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Q&A: UEG research prize may help identify novel celiac disease risk factors
The United European Gastroenterology Research Prize was awarded to Cisca Wijmenga, PhD, Lodewijk Sandkuijl Endowed Chair and a professor of human genetics at University Medical Centre Groningen, for her investigation into identifying possible novel genetic risk factors for celiac disease.
Wijmenga was awarded the 100,000 euro UEG Research Prize during the opening session of UEG Week 2018 in Vienna last week.
Wijmenga has been acknowledged as the first to recognize the power of case-control-based genome-wide association studies and the genetic overlap between autoimmune diseases.
Each year, UEG awards 100,000 euros to an individual who has shown excellence in basic science, translational or clinical research.
Wijmenga is the second woman to receive the UEG Research Prize.
Healio Gastroenterology and Liver Disease spoke with Wijmenga about the award and how it will be used to aid her research.
Healio: How will this award allow you to further your research?
Wijmenga : Initially we hope that this system will help us to increase our basic understanding of the role of the gut epithelium in disease etiology using genetics as a starting point. For the past 20 years my lab has elucidated the genetic risk factors for celiac disease and some of these point to a defect in the epithelial barrier. We wonder if this leads to an aberrant reaction to dietary gluten. For instance, does it transport the gluten in a different way across the barrier, or does it lead to an unwanted immune reaction?
Healio: What will the focus of your study be?
Wijmenga: We will build a model system that recapitulates the small intestine of celiac disease patients, called gut-on-a-chip with a focus on the barrier function of the gut. The epithelial barrier is the first line of defense that encounters dietary gluten and we want to understand how gluten passes this barrier and how the epithelial cells respond.
Healio: What led you to want to conduct this study?
Wijmenga: Since there is no animal model available to study celiac disease, we needed a model that was based on human cells with the proper genetic background that we also see in celiac patients but that also includes the complexity of the intestine, the place where the disease manifests. Building organs-on-chips is a relatively new technology and would allow us to build these celiac-specific guts-on-chip.
Healio: What are you hoping the study will demonstrate?
Wijmenga: We are hoping that the barrier function is somehow affected in celiac disease patients because they carry certain risk genes. I have been thinking about this for nearly 20 years but never had the proper tools to study this in more detail.
Disclosures: Wijmenga reports no relevant financial disclosures.