Dr. Alessio Fasano, MD, presents “How Nutrition Can Impact Microbiome Composition, Intestinal Permeability, and Immune Response in the Gastrointestinal Tract” at the SCDROCKS Conference 2023, hosted by the Specific Carbohydrate Diet Association (SCDA) at Bellevue College.
In this landmark presentation, Dr. Fasano explores how nutrition influences the gut microbiome, intestinal barrier function, and immune system signaling three interconnected factors that help determine the balance between health and disease.
Dr. Fasano is a world-renowned pediatric gastroenterologist and researcher whose work has fundamentally shaped modern understanding of intestinal permeability (“leaky gut”), autoimmunity, and gut-immune interactions. He currently serves as Chief of the Division of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition at Massachusetts General Hospital for Children, Vice Chair of Research, Director of the Mucosal Immunology and Biology Research Center, and Director of the Center for Celiac Research and Treatment. He is also a Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School and Professor of Nutrition at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
In 2000, Dr. Fasano’s research group discovered zonulin, a protein that regulates intestinal tight junctions and plays a key role in gut permeability and dysbiosis. His research focuses on bacterial pathogenesis, gut microbiome composition and function, intestinal barrier regulation, mucosal immunology, autoimmune disease, and SARS-CoV-2. Dr. Fasano is widely sought after as an expert in celiac disease, autoimmune disorders, microbiome science, and gut health. Dr. Fasano is the author of Gluten Freedom and co-author, with Susie Flaherty, of Gut Feelings: The Microbiome and Our Health, published by MIT Press in 2021.
His presentation offers critical scientific context for understanding how dietary patterns—including therapeutic approaches such as the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD)—may influence gut health through microbiome-immune-barrier interactions.