Meet The Speakers 2024 - ISDE World Congress

ISDE 2024 Speakers

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Meet the Faculty of ISDE 2024

We are proud to present the brilliant assembly of speakers of the 20th ISDE World Congress for Esophageal Diseases.

To read the bio of each speaker, please click on their photos below.

Invited Speakers

Karyn Goodman

Karyn Goodman

"Karyn Goodman, MD, MS is a Professor and Vice Chair for Research in the Department of Radiation Oncology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. She is also Associate Director for Clinical Research at The Tisch Cancer Institute. Dr. Goodman is an internationally recognized expert in gastrointestinal (GI) cancers and has served in numerous leadership roles on committees to establish national treatment guidelines and best practices. She is involved in developing and leading clinical trials evaluating novel multidisciplinary approaches for GI cancers. She serves as the Co-Chair of the NCI GI Steering Committee where she helps to set the strategic priorities for the development of Phase II and III clinical trials in GI cancers conducted through the National Clinical Trials Network (NCTN). Dr. Goodman received her undergraduate and medical degrees from Stanford University and an MS in Epidemiology from the Harvard School of Public Health. She has published over 200 peer-reviewed scientific articles, review articles, and chapters."

Magnus Nilsson

Magnus Nilsson

Magnus Nilsson is Professor of Surgery and head of the Division of Surgery and Oncology at CLINTEC, Karolinska Institutet and senior consultant surgeon at the Karolinska University Hospital. His main clinical and scientific interests are gastric and esophageal cancer with particular focus on minimally invasive surgical techniques, adjunct oncological therapies, new therapies for peritoneal metastases and management of surgical complications. Dr Nilsson is the past President of the European Society for Diseases of the Esophagus, the Swedish Society of Upper Abdominal Surgery and currently the Chairman of the Swedish National Registry for Gastric and Esophageal Cancer. Dr Nilsson has a strong focus on multidisciplinary collaboration in cancer care and research and is a faculty member of the upper gastrointestinal group of the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) and a member of the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) gastrointestinal group. Dr Nilsson is co-Editor-in Chief of the journal Diseases of the Esophagus.

Ken Kato

Ken Kato

Dr. Ken Kato is a medical oncologist and the Chief of the Department of Head and Neck, Esophageal Medical Oncology, and Gastrointestinal Medical Oncology at the National Cancer Center Hospital. He is also the Chief of the Biobank Translational Research Support Section and the Clinical Research Coordinating Section of the Clinical Research Support Office. His primary research interest is chemotherapy and chemoradiotherapy for oesophageal, esophagogastric, and gastric cancer.

Yuko Kitagawa

Yuko Kitagawa

"Professor and Chairman of Department of Surgery, Keio University, School of Medicine Provost and Vice President of Keio University Tokyo, Japan Dr. Kitagawa is a surgical oncologist and a clinical and translational researcher who mainly focuses on the areas of gastrointestinal cancers. He has published 1057 articles in English peer-reviewed journals. He was a chair of the Japan Esophageal Oncology Group (2012-2023) and works as a principal investigator (PI) for many important nationwide clinical studies, including on multimodal treatment for esophageal cancer. As an outstanding surgical and multimodal oncologist, he served as the Society President of the Japanese Society of Gastroenterological Surgery(2019-2023) and Japan Society of Clinical Oncology(2015-2019) He is also active on the international stage, as demonstrated by his contributions as President of the International Society for Diseases of the Esophagus (2016-2018). He serves as a bridge between the East and the West in the realm of upper GI oncology. As part of this role, he organized the 16th Congress of International Society for Diseases of the Esophagus in Vienna in 2018."

Hiroya Takeuchi

Hiroya Takeuchi

"Name: Hiroya Takeuchi, M. D., Ph. D., FACS Nationality: Japan Birth: 11/14/1967 56 y/o Position: Professor and Chairman, Department of Surgery, Hamamatsu University School of Medicine, 1-20-1 Handayama, Higashi-ku, Hamamatsu, Shizuoka, 431-3192, Japan Email: takeuchi@hama-med.ac.jp / hiroyatakeuchi@aol.com President, Japan Esophageal Society Vice president, Japanese Society of Gastroenterological Surgery Board member, Japanese Gastric Cancer Association Board member, the Japanese Association for Thoracic Surgery Board member, Japanese Gastroenterological Association Board member, Japanese Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism Proctor of robotic esophagectomy approved by Japan Society for Endoscopic Surgery Journal Editorial Board Membership Associate editor Esophagus Associate editor Gastric Cancer Associate editor Annals of Gastroenterological Surgery Editorial board member Surgery Today Editorial board member General Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery Editorial board member General Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery Cases Dr. Takeuchi graduated Keio University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan and became MD in 1992. After the PhD course in Keio University, he had studied molecular oncology at John Wayne Cancer Institute, CA, USA between 2001 and 2004. He became a staff surgeon in Keio University Hospital in 2006, and was promoted to the professor and chairman at Hamamatsu University School of Medicine in 2017. He has been focusing on minimally invasive surgery including robotics and multimodal treatments for upper GI cancer. He has many scientific papers as first author including Annals of Surgery, Journal of Clinical Oncology, and Clinical Cancer Research, etc."

Roos Pouw

I am a gastroenterologist working in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, with a clinical and scientific interest in endoscopic detection and treatment of early upper GI neoplasia, and endoscopic vacuumtherapy.

Florian Lordick

Florian Lordick

"Florian Lordick is a Full Professor of Medicine at the University of Leipzig, Germany. He was appointed as director of the University Cancer Center Leipzig in 2012, which, in collaboration with the University of Jena Medical Center, recently was awarded as one of 15 German Oncology Centers of Excellence and receives funding from the German Cancer Aid. He also is head of the Department of Medicine (oncology, gastroenterology, hepatology, and pulmonology) at the University of Leipzig Medical Center. Dr. Lordick’s scientific focus is on clinical and translational research in immuno-oncology and targeted treatment of cancer, with a specific focus on gastrointestinal tract tumours. He has a great interest in multimodality treatment of GI cancers, in personalized medicine and in survivorship topics. His research is funded by the German Cancer Aid, the German Ministry of Education and Research and by the European Commission. Dr. Lordick has authored and co-authored more than 400 peer-reviewed and PubMed-listed articles. Dr. Lordick served as Director of Education at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) from 2019-2022, as president of the International Gastric Cancer Association (IGCA) and he is a former member of the executive board of the German Cancer Society and former chair of the EORTC Gastrointestinal Tract Cancer Working groups. He holds reviewer and advisory roles at various research funding organizations and European comprehensive cancer centers. He also is the newly appointed Editor-in-Chief of ESMO Gastrointestinal Oncology, official scientific journal of the European Society for Medical Oncology."

Steven Lin

Steven Lin

Dr. Steven Lin is a tenured Professor and Physician Scientist at MD Anderson Cancer Center, with joint appointments in the Departments of Radiation Oncology and Experimental Radiation Oncology. Dr. Lin’s practice focuses on thoracic malignancies, and he oversees several clinical trials including the use of proton beam therapy for esophageal cancer and in the combination of immunotherapy with radiotherapy in lung and esophageal cancers. Dr. Lin’s lab identifies novel approaches that could enhance radiotherapy and immunotherapy combinations in lung cancer that could be translated to innovative clinical trials for patients. Dr. Lin also directs a translational research team that evaluates biomarkers for early cancer diagnosis and treatment response and disease outcomes after cancer therapy.

Bas Weusten

Bas Weusten

Bas Weusten is a gastroenterologist at St Antonius Hospital Nieuwegein and professor of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy at University Medical Center Utrecht, the Netherlands. His main focus, both in patient care and in research, is on endoscopic management of early neoplasia of the upper digestive tract, and on Barrett’s Esophagus in particular.

John Reynolds

John Reynolds

"Professor Reynolds is Academic Head of the Department of Clinical Surgery at St. James’s Hospital and Trinity College Dublin. He is the National Lead in Ireland for Oesophageal and Gastric cancer. He is Cancer Lead at the Trinity St James’s Cancer Institute, and a Principal Investigator in the Trinity Translational Medicine Institute. He is President of the Irish Society of Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism (IRSPEN). He is President of the European Society of Diseases of the Oesophagus (ESDE), and a Council Member of the International Society for Diseases of the Oesophagus (ISDE), and of the European Surgical Association (ESA). He has formerly held Fellowship positions at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia and at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Centre in New York. He was a Senior Lecturer/Consultant at St. James’s University Hospital in Leeds (1994-6). Professor Reynolds has obtained numerous research awards and has published widely in cancer research, with over 450 publications, and over €5m research grant income. His research interest includes: (1) pathogenesis of Barrett’s oesophagus and oesophageal carcinogenesis; (2) prediction of solid tumour response and resistance to chemotherapy and radiation therapy; (3) obesity, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, metabolic syndrome, and cancer; (4) malnutrition and peri-operative nutritional support; (5) multimodal study of pre-habilitation, enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS), and cancer survivorship; and (6) Clinical Trials - in this context he is PI for the NeoAEGIS International RCT in oesophageal adenocarcinoma presented in ASCO in 2021."

Nicholas Shaheen

Nicholas J. Shaheen, MD, MPH is the Bozymski-Heizer Distinguished Professor of Medicine at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, and Chief of the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at UNC. He is the co-PI of UNC’s Clinical and Translational Science Award, and co-director of NC TraCS, the clinical research center which is the home of UNC’s CTSA. Dr. Shaheen’s research interests center on gastroesophageal reflux disease, and pre-cancerous and cancerous conditions of the esophagus, including endoscopic treatment of Barrett’s esophagus. He has authored greater than 400 publications in these areas. Dr. Shaheen is currently principal investigator on multiple NIH grants investigating aspects of esophageal disease.

