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DIRECTIONS Committee

DIetary contaminations – REfractory ComplicaTIons – ONgoing Symptoms

The role of the Committee is to advance the ISSCD’s Objectives in relation to promoting scientific knowledge, education and quality of care of patients with non-responsive celiac disease and ongoing symptoms.
Prof Fabiana Zingone

Chair: Professor Fabiana Zingone

Italy
Fabiana Zingone is an Associate Professor at the Department of Surgery, Oncology and Gastroenterology of the University of Padua, Italy. She conducts her research and clinical activity on immune-mediated gastrointestinal disorders, with a particular focus on celiac disease and inflammatory bowel disease. She is the author of more than 150 peer-reviewed publications, mostly on gluten-related disorders. She is also a member of the board of SIGE (Italian Society of Gastroenterology and Digestive Endoscopy) and has published the latest Italian guidelines for celiac disease.

Professor Christophe Cellier

France
Christophe Cellier is the coordinator of the CELAC French network (dedicated to complicated celiac patients RCD, EATL and non-responsive CD) Head of GI and Endoscopy department: European Georges Pompidou Hospital, Paris APHP and the University of Paris Cité, President of the French National Society of Gastroenterology (SNFGE).

Dr Michael Schumann

Germany

Michael Schumann is a medical doctor and gastroenterologist working at the Charité University Hospital in Berlin as an attending physician in the Department for Gastroenterology, Rheumatology and Infectious Diseases. His research focuses on the intestinal barrier in celiac disease and on treatment-refractory celiac disease (RCD) with a focus on evaluating molecular diagnostics for RCD.

Dr Daniel Leffler

USA

Daniel Leffler is a gastroenterologist caring for patients with celiac disease and other gastrointestinal disorders and is a founding member of the Celiac Center at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. He is an Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, has received multiple National Institute of Health, foundation and industry sponsored grants and has published over 200 articles in peer reviewed literature. Dr. Leffler joined Takeda Pharmaceuticals in 2016 where he served as the global clinical lead for celiac disease before moving into his current role as Executive Medical Director and Celiac Disease Global Program Lead at Chugai Pharmaceuticals.

Professor Govind Bhagat

USA
Govind Bhagat is a Professor of Pathology and Cell Biology and Director of the Division of Hematopathology at Columbia University, Irving Medical Center in New York, USA. His research interests include investigating the link between inflammation and neoplasia, with a focus on characterizing the immune and molecular alterations underlying refractory celiac disease. It is hoped that the research findings will further our understanding of non-responsive and refractory celiac disease and help elucidate novel biomarkers for distinguishing these conditions.

Dr Luca Elli

Italy

Luca Elli serves as the Chief of the ‘Center for Prevention and Diagnosis of Celiac Disease’ at Fondazione IRCCS Ca’ Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico in Milan, Italy. Throughout his career, Luca has dedicated himself to the study and treatment of celiac disease, developing a clinical and scientific expertise in the field. Furthermore, he is an internationally renowned endoscopist, particularly in the specialized domains of small bowel endoscopy utilizing video capsule and double balloon techniques, especially in patients with refractory celiac disease.

Dr Nadine Cerf-Bensussan

France
Nadine Cerf-Bensussan, MD PhD, is a Research Director at Inserm, head of the laboratory of Intestinal Immunity at Institute Imagine and Université Paris Cité, and coordinator of Inserm Transversal Program on Microbiota. Her team has contributed to showing the key role of Segmented Filamentous Bacteria in the post-natal maturation of the gut immune barrier. Studies in celiac disease have established how autoimmune-like inflammation driven by dietary gluten can ultimately lead to lymphomagenesis developing from gut intraepithelial lymphocytes carrying gain of function JAK1 or STAT3 mutations. Recent work in monogenic intestinal disorders aims at hierarchizing the mechanisms indispensable for human gut homeostasis and translating results into improved care of these rare diseases but also better understanding of frequent polyfactorial intestinal inflammatory diseases. She was awarded an ERC Advanced grant in 2013, the Distinguished Scientific Achievement Award from the Society for Mucosal Immunology in 2017, the Maki Celiac Tampere Prize in 2018 and the Grand Prix Inserm in 2023.

Professor Govind Makharia

India

Professor Makharia is based in the Department of Gastroenterology and Human Nutrition, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India. Through a systematic review and meta-analysis, which has been highly cited, Dr Makharia and his team explored the global burden of celiac disease and found it to be 0.7%. He and his team conceptualised a pilot multinational Asian study including Indonesia, Thailand, Japan, Singapore, China and India, which has shown prevalence of celiac disease to be 2.4% in patients with irritable bowel syndrome. Through this study, it came to light that celiac disease is indeed emerging in Asia.

With the support of the ISSCD, Prof Makharia, along with his team organised the International Celiac Disease Symposium (ICDS) in India in 2017 which was a huge success. In spring 2024, Prof Makharia led and hosted the inaugural Asian Pacific Celiac Disease Symposium and he will constitute the Asia Pacific Society for the Study of Celiac Disease (APSSCD) within ISSCD. To aid improvement in patient care, he and his team have been working on developing a Celiac Care Mobile application. He has authored more than 359 papers (h-index 60) and is the recipient of research grants from various funding agencies worth more than USD 1,795,983.

Professor Julio Bai

Argentina

Professor Julio C. Bai is an emeritus professor of medicine at the University del Salvador in Buenos Aires, Argentina, as well as a consultant at the Dr. C. Bonorino Udaondo Gastroenterology Hospital. He graduated from the University of Buenos Aires in 1970, at the age of 22. He was also a visiting assistant professor at the University of Texas, Dallas. His areas of interest are: celiac disease, non celiac gluten sensitivity, diagnostic and follow-up markers, video capsule endoscopy, inflammatory bowel disease, abnormalities with the intestinal barrier, intestinal microbiota, probiotics and new therapeutics for celiac disease. He began researching celiac disease during his first years of residency and has published over 400 papers in internationally recognized journals.

Anne Roland Lee

USA

Anne Lee is an Assistant Professor of Nutritional Medicine in the Department of Medicine and the Institute for Human Nutrition at Columbia University and the dietitian for the Celiac Disease Center. Anne is involved in patient care and research.  Her research and many publications focus on quality of life issues, dietary adherence, concerns of the nutritional quality of the gluten free diet and eating patterns and behaviors.  The research on eating behaviors has provided insight into the impact of the rigidity of the gluten free diet on eating patterns and behaviors and has created a paradigm shift in the education and counseling of individuals with celiac disease.  In addition to her work on the ISSCD DIRECTIONS Committee, she is working with an international group to define standards for nutritional assessment, education, and adherence of individuals with celiac disease.

DIRECTIONS Committee Terms of Reference
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