CEGIR

For the first time, patients diagnosed with eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) have a treatment option approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Years of clinical trials led to the official approval of Dupixent (dupilumab) on May 20, 2022. To begin these clinical trials, researchers first had to answer a question—how do we evaluate the effectiveness of a treatment for EoE? A collaborative team of patients, advocates, researchers, and clinicians from the Consortium of Eosinophilic Gastrointestinal Disease Researchers (CEGIR) worked to identify outcome metrics to make these clinical trials possible. 

Girish Hiremath, MD, MPH, is a pediatric gastroenterologist leading the pediatric Eosinophilic Gastrointestinal Disorders clinic at Vanderbilt University. He is also a member of the Consortium of Eosinophilic Gastrointestinal Disease Researchers (CEGIR). Dr. Hiremath’s research focuses on the epidemiology, pathogenesis, diagnosis, and management of eosinophilic gastrointestinal diseases (EGIDs). Here, he shares his start in rare disease research, exciting discoveries, and future goals. 

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) hosted a workshop on July 21, 2021 to discuss the disease characteristics, natural history, and endpoints to assess treatment benefit in patients with eosinophilic gastrointestinal disorders (EGID) beyond eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE).