MARISA

Stomach pains, hospitalisations, teenage years blighted by illness and the puffiness caused by steroid treatments – this is the reality of living with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), according to 23-year-old nurse, Marisa Coniglione.

IBD – the collective term for Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis – is a chronic, painful and disruptive inflammation of the lining of the gut, with no known cause or cure. Treatment involves expensive immune suppression that can have life-changing side effects.

Marisa has lived with the social, psychological and emotional toll of IBD since the age of 11. While three-hourlong infusion treatments given every eight weeks have made the condition more manageable, she still struggles with flare-ups and side effects.

“I feel awful and there are many risks that come with a suppressed immune system such as frequent infections. I’m battling a bacterial throat infection right now.”

She hopes A/Prof Forster’s research will lead to treatments that make it easier to enjoy life and give future patients fewer difficulties in their teens through to adulthood.