Alessio Fasano

Fasano began his career as a pediatric gastroenterologist interested in treating debilitating diarrhea, as well as a researcher determined to find a vaccine for cholera.

The course of this research path eventually led him and his team to the "serendipitous" discovery of zonulin in 2000, a protein responsible for regulating intestinal tight-junctions.

His major research focus then shifted to the study of intestinal permeability, the pathophysiology of the paracellular pathway, and how disruption of gut barrier function factors into chronic inflammatory disease development.

[3] His current research focuses include intestinal mucosal biology and immunology, the gut microbiome, and bacterial pathogenesis, as well as the immune host response.

[5] He has published numerous groundbreaking research studies, including the 2000 discovery of the zonulin protein and its regulation and modulation of intestinal permeability.

[6] In 2003, he published the results of the epidemiological study that demonstrated the prevalence of celiac disease in the U.S. to be far higher than previously thought, at a rate of 1 in 133 persons.