About

Dr. Kappelman is a physician scientist specializing in the field of Pediatric Gastroenterology.

Dr. Kappelman’s research interests focus on using real-world data to 1) define the burden of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) (prevalence, costs, healthcare utilization, quality of life, disease complications), 2) elucidate the risk factors for developing IBD, 3) study the safety, effectiveness, and comparative effectiveness of different treatment options, and 4) measure and improve the quality of care delivered to this patient population.

Dr. Kappelman collaborates with colleagues across UNC’s campus, nationally, and internationally. Many of these collaborations have led to multi-center observational clinical and translational studies, for which he has served as a co-investigator or UNC site PI. In addition to observational studies, Dr. Kappelman has also led interventional clinical trials, including serving as PI for a PCORI funded large pragmatic clinical trial to compare the effectiveness of anti-TNF monotherapy versus combination therapy with oral methotrexate.

His future research plans include continuing independent and collaborative patient-oriented and translational research in the area of IBD, including 1) integrating real-world data across various sources (administrative, electronic health record, clinical registry, and patient-reported), 2) conducting observational and interventional studies of the clinical and comparative effectiveness and safety of existing and emerging therapeutic strategies, and 3) collaborating with basic researchers to design studies that capitalize on this infrastructure to support translational research.