. Balfour Sartor, MD, is a distinguished physician-scientist and board-certified gastroenterologist specializing in inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), including Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. He holds the title of Midgette Distinguished Professor (also referred to as Lorimer W. Midgett Distinguished Professor) of Medicine, Microbiology, and Immunology at the University of North Carolina (UNC) School of Medicine in Chapel Hill. As co-director of the UNC Multidisciplinary Center for Inflammatory Bowel Diseases Research and Treatment and director of the National Gnotobiotic Rodent Resource Center, Sartor has dedicated his career to both clinical care—particularly managing complex, difficult-to-treat IBD patients—and groundbreaking translational research.
His research focuses on the mechanisms of chronic intestinal inflammation, mucosal immune homeostasis, and the critical role of the gut microbiome in IBD pathogenesis, emphasizing how specific resident bacterial subsets trigger protective versus inflammatory responses in genetically susceptible individuals. A Crohn’s disease patient himself, Sartor has made significant contributions to understanding environmental triggers, commensal microbiota, and personalized medicine approaches for IBD. His work has earned widespread recognition, including being named a Crohn’s Disease Healthcare Hero for his decades-long efforts to advance treatments, and he continues to lead a major laboratory funded by NIH and other sources while influencing the field through publications, collaborations, and leadership in gastrointestinal biology.
