assessment tools and non-invasive monitoring approaches aimed at accelerating the development of more effective therapies for patients living with IBD.
Please join me in congratulating Dr. Jairath on his re-appointment.
John Yoo, MD, FRCS(C), FACS
Dean, Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry
Western University