Samuel Klempner

Samuel Klempner

Dr. Klempner is an Associate Professor at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School and leads the gastric and esophageal program. His clinical and translational research is centered on cancer genomics, acquired resistance to targeted therapies and the intersection of genomics and immune mediated therapies to identify novel therapeutic approaches and biomarkers in gastroesophageal cancers. He serves on the NRG non-colorectal committee, chairs the NCI esophagogastric task force, and is on the NCCN guideline committees for gastric and esophageal cancers. His work is supported by Stand Up 2 Cancer, NCI/NIH, AACR, and he currently serves as the AGA Research Foundation’s Gastric Cancer Foundation Ben Feinstein Memorial Research Scholar Award in Gastric Cancer. He is active in gastric and esophageal cancer outreach and patient advocacy.

Mark Van Berge Henegouwen

Mark Van Berge Henegouwen

"Professor dr. Mark I. van Berge Henegouwen is chair of the upper GI unit at the Amsterdam University Medical Centers, chair of the Dutch Upper GI Cancer Audit and chair of the Dutch society of foregut surgeons of the Netherlands. He was appointed professor of Gastrointestinal Surgery and Upper GI Surgery in 2017 at the University of Amsterdam. Mark van Berge Henegouwen, born and raised in the Netherlands, received his MD and PhD at the University of Amsterdam. He performed his fellowship in gastrointestinal and minimally invasive surgery at the Academic Medical Center in Amsterdam where he started as senior consultant in 2006. His clinical practice is dedicated to patients with malignancies of the esophagus and stomach. The Amsterdam UMC is currently one of the largest centers for esophageal and gastric cancer in Europe. The Amsterdam UMC is a tertiary referral center for these patients with around 250 esophago-gastric resections annually. Mark van Berge Henegouwen has introduced minimally invasive and robotic surgery for esophageal and gastric cancer at his center in 2009 and now around 90 percent of patients is treated either thoraco-laparoscopically or robotically. Mark van Berge Henegouwen is a Principal Investigator in upper GI cancer Surgery and main research activities are focused on improvement of outcomes in upper GI cancer surgery, outcomes in the Dutch Upper GI Cancer Audit, improvement and use of minimally invasive, robotic and fluorescence techniques, complication management in upper GI surgery, neoadjuvant treatment regimens in esophageal and gastric cancer and quality of life in upper GI cancer surgery. He has supervised and currently supervises over 40 PhD’s and has authored over 450 peer reviewed papers and book chapters in these fields."

Suzanne Gisbertz

Suzanne Gisbertz

Suzanne Gisbertz finished medical school at the Amsterdam UMC, University of Amsterdam in 2002. She did her surgical training at UMCU and St. Antonius Hospital, Utrecht until 2010 and her advanced gastro-intestinal surgical training at Amsterdam UMC, Amsterdam until 2012. She got her PhD in 2009. She is currently a consultant upper-GI surgeon and principal investigator at the Amsterdam UMC, University of Amsterdam. She is a proctor for minimally invasive esophagectomies and gastrectomies in the Netherlands and abroad. Her research topics are lymph node metastases and extent of lymphadenectomy in esophagogastric cancer, minimally invasive upper GI surgery and postoperative outcome and quality of life following upper GI surgery. She is board member of the NVGIC, ISDE, ESDE, ESA and program chair of the EAES. She is also organizer of the ESDE 2025 and IGCC 2025 and NVGIC 2024. She is a member of several guideline committees, both nationally and internationally.

Matthew Stachler

I am a Molecular and Gastrointestinal Pathologist and researcher focused on understanding pre-cancerous cell progression in the upper gastrointestinal system. Specifically, my laboratory focuses on understanding the pathobiology of Barrett's esophagus and using this new information to develop novel methods for patient risk stratification.

Joy Chang

Joy Chang, MD, MS is an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. As an academic gastroenterologist and health services researcher, Dr. Chang’s main clinical and research interests are in improving care, quality of life, and patient-provider communications for patients with eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) and eosinophilic GI diseases (EGIDs). Her research is supported by the NIH, American College of Gastroenterology, and the Consortium of Eosinophilic Gastrointestinal Researchers, and focuses on improving outcomes and understanding patient and provider-level factors that influence in treatment decisions, shared decision making, health technology interventions in EoE care, and patient-centered collaborative research methods.

Claire Donohoe

Claire Donohoe is a consultant resectional oesophagogastric cancer and general surgeon at Trinity St James’ Cancer Institute, Dublin, a teaching hospital of Trinity College Dublin. Her research interests include the immune contexture of oesophageal adenocarcinoma, federated real world evidence and formative assessment for learning in medical education.

Zhigang Li

Zhigang Li, M.D., Ph.D., is the deputy chief of Division of Thoracic Surgery and the director of Esophageal Surgery Section at Shanghai Chest Hospital. He also serves as lots of academic positions in China, such as the Director of Esophageal Surgery for Shanghai Thoracic Surgeons Association, and Vice director of the Esophageal Surgery for Chinese Thoracic Surgeons Association. After completing ""The Evarts A. Graham Memorial Traveling Fellowship"" training program in the United States, he established the Esophageal Surgery Section in Shanghai Chest Hospital in2015, and has make it to be the largest program in Shanghai. He is dedicated to the minimally invasive surgical treatment of esophageal diseases and established the world's largest robotic assisted esophagectomy program. As a surgeon with wide range of academic interests, he also pioneered the development of Chinese magnetic sphincter augmentation (MSA) for GERD treatment in China. At the same time, he is committed to a large number of clinical studies, such as PreSINO, RAMIE, AdESD, and NICE trial.

Seiichiro Abe

Dr. Seiichiro Abe M.D., Ph.D., FJGES, FASGE, received his medical degree from Sapporo Medical University in 2002. He completed his short-term and chief residency training at Endoscopy Division, National Cancer Center Tokyo, Japan. Dr. Abe specializes in endoscopic diagnosis of early gastrointestinal cancer and advanced endoscopic therapy including EMR and ESD for esophageal, gastric and colorectal cancer. In addition, he serves as Director of the International Society for Esophageal Diseases (ISDE) and Secretary of the Gastrointestinal Endoscopy Study Group in Japan Clinical Oncology Group (JCOG). He has contributed to scientific journals and congresses and received many best oral presentation awards and many best reviewer awards, serving as associate editor of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, DEN Open, Clinical Endoscopy, Digestion, Frontier in Gastroenterology, co-editor of Endoscopy International Open, and the distinguished reviewer in Digestive Endoscopy.

Ewen Griffiths

Ewen Griffiths works as Consultant Upper GI and General Surgeon at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Edgbaston, Birmingham, UK. He graduated MB ChB (Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery) from Dundee University, Scotland in 2000. He achieved Membership of the Royal College of Surgeons (Glasgow) in 2004. His research in to ‘hypoxia associated factors’ in oesophagogastric cancer at Paterson Institute of Cancer Research, Christie Hospital, Manchester and Wythenshawe Hospital, Manchester led to the award of MD (Doctorate in Medicine) degree from Manchester University in 2006. Higher surgical training was obtained in the North West of England, including Specialist Registrar posts in Salford Royal Hospital and Royal Preston Upper Gastrointestinal Units. He obtained his Fellowship of Royal College of Surgeons in 2010 and completion of specialist surgical training (CCT) in 2012. He trained for a year as a Senior Upper Gastrointestinal Fellow in the Royal Adelaide Hospital, Australia. His training in Australia was in the field of advanced laparoscopic surgery for anti-reflux surgery, giant hiatus hernia repairs, upper GI cancer and Bariatric surgery. He joined the Upper Gastrointestinal Surgery unit, as a consultant, at the University Hospitals Birmingham Foundation NHS Trust in Sept 2012. He was appointed an Honorary Professor at Birmingham University in July 2023.

Ronnie Fass

Ronnie Fass, MD MACG, is the Medical Director of the Digestive Health Center, Chairman of the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, and head of the Esophageal and Swallowing Program at the MetroHealth Medical Center, Cleveland Ohio. He is also a tenured professor of medicine at Case Western Reserve University. Dr. Fass did his internship and residency in internal medicine at the University of Arizona Health Sciences Center, where he later became a Chief Resident. He then completed a fellowship in gastroenterology at the University of California in Los Angeles where he focused on GI motility and disorders of gut-brain interaction. Dr. Fass has served in leadership positions in many societies. He is the former treasurer of the American Neurogastroenterology and Motility Society as well as the chair of the education committee. The former member of the Nominating Committees of the Upper GI Section and Neurogastroenterology and Motility of the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA). He has served as the chair of the Functional Esophageal Disorders committee for Rome IV, Membership committee of the American Neurogastroenterology and Motility Society, Practice Parameter Committee and Audio Committee of the American College of Gastroenterology (ACG) and the Publication Committee of the American Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ASGE). He has also served as a member of the management committee of the journal Neurogastroenterology and Motility. Moreover, Dr. Fass has served as a member of many committees in different GI societies. Currently Dr. Fass is serving as a member of the World Gastroenterology Organization (WGO) Guidelines and Publications committees, member of the ACG Digital communications and publications committee, member of The American Foregut Society (AFS) research committee, member of the International Society of Diseases of the esophagus (ISDE), education committee and the ACG GI on demand task force steering committee. In addition, Dr. Fass has served on the ANMS/EMS consensus group for Refractory GERD and as a core team member of Chicago Classification 4.0. He is currently a member of the EndoFlip experts panel working group, Rome V for functional esophageal disorders, Lyon 2.0 for GERD metrics (core member) and the multi-society guidelines for endoscopy credentialing (Representative of the AFS). In addition, he is leading the AFS consensus for Nonerosive reflux disease (NERD) and the World Gastroenterological Organization (WGO) GERD guidelines committee. Dr. Fass is the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Clinical Gastroenterology and he is the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Neurogastroenterology and Motility. Dr. Fass is a frequent lecturer and presenter and is a reviewer for more than 70 journals. He is and has served on the editorial board of 27 journals. Dr. Fass is the recipient of the American Gastroenterological Association Award for Digestive Sciences in Clinical Research, the Southern Arizona VA Health Care System Investigator of the Year Award, and the International Foundation of Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders Senior Clinical Investigator Award. He has received the University of Arizona Dean’s Research Award, the Glaxo Institute of Digestive Health Clinical Research Award twice, the American College of Gastroenterology Research Award three times, the American Medical Association Resident-Mentor Award twice, and the American Journal of Gastroenterology Outstanding Reviewer Award. Dr. Fass has been selected as one of the Best Doctors in Arizona between 2004 and 2011, Best Doctor in Northern Ohio between 2012 and 2016, Castle Connolly Top Doctor from 2015-2023 and America’s Top Doctor in 2021-2023. Dr. Fass was named World’s Leading Expert in the research and treatment of GERD (press release 11/2013) and World’s expert in esophageal motility disorders (Press release 7/2019) by Expertscape.com. He is one of the 5 recipients of Mastership in Gastroenterology (MACG) for 2021 by the American College of Gastroenterology. Dr. Fass is the recipient of the 2023 Aldo Torsoli Award of the Rome Foundation for excellence in research, education and patient care in the area of disorders of gut-brain interactions (DGBIs). He is also the recipient of the 2023 Ray Clouse Visiting Professor of Excellence award by Washington University at Saint Louis. Dr. Fass has delivered numerous named lectureships and key note presentations. In 2023 he delivered the ACG lectureship during the Japanese GI Society annual meeting and was the Keynote speaker at Stanford University annual GI meeting. Dr. Fass research has focused on DGBI, specifically esophageal disorders, such as functional esophageal disorders, GERD, BE, dysphagia, esophageal dysmotility and others. He has received research grants from societies, academic and federal institutions as well as drug and device companies. Dr. Fass has published more than 450 articles, editorials, and commentaries in journals such as New England Journal of Medicine, Gastroenterology, Gut, American Family Physician, American Journal of Gastroenterology, Archives of Internal Medicine, Lancet Gastroenterology and Hepatology and Nature reviews Primer. He has published three books and has written 62 book chapters, including 2 chapters in UpToDate.

