Seminar

Genetics of gastrointestinal disease: a 10-year journey towards precision medicine

Mauro D´Amato, PhD

Mauro D’Amato investigates how genetic variations predispose to gastrointestinal (GI) disease. Through computational and genetic approaches, he strives to identify causative genes and the mechanisms by which they affect risk to inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), and other GI conditions. He is also interested in understanding how host genes influence gut microbiota composition, and the dysregulation of this interaction in human disease. The ultimate goal is a translational application for personalised medicine and improved therapeutic precision in gastroenterology. Mauro D’Amato is an IKERBASQUE Research Professor, and currently Head of the Gastrointestinal Genetics Unit at the BioDonostia Health Research Institute in San Sebastian, Spain. He formed in Rome at the University “La Sapienza” and the National Research Council. Later, first as a postdoctoral fellow and then as senior researcher, Mauro worked at the Wellcome Trust Center for Human Genetics in Oxford UK, and the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm Sweden, where he holds a Guest Professor chair in Gastrointestinal Genetics. Mauro has published more than 130 studies in the area, conceived and coordinates the bellygenes initiative on the genetics of IBS (www.bellygenes.org), and has established very large international collaboration that constitutes an excellent platform for the development of junior scientists and clinical researchers.