IBDmate was born from a simple but important belief: people living with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) should have easy access to clear, reliable information that supports them alongside their care. Too often, patients are left searching online for answers, overwhelmed and unsure what to trust.
We began by working closely with the Paediatric IBD (PIBD) team at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge, who generously gave their time and expertise to help create IBDmate for children, young people, and families.
From there, IBDmate grew and moved into adult care - first at St Mark’s Hospital in London, who played a vital role in adapting and piloting IBDmate for adults. Today, IBDmate continues to expand across NHS centres, always built hand-in-hand with patients and their families, and healthcare professionals.
We’re here to improve access to reliable, clear information about IBD. Everything we produce is:
I’m half Finnish and live on the south coast of England near Brighton. I was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis 17 years ago.
After several years struggling to find remission, I knew I wanted to do something to help others like me. In 2015 I founded IBDrelief and have since been working on projects to improve the lives of people living with IBD. That work grew into IBDmate.
Since then, I’ve filmed interviews with hundreds of people living with IBD, their families, doctors, nurses and other healthcare providers, and built IBDmate (several times over!) before launching into hospitals in the UK.
In 2023, after years of struggling to fund the work, IBDrelief joined Motilent, a med-tech company specialising in imaging of gastrointestinal disease. This has given IBDmate the backing we need to grow sustainably while remaining free for NHS teams and patients.
I was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis at age 10. I’ve now lived with IBD for more than 35 years. About eight years ago, one of my children was also diagnosed with Crohn’s disease at the age of 10.
I’ve been working with Seb to get IBDmate ready for launch in adult IBD centres, learning how to interview, edit videos, design, and write medical content along the way. I’m passionate about supporting people with IBD and their families. In recent years I’ve also volunteered at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge in an ‘expert by experience’ role, supporting young people and families from diagnosis onwards.
I also wrote and illustrated Me (and IBD), a colouring journal specially designed for young people diagnosed with IBD, which are now part of standard care in numerous hospitals across the UK.
IBDmate is now part of Motilent, a medical technology company dedicated to transforming the way gastrointestinal diseases are diagnosed and monitored using advanced imaging.
Being part of Motilent means IBDmate has the support of a wider team of scientists, clinicians, and technologists who share the same vision: making life better for people living with GI conditions. It also ensures that IBDmate is here for the long term.
IBDmate wouldn’t exist without the many people who have given their time, knowledge and experiences:
People living with IBD and their families, who shared their knowledge and stories purely to help others Healthcare professionals from across different specialties who sat in front of the camera, reviewed and approved content, and contributed their expertise.
A special thank you to Dr Rob Heuschkel and the PIBD team at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge, who were the first to believe in the vision of IBDmate and generously supported its creation for children, young people and families. And to the team at St Mark’s Hospital, the first adult centre to introduce IBDmate, who have been central to its transition from paediatrics into adult care.
