June 11, 2025 | Richmond Hill Golf Club

Join us for the 6th Annual Michael Thompson Memorial Golf Tournament in support of the GEM Project at Sinai Health.

This special event brings together friends, families, and supporters for a day on the course — all to advance critical research into the causes of Crohn’s disease.

Proceeds from the tournament will help fund the GEM (Genetic, Environmental, Microbial) Project, a groundbreaking initiative led by Dr. Ken Croitoru. The GEM Project aims to define biomarkers that will quantify risk and predict who will develop Crohn’s disease. Using the food frequency questionnaire data, the team found that a Mediterranean-like dietary pattern was strongly associated with a defined microbial composition and lower levels of subclinical gut inflammation. The GEM team published their exciting results in several prestigious journals and presented at high profile conferences around the world, including the European Crohn's and Colitis Organisation conference.

"After years of painstakingly collecting data from healthy first-degree relatives of Crohn’s patients from around the world, we are now harvesting the fruits of our labour," says Dr. Croitoru. "Our findings are painting the clearest picture yet of the onset of disease, which will set the stage for novel interventions."

Your participation in the tournament will help power the next phase of discovery into this initiative.