Meenakshi Bewtra

Dr. Meenakshi Bewtra is an Associate Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology at the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania. She leads the IBD-Immunology Initiative, a prospective clinical and tissue biobank advancing personalized medicine in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Her research integrates clinical epidemiology, pharmacovigilance, and patient-centered decision-making to improve IBD management. Dr. Bewtra’s work has been funded by NIH, Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation, and industry partners.

Education: BSc (Yale, 1998), MD (UPenn, 2003), MPH (Harvard, 2003), PhD (UPenn, 2013). Research focuses on IBD natural history, medication safety, and clinical trial design. She mentors trainees in gastroenterology and clinical epidemiology.

Research Interests include:

• Clinical trials for novel therapies and educational interventions
• Discrete choice experiments for benefit-risk trade-offs
• Immunological mechanisms in IBD pathogenesis
• Long-term outcomes of SARS-CoV-2 vaccination in IBD patients

Publications span over 20 years, emphasizing:

• Biologic therapy safety and efficacy
• Patient preference analysis
• Epithelial-immune interactions
• COVID-19 vaccine responses in vulnerable populations

Advising and Grants:

• Mentored over 20 residents/fellows in IBD research
• Principal Investigator for NIH-funded studies
• Developed the SPARC IBD prospective cohort

Labs/Teams: IBD-Immunology Initiative (tissue biobank), CCEB (Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics).