ICDS Committee
The ICDS is the premier global scientific and clinical meeting focused on celiac disease and gluten-mediated human disease. The meeting is currently held every second year at venues selected by ISSCD and attracts world leading experts in the field.
The ISSCD Constitution (Section 11.2) requires the establishment of a dedicated standing committee to support organising the ICDS.
The first ICDS Committee has been established under the Chair of Prof Jason Tye Din and comprises of experts in clinical and scientific knowledge of celiac disease and patient association representatives with the objective of supporting all relevant aspects of the organisation of the International Celiac Disease Symposium.
International Celiac Disease Symposium (ICDS) Committee
Chair: Professor Jason Tye Din, Australia
Associate Professor Jason Tye-Din is an adult gastroenterologist who heads the Coeliac Research Lab in the Immunology Division of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, Melbourne, Australia. His research focuses on examining the basis for gluten immunity to improve the diagnosis, treatment and management of people with coeliac disease. In addition to research he runs a dedicated coeliac disease clinic at the Royal Melbourne Hospital and chairs the Medical Advisory Committee of Coeliac Australia, working closely with them to promote evidence based practice and medical and public awareness of coeliac disease.
Ludvig Sollid, Immunology, Norway
Professor at the University of Oslo and a senior consultant at the Oslo University Hospital - Rikshospitalet. Also director of the KG Jebsen Coeliac Disease Research Centre, Norway. Professor Sollid’s research interests are focused around genetics and immunology of autoimmune diseases in general and celiac disease in particular. His group has made important contributions to the understanding of the molecular basis of celiac disease, in particular the role of HLA genes, the existence of gluten reactive (HLA-DQ restricted) T cells in the celiac intestinal lesion, the identification of immunotoxic gluten peptide sequences and the involvement of the transglutaminase 2 in the pathogenesis of the disease. His group is currently working on the characterization of the antigen receptors of T cells and B cells that recognize the celiac disease relevant antigens gluten and transglutaminase 2.
Katri Lindfors, Immunology, Finland
Katri Lindfors is a professor of molecular biology and the vice director of Celiac Disease Research Center at the Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology, Tampere University Finland. She has over 20 years of experience in basic/translational celiac disease research and currently her studies aim at understanding the molecular basis for the heterogenous clinical picture of celiac disease.
Riccardo Troncone, Pediatrics, Italy
Professor Riccardo Troncone is a Professor of Pediatrics at the Department of Medical Translational Sciences, University Federico II, Naples. He is presently Director of the “European Laboratory for the Investigation of Food-Induced Diseases” at the University Federico II, Naples. He is Past President of the International Society for the Study of Celiac Disease and of the European Society of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition (ESPGHAN). Professor Troncone is Associate Editor of the Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition (JPGN). His research interests are focused mostly on clinical and immunological aspects of celiac disease.
Alberto Caminero, Gastroenterology, Canada
Alberto is an Assistant Professor at the Farncombe Family Digestive Health Research Institute, McMaster University (Canada). He is an early career investigator and his research program focuses on diet microbiota interactions of relevance in food sensitivities such as celiac disease. Specifically, he is interested in microbial factors involved in the pathogenesis of celiac disease and the role of microbes in gluten metabolism.
Sadie Nagle, Dietetics, USA
Sadie Nagle, MS, RD, LD, is a registered dietitian at the Children’s Hospital Colorado and the Colorado Center for Celiac Disease in Aurora, Colorado with expertise in pediatric celiac disease and the gluten free diet. Her interests include standardization of dietary adherence assessment tools for the gluten free diet in celiac disease, improving dietary adherence with integration of clinical psychologists in registered dietitian clinical assessments, and understanding celiac disease center retention rates to improve the clinical care model for patients with celiac disease.
Cristian Costas, Dietetics, UK
Cristian is a gastroenterology dietitian specialising in celiac disease. In the National Health Service in the UK he runs a dietitian-led celiac service with the support of his fellow gastroenterologists and he is also involved in celiac disease research. He is very passionate about advocating for celiac disease on social media
Alice Bast, Patient Advocacy, USA
Founder and CEO Alice Bast has led Beyond Celiac, a US based nonprofit with a constituency of 3.2 million Americans and a global reach, for more than 20 years, overseeing the organization's efforts to improve the lives and health of those with celiac disease and gluten intolerance. Alice is dedicated to ensuring the patient experience and voice informs celiac disease research. Her personal journey with celiac disease and decades of experience in healthcare business development and marketing inspires Alice's leadership.
Vanessa Weisbrod, Patient Advocacy, USA
Vanessa Weisbrod is the Chief Education and Community Engagement Officer at the Celiac Disease Foundation where she drives change and innovation in healthcare through education. With a personal diagnosis of celiac disease in 2004, she's dedicated nearly two decades of her career to bridging knowledge gaps, leading research initiatives, and creating national recommendations to support patients living with celiac disease. Her commitment extends to roles on prestigious committees, hosting a CME-accredited podcast, and authoring four gluten free cookbooks, all aimed at inspiring change through education and advocacy.