Genetics, geography and inflammatory bowel disease, at the GESQ Noosa Update

The 2026 GESQ Noosa Update, the annual meeting of the Gastroenterological Society of Queensland, ran from 19 to 21 June 2026 in Noosa. A/Prof Kariyawasam was invited to speak in the opening session on the Saturday morning, "It's not all about the latest mAb: IBD in 2026", chaired by Dr Richard Fernandes, and joined the panel discussion that followed.

The talk

"IBD doesn't discriminate, or does it? Genetics, geography and clinical outcomes" looked at why Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis are not distributed evenly. Inherited risk explains part of it, but only part. Incidence has risen steeply in countries that once reported very little inflammatory bowel disease, and studies of people who migrate show risk shifting within a generation, which points to environment and early life rather than genes alone.

The second half was about what happens after diagnosis. Where someone lives, how far they are from a service and how easily they can reach it all show up in the course their disease takes, in Australia as elsewhere. That is a question about how care is organised rather than about biology, and it is one of the reasons A/Prof Kariyawasam works on access to medicines and to endoscopy.

Also at the meeting

The Young Investigator Awards session was a highlight, with work presented on severe colitis phenotypes, pancreatic fluid collections, ERCP, spatial transcriptomics in ulcerative colitis, age-related patterns of colorectal neoplasia and blood-borne virus screening. Dr John Masson of Townsville spoke about his path from Scotland to North Queensland as he approaches retirement.

Thanks to Dr Richard Fernandes and to GESQ for the invitation and to the sponsors who make these meetings possible.

Read the post about the meeting on LinkedIn