Mini-programme on clinical and translational advances in gastroenterology

*The recognition of ECTS depends on your home university. 

This CIVIS course consisting of 7 webinars and 1 workshop will be running for 7 weeks (2 hours each).

A maximum of 50 CIVIS students will be accepted in the course.

Requirements

This CIVIS course is open to Masters' and PhD students at one of the 10 CIVIS member universities. Applicants should be enrolled in either medicine and surgery (4th - 6th year), biotechnologies, medical biology, microbiology, and PhD students in courses in the relevant areas.

A B2 level of English is required.

Schedule of the course

14 April 2022 - Dysbiosis in inflammatory bowel disease: role of the microbiota in the pathophysiology of the disease

• Presenters: Laila Aldars and Claire Liefferinckx
• Chairs: Javier Gisbert and Daniela De Biase

The microbiota is the wide variety of microorganisms that live in a certain environment. The gut microbiota includes all archaea, bacteria, viruses, and fungi living in the gut. The importance of gut microbiota in human health is now well established. It contributes to many vital functions such as the development of the host immune system, digestion and metabolism, barrier against pathogens or brain-gut communication. Changes in microbial abundances in the gut have been associated with Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD). Microbes that are commonly found in high abundance in healthy gut microbiomes, such as F. prausnitzii or R. hominis, are reduced in IBD patients. E. coli, which is usually present in a healthy gut in very low concentrations, is increased in the IBD patients’ gut. In this session, we will describe the changes in the IBD gut microbiota and give some hints about its implication in IBD pathophysiology.
 

21 April 2022 - Immune system, microbiota and Inflammatory Bowel Disease

• Presenters: Laila Aldars and Claire Liefferinckx
• Chairs: Javier Gisbert and Vincenzo Cardinale

The correct interplay between gut microbiota and the host is essential for human health and, more specifically, for the development of an appropriate immune system. Microbial balance is pivotal for host metabolic and immune functions as well as to prevent disease development. Disturbance in that balance generates dysbiosis making the host susceptible to certain diseases, including Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD). The complex interplay between the microbiota, the intestinal mucosa, and the immune system highlights the importance of a holistic approach when unravelling the mechanisms underlying intestinal dysbiosis. In this webinar, we will focus on how microbiota and immune system are developed during life in order to establish immunological tolerance, and present IBD as a paradigm of how defects in this process can lead to disease.

28 April 2022 - Gut-Liver and Gut-Brain axis: modulation of gut microbiota

• Presenters: Vincenzo Cardinale and Daniela De Biase
• Chair: Gratiela Gradisteanu

Despite its containment to surfaces, it is now appreciated that the gut microbiota influences the development and function of all systems of the mammalian body, having both local and systemic effects. Resident microbes can produce molecules that directly impact the development and function of cells within various tissues, contribute energetic-structural and immunitary homeostasis of the intestinal barrier. Enterohepatic circulation represents a vital function of the gut-liver axis. Dysbiosis is associated with ineffective nutrient absorption and a failure to prevent the translocation of luminal bacteria and their products. Gut permeability and bacterial translocation are key pathogenic moments of several diseases, e.g. NAFLD, liver cirrhosis, and the so-called non-communicable preventable chronic diseases. The webinar will deal with the basic knowledge concerning the multidisciplinary background acquired into this topic and will provide recent advances directly connected with the modulation of the gut-liver axis and microbiota for therapeutic purposes. Moreover, we will focus on recently identified metabolites of microbial origin and bacterial components, which have many different effects on host signalling processes. These effects will be discussed in light of their contribution to health vs. disease state.

4 May 2022 - Workshop part 1 - Methodological aspects in the study of the microbiota and Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Presenters: Laila Aldars Garcia and Sebastian Mas-Fontao

Gut microbiome analysis is used to understand many diseases, and preparation, handling, and storage of samples are critical processes that alter the outcomes of downstream DNA-based microbial community analyses. The widespread application of high-throughput genomic approaches has revolutionized the study of complex microbial communities and allowed for the development of sequencing-based approaches. Each methodological stage, from sampling to sequencing, can introduce biases.

Studies in animal models and humans have shown that there is a persistent imbalance in the intestinal microbiome related to IBD, with a substantial body of literature providing evidence for the role of the human gut microbiome on IBD. In general, these studies have several limitations, such as the small sample size, the lack of a valid gold standard (such as endoscopic evaluation) to classify the presence of disease activity, most of them do not take into account previous and current treatments (which can modify the biological state), lack of information about the accuracy of the biomarkers, lack of longitudinal studies, and they find heterogeneous results which have not been validated in independent cohorts. In this session, we will describe the main methodology used in microbiome research including sample collection, sample storage and processing, and sequencing, and provide some ideas for IBD translational microbiome studies.

