The recipients of a grant from the Spring 2023 call were:
Christopher Cao
Mount Sinai, New York, USA
“I would like to express my incredible gratitude to the ISSCD and Takeda for their generous support in this grant, which will aid in the development of a celiac disease center at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York. As an early career physician with an interest in celiac disease, I am both excited and honoured to be able to receive mentorship from recognized leaders in the field. I hope to be able to make a meaningful impact in the lives of patients affected by celiac disease.”
Mentors
- Joseph Murray, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA
- Stephanie Moleski, Thomas Jefferson University Hospitals, Philadelphia, PA, USA
Mohammad Sayeef Alam
Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway
“I feel tremendously honored to be awarded the ISSCD M-in-M grant. The grant will help me build and foster a relationship with subject experts from an international institute, push me over the edge of my comfort only to enable me to look into future potential avenues of research at an early career stage. Finally, this award will remain as a constant motivation to a young researcher like me for future grant applications.”
Mentor
- Iris Jonkers, University of Groningen, The Netherlands
Claire Jansson-Knodell
Cleveland Clinic, OH, USA
“I am thrilled to be a part of the M-in-M programme. This award fosters international connections in the celiac community. The grant will help me build new skills with celiac disease mentors across the world. Thanks to the ISSCD for the amazing opportunity.”
Mentors
- Ketil Stordal, Oslo University Hospital, Norway
- Nicolai Andre Lund-Blix, Oslo University Hospital, Norway
Irene Marafini
University Hospital Policlinico Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy
“The ISSCD grant is a great opportunity to collaborate with international experts and to take a leap forward in my education and research in the field of celiac disease The ISSCD grant could help me improve my ability to develop a translational research project on celiac disease, the results of which can be seen in years to come.”
Mentor
- Elena Verdu, Farncombe Family Digestive Health Research Institute, Ontario, Canada.
Fernando Chirdo
Instituto de Estudios Inmunologicos y Fisiopatologicos – IIFP , Argentina
“I am immensely grateful to the ISSCD for giving me this invaluable support which will allow me to enrich my expertise in celiac disease pathogenesis with my mentor, Professor Verdu.”
Mentor
- Elena Verdu, Farncombe Family Digestive Health Research Institute, Ontario, Canada
Ainara Castellanos- Rubio
University of the Basque Country, Spain
Receiving the M-in-M fellowship, is incredibly special to me because it provides an invaluable opportunity to connect with my two mentors, Profs. Peter Green and Govind Bhagat, who are esteemed individuals in celiac disease research. This fellowship will allow me to deepen my interaction with them, further enriching my knowledge and growth in the field.”
Mentors
- Govind Bhagat, Columbia University Medical Centre, New York, USA
- Peter Green, Celiac Disease Centre, Columbia University, New York, USA
Nicoletta Nandi
University degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy
“The M-in-M programme award offers an invaluable opportunity for my personal and professional growth. Under the mentorship of Prof Sanders at Sheffield Teaching Hospital, I am furthering the knowledge of celiac disease gained during my gastroenterology specialty training at Policlinico di Milano by bringing it forward to a European level. As a clinical research PhD candidate working on refractory coeliac disease, my project aims to define the role of endoscopy and novel molecular markers for the assessment of disease activity and response to therapy. Thanks to this collaboration, I will build on my skills as a young clinician scientist, hoping to impact the management of this under-represented group of patients.”
Mentor
- David Sanders, Royal Hallamshire Hospital, Sheffield, UK
Haley Zylberberg
Columbia University Medical Center, New York, USA
“I am extremely grateful and excited to be selected for the ISSCD M-in-M programme. This opportunity will allow me to take a significant step towards establishing a successful career as an academic clinician and investigator in celiac disease. With the grants support, I plan to travel to the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden during my third year of GI fellowship at Columbia University Medical Center. While there, I will collaborate with and learn directly from Dr Jonas Ludvigsson, a leading epidemiological expert in celiac disease with unique experience in utilizing large national databases to conduct population based research. This partnership will allow me to gain hands on experience in research techniques, help expand my professional network, and improve the care of patients with celiac disease.”
Mentor
- Jonas Ludvigsson, Karolinska Institutet, Solna, Sweden
Yessica Pontet
Hospital de Clinicas, Montevideo, Uruguay
I am honored and grateful that my application for the M-in-M Programme was approved for funding. I consider that this programme is a great incentive for today’s young gastroenterologists to improve our research skills and to provide innovative tools for celiac patients. The mentorship of an international well-known expert is an essential contribution. As a Uruguayan physician, networking will also be very important for my career. I once again express my gratitude to the ISSCD for this opportunity, to Dr. María Inés Pinto-Sánchez for accepting to be my mentor and to Prof Carolina Olano and Associate Prof Virginia López for supporting me unconditionally at Hospital de Clínicas of Uruguay.”
Mentor
- Maria Ines Pinto-Sanchez, McMaster University, Ontario, Canada
Valentina Discepolo
University of Naples, Naples, Italy
“Thanks to the M-in-M programme promoted by the ISSCD I will be able to work with Jason Tye-Din (JTD) at the University of Melbourne, Australia, one of the leaders of clinical trials in adult celiac disease (CeD), to gain experience in clinical trials design and conduction in CeD. The program will provide a 4-6 weeks stay in Melbourne, where I will be exposed to pediatric food allergy trials at the Royal Children’s Hospital and Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, while being involved in the conduction of clinical trials in adult CeD under JTD’s direct supervision, this will involve pre-clinical and clinical drug development including drug optimization, monitoring of gluten-specific T cells and immune efficacy. After gaining experience in basic science, these complementary experiences will broaden my translational research skills, hopefully contributing to the goal of implementing therapeutic trials in pediatric CeD in Italy and across Europe. This program represents a unique occasion for our two centers (University of Naples Federico II and University of Melbourne) to collaborate closely, despite the geographical distance, and to share the adult and pediatric CeD research experiences acquired over the years to address an important research gap in the field of CeD: implementing pediatric clinical trials. I am very grateful to the ISSCD for this opportunity and I am very much looking forward to starting this programme.”
Mentor
- Jason Tye-Din, Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Melbourne, Australia