Sheraz Markar

He qualified from Cambridge University in 2007, and currently Associate Professor & Director of Surgical Interventional Trials Unit, Nuffield Department of Surgery, University of Oxford. He has undertaken two PhDs concerning the diagnosis and management of oesophageal and gastric cancer, with over 290 peer-reviewed publications. His primary research interests are concerning survivorship and surveillance following oesophageal and gastric cancer treatment, and standardisation of surgical quality assessment in upper gastrointestinal surgery.

Daniela Molena

Dr. Daniela Molena is a graduate of the University of Padova Medical School in Italy. She completed residencies in general surgery both at the University of Padova and at the University of Rochester Medical Center in Rochester, NY. She completed a gastrointestinal research fellowship at the University of California in San Francisco and cardiothoracic clinical fellowship at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) and Weill Cornell Medical College. She joined Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in 2015 to serve as the Director of the Esophageal Program within the Thoracic Surgery Division. Dr. Molena has authored over 100 manuscripts and several book chapters. She is part of the Editorial Board of several renown Journals. She is a Member of the American Surgical Association, a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, a member of the Society of Thoracic Surgeons, Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons, Society for Surgeons of the Alimentary Tract, American Association for Thoracic Surgery and International Society for the Diseases of the Esophagus. She holds leadership positions in several of these surgical societies and she is President of the Women in Thoracic Surgery.

Kazuhiro Noma

I am a board-certified esophageal surgeon and a board-certified endoscopic surgeon for esophageal cancer surgery. From 2005 to 2008, I was involved in basic cancer research at The Wistar Institute, located at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA. Since returning to Japan, I have been involved in the development of minimally invasive surgery for esophageal cancer and conducting translational research on esophageal cancer to develop new treatment strategies for the disease. I have been a staff member of the Center for Integrated Development of Medical Education at Okayama University since 2010 and the Center for Postgraduate Clinical Training at Okayama University Hospital since 2012, where I have been involved in medical education and resident training. From April 2021, I became a lecturer of Gastrointestinal Surgery, where I will be more actively involved in the education of students and surgeons.

Hiroyuki Daiko

Professor of Esophageal Surgical division, National Cancer Center Hospital, Tokyo, Japan.

Hitoshi Fujiwara

Hitoshi Fujiwara, MD., PhD. Division of Digestive Surgery, Department of Surgery, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, 465 Kajii-cho, Kamigyo-ku, Kyoto, 6028566 Japan Phone : 81-75-251-5527 ; Fax : 81-75-251-5522; E-mail : hfuji@koto.kpu-m.ac.jp

Kazuo Koyanagi

Dr. Kazuo Koyanagi is the Professor and Chairmen of the Department of Gastroenterological Surgery, Tokai University School of Medicine, Isehara, Japan. Dr. Koyanagi specializes in minimally invasive surgery for esophageal cancer, especially robot-assisted surgery, and is also actively involved in clinical research.

Vani Konda

Vani J.A. Konda, MD is a gastroenterologist with clinical expertise in esophageal diseases including Barrett's esophagus, early esophageal cancer, achalasia, swallowing disorders, eosinophilic esophagitis, reflux, and complex esophageal strictures. She completed her residency and fellowship training and remained on faculty at University of Chicago in Chicago, Illinois. Since 2017, she has served as the Medical Director at the Baylor Scott and White Center for Esophageal Diseases at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas, Texas. Collaborating with other gastroenterologists, surgeons, and otolaryngologists, she has developed a clinical multidisciplinary program for complex benign and malignant disorders of the esophagus. She actively participates in a unique multidisciplinary, translational research program at the Baylor Scott and White Center for Esophageal Research. Her research interests have focused primarily on premalignant lesions of the gastrointestinal tract, in particular Barrett’s esophagus and advanced endoscopic imaging. She has authored over 100 articles, book chapters, and videos. She has been active in the International Society of Diseases of the Esophagus (ISDE) on the Board of Directors and as Communications Committee Co-chair and in the three major national societies, American Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ASGE), American Gastroenterological Association (AGA), and the American College of Gastroenterology (ACG).

Sarah Thompson

A/Prof Sarah Thompson is an academic surgeon at Flinders University, with an interest in treating patients with reflux, motility disorders and cancer. A/Prof Thompson completed her surgical training at the University of Calgary, Canada and subsequently completed a Minimally Invasive Surgery fellowship at the Oregon Health & Science University in Portland, U.S.A., and an Upper Gastrointestinal Surgery fellowship in Adelaide, South Australia. A/Prof Thompson is a board member of AANZGOSA (Australian and Aotearoa New Zealand Gastric and Oesophageal Surgery Association), and is the Specialty Editor for Upper GI Surgery for the ANZ Journal of Surgery.

Donald Low

Donald Low, MD is the President of the Ryan Hill Research Foundation, and Emeritus Chief of Thoracic Surgery and Thoracic Oncology at Virginia Mason Medical Center. Dr. Low’s clinical interests include all aspects of general Thoracic Surgery but are focused on the treatment of Esophageal Cancer, Barrett’s esophagus, benign tumors of the esophagus, primary and revisional antireflux surgery, paraesophageal hernia and achalasia. Dr. Low is a Board Certified General Thoracic Surgeon, Fellow of the American College of Surgeons and a Fellow of the Royaål College of Surgeons of Canada. He has received Honorary Fellowships from the Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland, the Royal College of Surgeons of England and the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. His research interests have focused on the improvement in pathways of care associated with esophagectomy and he is responsible for the ERAS Society Guidelines associated with esophagectomy. His other major research interests include assessing the importance of body composition on outcomes in patients with esophageal cancer and in standardizing outcome reporting and definitions associated with the surgical treatment of esophageal cancer. He is responsible for the formation of the Esophageal Complications Consensus Group (ECCG) and the International Online Esodata database and is President of the International Esodata Study Group (IESG).

Lorenzo Ferri

It is an honour to serve on the ISDE Board of Directors as Vice President, a society I have faithfully served since attending my first meeting in Adelaide over 15 years ago. I am an esophageal surgeon at McGill University in Montreal Canada and director of the division of Thoracic and Upper Gastrointestinal Surgery at this institution. In addition to being an active clinician directing the multidisciplinary McGill University Program in Upper Gastrointestinal Cancers, I am a tenured professor and scientist in the Departments of Surgery and Oncology. Through these roles, I have spearheaded numerous initiatives designed to improve outcomes in esophageal surgery and upper GI cancer through carefully coordinated basic, translational, and clinical scientific research. Over the past 20 years I have been fortunate to have benefited from numerous peer review grants from funding agencies in North America and Europe for my work into the inflammatory basis of cancer progression and metastasis. In 2019, I was a part of an international team of scientists who received a Cancer Research UK Grand Challenge to investigate the stromal drivers underpinning Barrett’s adenocarcinoma progression. My roles in ISDE include being the program co-chair of the 2020-2021 ISDE World Congress and serving as associate editor of the Disease of the Esophagus journal since 2015. I look forward to contributing and continuing my service to the ISDE as Vice President.

Krishna Moorthy

Mr Krishna Moorthy is a Senior Lecturer in surgery in Imperial College London and Consultant Surgeon in Imperial College Healthcare NHS trust. His research interests are driven by the desire to improve patient safety and quality of care in surgery. He was a member of the international working group for development of the WHO surgical checklist. He co-developed the PREPARE prehabilitation programme in Imperial College which won the BMJ Surgical team of the year and Patient Engagement awards.

