The Association of European Coeliac Socities (AOECS) will be represented at the 35th PreventCD Progress Meeting, taking place on 22 January 2026 at the Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC) in the Netherlands. AOECS will be represented by its Chair, Floris van Overveld, who will attend the meeting alongside leading European researchers and clinicians in the field of coeliac disease.
AOECS’ participation in this meeting reflects our continued commitment to staying closely connected to scientific research and to ensuring that the patient perspective remains represented in long-term research initiatives related to coeliac disease.
PreventCD – a study investigating whether early gluten introduction builds tolerance
PreventCD (Prevent Coeliac Disease) was a major European multicentre study, coordinated by Professor Luisa Mearin at Leiden University Medical Center between 2007 and 2010. The project focused on children with a high genetic risk of developing coeliac disease and investigated whether the timing and amount of gluten introduction in early life could influence the later development of the condition. The central aim was to explore whether immune tolerance to gluten could be induced in genetically predisposed children.
Early gluten introduction does not reduce the risk of coeliac disease
The main results of the PreventCD intervention study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, showed that the early introduction of small amounts of gluten did not reduce the risk of developing coeliac disease in this high-risk group. These findings have contributed significantly to current evidence-based infant feeding recommendations and to our understanding of coeliac disease pathogenesis.
The study cohort continues to be followed up
Although the original EU-funded project has formally concluded, the PreventCD partners continue to meet regularly. These ongoing meetings focus on the long-term follow-up of the PreventCD cohort, including individuals who are now reaching adulthood, as well as on further analyses of collected data. Current research topics include immune responses, viral infections, pubertal development, and other factors that may influence the onset and progression of coeliac disease.