CARMEN GIANFRANI. Oslo Universitetssykehus HF Rikshospitalet OSLO, NORWAY

Dr. Carmen Gianfrani is a mucosal immunologist with an acknowledged experience on chronic and autoimmune intestinal disorders, as coeliac disease and inflammatory bowel diseases. She is the head of Mucosal Immunology Laboratory at the Institute of Protein Biochemistry of CNR in Naples, Italy, Editor of Pediatric Research (gastroenterology section). Dr Gianfrani has contributed to the elucidation of gluten peptides activating HLA class II restricted CD4+ T cells. She has also characterized the cytotoxic CD8+ T cells reactive to gluten in the context of HLA class I molecules. Dr Gianfrani has developed biochemical strategies detoxifying wheat gluten that are currently in clinical trials. She has been working in collaboration with several international research groups, either in USA and in Australia.

KNUT LUNDIN. Oslo Universitetssykehus. OSLO, NORWAY

Knut E. A. Lundin studied Medicine at University of Oslo from 1980 to 1986. He did the work for his Dr. med. thesis in the laboratory of Erik Thorsby from 1986 to 1989 and defended the thesis in 1990. He started already in 1985 a close and longstanding collaboration with professor Ludvig M. Sollid. He started clinical training in 1993, and qualified as specialist of Internal medicine in 1999 and in Gastroenterology in 2000. He has since worked at the Oslo University Hospital Rikshospitalet, and holds a position as Senior consultant gastroenterologist at the Endoscopy Unit. Clinical expertise includes all aspects of GI endoscopy including ERCP, EUS, pediatric endoscopy, balloon enteroscopy etc., as well as celiac disease, wheat sensitivity, inflammatory bowel disease and a range of other clinical conditions seen at a thertiary referral hospital. He is currently associate professor and project leader for a new and revised curriculum for medical education at the University of Oslo. Main research interest focuses on T cell biology of celiac disease, and in recent years, also non-celiac gluten sensitivity. Most important scientific achievement was the demonstration of gluten-specific, intestinal T cells in celiac disease (Lundin et al. J Exp Med 1993). He has published a number of original papers, reviews and book chapters. Together with Ludvig Sollid he organized the 13th International Symposium on Celiac Disease that was held in Oslo in 2011.

FERNANDO G. CHIRDO. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. LA PLATA, ARGENTINA

Fernando Chirdo is a Biochemist, and a Doctor in Biochemical Sciences from the Faculty of Exact Sciences of the National University of La Plata (Argentina). He is Principal Investigator of CONICET (National Council Research and Technology) and Professor of Immunology at the Faculty of Exact Sciences. He leads the research group “Immunobiology of the small intestine” at the Institute of Immunological and Physiopathological Studies (IIFP) (UNLP-CONICET)(La Plata, Argentina). During his doctoral thesis he developed a method for quantifying prolamins toxic to celiacs that was transferred to public control agencies and was the basis for the control for gluten- free products by the public health authorities. In 2000, he was nominated executive member of the PWG. He carried out postdoctoral studies at the University of Glasgow (Scotland), describing the first studies of function of isolated intestinal dendritic cells in mouse model. He has investigated basic aspects of the pathogenesis of celiac disease, immunochemistry of prolamins and gluten analysis, cloning and analysis of expression of TG2, and optimization of serological tests. More recent work has focused on mechanisms of inflammation, stress and cell death, and regulatory axis in small intestine using clinical samples and animal models.

IRIS JONKERS.

Associate Professor Iris Jonkers is an immuno-genetics researcher who applies her fundamental background in transcription regulation to the study of autoimmunity. After a successful postdoc at Cornell University, USA, she moved to the University Medical Center Groningen, the Netherlands, and started the Immunogenetics group which uses genomics and genetics in combination with human-patient-derived models and cells to understand how the genetics associated with CD impact disease processes. She performed the largest CD-specific expression quantitative trait locus analysis to date and identified cell-specific CD biomarkers in blood using single-cell RNA-seq. As a second-line Netherlands Organ on chip Initiative (NOCI) PI, Iris creates complex human models to study CD, specifically the intestine-on-chip model, to interrogate the role of genetics in CD. She is a prominent member of the CD community as evidenced by her membership of the scientific advisory board of the Dutch CD patient Society (NCV), her participation in national and international CD patient forums and her role as treasurer of the International Society for Study of Celiac Disease and as executive member of the Working Group on Prolamin Analysis and Toxicology. She is an invited speaker at CD and gastroenterology conferences such as ICDS, the NIAID-NIDDK Celiac Disease Workshop and ESPGHAN.

STEFANIA MASCI. Department of Agricultural and Forest Sciences (DAFNE)University of Tuscia. VITERBO, ITALY

Stefania Masci is full professor in Agricultural Genetics at Tuscia University in Viterbo, Italy. At present she teaches “Genetic Biotechnologies” and “Quality and molecular traceability of Plant Based Foods”. She holds a Master degree in Biological Science and a PhD in Evolutionary Biology, both from La Sapienza University in Rome, Italy. Her speciality is the study of molecular, genetic and biochemical bases of wheat quality, both technological and nutritional, and the development of wheat genotypes with a lower impact on adverse reactions to wheat. In her lab, both classical and advanced breeding technologies are used, included the production of GM plants and the most updated genome editing procedures.

