Why does the AOECS Scientific Call need an Evaluation Committee
To ensure that all submissions to the AOECS Scientific Call are assessed fairly and consistently, AOECS appoints an independent Evaluation Committee each year. The committee is made up of experts from a range of disciplines, including researchers, professors, clinicians and other healthcare professionals with experience in coeliac disease and related conditions.
The committee carefully reviews every submission and provides constructive feedback to authors. The aim is not only to evaluate the scientific quality and relevance of the work, but also to encourage researchers and innovators to continue advancing knowledge in the field of coeliac disease.
To promote independence, fairness and a broad range of perspectives, AOECS seeks to appoint experts of international standing with proven expertise in coeliac disease and other gluten-related disorders. Committee members are selected from different professional backgrounds, countries and areas of specialisation, ensuring a balanced and comprehensive assessment process.
Wherever possible, AOECS also rotates membership from year to year, recognising the voluntary contribution of these experts and enabling wider participation in the initiative.
In their evaluations, committee members consider factors such as scientific merit, innovation, clarity of communication, accessibility of information and the potential impact on the quality of life of people with coeliac disease. Their comments are shared with the authors to provide valuable feedback and support the further development of their work.
We would like to express our sincere gratitude to all the experts who have contributed their time and expertise to the Evaluation Committee over the years.
Their commitment has helped ensure the quality and credibility of the Scientific Call while providing participants with meaningful feedback that supports and strengthens research and innovation in the field of coeliac disease.
The Evaluation Committee 2025
Dr Francesco Valitutti
Francesco Valitutti currently works as Senior Researcher- Assistant
Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Perugia, Italy. His fields of interest are pediatric gastroenterology and nutrition.
He collaborates with the European Biomedical Research Institute of
Salerno (EBRIS). He is member of the European Society for Pediatric
Gastroenterology (ESPGHAN), of the Italian society of Pediatrics (SIP) and the Italian Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology (SIGENP).
Paula Crespo, PhD
Paula Crespo holds degrees in Human Nutrition and Dietetics, Food
Science and Technology, and a PhD from the University of Valencia. She
worked for 10 years at the La Fe Health Research Institute in Valencia,
in the Celiac Disease and Digestive Immunopathology research group,
participating in national and European projects related to pediatric nutrition, particularly celiac disease and cystic fibrosis.
Currently, she works as Coordinator of the Nutrition and Obesity Unit at the Recoletas Salud Campo Grande Hospital in Valladolid and is a professor at the European University Miguel de Cervantes. She has served as a member of the Spanish Celiac Disease Society and is currently part of the celiac disease interest group of the European Society for Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition.
The Evaluation Committee 2024
Izaskun Martín-Cabrejas, PhD
Dr. Martín-Cabrejas is a professor and researcher at the Complutense University of Madrid (UCM) in the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine. She teaches Food Science and Technology, Veterinary Medicine, and Human Nutrition and Dietetics. A nutritionist and food technologist, she completed her PhD in 2016 on biopreservatives and probiotics.
Her current research focuses on food safety and microbiology, including projects with the meat industry on pig microbiota and sustainable pathogen reduction technologies like pulsed light.
Dr. Martín-Cabrejas coordinates a service-learning project raising awareness about dietary restrictions for children with celiac disease, collaborating with advocacy groups.
Previously, she worked for the Spanish Federation of Celiac Disease, leading initiatives like the "Eating Out" scheme and authoring guides for celiac patients. She also served on the AOECS Board, contributing to the gluten-free standard and patient advocacy in Europe.
Carmen Ribes-Koninckx, ESPGHAN
Carmen Ribes-Koninckx, Head of the Paediatric Gastroenterology Section at the Hospital Universitari i Politècnic La Fe. Coordinator of the Special Celiac Disease Interest Group of the European Society of Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition (ESPGHAN).
ESPGHAN is an international multidisciplinary society working to promote children’s healthfrom the point of view of gastroenterology, hepatology and nutrition.
As coordinator of the coeliac disease group from ESPGHAN, she is in charge of the differentareas of work and of establishing strategies around coeliac disease, as well as promoting thedevelopment of clinical guidelines for diagnosis, treatment and follow-up of the pathology.
Dr. Ribes-Koninckx has focused her research in the area of coeliac disease for more than 20 years. In the last 10 years she has been the principal researcher or coordinator of more than 30 clinical trials related with coeliac disease, she have developed her research in the field of serological markers for coeliac disease, in genetics and also about environmental factors involved in the development of the disease.
The Evaluation Committee 2023
Robert (Bob) Anderson, MB ChB PhD
Dr. Anderson’s research in patients with coeliac disease has helped to cement the role of gluten-reactive T-cells as the fundamental drivers of coeliac disease.His work was the first to show that T-cells specific for gluten circulate in coeliac disease patients’ blood confirming coeliac disease is a systemic disease not limited to the gut. His team used these insights to produce the first comprehensive T-cell epitope map of gluten to guide the future development of highly specific food tests, diagnostics, therapies, and “non-toxic” cereals.
Subsequently, Dr. Anderson designed and led the supporting research and clinical development of the first specific T-cell-directed immunotherapy for coeliac disease. Insights from this program revealed the immunological basis for clinical reactions to gluten and provided new opportunities for biopsy-free diagnosis, monitoring, and accelerating drug development for coeliac disease.
Dr. Anderson completed undergraduate medicine and a PhD in New Zealand, and then trained in gastroenterology in Melbourne Australia. His career in coeliac disease combining vaccinology and T-cell immunology began as a post-doctoral scientist at Oxford University in Professor Adrian Hill’s and Derek Jewell’s labs.
Dr. Anderson returned to Melbourne and established the coeliac disease research program at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute based on a strong partnership with Coeliac Australia. Dr Anderson transitioned from academic to commercial roles in Australia and then in the United States while developing experimental immunotherapy for coeliac disease.
Dr. Anderson is now in clinical practice at Mackay Base Hospital and continues the development of T-cell diagnostics and novel therapies as co-founder and director of Novoviah Pharmaceuticals in Queensland Australia. Dr. Anderson is the current President of the International
Society for the Study of Coeliac Disease.
Fabiana Zingone, Associate Professor
Dr. Zingone is an Associate Professor in the Gastroenterology Unit at
Azienda Ospedale Università Padova, Italy, specializing in immune-mediated gastrointestinal disorders, with a focus on celiac disease.
After completing her residency at the “Federico II” University of Naples in 2012, she was awarded a Clinical Research Training Fellowship in Gastrointestinal Epidemiology at the University of Nottingham, during which she obtained a Master of Science in Applied Epidemiology. From 2013 to 2017, she conducted various research projects on celiac disease and inflammatory bowel disease at the University of Salerno.
In December 2015, she completed her PhD on the epidemiology of celiac disease. In June 2017, she was appointed as an Assistant Professor at the Department of Surgery, Oncology, and Gastroenterology at the University of Padua. Dr. Zingone has extensive international collaborations with leading figures in celiac disease research and has received multiple awards for her work in the field.
She currently serves on the boards of the International Society for the Study of Celiac Disease (ISSCD) and the Italian Society of Gastroenterology and Digestive Endoscopy (SIGE).
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