News

ImproveCareNow Clinical Director Shehzad Saeed, MD, FAAP, AGAF, NASPGHAN-F has announced that he will step down from his role as in Fall 2026. ImproveCareNow (ICN) is implementing an extensive search for a Medical Director (formally known as Clinical Director). The ICN Board of Directors examined the leadership roles in the network and, in anticipation of hiring a physician leader to replace Dr. Shehzad Saeed, voted to change the title of Clinical Director to Medical Director. The Board made the change to a term more widely used by healthcare organizations to describe similar roles.

We had been accepting applications through June 1, 2026, and are now in the next stage of this process and scheduling interviews with promising applicants.

Johnson & Johnson recently announced the Federal Drug Administration’s (FDA) approval of STELARA® (ustekinumab) for pediatric Crohn’s disease. This approval offers patients over the age of two with moderately to severely active Crohn’s disease more treatment options and better access to effective therapies. Ustekinumab is the first non-TNF biologic to treat both adult and pediatric patients with Crohn’s disease two years and older.

After more than a decade since the last major therapeutic approval in 2014, the regulatory approval of ustekinumab for pediatric Crohn’s disease marks more than scientific progress—it represents renewed hope, expanded choice, and a long-overdue commitment to children living with chronic inflammatory bowel diseases. By expanding our arsenal, we are taking a major step forward in improving outcomes and quality of life for children facing this challenging condition.

– Shehzad Saeed, MD, FAAP, AGAF, Clinical Director, ImproveCareNow 

ImproveCareNow (ICN) is committed to improving clinical outcomes measures for pediatric patients with Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis (also known as inflammatory bowel disease or IBD) cared for in our network. To monitor our progress, we consistently track measures for young patients with IBD cared for at ICN centers.  We are thrilled to report a shift in our clinical remission measure from 82.1% to 83.27%. This improvement means that approximately 300 additional ICN patients have achieved clinical remission.  Clinical remission is defined as the total number of patients with physician global assessment identified as quiescent from patients who have received a visit in the last 13 months (learn more in our Model IBD Care Guidelines).

The ImproveCareNow Board of Directors has announced that Clinical Director Shehzad Saeed, MD, FAAP, AGAF, NASPGHAN-F has made the decision to transition from his current role as ICN Clinical Director this fall.

ImproveCareNow (ICN) has had extraordinary success since it began 19 years ago,  increasing remission rates for thousands of young people with IBD, transforming how pediatric IBD care is provided, enlightening and exciting clinicians and other care providers, and engaging patients and parents in a shared purpose and effort. We are pleased to share our ImproveCareNow 2025 Annual Update, which includes highlights and achievements from 2025 and plans for our continued work to improve health, care, and costs for young people with IBD in 2026 and beyond.

ImproveCareNow (ICN) is excited to share that findings from a years-long observational study, Effectiveness and safety of ustekinumab in pediatric Crohn's disease: Results of the REALITI study are now published in the March 2026 issue of the Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition. The study aimed to assess the effectiveness and safety of ustekinumab in real-world clinical settings for children with Crohn’s disease, and showed that the effectiveness and safety of ustekinumab treatment were similar in pediatric patients and young adult patients. You can read more about these findings here.

Thank you to the following for mentioning and continuing to spread the news about ImproveCareNow and our work to transform the health, care and cost for kids and youth with IBD. 

According to the 2025-2026 U.S. News & World Report (USNWR) rankings, ImproveCareNow (ICN) care centers are among the best children’s hospitals in the nation, ranking at the top of the Honor Roll and in the Gastroenterology & GI Surgery specialty. USNWR rankings are based on a reputational survey sent to pediatric specialists and a data survey that is sent to a handpicked set of hospitals.

We are pleased to announce that the ImproveCareNow (ICN) Data Operations Committee has prepared and released the ImproveCareNow 2024 Data Report. This report aims to present a brief summary of patient data captured in the ICN Outcomes Registry - a pediatric IBD-specific, enhanced health registry built by and for the ICN Network.

Together, these data [in this report] showcase the vast knowledge we have all gathered. By sharing it, we hope to inspire new innovations and accelerate research into pediatric IBD. As you review this report, we encourage you to ask: What hasn't been studied yet that could help us improve remission and quality of care for children with IBD?

- Charles Samson, MD & Melanie Miner, Co- Leaders, ICN Data Operations Committee

ImproveCareNow’s (ICN) Board of Directors is pleased to kick off their FY 2026 term starting July 2025. 

For this fiscal year, the Board remains focused on key strategies for long term sustainability. At the upcoming September Board meeting, they will explore strategies presented by members of a working group convened this past February.

The Board will also review progress on the FY25-28 Strategic Plan and consider additional goals in partnership with ImproveCareNow's new Executive Director, Becky Johnson Rescola. Becky has been meeting with all of our stakeholders to listen and learn from them, and we are grateful for her leadership of the network.