4 May 2022 - Workshop part 2 - Data analysis and statistical approach in microbiota research

Presenter: Gratiela Gradisteanu
Over the past decade, it has become very clear that the microbiome is an essential player in human health and disease and thus should be analysed to develop innovative treatment strategies. To this end, the field of metagenomics has come a long way in leveraging the advances of next-generation sequencing technologies resulting in the capacity to identify and quantify almost all microorganisms present in human specimens. Nevertheless, the field of metagenomics is still in its infancy, specifically in terms of the limitations in standardization, statistical assessments, computational analysis, and validation due to the vast variability in bioinformatic workflows and experimental design. Our workshop will present the technologies and computational tools used to characterize and study the microbiome. We expect our students to get a flavour of the steps needed to analyze the microbiome as this is an exciting field of research.

5 May 2022 - Cell therapy and stem cells: updates and perspectives

• Presenters: Vincenzo Cardinale and Héctor Guadalajara
• Chair: Lorenzo Ridola

Cell products are the cornerstones of regenerative medicine applications into inflammatory bowel diseases (i.e. fistulizing Crohn Disease) and advanced liver diseases (i.e. end-stage liver disease). Cell therapy refers to the use of living cells in the patient's body implanted in the operation rooms (OR). One of the main modalities is the use of Stem Cells (SCs) - a cell with the unique ability to develop into other specialised cell types in the body, which can serve as a therapy (i.e., cytotherapy) with a medicinal effect. This is the base of regenerative medicine: to restore damaged tissue (restitutio ad integrum) with its architecture and function (i.e. tissue engineering). At present, the efforts are mainly addressed in developing SCs, while advancing in its basic research and therapeutic strategies. In this webinar, we provide an update of these advancements reviewing key concepts such as the biology of SCs and bioengineering, highlighting the main clinic developments with SCs in the field of general surgery and the digestive system. The webinar will also deal with two of the most relevant implications of cell therapy:

• The treatment of complex perianal fistulas in Crohn's disease
• The treatment of liver cirrhosis.

12 May 2022 - Decision making in Abdominal Surgery

• Presenters: Olatz Lopez Fernandez and Héctor Guadalajara
• Chair: Lorenzo Ridola

Shared decision-making (SDM) is related to new ways of approaching patient-centred healthcare when a diagnosis is usually severe, such as colorectal cancer (CRC), and there is more than one option for treatment. It requires physicians and patients to co-work to make quick and joint decisions about the tests and treatments to get through the healing process to guarantee wellness, preserving bioethics principles. This process supports many agents involved: physicians, patients (and families), other clinicians, or new professionals in the healthcare system. At present SDM needs from adapted and tested set of models and aids during, between, and after these encounters which can also involve other health actors and support a humanistic approach of care. In this webinar, we will focus on how SDM can be applied in CRC when deciding about surgery options using new technological patients’ aids to establish a quality join decision and present an SDM paradigm to cover existing gaps in this process to improve patients’ quality of life.

19 May 2022 - Alcohol-related liver disease and advanced cirrhosis: advances in clinical and translational research

• Presenters: Eric Trepo, Stratigoula Sakellariou, Pierre Deltenre and Thierry Gustot
• Chairs: Dina Tiniakos and Christophe Moreno

Alcohol-related liver disease (ALD) is one of the most prevalent types of liver disease worldwide. According to the latest World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates, alcoholic beverage consumption globally resulted in 3 million alcohol-attributable deaths (5.3 % of all deaths worldwide in 2016). ALD comprises a range of disorders including steatosis which can lead to steatohepatitis, fibrosis, cirrhosis, and in some cases hepatocellular carcinoma. Severe alcohol-related steatohepatitis can lead to alcoholic hepatitis (AH), an acute clinical syndrome characterized by the recent onset of jaundice and associated with a poor prognosis. In this webinar, we will review the natural history of ALD, including genetic susceptibility to develop the disease, provide an update on ALD pathology, discuss the management of severe AH and ALD patients developing acute-on-chronic liver failure.
The webinar will develop as follows:

• Natural history of alcohol-related liver disease (Eric Trepo)
• Update on alcohol-related liver disease pathology (Stratigoula Sakellariou)
• Management of severe alcoholic hepatitis (Pierre Deltenre)
• Acute on chronic liver failure and alcohol-related liver disease (Thierry Gustot)

26 May 2022 - Chronic intestinal failure: clinical and translational research

• Presenters: Marianna Arvanitaki and Alia Hadefi
• Chair: Lorenzo Ridola

Chronic intestinal failure is the rarest organ failure, but its prevalence across Europe is increasing. Patients have complex diseases and requirements, and optimal care involves multiple specialities and disciplines. Home parenteral nutrition — the first-line treatment for chronic intestinal failure — is a life-saving therapy.
In this webinar, we will focus on all aspects of chronic intestinal failure including aetiology, classification, complications and management with parenteral nutrition. Lastly, a discussion regarding research opportunities in this field will also be part of this webinar.

Application process

The evaluation will be based on students’ CVs and motivation letters. This CIVIS course aims to be diverse. Students from different CIVIS universities will be chosen accordingly (geographical position and gender).

Students should send their CV (including contact details) and motivation letter through the online form before 4 April 2022.

Selected applicants will be notified around 7 April.

GDPR Consent

The CIVIS alliance and its member universities will treat the information you provide with respect. Please refer to our privacy policy for more information on our privacy practices. By applying to this course you agree that we may process your information in accordance with these terms.