Robert Odze

Dr. Odze was born and raised in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He completed a DEC degree in Physics from Vanier University in 1977, and then a Bachelor’s Degree in Microbiology and Immunology, with honors, in 1980, from McGill University, Montreal Canada. He then attended medical school at McGill University, Montreal, and graduated in 1984, with honors. During medical school he was awarded the Pathology, Anatomy, and Surgery Prizes for highest grades and most outstanding performance in these specialties. Following medical school, Dr. Odze completed three years of general surgical residency, followed by three years of surgical pathology training at McGill University associated teaching hospitals leading to completion of the latter and board certification in 1989. He then completed a GI pathology fellowship program at Harvard Medical School (New England Deaconess and Beth Israel Hospitals), in Boston, in 1990, under the apprenticeship of Dr Harvey Goldman who is widely regarded as one of the grandfathers of modern day GI pathology. Dr. Odze began his tenure as a faculty Pathologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in 1993 and became Director of the division of GI Pathology in 1997. In 2007, Dr. Odze became a full Professor of Pathology at Harvard Medical School. Over the course of his career, Dr. Odze has directed hundreds national and international courses in various aspects of GI Pathology. He has served as an executive committee member, and as President, of the United States and Canadian Academy of Pathology GI Pathology Society. Dr. Odze serves on many editorial review boards of pathology and gastroenterology journals. He also served as the associate editor of the American Journal of Gastroenterology from 2003-2009 and as associate editor of the IBD journal. Dr. Odze has also served as a member of the education committee of the American College of Gastroenterology. Dr Odze is currently a consultant faculty pathologist, and Professor of pathology, at Tufts University Medical School and medical center, and president of a global medical and pathology consulting company titled “Dr. Robert Odze Pathology LLC” ( Odzepathology.com). The scope and basis of Dr. Odze's research has focused on the pathology, etiology, molecular pathogenesis, and natural history of preneoplastic disorders of the GI tract, particularly Barrett’s Esophagus and Inflammatory Bowel diseases (IBD), such as Ulcerative Colitis and Crohn’s Disease. Dr. Odze's research has led to a better understanding of early molecular mechanisms of columnar metaplasia and dysplasia in Barrett's esophagus and IBD, detection of novel markers to differentiate Barrett's Esophagus from other inflammatory conditions, a better understanding of the molecular pathogenesis of the dysplasia-carcinoma sequence, and the treatment of these disorders, particularly Barrett's Esophagus and IBD. In this capacity, Dr. Odze has published over 500 peer reviewed original research articles, reviews, editorials, and book chapters, and over 200 scientific abstracts presented at scientific meetings. Dr. Odze has edited and /or authored 6 textbooks in pathology, and currently serves as the senior editor of the most detailed and comprehensive textbook of GI pathology worldwide titled "Surgical Pathology of the GI Tract, Liver, Biliary Tract and Pancreas", which is currently in its fourth edition (2022). The third edition of this textbook won the prestigious, “most outstanding pathology textbook” award from the British Society of Medicine in 2016. Other notable textbook publications include senior author/editor of the most recent (fourth) series of the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology (AFIP) fascicle on Tumors of the Esophagus and Stomach, and expert member, editor and author of the fourth, and then most recent fifth, edition of the WHO textbook on Digestive System Tumors.

Philippe Nafteux

Associate Professor at Catholic University of Leuven Clinical Head Department of Thoracic Surgery, University Hospitals Leuven, Belgium Treasurer ESDE President of the Board and President of the Examination Jury, Multiple Joint Committee Upper GI Surgery UEMS Past Co-chairman of the Membership and Budget Subcommittee within the Research and Database Committee ISDE President Working Group Guidelines for Esophageal Cancer Belgian College of Oncology Director Esophageal Cancer Care Program for University Hospitals Leuven, Belgium.

Rehan Haidry

Dr Rehan Haidry is a Consultant Gastroenterologist and interventional endoscopist at UCLH and CCL where he is the clinical lead of endoscopy. His main areas of clinical & academic interest are in pre-malignant and malignant disorders of the upper gastrointestinal tract, with a particular interest in Barrett’s neoplasia, Squamous neoplasia, oesophageal cancer and advanced interventional endoscopy for these conditions with ablation and resection He carries out minimally invasive treatments for acid reflux with Transoral incisionless Fundoplication (TIF) & Stretta and is among a few U.K. endoscopists to carry out metabolic & bariatric endoscopic procedures such as Duodenal mucosal resurfacing (DMR), POSE and Endoscopic Sleeve Gastroplasty (ESG).

Wayne Hofstetter

Wayne L. Hofstetter, M.D., is currently Professor and Deputy Chair in the Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery and serves as Director of the Esophageal Surgery Program. A graduate of the University of Southern California Medical School, Dr. Hofstetter focused on thoracic surgical disease, completing fellowships in esophageal and foregut surgeries at the University of Southern California, and then thoracic oncology at M. D. Anderson Cancer Center. Broadly trained as a cardiothoracic surgeon and thoracic oncologist at the Texas Heart Institute, he now devotes a great deal of his work to esophageal cancer and lung cancer. At M. D. Anderson, he formed a strong network of clinicians with specific interests in esophageal diseases. A multidisciplinary group emerged under his able leadership, and together, physicians from other specialties like Gastrointestinal Medical Oncology, Radiation Oncology, and Gastroenterology collaborate closely to treat esophageal cancer patients. Board certified both by the American Board of Surgery and the American Board of Thoracic Surgery, Dr. Hofstetter is nationally and internationally involved in a host of clinical and scientific endeavors with membership in several organizations, the Society for Surgery of the Alimentary Tract, the General Thoracic Surgical Club, the American Association for Thoracic Surgery, including the Society of Thoracic Surgeons, and the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer. His research, which forms a vital part of his academic role, has led to numerous peer-reviewed publications, notably in such journals as the Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Annals of Thoracic Surgery, and Cancer.

Hirotoshi Kikuchi

Education: May, 1998; MD, University of Tsukuba Mar, 2007; PhD, Graduate School of Medicine, Hamamatsu University School of Medicine Postgraduate training and professional appointments: Apr, 1998-Apr, 1999;Resident, Department of Surgery, Hamamatsu University School of Medicine May, 1999-May, 2001; Staff of Surgery, Seirei Numazu Hospital Jun, 2001-Aug, 2002; Staff of Surgery, National Tenryu Hospital Sep, 2002-Mar, 2003; Staff of Surgery, Hamaoka General Hospital Apr, 2003-Mar, 2007; Graduate student, Hamamatsu University School of Medicine Apr, 2007-Aug, 2009; Research Fellow, Gastrointestinal Unit, Massachusetts General Hospital Sep, 2009-Oct, 2009; Staff of Surgery, Department of Surgery, Hamamatsu University School of Medicine Nov, 2009-Jun, 2012; Assistant Professor, Hamamatsu University School of Medicine Jul, 2012-Dec, 2017; Assistant Professor, Department of Surgery, Hamamatsu University School of Medicine Jan, 2018-June 2021; Senior Assistant Professor, Department of Surgery, Hamamatsu University School of Medicine Oct, 2021-Present; Associate Professor, Department of Surgery, Hamamatsu University School of Medicine.

Richard van Hillegersberg

Richard van Hillegersberg attended medical school in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. In 1993 he received his PhD with honor at the Department of Surgery, Erasmus MC in Rotterdam. From 1994-2000, he was trained in General Surgery in Rotterdam. From 2001-2002 he was fellow of Surgical Oncology in the Academic Medical Center and Antoni van Leeuwenhoek Netherlands Cancer Center Amsterdam. Since 2003 he is appointed as staff surgeon at the University Medical Center Utrecht. From 2009 he is a full professor of gastrointestinal oncology. Research is focused on Upper GI minimally invasive and robotic surgery, surgical imaging and genetic profiling. He has authored over 15 chapters in textbooks concerning robotic forgut surgery and over 500 articles in international peer-reviewed journals. From 2018 he is chairman of the Educational committee of the European Society for Diseases for the Esophagus (ESDE) and member of the education committee of ISDE, he is associate editor of Diseases of the Esophagus and Digestive Surgery, founder and chairman of the Upper GI International Robotic Association (UGIRA).

Rebecca Fitzgerald

Rebecca Fitzgerald OBE MACantab. MD FMedSci EMBO MAE is Professor of Cancer Prevention and Director of the Early Detection Institute at the University of Cambridge and practices medicine as Hon. Consultant in Gastroenterology and Cancer Medicine at Addenbrooke's Hospital. Rebecca also leads the Cambridge component of the CRUK International Alliance in Early Detection (ACED). The focus of her research is to investigate the steps in malignant transformation in the oesophagus and stomach and to use this information to improve clinical early detection strategies. Her work to develop and implement the Cytosponge and related biomarker assays for detection of Barrett's oesophagus and associated dysplasia has been awarded a number of prizes including the Westminster Medal, an NHS Innovation prize and the Don Listwin Early Detection Prize. In 2022 Rebecca was awarded an OBE for services to cancer research. Rebecca has contributed to evidence reviews and policy work around screening including for the Department of Health in the UK and recently led a review of cancer screening for the European Commission that led to new screening policy for EU member states. Rebecca enjoys teaching and is a Fellow of Medical Sciences at Trinity College Cambridge.

Masayuki Watanabe

Deputy Hospital Director, Department Director of Gastroenterological Surgery, Cancer Institute Hospital of Japanese Foundation for Cancer Research.

Laurence Lovat

I am a consultant gastroenterologist specialising in gastroesophageal reflux disease, Barrett’s oesophagus and gastrointestinal cancer prevention. I was the lead clinician for upper gastrointestinal cancer at UCLH from 2001-8. I graduated from University College London Medical School in 1987 and obtained my PhD at the Royal Postgraduate Medical School, Hammersmith Hospital. I was appointed as a consultant gastroenterologist at UCH in 1999 and professor of gastroenterology and biophotonics at UCL in 2014. I previously chaired the North London Cancer Network Upper Gastrointestinal Tumour Board. I am now the clinical director of the WEISS Research Centre at UCL. I am active in clinical translational research to prevent oesophageal and bowel cancer, with particular interests in artificial intelligence.

