Overview
The Engineering and Therapeutics in Gastrointestinal Disease Lab led by Vivek Kumbhari, M.B., Ch.B., Ph.D., works to reimagine how to diagnose and treat gastrointestinal diseases. The lab does this by working from inside the body in safer, less invasive ways.
Many common conditions still require invasive endoscopy just to make a diagnosis. Serious diseases such as obesity, metabolic syndrome and certain inherited disorders are often treated with lifelong medications that lose effectiveness over time or with major surgery that carries significant risk and long recovery.
Our research is driven by the need for better and less invasive options to diagnose and treat these conditions. We develop therapies that act precisely where disease begins, including:
- Delivering genetic material directly to organs such as the liver and pancreas using carefully controlled fluid-based techniques.
- Creating swallowable microrobotic capsules that can navigate the digestive tract like a guided pill.
- Advancing incision-free endoscopic treatments that help reset how the stomach and intestine regulate metabolism and appetite.
Our team has demonstrated that targeted gene delivery to internal organs can be performed safely. We helped pioneer robotic capsule technology that allows physicians to look inside the gastrointestinal tract without traditional scopes. We also contributed to novel endoscopic approaches that treat the stomach lining to influence metabolism. This plays a major role in obesity, offering alternatives to traditional bariatric surgery.
To support these advances, our lab also integrates artificial intelligence and robotics into endoscopy. This enhances precision, improves physician training, and ensures safer and more-consistent care.
By combining engineering, biology and clinical medicine, our goal is simple: Bring our patients effective, personalized treatments that are more accessible, less invasive and require less recovery time.