Kelly Lab

Kelly Laboratory

Ciarán P. Kelly, MD
Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School
Chief, Herrman L. Blumgart Internal Medicine Firm
Director, Gastroenterology Fellowship Training Medical Director, Celiac Center

Ciarán P. Kelly, MD, is a Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Chief of the Herrman L. Blumgart Internal Medicine Firm, Director of Gastroenterology Training and Medical Director of the Celiac Center at BIDMC.

Dr. Kelly earned his doctor of medicine degree from Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland where he was a Foundation Scholar and recipient of numerous academic awards. Dr. Kelly has also received postgraduate clinical and research awards from the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America, the American Gastroenterological Association and the National Institutes of Health.

Dr. Kelly has longstanding clinical and research interests in intestinal infection and inflammation and has studied the pathogenesis and management of celiac disease for over 20 years. He is a prior committee member of the National Institutes of Health, Center for Scientific Review and leads NIH-funded research programs on C. difficile infection and inflammatory bowel disease. He also heads clinical, research and educational programs in celiac disease as Medical Director of the Celiac Center at BIDMC. Dr. Kelly is the author of more than 150 clinical and basic research book chapters, invited reviews, and peer-reviewed publications appearing in such journals as Infection & Immunity, American Journal of Physiology, Gastroenterology, Journal of Biological Chemistry, Journal of Clinical Investigation, The Lancet and New England Journal of Medicine.

External Recognition

1979-1982 Foundation Scholar, Dublin University, Trinity College, Dublin.
1982 Gold Medal & First Class Honors, Trinity College Medical School, Dublin.
1992-1995 American Gastroenterology Association Research Scholar Award.
1992-1993 Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America, Career Development Award.
1993-1998 Clinical Investigator Award, NIH, NIDDK "Cell adhesion molecule upregulation in IBD"
1999-2001 Grants Review Committee Member, The Wellcome Trust, London, U.K.
2001- Fellow, American College of Gastroenterology
2000-2005 NIH Study Section Member, Bacteriology & Microbiology-1.
2005 - NIH Study Section Member, Host Pathogen Microbial Interactions

Research Team

Select Publications

Tanpowpong P, Obuch JC, Jiang H, McCarty CE, Katz AJ, Leffler DA, Kelly CP, Weir DC, Leichtner AM, Camargo CA Jr. Multicenter Study on Season of Birth and Celiac Disease: Evidence for a New Theoretical Model of Pathogenesis. J Pediatr. 2012:3476;1014-1. PubMed PMID: 23084709.

Junker Y, Zeissig S, Kim SJ, Barisani D, Wieser H, Leffler DA, Zevallos V, Libermann TA, Dillon S, Freitag TL, Kelly CP, Schuppan D. Wheat amylase trypsin inhibitors drive intestinal inflammation via activation of toll-like receptor 4. J Exp Med. 2012 Dec 3. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 23209313.

Kelly CP, Green PH, Murray JA, Dimarino A, Colatrella A, Leffler DA, Alexander T, Arsenescu R, Leon F, Jiang JG, Arterburn LA, Paterson BM, Fedorak RN; the Larazotide Acetate Celiac Disease Study Group. Larazotide acetate in patients with coeliac disease undergoing a gluten challenge: a randomized placebo-controlled study. Aliment Pharmacol Ther. 2013 Jan;37(2):252-262. PubMed PMID: 23163616.

Tanpowpong P, Broder-Fingert S, Obuch JC, Rahni DO, Katz AJ, Leffler DA, Kelly CP, Camargo CA Jr. Multicenter study on the value of ICD-9-CM codes for case identification of celiac disease. Ann Epidemiol. 2013;23:136-42. PubMed PMID: 23313264.

Kabbani TA, Kelly CP, Betensky RA, Hansen J, Pallav K, Villafuerte J, Vanga RR, Mukherjee R, Novero A, Dennis M, Leffler DA. Patients with Celiac Disease Have a Lower Prevalence of Non-Insulin Dependent Diabetes Mellitus and Metabolic Syndrome. Gastroenterology. 2013;144:912-17. PubMed PMID: 23354016.

Ghose C, Verhagen JM, Chen X, Yu J, Huang Y, Chenesseau O, Kelly CP, Ho DD. TLR5-dependent immunogenicity and protective efficacy of a recombinant fusion protein vaccine containing the non-toxic domains of Clostridium difficile toxins A and B and Salmonella typhimurium flagellin in a mouse model of Clostridium difficile disease. Infect Immun. 2013;81:2190-6. PubMed PMID: 23545305.

Koon HW, Shih DQ, Hing TC, Yoo JH, Ho S, Chen X, Kelly CP, Targan SR, Pothoulakis C. Human monoclonal antibodies against Clostridium difficile toxin A and B inhibit inflammatory and histologic responses to toxins A and B in human colon and peripheral blood monocytes. Antimicrobe Agents Chemother. 2013 Apr 29. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 23629713.

Chen X, Yang G, Song JH, Xu H, Li D, Goldsmith J, Zeng H, Parsons-Wingerter PA, Reinecker HC, Kelly CP. Probiotic Yeast Inhibits VEGFR Signaling and Angiogenesis in Intestinal Inflammation. PLoS One. 2013 May 13;8(5):e64227. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0064227. PMID: 23675530; PMC3652827.