Georges Decker

Dr. Georges Decker is a general thoracic and upper-GI surgeon in Luxembourg, certified by the European Board of Thoracic Surgery and by the European Board of Upper GI surgery (honorary). He was trained in thoracic and esophageal surgery in Leuven (Belgium) under Prof. Toni Lerut until 1999. He subsequently worked in UZ-Leuven as part-time consultant from 2000-2015, in parallel to appointments in Luxembourg where he is consultant at Hôpitaux Robert Schuman since 2007. Georges Decker has 25 years of independent practice thoracic, esophago-gastric surgery (exclusively non-bariatric). He has personally performed more than 1250 anatomical lung resections (>600 by VATS starting in 2002). He has personally performed some 700 cancer esophagectomies (>240 MIE), >200 cancer gastrectomies and > 500 laparoscopic hiatal hernia repairs and GERD operations as well as some 270 operations for achalasia, Zenker’s or other diverticula, perforations and benign esophageal tumors. He has teaching appointments (“enseignant-vacataire”) at the University of Luxembourg (Uni.lu) since 2021 and is licensed to train residents in General Surgery (Ministry of Health of Belgium 2017-2022) and Ministry of Health Luxembourg since 2019 (General and Thoracic Surgery). Dr Georges Decker is member of numerous scientific societies, among which ESE/GEEMO later ESDE and ISDE since 2007, ESA since 2015, ESTS since 2003. He has served as reviewer for various journals (BJS, Annals of Surgery, EJCTS, ICVTS, Diseases of the Esophagus…) and hold editorial board positions since 2019, among which Associate Editor of ICVTS (Interactive Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery) from 2020-2023 and currently is Associate-Editor of European Journal of Cardio-Thoracic Surgery (EJCTS). Georges Decker’s current h-index is 26 and he is author/co-author of 17 textbook chapters and more than 100 publications of which 65 Medline indexed papers (32 papers on esophageal surgery) as well as various online publications and collaborative studies.

Bas Wijnhoven

Professor Bas Wijnhoven is a staff surgeon at the Erasmus University Medical Center Rotterdam (the Netherlands) and is program leader on oesophageal and gastric diseases. Research is focused on outcomes after surgery for gastric and oesophageal cancer and clinical studies on neoadjuvant treatment for oesophageal and gastric cancer. Dr. Wijnhoven is editor for BJS (British Journal of Surgery) since 2014. He has authored and co-authored over 350 articles in national and international peer-reviewed journals.

Peter Siersema

Dr. Peter Siersema, MD, PhD, is Professor of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy and Director of Clinical Research at the Erasmus MC - University Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Clinical interests include (pre-)malignant diseases of the upper GI tract management, advanced endoscopy with a focus on benign and malignant stricture management and innovations and sustainability in endoscopy. Dr. Siersema is the current Editor-in-Chief of Endoscopy, president (2025-2017), past-president (2017-2019) and current councilor of the European Society for Diseases of the Esophagus (ESDE) and has (co-)authored more than 800 peer-reviewed papers.

Russel Petty

Professor Russell Petty is Chair of Medical Oncology at the University of Dundee and a Consultant Medical Oncologist at Ninewells Hospital and Medical School. He is Director of Tayside Medical Science Centre and Tayside Clinical Trails Unit in the School of Medicine at the University of Dundee and Director of Research and Development for NHS Tayside in these roles he provides leadership for the design and delivery of more than 250 clinical trials. His research interests are in gastroesophageal cancer involving laboratory research, early and late phase clinical trials. He has been involved in the successful delivery of more than 150 cancer clinical trials and experimental cancer studies. Developing precision medicine strategies to tackle treatment resistance is a key current research aim. He is the current subject editor for Clinical Studies at the British Journal of Cancer and has published over 150 papers including in high impact journals such as The Lancet, The Lancet Oncology, Lancet Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Journal of Clinical Oncology, Annals of Oncology, Nature Medicine, Nature Genetics, BMJ GUT, and Molecular Cell . His clinical and research advisory roles include to the Chief Medical Officer (Scotland), Scottish Parliament, Chief Scientist (Scotland), National Cancer research Institute, National Health Service Research Scotland, National Institute of Health and Care Excellence, Scottish Medicines Consortium, European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer, European Society for Medical Oncology, International Gastric Cancer Association. and International Cancer Benchmarking Partnership.

Gary Falk

Gary W. Falk M.D., M.S. is currently Professor of Medicine and Director, Esophageal Program, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, and University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine. He received his undergraduate and medical school training at the University of Rochester before going to George Washington University for his medical internship and residency. After a clinical and research fellowship at the University of Michigan, he was a member of the Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at the Cleveland Clinic. While in Cleveland, he also received a master’s degree in clinical research from Case Western Reserve University. He has been involved in clinical research in Barrett’s esophagus, gastroesophageal reflux disease, Helicobacter pylori, esophageal motility disorders, advanced esophageal imaging and therapeutics and eosinophilic esophagitis throughout his career. The most important of these themes has been in the area of early detection and prevention of esophageal cancer. Collaborations with other centers have led to studies on familial risk, molecular imaging paradigms, chemoprevention, radiofrequency ablation and endomicroscopy. Research in eosinophilic esophagitis is now focusing on clinical trials of novel therapeutic agents, and participation in the CEGIR consortium. Dr Falk has served nationally through professional societies, including being a Past-President of the American Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, editorial positions at journals and on grant review committees at the NIH. He is a past associate editor of the American Journal of Gastroenterology and is current associate editor of Diseases of the Esophagus. He is a two-time recipient of the Sidney Cohen University of Pennsylvania GI Fellowship Teacher of the Year Award, AGA Distinguished Clinician Award and AGA Imaging & Advanced Technology Section Research Mentor Award.

Shaun R Preston

Shaun R Preston

Mr Shaun R Preston BSc(Hons) MD FRCS(Eng) FRCS(Gen) - Director of Oesophago-Gastric Surgery, Guildford, UK. Mr Preston trained in radical gastrointestinal (GI) cancer surgery, minimal access surgery and endoscopy/EUS in Leeds. He was appointed consultant OG surgeon at the Royal Victoria Infirmary, Newcastle-upon-Tyne in 2001. He took up his current position in 2006, as Head of Department in Guildford, where he has built a 5-consultant lead OG team, that has pioneered minimal access surgery, enhanced recovery, pre-habilitation and more recently robotic surgery. The Unit serves a population of 4.5 million people across Surrey and Sussex. As an early adopter of Endoscopic Ultrasound, he has taught many others. His Fellowship was at the National Cancer Center Hospital, Tokyo in 2001, improving his radical OG surgery. After visiting Professor JD Luketich, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) in 2006, he established a MIO programme. In 2011, with his team and Dr Don Low, Virginia Mason Medical Center, Seattle, they developed the first ERAS & Standardised Clinical Pathway for oesophageal cancer surgery in the UK. Mr Preston’s obtained his Doctorate (University of Leeds) in 1997 and has maintained an active interest in research. He was National Chief Investigator on the Neo-AEGIS trial, recently published in The Lancet - Gastroenterology & Hepatology (2023) and was Principal Investigator in the OCCAMS Consortium that has vastly expanded our understanding of oesophageal and junctional adenocarcinoma.

Prakash Gyawali

Dr. Prakash Gyawali is currently a Professor of Medicine, Director of Neurogastroenterology and Motility, and Program Director of Gastroenterology Fellowship Training at the Division of Gastroenterology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, USA. Dr. Gyawali's academic interests include esophageal motility disorders, gastroesophageal reflux disease, and functional disorders. He directs gastrointestinal motility centers affiliated with Washington University, and is involved in motility testing using high resolution manometry, esophageal ambulatory esophageal pH and impedance monitoring, wireless pH monitoring and endoscopic functional lumen imaging probe (FLIP). He is actively involved in clinical research involving neurogastroenterology and motility, and has published over 300 original articles, as well as several invited reviews and book chapters.

Tomonori Yano

Dr. Tomonori Yano is currently the Director of Endoscopy Center and Chief, Department of Gastroenterology and Endoscopy, National Cancer Center Hospital East, Kashiwa, JAPAN. Dr. Yano graduated and acquired MD at Kansai Medical University in 1997. He was trained and completed residency program for medical oncology and gastroenterology and joined as a staff doctor of Department of Endoscopy, National Cancer Center Hospital East in 2004. He got PhD at Kyoto University with his research paper about the clinical trial of new photodynamic therapy for recurrent esophageal cancer after radiation written under guidance Professor Manabu Muto in 2017. In November 2017, he participated Visiting Clinician Program at Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, and learned the clinical practice and research by Dr. Kenneth Wang and Dr. Prasad Iyer. He has a lot of practical experience and published papers in his specialty for esophageal field, especially for oncology and endoscopic treatment including ESD, PDT and palliative endoscopic treatments. He is a chair of the Gastrointestinal Endoscopy Study Group in Japan Clinical Oncology Group (JCOG) and principal investigator of several clinical trials. He also serves as an Associated Editor of Digestive Endoscopy and Clinical Journal of Gastroenterology.

Renato Salvador

Associate Professor of Surgery University of Padova - Italy Department of Surgical, Oncological and Gastroenterological Sciences.

Stuart McDonald

I am currently a Reader in Gastroenterology at the Barts Cancer Institute, Queen Mary University of London UK where I lead a laboratory 'Clonal Dynamics in Epithelia'. My scientific interests include understanding the evolution of Barrett's Oesophagus to cancer. We integrate multimodal mic data on both the Barrett's epithelia and the microenvironment to understand which patients are at risk of developing cancer.

Vinay Sehgal

Vinay Sehgal is a Consultant Gastroenterologist and Interventional Endoscopist at University College Hospital, London. He graduated from The University of Liverpool and completed his specialist training in Gastroenterology in North East London. During this time, he completed his PhD at University College London where he developed a novel tumour model of oesophageal cancer used in crucial mechanistic, imaging and pre-clinical studies. He has a specialist interest in the early detection of pre-malignant lesions of the Upper GI tract with particular expertise in artificial intelligence-based classification systems to improve lesion recognition of Barrett’s-related neoplasia. He also has a specialist interest in advanced endoscopic therapy for benign and malignant disorders of the Upper GI tract. He is the lead for the UK Cryoballoon ablation registry for the treatment of early oesophageal neoplasia. He is actively involved in the use of novel endoscopic technologies and has gained the UK's largest and growing case series in endoscopic vacuum therapy for the management of oesophageal defects. He regularly presents at international meetings and has published numerous original manuscripts and reviews in this field. He has a keen interest in endoscopy training and is a member of faculty at the British Society of Gastroenterology and Endoscopy Training Committee for The Royal College of Physicians. He is also actively involved in numerous live endoscopy and hands-training courses at UCLH.

