Dermot McGovern, MD, PhD, is the recipient of a prestigious 2024 Sherman Prize for his career-long commitment to advancing innovative treatment for inflammatory bowel disease.
LOS ANGELES (Sept. 18, 2024) -- Dermot McGovern, MD, PhD, director of Translational Research in the F. Widjaja Inflammatory Bowel Disease Institute at Cedars-Sinai, has been awarded the prestigious Sherman Prize for his pioneering work in advancing understanding of the genetic architecture of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and applying that knowledge to deliver personalized medicine to patients.
McGovern, the Joshua L. and Lisa Z. Greer Chair in Inflammatory Bowel Disease Genetics and director of Precision Health at Cedars-Sinai, is one of two 2024 Sherman Prize recipients. The prize, established by the Bruce and Cynthia Sherman Charitable Foundation, recognizes visionary clinicians, surgeons, researchers and academics who have made exceptional contributions in transforming IBD research and improving patient care.
“Receiving the Sherman Prize is an incredible honor,” McGovern said. “To be listed alongside previous awardees, people I greatly admire, is very special to me. Much of the credit for this honor goes to my outstanding team—I’m very lucky to be working with such smart and dedicated people to help improve the lives of those with IBD.”
Over the past 15 years, McGovern has been a key driver in many pivotal IBD genetic studies.
“Dr. McGovern is a brilliant researcher who is working to elucidate the complexities of IBD to meaningfully improve the lives of people around the world who suffer from the disorder,” said Shlomo Melmed, MB, ChB, executive vice president of Medicine and Health Sciences, dean of the Medical Faculty and distinguished professor of Medicine at Cedars-Sinai. “Our institution is an international leader in IBD research and treatment, largely due to our talented faculty—exemplified by Dr. McGovern’s visionary leadership and dedication. Heartiest congratulations on his receipt of the distinguished Sherman Prize.”
McGovern began his career at Oxford University. He remembers a patient asking how he knew the treatment being prescribed was the right one. That question sparked McGovern’s yearslong quest to identify drug targets and associated biomarkers so he could match each patient with the most effective medicine.
While at Oxford, McGovern and collaborators identified a gene involved in IBD pathophysiology called TNF Superfamily 15. At the same time, Stephan Targan, MD, the Feintech Family Chair in Inflammatory Bowel Disease and director of the F. Widjaja Inflammatory Bowel Disease Institute at Cedars-Sinai—also a past recipient of the Sherman Prize—had discovered and was studying a protein encoded by the TL1A gene.
After a chance meeting between the two, McGovern joined Targan and team at Cedars-Sinai.
Today, McGovern leads his own lab, the Translational Genomics Group, at Cedars-Sinai. After 20 years of collaboration with Targan on an anti-TL1A therapy, McGovern’s dream of delivering personalized medicine to IBD patients is gaining momentum. A new investigative treatment that differs from existing therapies while also addressing fibrosis (excessive scar tissue) in Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis—forms of IBD—is being studied in Phase III clinical trials. And, for the first time in IBD care, the disease has a companion diagnostic tool, which matches a patient to a specific medication.
If the therapy is approved, it will be the first approved personalized medicine for people with IBD.
McGovern says collaborations enable advances for patients. Now, he is working on other game-changing projects in his lab—such as improving the IBD classification system—with an eye toward broad global application.
He believes that the most pressing challenge for the field is bringing IBD advances to all parts of society. To that end, he has led the effort to extend largely European ancestry studies and advances to African American, Hispanic/Latino and East Asian populations. He also recently created a consortium to conduct genetic studies in sub-Saharan Africa.
“The Sherman Prize will allow me to enhance our collaborations across sub-Saharan Africa so that we can study the evolution of IBD in African populations,” McGovern said.
Improving patients’ quality of life, regardless of where they live, their ethnicity, social status or gender, inspires McGovern.
“A fundamental aspect of our work to advance our understanding of the causes of Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis and develop strategies to translate these discoveries into the clinic is our philosophy that these advances should be available to all populations,” McGovern said. “This has motivated us to invest resources and pioneer studies in diverse populations and ensure we are addressing disparities in research and clinical care.”
Read more from the Cedars-Sinai Blog: A Good Grip on Crohn’s Disease
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