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RESEARCH STRATEGY
The Celiac Disease Consortium aims to establish a firm scientific basis for the development of safer foods and more effective diagnosis, prevention and treatment of CD. Building on recent progress in CD research, we use functional genomics to clarify the complex molecular interplay between the human host and disease causing gluten proteins.
The project includes two complementary approaches:
A human genomics research cluster that focuses on the identification of (aberrant) molecular pathways leading to disease development in order to improve diagnostic procedure, design a rational screening programme to identify children at risk of developing celiac disease, and generate leads for novel therapies based on fundamental insight into the role of particular molecules and/or molecular pathways in the onset of celiac disease. In this cluster four projects will be carried out.
A food genomics research cluster will concentrate on reduction of gluten intake by improving means for the detection of toxic gluten peptides in food products, evaluation of novel approaches for the degradation of toxic gluten peptides in food, and generation of rational tools to aid future breeding programs for the generation of safer wheat strains. In this cluster five projects will be carried out.
A bioinformatics programme supports both clusters with data integration as well as developing state-of-the-art software for data analysis.
In a societal research programme the impact and acceptance of new foods, therapeutic, diagnostic and screening tools will be determined.
In the long term, the research will lead to detailed knowledge about gluten degradation in the gastrointestinal tract, the identification of additional risk factors that predispose for celiac disease, and elucidation of the molecular pathways responsible for celiac disease pathogenesis. Achievement of these goals should translate into marketable products for disease prevention, therapy, improved diagnosis and safer foods in the years following the current project. Follow-up research and development in conjunction with industrial partners are therefore a prerequisite for our ultimate success.