Hans Herfarth

Dr. Hans Herfarth is a Professor in the Department of Medicine at the UNC School of Medicine, specializing in Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD). As Director of the UNC Multidisciplinary IBD Center, he leads clinical care and research initiatives, including over 20 ongoing IBD clinical trials and registries. His work focuses on improving diagnostic and therapeutic approaches for IBD, with expertise in investigator-initiated trials and multicenter specimen/data coordination.

Research interests include

• Clinical and translational IBD studies
• Microbiome and gut permeability
• Pouchitis and postoperative complications
• Biologic therapies (e.g., ustekinumab, risankizumab)
• AI-driven molecular pathway analysis
• Real-world treatment paradigms

Recent publications highlight molecular clusters predicting IBD outcomes, antibiotic effects on pouchitis, and biologic therapy comparisons. He collaborates with researchers across the Center for Gastrointestinal Biology and Disease (CGIBD), leveraging its Clinical Research Core for data management in studies like MERIT-UC and DINE-CD.