North American Society for the Study of Celiac Disease

I was pleasantly surprised to learn about this new society in today's Impact newsletter, put out by the University of Chicago Celiac Disease Center. One of my biggest gripes about the Celiac Disease professional community is that there is no unity. There are at least five big research centers in the United States and at least four national organizations. While they are all helping the gluten-free community, there is no centralized location with a common mission. This makes going gluten-free and doing research confusing. While I blame this on our healthcare system, I'm not going into a political rant here. All I know is that from my travels, healthcare outside of the United States makes gluten-free living much easier than at home. Although the North American Society for the Study of Celiac Disease is brand new and working on incorporating, I am excited to see what they have in store for us.

Here is some additional information from the Impact newsletter:

North American Society for the Study of Celiac Disease

Many people have long felt that the lack of a single, comprehensive organization to guide the cause of celiac disease in the U.S. has slowed progress in terms of finding better treatments and a cure. This all changed with the formation of the North American Society for the Study of Celiac Disease (NASSCD), which was born at the International Celiac Disease Symposium in Oslo, Norway last June. This organization, initially headed by Dr. Guandalini, is currently in the process of incorporating. Its goals are to foster the study of celiac disease in young investigators, to be a clearinghouse for major issues in celiac disease as well as major research initiatives, and to help guide precious resources and funding to those research projects that appear to be the best designed, with the greatest chance of a positive outcome, as determined by peer review. 

We are so pleased to be working with the very best minds in North America and welcome the opportunity to set the very highest standards and best practices for physicians in this field to follow. Stay tuned in the coming months for more information about the NASSCD as it becomes available.