Edwin Liu, MD

As director of the Colorado Center for Celiac Disease (CCCD), we evaluate and treat individuals with celiac disease and gluten-related disorders. My special area of interest relates to high-risk and general population screening, and the potential risks and benefits of screening. Collaborators in the Center include The Barbara Davis Center for Diabetes and also the Sie Center and Linda Crnic Center for Down Syndrome. We are involved in the DAISY (Diabetes Autoimmunity Study of the Young) and the TEDDY (The Environmental Determinants of Diabetes in the Young) studies, which are long-term prospective birth cohorts being followed for the development of type 1 diabetes and celiac disease due to genetic risk. TEDDY is currently following a birth cohort of over 8,000 children from 6 centers across the US and in Europe for the development of autoimmunity and the goal is to identify the environmental factors that lead to disease. Our study group has publications in high impact journals such as NEJM, JAMA, Pediatrics, Gut and Am J Gastroenterol as a result of our collaboration. The screening has taken another step forward with the Autoimmunity Screening for Kids (ASK) study, which performs free screening for Colorado children ages 1-17 years for celiac disease and type 1 diabetes, and has now gone national with over 30,000 children screened to date. Investigation into active screening for T1D within our celiac disease population is a natural extension of my current work. Therefore, my experience, our team and our infrastructure is ideally suited to support this K23 application.