We are delighted to announce Dr Karl Mårild as a touchIMMUNOLOGY Future Leader 2026, selected by peers as one of the immunologists changing the future of pediatric gastroenterology care.
Dr Karl Mårild is a pediatric gastroenterologist at Sahlgrenska University Hospital and Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the Sahlgrenska Academy. His research focuses on the epidemiology, early-life risk factors, and clinical outcomes of immune-mediated diseases, particularly celiac disease and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), using large Nordic cohort data.
Dr Mårild leads and collaborates on major international studies, including PREVENT-IBD, assessing early-life environmental risk factors for IBD, and is also involved in multiple population-based studies aimed at improving the understanding, early detection, and management of celiac disease.
In this Q&A, Dr Mårild reflects on what first drew him to pediatric gastroenterology, the colleagues who shaped his career, and the defining breakthroughs in his research.
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What inspired you to pursue a career in pediatric gastroenterology?
It is a uniquely diverse field, spanning conditions from immune-mediated diseases, such as celiac disease and IBD, to complex nutritional disorders. It involves patients from newborns to young adults and sits at the intersection of medical, surgical, and long-term care. I was drawn to how biological disease may interact with growth, psychosocial development, and family context, and to the opportunity to conduct research that can improve lifelong health.
Is there a specific patient, mentor, or experience that shaped your path in this field?
My PhD supervisor, Jonas F. Ludvigsson, had a major influence on my path. His ability to combine clinical insight with rigorous epidemiology inspired me to pursue clinically relevant research at scale. I have sought to bring that same energy to my work, focusing on high-quality, population-based studies that address unresolved questions important to patients, clinicians, and policymakers. This approach has shaped both my research agenda and my commitment to mentorship and collaboration.
Can you share a defining breakthrough in your field and how it impacted your research?
A defining contribution in my research has been work challenging long-held assumptions about early-life risk factors for celiac disease and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). For example, it has long been believed that breastfeeding duration substantially influences later IBD risk; however, our three-national birth cohort study consistently found no such association.
More broadly, across both celiac disease and IBD, our research has advanced understanding of early-life exposures, including diet, infections, and lifestyle, can influence later disease risk. These findings highlight the importance of rigorous, well-powered study designs and show that both “positive” and “negative” results can be highly informative—the latter by helping to rule out ineffective preventive strategies. Research is, after all, re-search: refining, redirecting, and rethinking approaches to improve health.
More content in pediatric gastroenterology.
Cite: Dr Karl Mårild on advancing early-life research in celiac disease and IBD: touchIMMUNOLOGY Future Leaders 2026. touchIMMUNOLOGY. 21 May 2026.
Disclosures: This short article was prepared by touchIMMUNOLOGY in collaboration with Dr Mårild. No fees or funding were associated with its publication.
