Translational Research Symposium Speaker Spotlight - Prof Peter Gibson

Prof Peter Gibson

Monash University's 3rd annual Translational Research Symposium is being hosted by its three metropolitan clinical schools on 31 July 2017. The symposium will host a diverse group of medical researchers presenting their work into translational research. RSVP here.

Professor Peter Gibson is the Head of the Department of Gastroenterology. He also led the team, along with Dr Jane Muir, who developed the very popular low FODMAP Diet app.

Professor Gibson will be presenting on "Low FODMAP diet: the road from ideas to implementation across the world". Abstract:
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Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is characterised by recurrent/chronic symptoms of abdominal pain, bloating and change in bowel habits without serious underlying pathology. It affects up to 15% of people across the world, and has a big impact on quality of life and performance at school/work. Therapy has been challenging – there is no quick-fix with drugs. Patients with IBS have been telling us for decades that symptoms are triggered by eating, but such observations were not converted to rational and efficacious dietary therapy, even though slowly absorbed sugars, like fructose, and indigestible oligosaccharides, like fructans, were known individually to induce symptoms. By thinking more broadly, our group came up with a new concept that required a new term for such short-chain carbohydrates (‘FODMAPs).

We proposed that all FODMAPs be reduced in the diet of people with IBS. The consequent diet, the low FODMAP diet, proved to be highly effective in up to 3 out of four patients in randomised controlled trials and in clinical real-world practice. To underpin such an approach, we needed to measure the FODMAP content of a vast array of foods and this enabled a unique database to be developed. The problem was how to get such information accurately to the end-user. This was achieved by digital technology and the resultant Monash University low FODMAP Diet App quickly became the #1 medical app across the world. Thus, the combination of hypothesis, science, dietary knowledge, high-quality clinical trials, infrastructure development, education, digital innovation and sensible commercialisation in a multidisciplinary group has led to changes in the paradigm of management of patients with IBS and considerable improvement in quality of life for a large number of people.
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We look forward to welcoming Professor Gibson for the Symposium!

More information:
Translational Research Symposium

• Date: Monday 31 July, 2017
• Time: 8:30 for 9:00am start - 7:00pm close
• RSVP here

Find out more about the symposium and our speaker program.

If you are a graduate student or early career researcher, you may be interested in the Young Investigator poster competition. See here for more details and to RSVP.