Valérie Abadie, Ph.D.

Dr. Abadie is a Research Associate Professor at the University of Chicago, Department of Medicine, section of Gastroenterology. Dr. Abadie is internationally recognized for her expertise in mucosal immunology and celiac disease. Her work greatly contributes to increase our understanding of celiac disease pathogenesis.

Dr. Abadie’s groundbreaking work includes the identification of the immune mechanisms leading to the loss of oral tolerance to gluten, and the development of the first pathophysiological mouse model of celiac disease, which represents a unique pre-clinical model for the evaluation of novel therapies for celiac disease. In particular, she demonstrated that retinoic acid, a Vitamin A metabolite, can synergize with the pro-inflammatory cytokine IL-15 that is overexpressed in the intestinal mucosa of celiac disease patients to abrogate tolerance to dietary antigens like gluten and induce inflammation. Using the newly developed mouse model of celiac diseases Dr. Abadie was able to demonstrate that the genetically predisposing HLA-DQ8 molecule, tissue transglutaminase 2 and B lymphocytes are all required to promote the development of villous atrophy, the most severe manifestation of celiac disease.