Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) is a chronic, cruel, debilitating and even life-threatening autoimmune disease with symptoms so personal and so terrifying that its victims fear leaving home and facing the world.

In the United States, more than 1,000,000 sufferers, from toddlers to adults, know this fear. IBD has a known cause. There are two chronic, immune-mediated diseases that cause inflammation of the digestive system: Crohn's Disease and Ulcerative Colitis. Although the diseases are different with a variety of forms, each disease causes the destruction of the digestive system, producing a similar group of life-altering symptoms including constant abdominal pain, severe diarrhea, vomiting, rectal bleeding, and malnutrition. Current standards of treatment are fraught with unknowns. Daily medications prescribed for patients influence almost every system of the body, can cause undesirable side effects and an altered self-image. At best, these medications may keep patients in remission, but the threat of a flare-up is always looming.

"Grassroots" is a newly formed group of individuals who are dedicated to finding a cure for IBD through its support of the IBD Center at Cedars-Sinai and its research efforts. Under the leadership of Dr. Stephan Targan, the IBD Center at Cedars-Sinai put together the world's most-renowned research team operating in the unique "bench-to-bedside" environment. The center's research team translates its findings from the lab to patient care and vice-versa. This energetic, committed research team has already achieved significant breakthroughs in determining what causes and cures of both forms of IBD.

The Grassroots Organization's mission is to raise funds to directly support Dr. Targan's research. We ask you to join us in supporting his team's extraordinary research efforts.

Your generous gift will help provide excellence in patient care, medical research, education for health professionals and community outreach. To make a donation, click the button below to open the form. You may type your information into the form and print it. You may either mail the completed form to us using the address on it, or fax it to us at (310) 423-0100.

The Vitalogy Foundation donated $1.00 from every ticket sold for Pearl Jam's Santa Barbara concert on Thursday, July 13, 2006, to the Grassroots Organization. Read the entire release.

For more information about Grassroots Organization or to find out how you can help support the IBD Center at Cedars-Sinai, please contact: