Dominica Gidrewicz

My research involves studying the clinical manifestations and serologic patterns of celiac disease in children. I have created one of the largest database of children with celiac disease in North America in order to understand the role of serology in the diagnosis and follow-up of patients after starting a gluten-free diet (GFD). My research has helped implement a non-biopsy protocol at the Alberta Children's Hospital by evaluating the non-biopsy algorithm for celiac disease suggested by the European Society of Pediatric Gastroenterology Hepatology and Nutrition. This site-specific protocol has improved access to endoscopy at ACH by decreasing approximately 10% of the annual upper endoscopies per year that would otherwise have been performed to diagnosis celiac disease. My current focus is exploring the time to normalization of celiac serology in patients after starting a GFD. The goal is to facilitate follow-up care of celiac patients, as well as evaluating the compliance to a GFD in children diagnosed without a biopsy. My long-term goal is to create a prospective registry of newly diagnosed patients with celiac disease diagnosed at ACH.