Dr. Dermot McGovern, MD, PhD, FRCP(Lon), FACG, AGAF, is Professor of Medicine and the Joshua L. & Lisa Z. Greer Chair in Inflammatory Bowel Disease Genetics at Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, where he also serves as Director of Precision Health, Director of Translational Medicine at the F. Widjaja Foundation Inflammatory Bowel & Immunobiology Research Institute, and Co Director of the Mucosal Immunology Repository for Inflammatory and Digestive Diseases (MIRIAD).
A distinguished gastroenterologist and geneticist, Dr. McGovern earned his MD and completed his PhD in complex disease genetics at the University of Oxford, UK, before joining Cedars Sinai in 2007. He has authored over 475 peer reviewed publications and made seminal contributions to the genetics of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), including one of the first genome wide association studies identifying TNFSF15 as a risk locus in UC and Crohn’s disease nearly two decades ago.
In 2017, Dr. McGovern co founded Prometheus Biosciences (formerly Precision IBD), a precision medicine biotech company focused on developing targeted therapies and companion diagnostics for immune mediated diseases. His scientific leadership played a pivotal role in the discovery of PRA023, a TL1A targeting monoclonal antibody for IBD, and companion diagnostic development. Prometheus was acquired by Merck in April 2023 in a high profile transaction valued at approximately US $10.8 billion, significantly strengthening Merck’s immunology pipeline.
Dr. McGovern’s expertise extends into clinical trial design, pharmacogenomics, and translational immunology. He is a member of both the NIDDK IBD Genetics Consortium Steering Committee and the International IBD Genetics Consortium Management Committee.
His recent clinical-translational work at Cedars Sinai has helped validate novel targeted therapies – such as tulisokibart in the ARTEMIS UC trial – and advanced precision medicine approaches that integrate genetic testing to predict patient response.
Dr. McGovern’s awards include the prestigious Sherman Prize for outstanding contributions to IBD genetics.
He continues to push the boundaries of biotechnology and precision medicine, driving new diagnostic and therapeutic strategies for autoimmune and inflammatory diseases through both academic leadership and successful industry translation.