Dr. Robert Anderson

Dr. Robert Anderson

Co-Founder and Director

Practising Gastroenterologist
MB ChB, BMedSc, PhD, FRACP, AGAF 

Dr. Robert “Bob” Anderson is a world-leading gastroenterologist, immunologist, and biotechnology innovator whose work has transformed the scientific and clinical landscape of celiac disease. With deep expertise spanning discovery research, clinical translation, and commercial development, he brings a uniquely global and multidisciplinary perspective to Novoviah.


Originally from New Zealand, Dr. Anderson completed his medical and doctoral training there before undertaking gastroenterology specialization in Melbourne, Australia, and post-doctoral research at Oxford University, where he pioneered studies into gluten-specific T cells. His subsequent work at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research defined the immune mechanisms of celiac disease, identifying the key gluten epitopes that activate pathogenic T cells and establishing celiac disease as a systemic autoimmune condition.   


He is a scientific leader in understanding the adaptive immune response to gluten causing celiac disease, specializing in designing high sensitivity T cell assays. Currently, through Novoviah Pharmaceuticals, he is advancing next-generation T-cell–based diagnostics that promise earlier and more accurate disease detection and monitoring. 


As scientific founder and executive of several biotech ventures — including Nexpep and ImmusanT — Dr. Anderson has guided programs translating immunology into tangible patient applications. He led the development of Nexvax2, the first antigen-specific immunotherapy for celiac disease, advancing it through global clinical trials. Dr Anderson has also made several key discoveries in celiac disease, IBD and gastrointestinal bleeding and has executed many academic clinical studies in these areas.


Dr. Anderson serves as President of the International Society for the Study of Celiac Disease (ISSCD) and as the Principal Science & Innovation Advisor to the Celiac Disease Foundation. His scientific leadership has been recognized worldwide, including the Celiac Disease Foundation Prize for Excellence in Celiac Disease Research and the Mäki Celiac Disease Tampere Prize for outstanding contributions to the field of gluten-related disorders. 

"My passion is in discovery and advancing scientific innovation to meet clinical need."

I have academic, clinical and commercial expertise in medicine, immunology and biopharma. My interests are in clinical medicine and translational immunology focused on antigen-specific T cells, cytokines, immune tolerance, specific immunotherapy and T-cell diagnostics. I currently divide my time between clinical practice in gut immune and inflammatory diseases as a gastroenterologist, and leading innovation and development of a new ultrasensitive antigen-specific T-cell diagnostic. I am expert in clinical and immunological aspects of coeliac disease serving as current President of the International Society for the Study of Coeliac Disease and as consultant to many biopharma companies developing novel therapies for coeliac disease. I have co-founded three private biotech companies in Australia & USA with venture funding of over US$80m (Nexpep, ImmusanT and Novoviah). I am inventor and developer of a first-in-class peptide immunotherapy (Nexvax2) for coeliac disease that advanced to Phase 2b and also of the Novoleukin whole blood T cell test now marketed to biopharma and academia. I have co-authored 85 peer-reviewed publications with 5,142 citations; my h-index is 36 and Google h-index 39; I an named inventor on 60 granted and 92 patents applications (19 patent families). I was awarded the 2023 Celiac Disease Foundation Prize in Excellence in Celiac Disease Research. My home is in Australia, but I was born and educated in New Zealand and lived for extended periods in the UK and USA and have worked in senior academic, clinical and commercial executive roles.

Contact Us


We’d love to hear from you. Please complete our contact form and select a purpose. We’ll forward your message to the right destination.

Contact Us