✕

Search

Alice Bast

Home / Alice Bast
Black and white portrait of a smiling woman with long, wavy hair, wearing a dark top, earrings, and a chain necklace. The photo has a circular frame and a plain dark background.
Executive Director, Impact and Innovation
Alice’s personal journey as a celiac disease survivor and champion for research in this field, coupled with her prior experience of more than two decades in healthcare business development and marketing, taught her that patients need to be educated and empowered with solid information in order to make decisions about their desired health outcomes. She believes that clinical research must include patients, caregivers and the healthcare community working together to focus on the most pressing areas of need for those living with a particular disease. Alice’s passion for raising awareness of the seriousness of celiac disease and other gluten-related disorders and her leadership of Beyond Celiac have fully forged her in her role of scientific and patient advocate. Since 2003, Alice and her team have brought together thought leaders from multiple disciplines – including those beyond the field of celiac disease – to drive transformational change, collaborating with key stakeholders, including industry, patients, regulators, diversity and inclusion experts, funders and others to break down the barriers to clinical trials and research for treatments beyond the gluten-free diet. Beyond Celiac shares best practices, lessons learned, and breakthroughs from other relevant fields that will ultimately change the face of healthcare for those living with celiac disease. She notes, “In my role as CEO of Beyond Celiac, I interact constantly with leaders in the medical, business and media communities, as well as with the general public.  I am responsible for creating the vision and the strategic direction of the organization, and I work closely with the Beyond Celiac volunteers, donors, staff, Board of Directors, Scientific Advisory Board and Ambassadors to realize the mission of the organization and make life better for everyone living with celiac disease.” Alice’s story has been featured in Good Housekeeping Magazine, Newsweek, USA Today, US News & World Report, and on nationally televised programs such as ABC’s “The View” and CNN. For her innovation and dedication, Alice was also awarded the 90th Annual Philadelphia Award in May 2011, one of the city’s most prestigious honors given each year to a citizen who has acted and served on behalf of the best interests of the community. In 2017 she recieved the Trailblazer Award from Philadelphia Magazine, and she has been awarded the SmartCEO Brava Award recognizing exceptional women leaders in the Greater Philadelphia community. As a part of Alice’s advocacy work, she serves or has served on a number of key committees and organizations responsible for promoting new approaches to healthcare and working to effect positive change in the communities they support.
  • ISPOR Patient Engagement Roundtable
  • ISPOR Measuring Patient Preferences Task Force
  • Digestive Disease National Coalition (DDNC)
  • Friends of NIDDK (The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases)
  • Alliance for a Stronger FDA (Food and Drug Administration)
  • National Coalition of Autoimmune Patient Groups (NCAPG)
  • National Council on Patient Information and Education (NCPIE)
  • National Health Council
  • Research!America
  • Forum of Executive Women
  • Trailblazer Committee Member
  • The National Advisory Council for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality of (AHRQ), Department of Health and Human Services, Member
  • Partnership to Improve Patient Care
  • American Gastroenterological Association  Roundtable
  • The National Institutes of Health (NIH) Ad Hoc Committee
  • NIDDK/NIH Celiac Awareness Campaign Committee
  • Co-Chair, Greater Philadelphia Area Celiac Support Group
      Alice has participated in strategic conferences and workshops shaping programs to advance celiac disease initiatives nationwide, including the landmark NIH Consensus Conference on Celiac Disease. She has served as a keynote speaker at national medical and allied health industry events plus culinary and foodservice industry conferences.
      • Faster Cures Bridging the non-profit and for-profit divide for research: maximizing your partnerships to enhance patient engagement panel (2023)
      • BIO Patient & Health Advocacy Summit (2019)
      • DIA (2018)
      • Takeda R&D Leadership Summit (2018)
      • National Health Council (2017)
      • Digestive Disease Week (2017)
      • GREAT3 Workshop (2016)
      • International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR): Patients as Partners in the Development and Interpretation of Clinical Outcome Assessments: Methods, Challenges and Benefits (2016)
