Who Can Join?

Eligibility
If you have been diagnosed with Crohn's disease or if you have a full sibling and/or parent who has been diagnosed with Crohn's disease and you are between the age of 6 and 35 years old, you are invited to participate in this study. You can register with the National Project Office or at a Regional Center (see our "How to Join" section). If you have symptoms of a gastro-intestinal illness, diabetes or pregnancy you may not be eligible.

Participation
During the course of the project, you may be asked to repeat samples and questionnaires so it is very important that when you agree to participate in the GEM project that you are available for bi-annual phone contacts for the duration of the study.

For Individuals who have been diagnosed with Crohn's disease:

• Enrollment involves a brief visit where details regarding their diagnosis are confirmed.
• You must have at least one healthy sibling and/or offspring between the ages of 6 and 35 at the time of enrollment.
• You will be asked to contact or provide contact information for your healthy sibling(s) and/or offspring so that they can be approached for enrollment into the study.

For Healthy Subjects who have a sibling and/or parent who has been diagnosed with Crohn's Disease:

• You must be between the ages of 6 and 35 at the time of initial enrollment.
• You must have a sibling and/or parent who has been diagnosed with Crohn's Disease.
• You have no previous diagnosis of diabetes.
• Enrollment involves approximately two 1 hour visits:
  • During the visits, questionnaires are completed regarding past environmental exposures, eating habits and medical history.
  • Four tubes of blood are collected
  • A stool sample is collected
  • A urine sample is collected
• Sibling and Offspring Subjects are contacted every 6 months for several years to see if they develop Crohn's Disease.
• In the event Crohn's Disease is confirmed, the sibling and/or offspring are asked to answer the questionnaires again and will be asked to provide another set of blood, stool and urine samples.

Notes: Health Siblings and offspring who do not develop Crohn's Disease during the study, may be asked to answer the questionnaires and provide another set of blood, stool and urine samples in order to be used as a comparison group to help determine why some people develop Crohn's Disease and others do not.