I'm a passionate Tasmanian academic gastroenterologist with a keen interest in improving patient care, conducting research, and providing education :)
Hobart, Tasmania
Joined June 2022
- Tweets103
- Following66
- Followers56
- Likes50
Alex Elford retweeted
#SundayRead☕️ from #CC360 Editor
Telemedicine as effective as in-person visit for vaccines uptake in #IBD pts
✔️Flu✔️PCV✔️hepB✔️HZV
💉Vaccines save lives
💻Telemedicine saves time, $ & burden on pt
🏛️Another reason to advocate 4 telemedicine coverage!
academic.oup.com/crohnscolit…
Really enjoyed the 2026 St Vincent’s IBD Symposium—great content and discussions. Exciting progress in IBD, but big gaps remain in equitable care for regional and under-resourced settings. That’s where the biggest gains lie. Advocacy & education are key.
Alex Elford retweeted
Management of Eosinophilic Oesophagitis (EoE) - 2026 ASGE guidelines
📸: sciencedirect.com/science/ar…
Great to be an instructor at the recent Gastric Ultrasound Workshop with Anaesthesia Continuing Education.
Also enjoyed presenting in Hobart on IUS and its growing role in IBD care. Looking forward to launching an intestinal ultrasound service from my private GI practice soon
Proud to lead a multidisciplinary team addressing inequities in #IBD care across Tasmania 🇦🇺! Our new @InternalMedJ article outlines the barriers facing patients in regional settings and proposes actionable solutions. #IBDcare #HealthEquity #Tasmania
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/…
Alex Elford retweeted
⚠️ ❗ Real-world effectiveness of risankizumab in Crohn’s disease: a pan UK retrospective cohort study 🚨 🚨
👫 763 participants with CD
💉 Treatment persistence at 6 and 12 months was 95.4% and 89.2%, respectively
✅ Rates of clinical, CRP and FCAL remission were 52% (123/236), 53% (169/319) and 44% (69/156) at 6 months
😃 Rates of clinical remission for ustekinumab naive versus exposed were 57% (29/51) vs 51% (94/185) (p=0.54) 6 months
Conclusion: Risankizumab was effective in a large, real-world, medically refractory CD cohort with excellent persistence and good clinical and biochemical remission rates.
Read it here! ▶️ ▶️ ▶️ fg.bmj.com/content/early/202…
With thanks to Alex Elford @alexelford3 and co-authors for this fantastic piece of work. @charlie_lees @PlevrisN
@RichardPollok @ibdseb @ChristianSelin3 @jklimdi @SamaanMark @UKgastrodoctor @DisneyBen @jennie_clough @Krishna___S @LoveshDyall
@PhilSmithIsBack @OTavabie @dr_aditi_kumar @TrevorTabone @eathar_s @IrenePerezMD @KGananandan @zare_benjamin @medicalreg @dtleiberman
#IBD #InflammatoryBowelDisease #CrohnsDisease #UlcerativeColitis #IBDResearch #IBDScience #Biologics #AdvancedTherapies #IL23 #IL23Inhibition #Risankizumab #Skyrizi #Gastroenterology #GI #MedTwitter #AcademicMedicine #ClinicalResearch
Alex Elford retweeted
Our latest study is out! 📊 We’ve uncovered 8 reproducible patterns of FC and CRP in #IBD, moving us closer to individual patient prognostication.
Developed by our team and validated in Denmark with @PREDICTIBD . 🏴🤝🇩🇰
Pre-proof in @CGHJournal: cghjournal.org/article/S1542…
Alex Elford retweeted
Diet quality is more important than focusing on isolated nutrients for constipation
✅ Diets rich in plant-based foods and healthy fats 👉 ↓ new chronic constipation
✅ Western & pro-inflammatory diets 👉 ↑ risk of constipation
💡 The protective role of plant-based diets against constipation was independent of fiber or ultra-processed food intake
@AGA_Gastro @AmerGastroAssn
gastrojournal.org/action/sho…
Alex Elford retweeted
NEW in Frontline Gastroenterology!
