Roles
- Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine
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Biography
Oriana Damas, MD, MPH, Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine, Director of Translational and Research, Crohn’s and Colitis Center. Oriana M. Damas, MD, MSCTI, is an Associate Professor of Medicine in the Division of Digestive Health and Liver Diseases at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. She also serves as the Director of Translational Studies for the Crohn’s and Colitis Center. Dr. Damas earned her medical degree from the University of Miami and completed her training in internal medicine and gastroenterology at the University of Miami and Jackson Memorial Hospital.
Her clinical practice and research focus on the care of patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Dr. Damas has conducted extensive research on environmental factors and the epidemiology of IBD, particularly in Latin America and the United States. Her contributions to the field have earned her numerous accolades, including the prestigious DREAM Award in recognition of her work with the Hispanic IBD community.
Dr. Damas has significant experience in running clinical trials, including both drug and innovative dietary trials, aimed at improving the quality of life for patients with IBD through lifestyle and dietary modifications. She is an NIH-funded researcher and currently serves as the principal investigator for a study developing an anti-inflammatory South Florida diet for IBD patients, which incorporates elements of traditional Latin foods from the region.
She has authored numerous original research articles and book chapters, and she serves on the Editorial Boards of the prestigious Gastroenterology journal and Crohn’s & Colitis 360. In addition to her research, Dr. Damas is recognized as a national and international leader in her field. She is frequently invited to speak at national and international conferences and is an active member of the American Gastroenterological Association and the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation. Dr. Damas also participates in local community events focused on IBD education -
Education & Training
Education
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Publications
Disclaimer: Information presented in this section has been consolidated using AI and machine learning technologies. While every effort has been made to ensure accuracy, errors may occur. If you identify any inaccuracies, use this link to inform our data team. Your feedback is appreciated and helps us improve the quality of our content.
Articles & News
Can a Personalized Anti-Inflammatory Diet Reduce Crohn’s Disease Inflammation?
Uncovering Ancestry-Specific Genetic Risk in Inflammatory Bowel Disease
A Game Changer for IBD Care: The Advantages of Intestinal Ultrasound
Disclaimer:
Information presented in this section has been consolidated using AI and machine learning technologies. While every effort has been made to ensure accuracy, errors may occur. If you identify any inaccuracies, use this link to inform our data team. Your feedback is appreciated and helps us improve the quality of our content.
Clinical Trials
Viewing 0 of 10 clinical trials.
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A Randomized Control Study to Examine the Influence of a Healthy Diet on Moderate to Severe Ulcerative Colitis Patients Undergoing Second Line Induction With Biological Medications Tofacitinib, Ustekinumab or Vedolizumab
- Principal Investigator: Oriana Damas
- Study Phase: Phase 3
- Enrollment Status: Closed
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OVERVIEW AND PURPOSE: The University of Miami IBD Center conducts laboratory and clinical research designed to understand the causes and improve treatments for inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD); Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. Numerous studies, some sponsored by the NIH or other private entities, and some unfunded at present rely on the acquisition and evaluation of tissues (blood and/or intestinal tissue) in association with correlated clinical data. The purpose of this application is to establish a protocol for enrolling participants and the subsequent use and/or storage of samples and data resulting from these studies. We hypothesize that inflammatory bowel disease arises in genetically susceptible individuals in the presence of intestinal bacteria. There is both an inappropriate innate immune response and adaptive immune response to the normal intestinal flora. The resulting inflammation results in both intestinal and extraintestinal consequences. The intestinal consequences include narrowing or strictures of the intestine and colon cancer. The extraintestinal complications include osteoporosis and anemia. In order to test this broad hypothesis, it is necessary to develop a clinical, genetic, and tissue repository that will permit focused research questions to be addressed. The samples and data will be used for basic science, translational and clinical investigation by members of the University of Miami Inflammatory Bowel Disease research group. Coded samples and data may also be shared with other established IBD investigators in compliance with the distribution and access restrictions described below.SPECIFIC AIMS1) To identify immune pathways that are aberrant in patients with inflammatory bowel disease compared to controls.2) To identify abnormal host immune responses to intestinal bacteria in patients with inflammatory bowel disease.3) To identify mechanisms resulting in development of dysplasia and cancer in patients with inflammatory bowel disease.4) To identify genetic polymorphisms associated with inflammatory bowel disease compared to ethnically matched controls.5) To identify serum biomarkers that predict response to therapies. RISKS/BENEFITS. The potential risks and discomforts of these research studies are the risks of blood drawing. These risks are those associated with routine blood drawing which include bruising and infection at the site where blood is taken. The information obtained in this study will be kept in strict confidence. The information will be identified in the database by a unique code and draw date. No personal identifiers will be used. Blood is drawn by skilled research coordinators to minimize risks, using sterile technique. A pressure dressing is applied at the site after phlebotomy. Any patient data will be kept on a password protected desktop computer without a connection to the hospital server or the internet. These measures are taken to protect against any misuse of the personal information by employers or insurers. Surgical Tissue Procurement IBD and non-IBD patients will experience no risks by donating a portion of their surgical specimen for IBD research. Endoscopic Tissue Procurement: The risks and discomforts associated with removal of additional biopsies are the same as those associated with taking the original diagnostic biopsies (infection, bleeding and perforation of the intestine). On rare occasions, perforation may require treatment with antibiotics, admittance into the hospital, and/or surgery. Benefits:There is no immediate benefit to patients participating in these genetic and immunologic research projects. However, the information gained from such research will lead to an improved understanding of the causes and treatment of IBD. Thus, the subjects themselves and society at large will benefit both in alleviating human suffering and in decreasing the economic burden of these chronic illnesses.
