I believe I have the expertise, leadership, training and motivation necessary to successfully carry out the proposed research project. I have a broad background in gastroenterology, with specific training and expertise in intestinal diseases. Nevertheless, my research includes also esophageal, gastric, liver, and pancreatic diseases, ranging from basic to clinical science. I am interested in basically all aspects of gastrointestinal diseases, mechanisms of disease, and novel therapies. I have a special focus on intestinal diseases because I have been working as a coordinator of the outpatients unit for Intestinal Diseases in the last fifteen years, in the UH. Moreover, in 2007, I was nominated Research Coordinator for the Division of Gastroenterology, and itbecame easier to work on grants for intestinal diseases. As PI or co-Investigator on several state (FAPERJ) and National funded grants (CNPq), I laid the groundwork for the proposed research by developing effective multidisciplinary care of patients withintestinal diseases at the outpatients unit of the UH. All the efforts make it possible to recruit and track participants over time, always offering the best quality of follow-up. In addition, I have administered successfully several projects, and effectively collaborated with other researchers, producingseveral peer-reviewed publications from each project. As a result of these previous experiences, I becameaware of the importance of frequent communication among project members and of constructing a realistic research plan, timeline, and budget. The current application is complementary to my prior investigational work, and the clinical activity on intestinal diseases. After coming back from my post-doctoral fellowship at the Cleveland Clinic, in 2007, I managed to maintain my clinical activity together with the basic science. In few years I have established many collaborations, critical to the achievement of important goals for our Department, School of Medicine, and Institution.