E-Mail IMAGE: A research team led by Dr. Thaddeus Stappenbeck of Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute has discovered a new tissue infection associated with Crohn's disease. view more Credit: Cleveland Clinic March 11, 2021, CLEVELAND: A Cleveland Clinic-led team of researchers has discovered a new tissue infection associated with Crohn's disease. According to study results published in Science, a type of yeast commonly found in cheese and processed meat is elevated in areas of unhealed wounds in Crohn's disease patients, a discovery that may point to new treatment or prevention approaches for the common inflammatory bowel disease. The work was led by Thaddeus Stappenbeck, M.D., PhD., chair of Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute's Department of Inflammation and Immunity. The team, which also included researchers from Washington University, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and Dartmouth College, found that levels of the yeast Debaryomyces hansenii are higher in Crohn's disease patients, particularly abundant within chronically inflamed regions of the colon and small intestine, indicative of unhealed intestinal wounds.