KATARINA SCHERF. Leibniz-Institute for Food Systems Biology at the Technical University of Munich, FREISING, GERMANY

Katharina Scherf is head of the research unit “Functional Biopolymer Chemistry” at the Leibniz-Institute for Food Systems Biology at the Technical University of Munich in Freising, Germany. She studied food chemistry and received her PhD degree (Dr. rer. nat.) from the TUM. Her research activities focus on analytical, biochemical and immunological aspects of wheat sensitivities as well as elucidating relationships between structure, functionality and bioactivity of cereal proteins and other biopolymers to improve food security, quality and safety. She has received several awards for outstanding scientific achievements and is an active member of various national and international boards.

DETLEF SCHUPPAN. I. Medizinische Klinik und Poliklinik Universitätsmedizin der Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz MAINZ, GERMANY

Detlef Schuppan received his MD degree in Berlin, and two PhD degrees, at the Max-Planck-Institute of Biochemistry in Munich and at the Free University of Berlin, Germany. He was Associate Professor of Gastroenterology/Hepatology/Medicine in Berlin until 1997, Full Professor and Deputy Director of the Dept of Medicine I at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany until 2004, when he relocated to Boston, where he became Full Professor of Medicine, Gastroenterology and Hepatology and Consultant Physician at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) and Harvard Medical School (HMS) in Boston. In 2011 he returned to Germany where he has founded and serves as Director of the Institute of Translational Immunology and as Attending Physician at Mainz University Medical Center, with a continuing senior faculty position at BIDMC and HMS. Research and clinical focus is on liver inflammation, fibrosis and NASH; on intestinal inflammation, food related disorders, the gut-liver axis, celiac disease, wheat sensitivity, food allergies and the role of the nutritional factors and the intestinal microbiome on autoimmunity, GI and liver cancer. Apart from the preclinical and clinical validation of novel therapeutics, including siRNA and nanoparticles, his group develops novel noninvasive biomarkers and targeted imaging to predict and monitor the activity of these diseases. Prof. Schuppan has been and continues to be consultant, principal and co-Investigator in numerous clinical studies, mainly in liver fibrosis, NASH, celiac disease, and autoimmune diseases. He has been Secretary General of the European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL), member of several committees of the AGA, AASLD, and the United European Gastroenterological Foundation. He has been awarded numerous prizes, including an ERC Advanced Grant of the EU in 2011, the Mäki Research Prize for Life Time Achievements in Celiac Disease Research in 2015, and the Aesku Award for Life Time Achievements in Autoimmune Diseases in 2018. He has published more than 570 Pubmed cited original articles and reviews. Currently, he has >10 active competitive research grants.

RENÉ SMULDERS. Wageningen University & Research. THE NETHERLANDS

Dr. M.J.M. (René) Smulders (PhD Nijmegen, The Netherlands, 1989) is since 2012 manager of Plant Breeding, Wageningen University and Research, The Netherlands. He is involved in research on genetic diversity and genetic mapping in several crops with polyploid genomes. He leads projects on methods to breed a wheat variety that is safe for people with Coeliac Disease by combining genetic variation with gene editing and selecting safe gliadin genes. He participates in societal discussions on opportunities of using new plant breeding techniques, including gene editing, as an additional tool for breeding crop varieties that may have direct benefits for consumers, that fit better in integrated pest management systems, and that will contribute to addressing the challenges of agriculture in the 21st century.

RICCARDO TRONCONE. Department of Pediatrics and European Laboratory for the Investigation
of Food-induced Diseases. NAPLES, ITALY

Professor Riccardo Troncone is Full Professor of Pediatrics and Director of the European Laboratory for the Investigation of Food-Induced Diseases (ELFID), University Federico II, Naples. He holds a research position at the Institute of Food Science and Technology, CNR, Avellino. Born in 1953, he graduated in 1977 and obtained the Diploma in Pediatrics in 1980. He worked as a research fellow at the Institute of Clinical Immunology, University of Florence, Prof. Romagnani, 1979-80; and at the Gastrointestinal Unit, the University of Edinburgh, Prof. Ferguson, 1985-87. He is member of several Scientific Societies of Pediatrics and Immunology and presently he is President of the European Society of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition (ESPGHAN).<br />
His research interests are focused mostly on mucosal immunology; from a clinical point of view they include: coeliac disease, food allergies, inflammatory chronic bowel disease. He is the author of 3 volumes, 86 monographies/reviews, 112 original papers and of 184 contributions to national and international congresses. He has been Senior Associate Editor of Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition (JPGN).

PASQUALE FERRANTI. Department of Agricultural Sciences. NAPLES, ITALY

Pasquale Ferranti is full professor in food science and technology, and research head at the Department of Agricultural Sciences, University of Naples, Italy. He is scientific responsible for international research projects in the field of food science and technology. The most recent research activities are focused on the application of the omic techniques in the study of food proteins and their modifications in consequence of technical processes. Further activities are concerned with the study of the protein digestibility carried out by coupling of in vitro digestion models and foodomics.

MICHAEL SCHUMANN (+)

Attending physician
Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin Department of Medicine. BERLIN, GERMANY

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MARIA ELENA LIONETTI (+)

Attending physician
Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin Department of Medicine. BERLIN, GERMANY

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RENATA AURICCHIO (+)

Attending physician
Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin Department of Medicine. BERLIN, GERMANY

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