By Amy Ratner, Medical and Science Research Analyst

May is always a busy month for celiac awareness and attention to research is part of the mix as well.

As part of Celiac Awareness Month, Beyond Celiac launched the first in it’s series of videos, Voice and Vision, the State of Celiac Disease Research. The video features Markku Maki, M.D., an internationally known expert with decades of experience studying the intricacies of celiac disease. He describes where celiac disease research is heading, as well as where it has been.

But the focus on research will also be strong in early June when those who study celiac disease will give presentations about their work at Digestive Disease Week (DDW), the largest international gathering of physicians, researchers and academics in the fields of gastroenterology, hepatology, endoscopy and gastrointestinal surgery.

Marie Robert, M.D., chief scientific officer for Beyond Celiac and professor of pathology and medicine at Yale University School of Medicine, will talk about optimal practices for the biopsy diagnosis of celiac disease.

Ciaran Kelly, M.D., a member of the Beyond Celiac Board of Directors and director of the Celiac Center at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, will describe emerging new therapies for celiac disease. And Maki will share details on an investigational new drug that might provide relief for celiac disease patients who are inadvertently exposed to modest amounts gluten while on a gluten-free diet.

Celiac disease will be covered in 70 lectures and posters at DDW. Lecture topics will range from mechanisms for reaching tolerance in celiac disease, to the search for evidence of celiac disease activity in blood samples, to measurement of gluten exposure through urine and stool tests. Poster presentations cover studies as varied as the occurrence of colon cancer in recently diagnosed adult celiac disease patients to the most frequently viewed you tube videos about celiac disease.

We will be covering news from DDW, both during the meeting from June 3 – 5, and in the following weeks. Check research news on our website for updates.