When Sleep and IBD Collide

Featuring: Emma Levine, MD, University of Chicago Medicine

The GI Research Foundation was able to produce this podcast with a sponsorship from Metro Infusion Center.

In this episode, Dr. Levine, a current fellow with The University of Chicago Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition Fellowship training program, shares her 2025 GI Research Foundation Young Investigator Awards study on the reciprocal relationship between sleep and inflammation in IBD. We talk about why poor sleep is so common in people with IBD and how it can worsen disease activity—even when symptoms seem under control. Dr. Levine explains how her team is using metabolomics to uncover biomarkers that link sleep and inflammation, and why mindfulness-based approaches like yoga nidra and gut-directed hypnotherapy could be game-changers. It’s a fascinating look at how improving sleep might become a safe, non-drug strategy to help manage IBD.

To access other episodes of Visceral: Listen to Your Gut and learn more about the GI Research Foundation’s support of clinical and laboratory research to treat, prevent, and cure digestive diseases, please visit https://www.giresearchfoundation.org/.

Available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and everywhere else you listen.