The 3rd Annual Beyond Celiac Research Symposium was held on May 30, 2019 at the University of Pennsylvania. The event was free and open to the public and followed by a complimentary gluten-free reception. It was also livestreamed around the world for those that couldn’t make it in person. For a link to the full livestream of the of the event, please see below.
Beyond Celiac CSO Marie Robert, MD will moderate an expert panel of 
speakers, including Joseph Murray, M.D., of The Mayo Clinic, Sonia Kupfer, M.D., of University of Chicago, and Linda S. Deal, M.S., of Pfizer.
Topics of focus will be the celiac disease drug pipeline, non-celiac gluten sensitivity and the importance of patient engagement in the drug development process.
Marie Robert, MD, of Yale University and Beyond Celiac CSO
Bio: Beyond Celiac CSO Marie Robert, MD is a nationally recognized gastrointestinal (GI) liver and pancreatic surgical pathologist with 25 years of experience in clinical diagnosis, teaching and collaborative scientific endeavors across a wide spectrum of diseases, including inflammatory and neoplastic conditions of the GI tract.
She is the lead author on the Statement on Best Practices in the Use of Pathology as a Diagnostic Tool for Celiac Disease: A Guide for Clinicians and Pathologists in the American Journal of Surgical Pathology. She is also the senior investigator on a study of the pitfalls of testing biopsies in the evaluation of refractory celiac disease.
In addition to her post as the Beyond Celiac CSO, Dr. Robert is a Professor of Pathology and Medicine at Yale University School of Medicine. She is part of an international consortium of pathologists and gastroenterologists defining biopsy findings in early histologic stages of celiac disease (recent publication in Gut). She is a frequent invited speaker and educator on celiac disease nationally and internationally.
Sonia Kupfer, MD of the University of Chicago will discuss non-celiac gluten sensitivity, how it differs from celiac disease, and the steps to a proper diagnosis.
Bio: Sonia S. Kupfer, MD, is an adult gastroenterologist at the University of Chicago and a member of the Celiac Disease Center at the University of Chicago. Dr. Kupfer attended Yale University for undergraduate studies and completed medical school, residency and gastroenterology fellowship at the University of Chicago. Dr. Kupfer was promoted to Associate Professor in 2018 and serves as Associate Section Chief for Education. She was recently named as Associate Program Director of the Physician Scientist Training Program in the Department of Medicine. Her clinical work and research are focused on inherited gastrointestinal disorders including celiac disease and cancer syndromes. She is currently funded by grants from the NIH. She has a strong collaboration with Dr. Bana Jabri with whom she conducts translational research in new treatments for celiac disease.
Joseph Murray, MD of the Mayo Clinic will be discussing current treatments for celiac disease in the drug development pipeline, including the results of recent clinical trials for larazotide acetate, latiglutenase and Nexvax2. He will also discuss upcoming clinical trials and next steps in the drug development process.
Bio: Joseph Murray, MD was on the faculty of the University of Iowa before joining the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN in 1998, becoming Professor of Medicine in 2004. Dr. Murray has a strong background in basic/clinical gastroenterology, and his work spans basic/translational research in celiac disease focusing on immunology, genetics of the disease and immune responses to food and microbiota. He has authored 350+ scientific publications, and his work is funded by the NIH, private foundations and commercial entities. He is past president of North American Society for the Study of Celiac Disease,
Linda Deal, M.S. of Pfizer will discuss the importance of patient engagement in the drug development process, including how understanding what outcomes matter to patients should influence clinical trial endpoints.
Bio: Linda currently serves as PCOA Lead working across Pfizer’s therapeutic categories addressing efforts to develop, validate and use clinical outcomes assessments (COAs) as endpoints for providing evidence of medical treatment benefit, product differentiation, product labeling and healthcare system stakeholder value. She has served patients and the pharmaceutical industry for the past 22 years in similar roles at Wyeth, Janssen, Shire and Pfizer. Linda has developed and/or validated dozens of COAs for assessing clinical benefit from the patient perspective across multiple therapeutic categories including Rare Disease, Neuroscience, Gastroenterology, Pulmonology, Dermatology, Rheumatology and Women’s Health. Ms.Deal is trained as a statistician (North Carolina State University).
Immediately following the event will be a complimentary reception featuring delicious gluten-free snacks, desserts, sodas and wine.
WATCH THE 2019 SYMPOSIUM
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