Dr. José M. Balibrea, M.D., PhD
Germans Trias Universitu Hospital/ Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain
Head of the Endocrine-Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Unit at the Germans Trias University Hospital (northern metropolitan area of Barcelona) and Professor of Surgery at the Autonomous University of Barcelona. Officially certified expert in bariatric and robotic surgery, with more than 2000 patients operated on. Co-author of more than 130 articles indexed in JCR, including the Spanish Group on Crohn's Disease and Ulcerative Colitis (GETECCU) consensus on the management of patients with obesity and IBD. Elected member of the European Surgical Association, American College of Surgeons and the Council of the BJS Foundation. Secretary of the Scientific Committee of the Spanish Association of Surgery, among others.
Prof. Dr. Annika Bergquist, M.D., PhD
Karolinska Institutet and Karolinska University Hospital, Sweden
Dr Annika Bergquist graduated from Karolinska Institutet and completed her postgraduate training at the Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm. She was appointed as a senior consultant hepatologist in 2007 and received her PhD from the Karolinska Institutet in 2001 with the thesis “Cholangiocarcinoma in PSC”. She became adjunct professor at the Karolinska Institutet in 2013 and full professor in 2023.
She is leading the research group of PSC studies at Karolinska University Hospital and Karolinska Institutet and published more than 170 publications in the field. Her research focus is on clinical studies and biomarkers in PSC. She is leading an ongoing trail on simvastatin in PSC that inlcluded more than 560 indiviuals with PSC so far.
Dr. Peter Bossuyt, M.D., PhD
Imelda Hospital
Dr Bossuyt studied medicine at the Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium, and graduated magna cum laude in 2004. He pursued his GI fellowship in Kortrijk, Roeselare, Bonheiden and Leuven. After completing his GI fellowship in 2009, he took up a fellowship in advanced endoscopy at the Academic Medical Centre, Amsterdam. Between 2010 and 2015 he was a consulting staff member for endoscopic ultrasound at the University Hospitals of Leuven. He obtained a PhD entitled “Value of endoscopic scoring and imaging for the prognosis and follow up of IBD” at the University of Leuven in 2021. His research focuses on clinical and strategic trials in IBD and the definitions of endoscopic and imaging targets in IBD. He’s clinical works focuses on e-health tools in IBD and quality improvement projects.
He is currently international principal investigator of 3 clinical trials in IBD and endoscopy. He is an editorial board member of the Journal of Crohn’s and Colitis, president of the Belgian IBD Research and Development Group, past-board member of ECCO’s Clinical Research Committee, ClinCom and past-board member of the Belgian society of gastrointestinal endoscopy, BSGIE. He won the Belgian IBD research price in 2011, 2021 and 2025, the ESGE Innovation of the year award in 2018 and the ECCO IIS award in 2025. He published over 130 peer-reviewed articles in the NEJM, Lancet, JAMA, Gastroenterology, Gut, Lancet Gastroenterology and Hepatology, JCC among others (H-index 40).
Prof. Dr. Johan Burisch, M.D., PhD, DMSci
Copenhagen University Hospital - Amager and Hvidvore, Denmark
Dr. Johan Burisch is a Danish gastroenterologist and Professor of Gastroenterology at the University of Copenhagen, with a clinical appointment at Hvidovre Hospital. His research focuses on population-based cohort studies that explore disease incidence, natural history, treatment patterns, and long-term outcomes. He leads prospective cohort studies that integrate clinical data with biological samples for multi-omics analyses, aiming to identify biomarkers and refine IBD phenotyping. His work also explores healthcare organization and the use of digital tools like eHealth for disease monitoring. He is an active contributor to the European Crohn’s and Colitis Organisation (ECCO) and is a member of the International Organization for the Study of Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IOIBD).
Dr. Léna Capirchio, M.D.
Centre Hospitalier Wallonie Picarde
Dr. Capirchio is a gastroenterologist, graduating from the Université Catholique de Louvain in 2016. She developed a special interest in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) from the beginning of her gastroenterology fellowship, which she completed mainly under the guidance of Prof. Jean-François Rahier at CHU UCL Godinne and then Prof. Olivier Dewit at Cliniques Universitaires Saint Luc (CUSL) Woluwé. She completed her gastroenterology training with the opportunity to publish her thesis titled 'Time Trends in Surgical Indications and Outcomes in Ulcerative Colitis: A Two-Decade In-Depth Retrospective Analysis,' under the supervision of Prof. Olivier Dewit and Prof. David Laharie from CHU Bordeaux.