Arul Immanuel

He is a Consultant surgeon and Professor of Robotic Surgery at the Northern Oesophago-Gastric unit (NOGU) in Newcastle upon Tyne. Following higher surgical training in the Northern deanery he spent 2 years at Flinders Medical Centre in Adelaide, South Australia. During this fellowship he was trained in advanced laparoscopic and endoscopic hepatobiliary, transplant, oesophago-gastric and bariatric surgery. He has been responsible for the development and establishment of the minimally invasive and robotic oesophago-gastric programme in Newcastle, demonstrating his commitment to advancing surgical techniques. He also specialises in therapeutic endoscopy, offering endoscopic resection for oesophageal and gastric cancer. He holds an advisory role to both Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh and England on robotic upper gastrointestinal surgery. He is also a mentor for reconstruction and minimally invasive surgery to various national and international UGI units.

Jeffrey Mosko

Dr. Jeffrey Mosko is an assistant professor of medicine and a clinician in quality and innovation at St. Michael’s Hospital, University of Toronto. He is the co-director of the advanced endoscopy fellowship and the education site director. His clinical expertise is in both luminal and pancreaticobiliary advanced endoscopy. His research interests are in quality improvement in endoscopy.

Carmen Mueller

Dr. Mueller is an active attending surgeon in the Division of Thoracic and Upper Gastrointestinal Surgery at the Montreal General Hospital, affiliated with McGill University. Her clinical practice focuses on a high volume of primary and revisional surgery for both benign and malignant gastroesophageal diseases and interventional endoscopy.

Tom Crosby

Tom is a Consultant Oncologist in Velindre Cancer Centre, specialising in Upper GI cancer since 2008.

Rubens Sallum

Prof. of GI Surg. of Univ. of Sao Paulo Director of Esophageal Surg.Division.

Ian Penman

Ian Penman is a gastroenterologist with specialist interests in the diagnosis, staging and endoscopic management of gastrointestinal cancers, especially those of the oesophagus, stomach and pancreas/biliary tree. His other areas of interest are benign oesophageal disease and the endoscopic management of early Barrett’s neoplasia. He works at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh where he is Clinical Director for GI services. He is Associate Editor of Frontline Gastroenterology and co-editor of Davidson’s Principles and Practice of Medicine. He was Vice President of the British Society of Gastroenterology and Chair of its Endoscopy committee from 2019-2022.

Nicholas Boyle

Nicholas Boyle is the founder of RefluxUK and one of the country’s leading experts in the surgical management of Gastro-oesophageal reflux disease. He leads the Multi-Disciplinary Team. He is based in central London at the Lister Hospital Chelsea and in Kent at The Spire Tunbridge Wells Hospital. Nick is a specialist laparoscopic, upper Gastro-Intestinal and reflux surgeon. He trained in general surgery and subsequently specialist surgery of the oesophagus and stomach at Guys and St Thomas’ hospitals in London and in laparoscopic surgery at the Minimal Access Therapy Training Unit in Guildford. He graduated from the University of Southampton and was awarded a Master of Surgery degree by London University. He is a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England. Nick was appointed as a consultant surgeon in 2000. Nick has become increasingly specialised over many years. He established the first multi-disciplinary team to manage Gastro Oesophageal Reflux Disease in 2013 and has performed the largest number of LINX® procedures in the UK. His centre has treated patients from all over the world. In 2015 he established RefluxUK to introduce the multi-disciplinary team approach more widely for the benefit of the hundreds of thousands of people suffering from reflux.

Tim Bright

Dr Tim Bright MBBS (Adel), MS, FRACS Dr Tim Bright graduated from Adelaide University and obtained his general surgical FRACS in 2006. He undertook a Masters of Surgery and further post-fellowship training at the Northern Oesophago- Gastric Cancer Unit in Newcastle UK. He was appointed consultant and senior lecturer in surgery on the Oesophago-Gastric Surgery Unit at Flinders Medical Centre in 2010 and has been Head of Unit since 2014. He sat on the ANZGOSA Executive from 2011-2020 and is the immediate past-chair of the ANZGOSA training committee. Dr Bright's interests include oesophago-gastric cancer and benign upper gastrointestinal disorders, and interventional upper GI endoscopy including EUS.

Maeve Lowery

Professor Maeve Lowery is Professor of Translational Cancer Medicine at Trinity College Dublin and Consultant Medical Oncologist at St James's Hospital. She is also currently the Academic Director for the Trinity St James’s Cancer Institute. Professor Lowery's clinical and translational research involves design and conduction of clinical trials in patients with gastrointestinal malignancies, incorporating translational study endpoints to validate predictive and prognostic biomarkers, identify mechanisms of resistance and guide the development of rational therapeutic strategies. Her translational research interests use of real time genomic profiling to identify novel therapeutic strategies for gastrointestinal cancers, identification of non-coding alterations as modifiers of the DNA damage response pathway and generation of organoid models of cancer as a tool for precision oncology as a member of the PRECODE consortium. Her work is supported by the Pancreatic Cancer Research Fund (https://www.pcrf.org.uk), Science Foundation Ireland, through the Precision Oncology Ireland Consortium and the EU Horizon 2020 Marie Sklodowska-Curie Programme.

Rami Sweis

Rami Sweis acquired his medical degree in 1999 from University of Edinburgh. He completed his PhD from Kings College in 2012. He was appointed as Consultant in Upper GI Medicine and Physiology at UCLH in 2014 and is the Upper GI Physiology Lead. He is also President of the Association of GI Physiologists (AGIP). Rami Sweis’ research is focused on advancing the methodology and utility of the technology used to investigate reflux and swallowing disorders. He has a particular interest in investigating and managing complex benign as well as malignant/pre-malignant upper GI disorders, offering an array of endoscopic therapies including EMR, RFA, dilatation, TIF and POEM.

Christiane Bruns

Prof. Dr. Christiane Bruns is the Director of the Department of General, Visceral, and Vascular Surgery Magdeburg. The newly appointed Professor of General, Visceral and Vascular Surgery has taken on November 1, 2013, the office of Prof. Dr. Hans Lippert, who has been adopted by the end of October in retirement. Biography: Prof. Dr. Christiane Josephine Bruns, born in 1965, gained after her medical studies in Dusseldorf in 1993 their medical license and a doctorate in the same year. Your specialist training for surgery, started at the Department of General, Thoracic and Vascular Surgery, University of Cologne, where they already have resident training (AiP) has worked before. From 1997, she completed a two-year research stay as a post-doctoral fellowship at the Department of Cancer Biology, University of Texas, Houston. With her ?? return, she began her residency training at the University Hospital of Cologne until 2001. A year later, Christiane habilitated Brunswick after a change to the Department of Surgery, Klinikum Grosshadern, University of Munich. In 2003 she was promoted to senior physician and two years later to the Chief Medical Director of oncological surgery. Also in 2005, she became the focus designation visceral surgery. Clinical internships led Prof. Bruns at the University of Hong Kong, the University of Toronto, and other renowned institutions in Italy and France. In 2009 her right to use the title was awarded Unscheduled professor and she became the first Chief Medical Director / Deputy Director of the Clinic office in Brussels, a W3-Professorship of General, Visceral and Vascular Surgery at the Otto-von-Guericke University worked to appeal.

Luigi Bonavina

Dr. Bonavina is currently a full-professor at the University of Milano Medical School and Chief of the Department of Surgery at IRCCS Policlinico San Donato, Italy. He graduated from University of Padova and specialized in General Surgery and in Thoracic Surgery. As postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Chicago and Creighton University, he was involved in esophageal pathophysiology and reconstructive surgery of the foregut. Dr. Bonavina's past research at the University of Padova and Milano focused on esophageal surgery and disease, fundoplication and ablative techniques for Barrett’s esophagus, and cancer prevention. His current research includes studies on gastroesophageal reflux disease, esophageal motility disorders, minimally invasive (thoracoscopic, laparoscopic, and trans-oral) surgical procedures, surgical oncology, and surgical education. Since 1995, Dr. Bonavina is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons. He is also an Active member of the European Surgical Association, Society for Surgery of the Alimentary Tract, Académie National de Chirurgie (Paris), and a Council Member of the World Society of Emergency Surgery. At national and international levels, Dr. Bonavina has served as member and chair of many grant review and clinical guidelines panels and on the editorial advisory boards of multiple medical journals.

Jens Hoeppner

Director Department of Surgery University Medical Center OWL Campus Lippe University of Bielefeld Germany

Shiko Kuribayashi

Shiko Kuribayashi, MD/PhD EDUCATION/POST GRADUATE TRAINING College/University: 1994-2000 M.D., Toyama Medical and Pharmaceutical University (Japan) 2005-2011 Ph.D., Gunma University Graduate School of Medicine (Japan) Residency: 2000-2002 Resident in Internal Medicine, Gunma University Hospital, Japan Resident, Ashikaga Red Cross Hospital, Japan (Dec 2001-Jun 2002) Academic Research: 2006-2009 Research Scholar, Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Department of Medicine, Medical College of Wisconsin (United States) PRESENT POSITION OR ACADEMIC RANK Assistant professor Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology Gunma University Graduate School of Medicine PREVIOUS PROFFESSIONAL POSITIONS AND APPOINTMENTS Clinical: 2002 Staff Physician, Kiryu Kousei General Hospital 2003 Physician in the Internal Medicine, The First Department of the Internal Medicine, Gunma University School of Medicine 2004-2011 Staff Physician, National Hospital Organization Numata National Hospital 2012 Physician-in-Chief, National Hospital Organization Numata National Hospital 2013.4-2013.9 Physician in the Internal Medicine, The First Department of the Internal Medicine, Gunma University School of Medicine 2013.10-2016.3 Assistant Professor, Department of department of Gastroenterology, Gunma University Hospital 2016.4-2019.9 Assistant Professor, Clinical Investigation and Research Unit, Gunma University Hospital 2019.10- Assistant Professor, Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Gunma University Graduate School of Medicine.

