Professor Yehuda Chowers - Details

Yehuda Chowers is the director of the Division of Research and the Gastroenterology Institute at Rambam Health Care Campus, and a professor in the Ruth & Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine of the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology.

Professor Chowers earned his B.A. and M.D. in Medicine from Ben-Gurion University, and conducted his postdoctoral fellowship in the Laboratory of Mucosal Immunology at the University of California at San Diego.

Honors received by Professor Chowers include the American Gastroenterology Association Advanced AGA Research Training Award. He is also a two-time winner of the Chaim Sheba Medical Center’s Award for Excellence in Research.

Professor Chowers is a member of the European Crohn’s and Colitis Organization (ECCO), the American Gastroenterology Association, the Israel Gastroenterology Association, and the Israel Medical Association. He was a member of the ECCO Scientific Committee, the assigned representative of ECCO to the European Gastroenterology Association Scientific Committee, and former chair of the Israeli IBD society. He serves on the editorial board of Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics, was an associated editor for the Journal of Crohn’s and Colitis, and is a member of the editorial board for Gut.

Professor Chowers’s research interests are focused on personalized therapy of inflammatory bowel diseases based on understanding drugs mechanisms of action, immunogenicity and therapeutic drug monitoring of biologics, and the interplay between bacteria and the mucosal immune system. He is performing additional research to understand mechanisms of radiation-induced bowel injury and means to prevent it.

He has co-authored more than 160 papers in professional journals including basic research, clinical research articles, guidelines, case reports, and review papers. Professor Chowers has been a lead presenter and guest speaker at conferences worldwide, and served on the organizing committees for a number of professional international conferences.

Selected Publications
  1. Infliximab-Tumor Necrosis Factor Complexes Elicit Formation of Anti-Drug Antibodies. Bar-Yoseph H, Pressman S, Blatt A, Gerassy Vainberg S, Maimon N, Starosvetsky E, Ungar B, Ben-Horin S, Shen-Orr SS, Chowers Y; Israeli IBD Research Nucleus. Gastroenterology. 2019 Nov;157(5):1338-1351.e8. doi: 10.1053/j.gastro.2019.08.009. Epub 2019 Aug 8.

  2. Cell-centred meta-analysis reveals baseline predictors of anti-TNFα non-response in biopsy and blood of patients with IBD. Gaujoux R, Starosvetsky E, Maimon N, Vallania F, Bar-Yoseph H, Pressman S, Weisshof R, Goren I, Rabinowitz K, Waterman M, Yanai H, Dotan I, Sabo E, Chowers Y, Khatri P, Shen-Orr SS; Israeli IBD research Network (IIRN).Gut. 2019 Apr;68(4):604-614. doi: 10.1136/gutjnl-2017-315494. Epub 2018 Apr 4.

  3. Early drug and anti-infliximab antibody levels for prediction of primary nonresponse to infliximab therapy. Bar-Yoseph H, Levhar N, Selinger L, Manor U, Yavzori M, Picard O, Fudim E, Kopylov U, Eliakim R, Ben-Horin S, Chowers Y, Ungar B. Aliment Pharmacol Ther. 2018 Jan;47(2):212-218.

  4. Radiation induces proinflammatory dysbiosis: transmission of inflammatory susceptibility by host cytokine induction. Gerassy-Vainberg S, Blatt A, Danin-Poleg Y, Gershovich K, Sabo E, Nevelsky A, Daniel S, Dahan A, Ziv O, Dheer R, Abreu MT, Koren O, Kashi Y, Chowers Y. Gut. 2018 Jan;67(1):97-107. doi: 10.1136/gutjnl-2017-313789. Epub 2017 Apr 2.

  5. Prevention of Antidrug Antibody Formation to Infliximab in Crohn's Patients With Prior Failure of Thiopurines. Bar-Yoseph H, Waterman M, Almog R, Billiet T, Vermeire S, Ungar B, Yanai H, Dotan I, Ben-Horin S,Chowers Y. Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2017 Jan;15(1):69-75. doi: 10.1016/j.cgh.2016.06.028. Epub 2016 Jul 9.

  6. Early histological findings may predict the clinical phenotype in Crohn's colitis. Klein A, Mazor Y, Karban A, Ben-Itzhak O, Chowers Y, Sabo E. United European Gastroenterol J. 2017 Aug;5(5):694-701. doi: 10.1177/2050640616676435. Epub 2016 Oct 21.

  7. Anti-infliximab Antibodies with Neutralizing Capacity in Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease: Distinct Clinical Implications Revealed by a Novel Assay. Weisshof R, Ungar B, Blatt A, Dahan A, Pressman S, Waterman M, Kopylov U, Ben-Horin S,Chowers Y. Inflamm Bowel Dis. 2016 Jul;22(7):1655-61. doi: 10.1097/MIB.0000000000000797.

  8. Cross-immunogenicity: antibodies to infliximab in Remicade-treated patients with IBD similarly recognise the biosimilar Remsima. Ben-Horin S, Yavzori M, Benhar I, Fudim E, Picard O, Ungar B, Lee S, Kim S, Eliakim R, Chowers Y. Gut. 2016 Jul;65(7):1132-8. doi: 10.1136/gutjnl-2015-309290. Epub 2015 Apr 20.

  9. Adalimumab drug and antibody levels as predictors of clinical and laboratory response in patients with Crohn's disease. Mazor Y, Almog R, Kopylov U, Ben Hur D, Blatt A, Dahan A, Waterman M, Ben-Horin S, Chowers Y. Aliment Pharmacol Ther. 2014 Sep;40(6):620-8. doi: 10.1111/apt.12869. Epub 2014 Jul 15.

  10. Thiopurine effectiveness in patients with Crohn's disease: a study of genetic and clinical predictive factors. Koifman E, Karban A, Mazor Y, Chermesh I, Waterman M, Almog R, Ben-Horin S, Eliakim R, Krivoy N, Efrati E, Chowers Y. Inflamm Bowel Dis. 2013 Jul;19(8):1639-44. doi: 10.1097/MIB.0b013e31828828d3.

  11. Addition of an immunomodulator to infliximab therapy eliminates antidrug antibodies in serum and restores clinical response of patients with inflammatory bowel disease. Ben-Horin S, Waterman M, Kopylov U, Yavzori M, Picard O, Fudim E, Awadie H, Weiss B, Chowers Y. Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2013 Apr;11(4):444-7. doi: 10.1016/j.cgh.2012.10.020. Epub 2012 Oct 24.

  12. The decline of anti-drug antibody titres after discontinuation of anti-TNFs: implications for predicting re-induction outcome in IBD. Ben-Horin S, Mazor Y, Yanai H, Ron Y, Kopylov U, Yavzori M, Picard O, Fudim E, Maor Y, Lahat A, Coscas D, Eliakim R, Dotan I, Chowers Y. Aliment Pharmacol Ther. 2012 Mar;35(6):714-22. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2036.2012.04997.x. Epub 2012 Jan 30.

  13. Tailoring anti-TNF therapy in IBD: drug levels and disease activity. Ben-Horin S, Chowers Y. Nat Rev Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2014 Apr;11(4):243-55. doi: 10.1038/nrgastro.2013.253. Epub 2014 Jan 7. Review.