- Principal Investigator: Oriana Damas
- Study Phase: N/A
- Enrollment Status: Open
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The purpose of this study is to test the effect of an anti-inflammatory diet tailored for patients living in the United States with Crohns Disease (CD) on clinical symptoms and disease inflammation and to identify biomarkers of response to dietary therapy.
- Principal Investigator: Oriana Damas
- Study Phase: TBD
- Enrollment Status: Open
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The purpose of this study is to use diet and a glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist medication as adjunctive therapy for Crohns disease patients with mild disease who are on stable doses of biologic medication (infliximab or adalimumab) and who have a body mass index (BMI) of at least 27 kg/m2. This study aims to determine whether weight loss, either through a Mediterranean diet alone or a Mediterranean diet plus administration of a glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist, can improve IBD inflammation and response to biologic medication in obese patients.
- Principal Investigator: Oriana Damas
- Study Phase: TBD
- Enrollment Status: Open
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The purpose of this study is to test the effect of an anti-inflammatory diet tailored for American patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) on disease remission and to identify biomarkers of response to dietary therapy.
- Principal Investigator: Oriana Damas
- Study Phase: N/A
- Enrollment Status: Open
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Chronic intestinal hypoxia and accompanying mucosal inflammation is a hallmark of ulcerative colitis (UC). Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) involves breathing 100% oxygen under increased atmospheric pressure to increase tissue oxygenation. Two small prospective randomized controlled trials have demonstrated that the delivery of HBOT to UC patients hospitalized for acute moderate to severe flares results in improved remission rates and avoidance of in-hospital progression to biologics, small molecules, or colectomy. In this larger trial we aim to confirm the treatment benefits of HBOT for hospitalized UC patients and study the immune-microbe mechanisms underpinning treatment response.
- Principal Investigator: Oriana Damas
- Study Phase: TBD
- Enrollment Status: Open
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Primary objective of this trial is to explore the efficacy of ozanimod ininducing clinical response in the advanced therapy-naïve cohort. Secondary To explore the efficacy of ozanimod in the advanced therapy-naïve cohort and to explore the effects of ozanimod ondisease specific HRQOL in the advanced therapy-naïve cohort.
- Principal Investigator: Oriana Damas
- Study Phase: TBD
- Enrollment Status: Closed
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This phase 2 dose-finding study will assess the safety and efficacy of induction therapy with efavaleukin alfa in subjects with moderately to severely active UC who have failed at least 1 of the following: conventional therapy, biologic therapy, or targeted smallmolecule therapy (ie, Janus kinase [JAK] inhibitor).
- Principal Investigator: Oriana Damas
- Study Phase: TBD
- Enrollment Status: Closed
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The proposed study is a multicenter parallel group clinical trial that will include 821 evaluable patients per group who will be randomly assigned to either HDWLC with targeted biopsies plus 2 random biopsies in 2 segments to assess for inflammation (limited biopsy strategy) or HDWLC with targeted biopsies plus 4 biopsies every 10 cm throughout the colon, at a minimum in all segments of the colon known to have been affected by IBD at any time, regardless of the extent of disease (random biopsy strategy).Participants will be followed until total proctocolectomy or for up to 15 years to determine whether the two methods of surveillance colonoscopy are associated with detection of dysplasia or SSA at follow-up colonoscopy (Figure 1). Follow-up via chart review may continue for up to 15 years from enrollment
- Principal Investigator: Oriana Damas
- Study Phase: N/A
- Enrollment Status: Open
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A Phase II study to assess the safety and efficacy of AVB-114 intreatment of complex Crohns perianal fistulas in subjects withquiescent rectal disease and whose fistula has failed to respond tobiologic or conventional therapy.
- Principal Investigator: Oriana Damas
- Study Phase: Phase II
- Enrollment Status: Closed