Massimiliano Di Pietro

Dr. di Pietro qualified from Federico II University of Naples, Italy and obtained an MD at the Institute of Molecular Cancer Research (University of Zurich, Switzerland). He is Senior Clinical Investigator Scientist at the Early Cancer Institute, University of Cambridge and Honorary Consultant Gastroenterologist at Addenbrooke’s Hospital, where he provides regional referral for endoscopic treatment of pre-cancerous and early malignant conditions of the upper GI tract, including endoscopic mucosal resection, endoscopic submucosal dissection and Radiofrequency Ablation. Dr di Pietro has a research interest in oesophageal and gastric pre-malignant and early malignant pathologies. In particular, his research focusses on advanced endoscopic imaging, key performance indicators in UGI endoscopy and molecular biomarkers for cancer risk stratification. He has co-authored the current BSG, NICE and ESGE guidelines for management of Barrett’s oesophagus, BSG guidelines for management of pre-malignant stomach and the International Guidelines for the management of Hereditary Diffuse Gastric Cancer. He is lead on several prospective trials for the early detection of upper GI cancer, including BEST4 surveillance trial (Capsule sponge for surveillance of Barrett’s oesophagus) and PROSPERO (prospective study to determine quality indicators in upper GI endoscopy).

Peter Grimminger

Prof. Dr. med. Peter Grimminger, FACS, FEBS (hon.) Senior consultant & Head Upper GI Surgery, Minimalinvasive Surgery and Robotics Case Observation Center for Robotic Esophageal Surgery Dept. of General-, Visceral- and Transplant Surgery UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER MAINZ.

Jacques Bergman

Dr. Bergman is currently a Professor of Gastroenterology Endoscopy, and Head of Esophageal Research at Academic Medical Center in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Dr. Bergman undertook his PhD-training, dedicated to the endoscopic management of gallstone disease, in Amsterdam. He was trained in Gastroenterology in Den Bosch and Amsterdam and was appointed Consultant Gastroenterologist, at Academic Medical Center in Amsterdam in 2001 and appointed as Associate Professor in 2005. Since June 2011 he has been a professor of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy at the University of Amsterdam. Additionally, he is the head of the AMC esophageal research team, which conducts endoscopic imaging studies. Dr. Bergman is a permanent member of the International Working Group on Classification of Oesophagitis, Co-editor, and member of the International Editorial Board of “Endoscopy” and is the secretary of the Dutch Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy. Dr. Bergman has authored and co-authored over 140 peer-reviewed publications and textbook chapters and has lectured at many national and international meetings.

Jacobo Ortiz Fernández Sordo

Jacobo Ortiz works as a Consultant Gastroenterologist at the Nottingham University Hospitals and he is currently Upper GI Endoscopy Lead and Capsule Sponge Clinical Lead and manages the Barrett’s Unit. He qualified from the University of Navarra, Spain in 2000 and completed his training in Gastroenterology at the Hospital Universitario Central de Asturias (HUCA), Spain in 2008. His interest in advanced therapeutic endoscopy and Barrett’s started in Amsterdam back in 2008, where he spent three months as an observer at the Academic Medical Centre (AMC). Back to Spain he worked for two years as a Consultant in GI Endoscopy in the Hospital Universitario Central de Asturias (HUCA) and then he moved to Chicago to spend a year as an Endoscopy Research Fellow in the Centre for Endoscopic Research and Therapeutics (CERT) of the University of Chicago Medical Centre with Professor Irving Waxman. In the USA his research was focused in advanced endoscopic imaging for diagnosis of Early Barrett’s neoplasia, endotherapy for Barrett’s oesophagus and new approaches for endoscopic biliary access and advanced EUS techniques. He returned to his original post in Spain where he helped in setting up in Asturias one of the first units in the country offering endoscopic treatment for early Barrett’s neoplasia. He moved to Nottingham in 2012 to progress in his training as an interventional endoscopist and completed an Advanced Endoscopy Fellowship with Professor Krish Ragunath, being EUS and endoscopic therapies for early Upper GI neoplasia his main fields of interest. He was appointed as a Consultant Gastroenterologist in Nottingham in 2016. His research activity includes advanced endoscopic imaging, early Upper GI neoplasia diagnosis and minimally invasive endoscopic therapy of early Upper GI cancer.

John Morris

Dr Allan John Morris is a Consultant Gastroenterologist at Glasgow Royal Infirmary, Honorary Clinical Senior Lecturer at Glasgow University Medical School and Clinical Lead for Gastroenterology for Greater Glasgow and Clyde health board. He is Director of the West of Scotland Endoscopy Training Centre and has an international reputation for education and quality in delivery of all types of gastrointestinal endoscopy. He was visiting Associate Professor at the Medical University of South Carolina in 1995, developing advanced endoscopy practice. He has written several original papers, reviewed articles and contributed to national guideline development in the field of GI endoscopy. A recognised national expert in luminal gastroenterology, he receives referrals of complex patients with inflammatory bowel disease, irritable bowel syndrome ,celiac disease, anaemia and capsule endoscopy. Dr Morris has held several senior positions in UK and European Gastroenterology including Scottish and British Society of Gastroenterology (BSG) and Joint Accreditation Group endoscopy (JAG) council member, Endoscopy Committee Secretary of the BSG and board member of the European Society for GI Endoscopy.

Jang-Ming Lee

Graduated from Medical School, and acquiring his PhD degree in the Medical Research Institute in National Taiwan University, Prof. Lee is now the chief and professor of surgery in the Thoracic Surgical Division of Surgical Department in National Taiwan University Hospital. He is one of the important pioneers in the development of minimal invasive surgery in thoracic space in Asia. He possesses comprehensive understanding of both surgery development and medical environment of Taiwan. He is deeply devoted in development and education of minimally invasive thoracic surgery especially in the complex procedures including minimally invasive esophagectomy, robotic surgery or peroral endoscopic myotomy (POEM). He also actively participates in the editorial or review board in many distinguished international medical journals and has published more than 100 scientific papers. Elected as secretary in general of the thoracic society in 2013, he voices for the society to the government sector , policy makers, the patients and other healthcare stakeholders and led the education of study for surgery in Taiwan. Due to his achievement in surgical spaces and thoracic education, he is now frequently invited for the lectures to share and to shape the future the thoracic surgical field.

Andrew Seely

Andrew JE Seely is a Professor at the University of Ottawa within the Departments of Surgery (Thoracic Surgery) and Critical Care Medicine, a Scientist at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, a Tier I Clinical Research Chair (2020-2025) in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Ottawa, and Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Therapeutic Monitoring Systems Inc. Dr Seely’s education includes an undergraduate honors physics (B.Sc.) at Carleton University, followed by medical school (MDCM), general surgery training (FRCSC), and a doctoral degree in basic science from McGill University (PhD), and thoracic surgery and critical care medicine training (FRCSC) at the University of Ottawa. Dr Seely’s scholarly interests include: (1) theoretical research exploring the clinical insights of complex systems science (e.g. emergence, uncertainty and entropy production); (2) physiologic research to understand complex vital sign variability in health, exercise and illness; (3) commercially relevant research combining multiorgan variability and machine learning to help manage extubation, sepsis, and donation; and (4) systematic adverse events monitoring after thoracic surgery with positive deviance quality improvement and clinical trials implemented in a national learning network. Dr Seely supervises a large research team including graduate students, has published over 200 peer-reviewed papers, presents at international meetings and has been awarded over $8M as PI or co-PI in peer-reviewed grant funding.

Javed Sultan

Mr Sultan works at the Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust, as a Consultant Oesophago-Gastric and Bariatric Surgeon, which offers a specialist oesophago-gastric cancer service and receives complex tertiary referrals from other hospitals around the UK. Mr Sultan is also performing weight loss surgery and delivering bariatric oncall. Mr Sultan’s aim is to deliver high quality care and a personalised service. He is a reliable, approachable, dedicated, conscientious, trust-worthy and a multi-faceted surgeon whose aim is to deliver high quality care. Patient centred care is his priority.

Simon Law

Simon Law graduated with First Class Honors from the University of Cambridge in England and went on to receive his post-graduate training at the Department of Surgery at The University of Hong Kong. He is currently the Department Chairperson, Cheung Kung-Hai Professor in Gastrointestinal Surgery, Chair Professor, and Chief of Esophageal and Upper Gastrointestinal Surgery, Department of Surgery, School of Clinical Medicine, The University of Hong Kong. He is also Chief of Service in Surgery at Queen Mary Hospital and Gleneagles Hospital in Hong Kong. Throughout his career, Professor Law has focused on benign and malignant upper gastrointestinal tract disorders, particularly on esophageal and gastric cancers, motility disorders, and gastroesophageal reflux disease. He has developed expertise in various endoscopic diagnostic and treatment techniques for foregut diseases, surgical methods including minimally invasive and robot-assisted surgery, and multimodality treatments of esophageal and gastric cancers. In addition to his clinical work, Professor Law has been active in many professional organizations. He served as a council member of the College of Surgeons of Hong Kong, Chairman of the General Surgery Board, and Chief Examiner of the Joint Fellowship Examination of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh and The College of Surgeons of Hong Kong. He is also the past president of the Hong Kong Society of Upper Gastrointestinal Surgeons and a member of the Education and Accreditation Committee of the Medical Council of Hong Kong. Professor Law has also played a key role in many international societies, including as a Consultant to the International Society of Digestive Surgery (ISDS), Asia Representative of the Member Services Committee of the Society for Surgeons of the Alimentary Tract (SSAT), and Secretary of the Hong Kong-China Chapter of the American College of Surgeons. He was co-chairman of the Education Committee of the International Society of Diseases of the Esophagus (ISDE) and is the immediate past President of the same society. He is an honorary member of the American Surgical Association (ASA) and the European Surgical Association (ESA). Professor Law has published extensively, with 335 articles and 43 book chapters. His work has been featured in numerous prestigious medical journals, including Annals of Surgery, JAMA Surgery, Surgery, and World Journal of Surgery. He has also contributed to several seminal surgical textbooks, such as Mastery of Surgery, Maingot’s Abdominal Operations, Pearson’s Thoracic and Esophageal Surgery, and Shackelford’s Surgery of the Alimentary Tract. In recognition of his contributions to the field, Professor Law has been invited to speak at conferences and symposia on close to 400 occasions.

Christian Gutschow

Prof. Dr. Christian Gutschow is the Head of Stomach and Oesophageal Tumor Centre at the Universit Hospital Zurich. He specializes in Upper Gastrointestinal Tract Surgery (UGI) and Endrocrine Surgery.

