Charles Bernstein, MD, FRCPC

Research summary

Dr. Charles Bernstein's research at the University of Manitoba is at the forefront of understanding the epidemiology and underlying mechanisms of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). He is the Director of the University of Manitoba IBD Epidemiology Database, a population-based resource that has provided invaluable insights into the prevalence, outcomes, and comorbidities of IBD in Manitoba. He also leads the University of Manitoba IBD Research Registry, which is a population-based registry of nearly half of all Manitobans with IBD. This registry can be accessed for survey or other cohort studies. An important area of focus in Dr. Bernstein's research is the exploration of the brain-gut axis, particularly the psychiatric comorbidities in IBD and other chronic immune-mediated inflammatory diseases. By leveraging both administrative health data and population-based data, Dr. Bernstein's research is highly innovative and aims to uncover new insights into disease etiology and management approaches that can improve the lives of patients with IBD. His work is of particular interest to researchers and healthcare providers working in the field of IBD and gut microbiome research.

Research themes

• Inflammatory bowel disease
• Gut microbiome in human disease
• Epidemiology of chronic immune mediated inflammatory diseases
• Psychiatric comorbidity in chronic diseases

Research interests

• Translational research bidirectionally between clinic and administrative health data
• Translational research between clinic and animal models of disease or basic biology experiments
• Translational research between clinical disease and gut microbiome

Keywords

• Comorbidities in inflammatory bowel disease
• Crohn’s disease
• Gastroenterology
• Gut microbiome
• Inflammatory bowel disease
• Population-based data
• Psychiatric comorbidity
• Ulcerative colitis

Research groups

• International Organization for the Study of IBD (IOIBD)

Dr. Charles Bernstein is a Distinguished Professor of Medicine at the Max Rady College of Medicine, University of Manitoba. He is the Director of the Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) Clinical and Research Centre, and the Bingham Chair in Gastroenterology Research. He is a graduate of the University of Manitoba, Max Rady College of Medicine and completed his fellowship in Gastroenterology at the UCLA division of Gastroenterology.

Dr. Bernstein's research interests are primarily related to IBD, including optimizing management approaches, exploring predictors of clinical outcomes, and disease etiology. More recently, he has been actively involved in exploring the biological and clinical intersection between different chronic immune-mediated inflammatory diseases. He has published over 600 peer-reviewed articles, 29 book chapters, and is a co-editor of one of the seminal gastrointestinal clinical-pathology textbooks. His H-Index is 97 and he has had over 42,000 citations.

Dr. Bernstein's contributions to the field have been recognized with numerous awards and honors, including being elected to the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences in 2008, being named the inaugural Bingham Chair in Gastroenterology at the University of Manitoba in 2009, receiving the Canadian Association of Gastroenterology Research Excellence Award in 2012, being elected into the Royal Society of Canada-Life Sciences Division of the Academy of Science in 2012, being appointed as a Distinguished Professor of Medicine at University of Manitoba in 2014, and receiving the Dr. John M. Bowman Memorial Winnipeg Rh Institute Foundation Award in 2016, recognizing outstanding research accomplishments by a senior University of Manitoba faculty. He is an expert in the field of IBD and gut microbiome research and is a respected leader in the academic community.

Education 

Fellowship in Gastroenterology, UCLA affiliated training program in gastrointestinal diseases (1992)

Elective in Gastroenterology, Harbor UCLA Medical Center, Torrance, California (1988)

Residency in Internal Medicine, University of Manitoba (1989)

Internship in Special Mixed Medicine (1986)

Doctor of Medicine, University of Manitoba (1985)

Awards

Awarded by Med II class (Class of 2021) for teaching awards in category of Inspiration, in category of Innovation, in category of Best teaching in small group and in the category of Mentorship

Crohn’s and Colitis Canada Research Leadership Award (2019)

Nominated by Med III class for teaching award in category of inspiration (2016-17)

Dr. John M. Bowman Memorial Winnipeg Rh Institute Foundation Award, recognizing outstanding research accomplishments by a senior University of Manitoba faculty-only one award per year (2016)

Distinguished Professor of Medicine (University of Manitoba; a maximum of 20 academic staff members may hold this title at any one time. It is the highest honor the University can bestow upon a professor) (2014)

Royal Society of Canada-Life Sciences Division of the Academy of Science (elected fellow) (2012)

Canadian Association of Gastroenterology Research Excellence Award (2012)

Canadian Association of Gastroenterology Visiting Professor Award (2010)

Doctors Manitoba Scholastic Award (2010)

Bingham Chair in Gastroenterology Research (2009)