💊 Low-dose amitriptyline for IBS isn’t just effective — it’s cost-effective too.
In a prespecified economic analysis of the ATLANTIS trial, low-dose, titrated amitriptyline (10–30 mg) used as second-line therapy for IBS in primary care was:
✅ Clinically effective
✅ Safe and well tolerated
✅ Likely cost-effective over 12 months
✅ Associated with small QALY gains and overall cost savings
📌 Given the high prevalence and healthcare burden of IBS, this inexpensive neuromodulator could deliver meaningful population-level benefit.
🔗 Read the full paper in Frontline Gastroenterology
fg.bmj.com/content/early/202…
@PhilSmithIsBack @OTavabie @dr_aditi_kumar @TrevorTabone @eathar_s @IrenePerezMD @KGananandan @zare_benjamin @medicalreg @dtleiberman
Alex Elford retweeted
How much fibre, and what different types of fibre, are in foods? Not as easy to answer as you might imagine!
It can be affected by conditions, ripening, cooking, cultivar and method of analysis
Great review paper here from @DrHArmstrong doi.org/10.1016/j.foodhyd.20…
Alex Elford retweeted
SMALL BOWEL INFECTIONS – CLASSIC PATTERNS
TB
→ Transverse ulcers + patulous deformed ICV
YERSINIA
→ Uniform aphthoid nodules terminal ileum
CMV
→ Large shallow punched-out ulcers
STRONGYLOIDES
→ Duodenal edema + larvae on biopsy
Pro tip 92 % fellows miss: ulcer orientation → transverse = TB, longitudinal = Crohn’s
Your go-to clue for TB on enteroscopy?
Source: Mönkemüller VGIE 2013 / Gay WJG 2008
ALT SMALL BOWEL INFECTIONS – CLASSIC PATTERNS
Congratulations to the authors of these new guidelines. Very good and practical gut.bmj.com/content/74/Suppl…
Alex Elford retweeted
#ECCO consensus on diet in #IBD
Malnutrition is common in IBD, here is an algorithm for when to undertake a nutritional assessment
The consensus also critiques the methods to measure body composition in IBD
Full paper👉🏽academic.oup.com/ecco-jcc/ar…
Alex Elford retweeted
#ECCO consensus on diet in #IBD
Summary of evidence for SUPPLEMENTS in IBD
🟩Recommend
🟨Can be considered
🟥Not recommended
🟦Not enough evidence
Evidence for supplements in IBD almost completely lacking. Where done, sometimes shows not to recommend.
academic.oup.com/ecco-jcc/ar…
Alex Elford retweeted
The #ECCO consensus on diet in #IBD
We considered evidence in five areas
1⃣Diet to induce remission
2⃣Diet to maintain remission
3⃣Diet for specific situations
4⃣Nutritional optimisation
5⃣Diet to prevent IBD
Made 4⃣8⃣ statements for practice
Paper👉🏽academic.oup.com/ecco-jcc/ar…
Alex Elford retweeted
Diet advice should be tailored based on clinical scenarios that patients with #IBD encounter
🗣 Tips and tricks from @JHashashMD
✅During flare-up:
🔸Individualize (all-formula diet, partial enteral nutrition)
🔸Consider a specific carbohydrate diet
🔸Mediterranean diet as an adjunct
✅Fruits and vegetables can be reintroduced with careful chewing, cooking, and processing to a soft, less fibrinous consistency if intestinal strictures are present
✅Always partner with a gastro dietitian 👉 @D_ECCO_IBD @eatright @CrohnsColitisFn
✅Assess for malnutrition early and frequently
@AmCollegeGastro #ACG2025
Alex Elford retweeted
New research - Vedolizumab in early and late Crohn's disease (LOVE-CD): a phase 4 open-label cohort study
thelancet.com/journals/langa…
#GITwitter #MedTwitter
Great talk by Emma Flanagan @icius Congress
- more reliable than FC and symptoms for adverse neonatal outcomes
- feasible for colonic disease through pregnancy, can have difficulties with TI in 2nd trimester and beyond
