Colon & Rectal Surgery at the University of Louisville -- Patient Information

"Work in Progress" Newsletter

Valentina Kolodko, MD: Searching for Answers

In 2000, Valentina Kolodko, MD, accompanied her husband, Boris Topor, MD, a Fulbright Scholar from the Former Soviet Republic of Moldova, to the University of Louisville. During his fellowship, Topor participated in the Section of Colon & Rectal Surgery's ongoing research into the cause of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and colorectal cancer. At the time, the couple had no idea that their research would become personal.

A Family Affair
"Last year our son Serge, 27, was diagnosed with Crohn's colitis," Kolodko says. "Our lives were turned upside down."

Ironically, Kolodko has devoted more than half of her career to practicing colorectal surgery. Many of her patients have inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). She never thought the disease would touch her own family.

Suffering from weight loss, severe bleeding, and malnutrition, Serge was faced with the prospect of a permanent ileostomy. Treatment with aggressive medical therapy has so far prevented the need for surgery, and he is doing better. For Kolodko, the questions still remain: Why do people develop IBD and who is at risk?

Determination
Determined to find the cause of her son's disease, and thousands of other patients like him, Kolodko returned to Louisville in 2003 to work for a year as a research associate in U of L's Digestive Surgery Research Laboratory. An integral part of the laboratory's research team, she was introduced to techniques such as PCR and microarray technology. Eventually, she hopes to come back to U of L to pursue an advanced degree.

"My experience at the University of Louisville was invaluable. I might not be so young," says Kolodko, 55, "but my work is not done."

Specifically, she would like to collaborate with the laboratory on a research project that she and her husband began 15 years ago: a project that has since taken on a new urgency for the couple.

The Promise of Research
Kolodko and her University colleagues in Moldova have collected about 500 tissue samples from patients with Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, and colorectal cancer. Unfortunately, the poor economic conditions in the Former Soviet Republic make it impossible to study the samples, which could yield important clues as to the cause of these diseases.

"We do not have the supplies or the chemicals -- so these samples are sitting frozen and waiting." Kolodko is hopeful that the hour will come when she can utilize these DNA samples for the benefit of research.

"This [research] holds great promise for science, for Moldova, and especially for my family. I want to know the chances of my daughter developing inflammatory bowel disease and my grandchildren. I have questions, and it would be wonderful to have answers to these questions."

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