Changing Lives Through Groundbreaking Science
Using robust scientific and lay review, in the 2023 cycle, the GI Research Foundation awarded $550,000 to six investigators at the University of Chicago for novel research projects.
2023 Competitive Grant Cycle Awards
Using robust scientific and lay review, in the 2023 cycle, the GI Research Foundation awarded $550,000 to six investigators at the University of Chicago for novel research projects.
Loss of Tolerance to Commensal Microbiota in the Context of Celiac Disease: Implications for Disease Development and Progression
Valerie Abadie, PhD
Celiac disease (CeD) is a complex intestinal inflammatory disorder brought about when genetically susceptible individuals eat gluten. Because only a small fraction of genetically susceptible individuals develop the disease after eating gluten, other environmental factors may contribute to developing CeD. Strong contenders are alterations in gut microbiota composition and function, especially loss of beneficial bacteria and increases in potentially harmful ones.
When tolerance to the normal flora that lives in our digestive tract is disrupted, inflammation can be the result. This project will focus on understanding whether there is a loss of tolerance to the normal bacteria in celiac patients at different stages of the disease. This study will help us understand whether the gut microbiota contributes to development and/or progression of celiac and could lead to the identification of new predictive markers for the screening of at-risk patients.
“Using a combination of scientific and lay review, the GI Research Foundation has awarded $550,000 in grants. We are so proud and privileged to be in partnership with the University of Chicago Medicine’s Digestive Diseases Center. Our competitive grant program supports novel research projects led by its investigators. This partnership provides us with extraordinary opportunities to be a first-in funder of groundbreaking ideas and has resulted in millions in funding from the National Institutes of Health. We are excited about the promise of these funded projects.”