Arjan Bredenoord

Albert J (Arjan) Bredenoord (1977), MD is Consultant Gastroenterologist at the Amsterdam University Medical Center and professor of Neurogastroenterology & Motility at the University of Amsterdam. Dr Bredenoord is dedicated to patients care, scientific research and education in the field of benign esophageal diseases, with a main focus on achalasia, reflux disease and eosinophilic esophagitis. He is one of the pioneers of high-resolution manometry and impedance monitoring of the esophagus. Dr Bredenoord is an author of over 300 papers, books and book chapters and organizes regular courses in Europe, North America and Asia. Dr Bredenoord was President of the European Society of Eosinophilic Esophagitis EUREOS, member of the UEG Scientific Committee and co-founder of the International HRM working group.

Giovanni de Manzoni

Professor Giovanni de Manzoni graduated in Medicine and specialized in Urgency and Emergency Surgery at the University of Verona. The main field of scientific interest is related to the neoplasms of the upper gastrointestinal tract and peritoneum. Professor de Manzoni is a co-founder and active member of GIRCG (Italian gastric cancer research group) Since October 2003, he is part of the Gastric Cancer Editorial Board, the official journal of the International Gastric Cancer Association. Professor de Manzoni was president of IGCA for the two-year period 2013-2015.

Inderpal Sarkaria

Inderpal S. Sarkaria, MD, MBA, FACS, is Professor and Chief of the Division of Thoracic Surgery in the Department of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, Texas. After completing his general surgery, cardiothoracic surgery, and thoracic surgical oncology training at the New York Presbyterian Hospital of the Weill Cornell Medical School and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Dr. Sarkaria completed an additional fellowship in advanced minimally invasive thoracic surgery at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center before joining the thoracic surgery service at MSKCC. Dr. Sarkaria and colleagues’ early research at MSKCC was seminal in identifying driver EGFR mutations in lung adenocarcinoma, leading to a paradigm shift in the treatment of these cancers. Early in his career, Dr. Sarkaria also focused on the application of novel advanced technologies, including surgical robotics and advanced imaging modalities, to complex thoracic operations including esophagectomy, for which he is internationally recognized. Dr. Sarkaria returned to UPMC in 2014 where he served in the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery in many roles including the Vice Chairman for Clinical Affairs, Co-Division Chief of Thoracic and Foregut Surgery, the Endowed Chair of Minimally Invasive Surgery, Director of Robotic Thoracic Surgery, Director of Thoracic Surgery Quality and Outcomes, and Co-Director of the Esophageal and Lung Surgery Institute until his move to the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in 2024. Dr. Sarkaria has published extensively in many areas of thoracic surgical malignant and benign conditions and sits on the editorial board for several peer-reviewed publications, including the senior associate surgical editor for Clinical Lung Cancer. He is a member of numerous surgical societies and sits on the executive boards of the Society of Robotic Surgery (SRS) and Upper GI International Robotics Association (UGIRA), for which he will serve as President in 2025.An internationally known academic thoracic surgical oncologist and expert in minimally invasive thoracic robotic surgery, Dr. Sarkaria has made significant contributions to the field of thoracic surgery and has an outstanding record of transformative scholarly research, instructional excellence, academic leadership, and proven clinical outcomes. As a surgeon-scientist, his academic efforts have had an impact in many focused areas, including lung cancer genomics, robotic thoracic surgery, and advanced imaging technologies in thoracic surgery.

Sanne van Munster

Standard PhD Candidate, Amsterdam Gastroenterology Endocrinology Metabolism MD-PhD, Amsterdam Gastroenterology Endocrinology Metabolism Standard PhD Candidate, CCA - Cancer Treatment and quality of life MD-PhD, CCA - Cancer Treatment and quality of life Standard PhD Candidate, CCA - Imaging and biomarkers MD-PhD, CCA - Imaging and biomarkers MD-PhD, Gastroenterology and hepatology.

Sylvie Lorenzen

Dr. Sylvie Lorenzen is working in the Third Department of Internal Medicine (Hematology/Medical Oncology), Klinikum Rechts der Isar, Technical University Munich, Munich, Germany. Her research interests are Hematology, Medical Oncology, Gastrointestinal Tumors, Oesophagus, Colorectal, Pancreas, Gastroesophageal, Gastric Carcinoma, and Internal Medicine.

Evan Dellon

Professor Dept. of Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology Adjunct Professor of Epidemiology Director, CGIBD Biostatistics and Clinical Research Core Director, Center for Esophageal Diseases and Swallowing School of Medicine University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Evan Dellon is an academic gastroenterologist with formal research training in epidemiology, clinical and translational research, and clinical trial design. He leads and collaborates with multidisciplinary research teams in the area of esophageal diseases in general and eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) in particular. His current research, which has been supported by NIH funding, focuses on optimizing the diagnosis, characterizing the epidemiology, studying the pathogenesis, and refining the treatment and monitoring of EoE, with the overall goal of improving patient care and outcomes in EoE.

Lijie Tan

MD, Chief, Division of Thoracic Surgery; Chief, Section of Esophageal Surgery; Director, Center of Esophageal Cancer. Zhong Shan Hospital, Shanghai Medical College, Fu Dan University, China.

Vivek Kaul

Vivek Kaul

Dr Vivek Kaul (MD, FACG, FASGE, AGAF, NYSGEF) is the Segal-Watson Professor of Medicine (and former Division Chief) in the Gastroenterology & Hepatology Division at the University of Rochester Medical Center. His clinical, research and medical education efforts are focused in Therapeutic Endoscopy. His clinical and research interests are in Barrett’s/Esophageal cancer management & Pancreaticobiliary disease. He has specific expertise in complex interventional endoscopy, especially in the patient with GI-cancer. He is a PI and/or co-investigator on several national and international trials in endoscopy, pancreatic and esophageal disease. Dr Kaul serves on several national GI society committees. He is current Chair of the ASGE Reimbursement committee, the alternate ASGE RUC advisor to the AMA and immediate past Chair of the ASGE-EUS-SIG. He is a past Governor of the ACG for Northern NY, and immediate past chair of the ACG Innovation & Technology Committee. He is also immediate past Chair of the World Gastroenterology Organization’s (WGO) Endoscopy Committee. He currently serves as the Secretary General of the WGO and is on the WGO Governing council, Executive and Finance committees. In addition, he serves on several national and international task forces, including the ASGE Subspecialty Certification and WGO Climate Change-Green Endoscopy task Forces. He also serves on the GI-Quic Research subcommittee and the GI-Quic EUS Quality measures subcommittee. Dr Kaul is a reviewer for several journals, including the Annals of Internal Medicine, American Journal of Gastroenterology, Gastrointestinal Endoscopy and Digestive Diseases & Sciences, to name a few. He serves as an international advisor to the Journal of Digestive Endoscopy. He has published extensively in the field of interventional endoscopy and GI Cancer and several other aspects of Gastroenterology, with more than 100 peer reviewed publications in top tier journals to his credit. Dr Kaul is a sought-after speaker and regularly lectures and shares his endoscopy expertise at centers in the USA and around the world.

Jörg Zehetner

Jörg Zehetner

Joerg Zehetner, MD, MMM, FACS, Professor of Surgery, is working in Bern, Switzerland since 2015. He is an Austrian surgeon, with an academic and clinical focus on reflux disease, esophageal cancer, gastric cancer, hiatal hernia repair, bariatric surgery and minimal invasive surgery including laparoscopy, endoscopy and robotic surgery. After finishing medical school in Vienna (Austria) in 1999, he started his general surgery residency in Bern and Lausanne (Switzerland) and finished in Linz (Austria). He is a board certified surgeon in Austria and Switzerland since 2007. He moved to the US in June 2008 for a 2 year research fellowship in the Thoracic Foregut Surgery Division at USC (Los Angeles), followed by a 1 year Thoracic Foregut Clinical Fellowship as well as a 1 year Bariatric/Minimal Invasive Surgery Fellowship as an Assistant Professor of Clinical Surgery at the USC Department of Surgery. He continued for 3 years as faculty in the Division of Upper GI and General Surgery at the Keck Medical Center at USC, Los Angeles, and the MIS Division at the LAC+USC Medical Center. Between 2012-2015 he was the Associate Clerkship Director for Surgery, and the Chair of the Quality Improvement Committee for Surgery at LAC+USC Medical Center. In addition to his academic and clinical profile, he finished the Master of Medical Management (MMM) Program at the USC Marshall Business School (Los Angeles) in May 2011. Currently, he is the head of a multi-practice medical holding group (www.helvetius.life) in Bern, Switzerland including a multi-practice surgical group (www.swiss1chirurgie.ch), the “Center for Bariatric Surgery” (www.zfbc.ch), a gastroenterology group practice (www.ggp.center) and a family medicine center (www.pzbe.ch).

Andrew Seely

Andrew JE Seely is a Professor at the University of Ottawa within the Departments of Surgery (Thoracic Surgery) and Critical Care Medicine, a Scientist at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, a Tier I Clinical Research Chair (2020-2025) in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Ottawa, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Therapeutic Monitoring Systems Inc and Chief Of Thoracic Surgery (2024-Present) Dr Seely’s education includes an undergraduate honors physics (B.Sc.) at Carleton University, followed by medical school (MDCM), general surgery training (FRCSC), and a doctoral degree in basic science from McGill University (PhD), and thoracic surgery and critical care medicine training (FRCSC) at the University of Ottawa. Dr Seely’s scholarly interests include: (1) theoretical research exploring the clinical insights of complex systems science (e.g. emergence, uncertainty and entropy production); (2) physiologic research to understand complex vital sign variability in health, exercise and illness; (3) commercially relevant research combining multiorgan variability and machine learning to help manage extubation, sepsis, and donation; and (4) systematic adverse events monitoring after thoracic surgery with positive deviance quality improvement and clinical trials implemented in a national learning network. Dr Seely supervises a large research team including graduate students, has published over 200 peer-reviewed papers, presents at international meetings and has been awarded over $9M as PI or co-PI in peer-reviewed grant funding.