Dr. Alessio Fasano, MD is a World-renowned pediatric gastroenterologist, research scientist, and entrepreneur. He currently serves as the W. Allan Walker Chair of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition and Chief of the Division of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition at MassGeneral Hospital for Children (MGHfC). Dr. Fasano also founded the Center for Celiac Research and Treatment in 1996, where he treats adults and children for gluten-related disorders, and is the Director of the Mucosal Immunology and Biology Research Center (MIBRC) at MGHfC. His current research interests encompass both basic science focused on bacterial pathogenesis, the gut microbiome and intestinal mucosal biology, as well as translational science focused on interventional clinical trials in autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. Dr. Fasano’s objective is to understand the molecular mechanisms of the host’s functional and immune response to specific organisms and develop preventive strategies for autoimmune disorders. In 2000, the work of his team led to the discovery of the toxin, zonula occludens, which loosens tight junctions between intestinal enterocytes therefore allowing intestinal permeability and diarrhea. Following this work, the protein Zonulin that regulates this process was identified and Dr Fasano has since established the role of zonulin in both celiac disease and Type 1 diabetes.

Dr. Fasano has authored more than 270 peer-reviewed papers and has filed more than 160 patent applications. He has been cited over 33000 times and has received numerous awards for his translational science including the Harry Shwachman Award, the Linus Pauling Award and both the Entrepreneur of the year Award and the Researcher of the year Award from the University of Maryland. Dr. Fasano’s research has been continuously funded by the NIH since 1996 and he served as a member of the Gastrointestinal Cell and Molecular Biology NIH study section from 2005 to 2008 and continues his activity as an ad hoc reviewer. In 2010 he was elected as a member of the NIH College of Center for Scientific Review (CSR) Reviewers.

Dr. Fasano is widely considered the expert in celiac disease, intestinal permeability and autoimmune disorders and has been featured in media outlets around the world, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, CNN, Huffington Post, TIME, National Public Radio and other online and media outlets.

---

Key Publications:

RNA sequencing of intestinal mucosa reveals novel pathways functionally linked to celiac disease pathogenesis
Maureen M Leonard, Yu Bai, Gloria Serena, Kourtney P Nickerson, Stephanie Camhi, Craig Sturgeon, Shu Yan, Maria R Fiorentino, Aubrey Katz, Barbara Nath, James Richter, Matthew Sleeman, Cagan Gurer, Alessio Fasano
PloS one (2019)
Use of Probiotics to Prevent Celiac Disease and IBD in Pediatrics
G Serena, A Fasano
Springer, New York, NY (2018)

Spectrum of gluten-related disorders: consensus on new nomenclature and classification
Anna Sapone, Julio C Bai, Carolina Ciacci, Jernej Dolinsek, Peter HR Green, Marios Hadjivassiliou, Katri Kaukinen, Kamran Rostami, David S Sanders, Michael Schumann, Reiner Ullrich, Danilo Villalta, Umberto Volta, Carlo Catassi, Alessio Fasano
BMC medicine 10 (1), 13 (2012)

Celiac disease
A Fasano, C Catassi
New England Journal of Medicine 367 (25), 2419-2426 (2012)

Leaky gut and autoimmune diseases
A Fasano
Clinical reviews in allergy & immunology 42 (1), 71-78 (2012)

Zonulin and its regulation of intestinal barrier function: the biological door to inflammation, autoimmunity, and cancer
A Fasano
Physiological reviews 91 (1), 151-175 (2011)

Gliadin, zonulin and gut permeability: Effects on celiac and non-celiac intestinal mucosa and intestinal cell lines
Sandro Drago, Ramzi El Asmar, Mariarosaria Di Pierro, Maria Grazia Clemente, Amit Tripathi Anna Sapone, Manjusha Thakar, Giuseppe Iacono, Antonio Carroccio, Cinzia D’Agate, Tarcisio Not, Lucia Zampini, Carlo Catassi, Alessio Fasano
Scandinavian journal of gastroenterology 41 (4), 408-419 (2006)

Mechanisms of disease: the role of intestinal barrier function in the pathogenesis of gastrointestinal autoimmune diseases
A Fasano, T Shea-Donohue
Nature Reviews Gastroenterology and Hepatology 2 (9), 416 (2005)

Role of the intestinal tight junction modulator zonulin in the pathogenesis of type I diabetes in BB diabetic-prone rats
T Watts, I Berti, A Sapone, T Gerarduzzi, T Not, R Zielke, A Fasano
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 102 (8), 2916-2921(2005)

Prevalence of celiac disease in at-risk and not-at-risk groups in the United States: a large multicenter study
Alessio Fasano, Irene Berti, Tania Gerarduzzi, Tarcisio Not, Richard B Colletti, Sandro Drago, Yoram Elitsur, Peter HR Green, Stefano Guandalini, Ivor D Hill, Michelle Pietzak, Alessandro Ventura, Mary Thorpe, Debbie Kryszak, Fabiola Fornaroli, Steven S Wasserman, Joseph A Murray, Karoly Horvath
Archives of internal medicine 163 (3), 286-292 (2003)

Current approaches to diagnosis and treatment of celiac disease: an evolving spectrum
A Fasano, C Catassi
Gastroenterology 120 (3), 636-651 (2001)

Zonulin, a newly discovered modulator of intestinal permeability, and its expression in coeliac disease
A Fasano, T Not, W Wang, S Uzzau, I Berti, A Tommasini, SE Goldblum
The Lancet 355 (9214), 1518-1519 (2000)

“Black holes” and bacterial pathogenicity: a large genomic deletion that enhances the virulence of Shigella spp. and enteroinvasive Escherichia coli
AT Maurelli, RE FERNAndez, CA Bloch, CK Rode, A Fasano
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 95 (7), 3943-3948 (1998)

Vibrio cholerae produces a second enterotoxin, which affects intestinal tight junctions.
Alessio Fasano, Bernadette Baudry, David W Pumplin, Steven S Wasserman, Ben D Tall, Julian M Ketley, JB Kaper
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 88 (12), 5242-5246 (1991)