      • Stanford MedX Presentation: Applying Behavior Change Models to Educate Genetically At-Risk Celiac Disease Patients: A Case Study And Workshop, (2016)
      • International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research 21st Annual Meeting: Patient Engagement Strategies (2016)
      • Abbvie (2015)
      • Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (2009, 2011, 2012, 2013. 2014, 2015)
      • Personalized Lifestyle Medicines Institute Thought Leaders Consortium (2013)
      • Janssen (2013)
      • School Nurses Association (2013)
      • 14th International Coeliac Disease Symposium, Oslo (2011), moderated a panel presentation
      • Paoli Hospital (2011)
      • American Pharmacists Association (APhA) Annual Meeting (2010)
      • Drexel University (2010)
      • 13th International Coeliac Disease Symposium, Amsterdam (2009)
      • Nemours Celiac Center of the Nemours/Alfred I. DuPont Hospital for Children
      • Barnabas Health Care System (2009)
      • Barnabas Kogan Celiac Center
      • University of Pennsylvania (2009)
      ARTICLES, RESEARCH, ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE Contributor to Allergic Living, the Huffington Post, WebMD, and Healio Gastroenterology
      • 2022: International Coeliac Disease Symposium, two Beyond Celiac original research poster presentations: Patient-Reported Gluten Exposure Symptoms in Celiac Disease and Gluten-Related Disorders, and Changing Patient Perceptions of the Gluten-Free Diet as Sufficient Treatment for Celiac Disease.
      • 2021: Co-Author, Gluten-Induced Neurocognitive Impairment: Results of a Nationwide Study: The Journal of Clinical Gastroenterology
      • 2019: International Coeliac Disease Symposium, Beyond Celiac original research poster presentation Neurocognitive Effects of Gluten Exposure: Results of a Nationwide Study
      • 2016: Celiac Disease Pilot Regional Screening Program and Research Initiative to Improve Awareness, Education and Diagnosis at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center.
      • 2015: Served on FDA GREAT 3 Workshop Steering Committee, speaker and panelist at Workshop
      • 2015: International Coeliac Disease Symposium, Beyond Celiac poster presentation Celiac Disease Management: A Comparison between a Celiac Center and the Community Setting developed with Jefferson University Hospital.
      • 2015: Produced Family Talk, a first-ever initiative to advocate for testing for genetically at-risk family members for celiac disease. Included Seriously, Celiac Disease, a research-tested supporting campaign.
      • 2015: Led the Beyond Celiac Research Summit: A Roadmap to Accelerate Progress for Patients, a ground-breaking meeting that brought together expert physicians, scientists, individuals personally affected by celiac disease, the biopharmaceutical and diagnostics industries, government stakeholders and advocates and innovators from various healthcare fields to address research needs.
      • 2013: International Celiac Disease Symposium, Beyond Celiac presented Celiac Disease Management: A Comparison between a Celiac Center and the Community Setting developed with Jefferson University Hospital (Krawitz, Wrobel, Voorhees, Barbieri, DiMarino and Moleski.)
      • 2012: Beyond Celiac developed GREAT Healthcare, a Continuing Education Activity for multidisciplinary healthcare professionals.
      • 2012: International Coeliac Disease Symposium, Beyond Celiac original research poster presentation, The Use of Disease Symptoms Checklist in Self-Initiated Diagnoses of Celiac Disease and Non-Celiac Gluten Sensitivity.
      • 2011: Beyond Celiac developed Continuing Education Activity for Pharmacists
      • 2011: With Lankenau Institute for Medical Research (LIMR), conducted a research program based on the Beyond Celiac Celiac Disease Symptom Checklist to determine effectiveness of this tool in gaining a diagnosis.
      • 2011: FDA Grant to research Gluten in Medications: Gluten in Medication: Qualifying the extent of exposure to people with celiac disease and identifying a hidden and preventable cause of an adverse drug event
      • 2010: Beyond Celiac developed a Continuing Medical Education Activity for Primary Care Physicians, Nurse Practitioners, and Physician Assistants.
      • 2009: Beyond Celiac presented an abstract presented at 13th International Coeliac Disease Symposium: Gluten-Free Cooking Sprees: An innovative approach to promoting awareness and diagnosis of celiac disease
      • 2009: Co-Author, Celiac Disease and Reproductive Health, Journal of Practical Gastroenterology
      • 2008: Led breakthrough webinar on Gluten in Medications, over 1,000 participants
      • 2004: NIH Grant, Novel Educational Aids for Celiac Disease, Principal Investigator
      • 2003: Study with Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, Physician and Patient Awareness in Celiac Disease: Complications Involving Fertility and Pregnancy