She also has a strong interest in both medical and surgical proctology. She had the privilege of completing her surgical training with Dr. Marie Denis at Cliniques Universitaires Saint Luc (CUSL) Woluwé and specializing in anal ultrasound with Dr. Isabelle Etienney at Croix Saint Simon Hospital in Paris.
Currently, Dr. Capirchio works at the Centre Hospitalier Wallonie Picarde (CHwapi) in Tournai since September 2023, where she focuses on developing an IBD unit within the hospital. The goal is to establish a structured medical pathway for IBD patients, supported by a newly trained IBD nurse, as well as to foster clinical research in this field.
Prof. Dr. Minne Casteels, M.D., PhD
KU Leuven
Minne Casteels is full professor at KU Leuven, Faculty of Medicine. She trained as a specialist in Internal Medicine and obtained a PhD in Lipid Biochemistry; she is recognised as specialist in Clinical pharmacology and Pharmaceutical medicine. She chaired the Commission for Reimbursement of Medicines in Belgium , has been member of SAWP at EMA since 2001 and participated in several regulatory bodies at national level. She was vicerector of Biomedical Sciences at KU Leuven from 2009-2013. She is board member in several healthcare institutions.
In UZ Leuven, she chairs the MFC, the committee responsible for the medication policy and the Ethics Committee Research.
Mrs. Saskia Decuman,
RIZIV/INAMI
Prof. Dr. Gert De Hertogh, M.D., PhD
UZ Leuven
Gert De Hertogh studied Medicine at KULeuven 1992-1999 and was trained as a pathologist in UZLeuven and ZOL Genk 1999-2007. He obtained his PhD, entitled “Studies of the bacterial flora in Crohn’s disease tissues: a molecular bacteriological approach” at the KULeuven in 2007.
He has been a staff member of the Pathology Lab of UZLeuven since 2008. His clinical responsibilities include teaching and supervising gastro-intestinal pathology and hospital autopsy pathology. He teaches GI pathology to the 4th year medical students and topics from autopsy pathology to 5th year biomedical sciences students.
His research interests are focused on IBD pathology including diagnosis, differential diagnosis, disease activity scoring, fibrosis and neoplastic complications. He has participated in IBD clinical trials of Galapagos, Takeda, Eli Lilly and Centocor J&J as central pathology reader or adviser. On these and other topics, he has co-authored 270 publications and a couple of book chapters. He is a member of the Belgian and European Societies of Pathology, and of the European Crohn’s and Colitis Organisation.
Mrs. Evva De Jonckere, IBD Nurse
AZ Delta
Evva De Jonckere received her Bachelor degree in Nursing in 2014. Immediately after, she pursued a Master’s degree in Nursing at Ghent University from 2014 to 2016.
During her studies, she developed a strong interest in patient-centered care. After completing her Master’s, she began working as an oncology nurse. She worked in oncology for two years, gaining valuable experience in supporting patients through intensive treatment processes. In 2018, she made the transition to the role of IBD nurse. She collaborates closely with physicians and multidisciplinary teams to deliver integrated and personalized care. Her work focuses on patient education, follow-up, and improving quality of life.
Prof. Dr. Marie-Angélique De Scheerder, M.D., PhD
UZ Gent
Marie-Angélique De Scheerder is a staff member in the general internal diseases department at Ghent University Hospital. She is coordinator of the HIV reference center and has completed a PhD at the HIV Cure Research Centre under the direction of Prof Vandekerckhove. She currently focuses mainly on clinical research in people living with HIV and more specifically on inflammaging, where chronic HIV can serve as an example for other chronic inflammatory diseases. This fits perfectly with the very diverse patient population followed on service general internal diseases and makes the field of application very broad. Further to this, she is also involved with guidelines and implementation of vaccination strategies in patients with underlying immune disorders.
Prof. Robby De Pauw, PhD
Sciensano
Robby De Pauw, PhD MSc is a senior researcher at Sciensano and visiting professor at Ghent University, Belgium. He conducts policy-driven public health research in the domain of composite measures of population health and health inequalities. At Sciensano, he is developing the Belgian national Burden of Disease study, and is involved in several national projects aiming to valorize and strengthen the Belgian health information system (often including linkages between different data sources).
During his career at Sciensano, he has specialized in disease burden calculations, specifically focusing on the non-fatal health impact of non-communicable diseases. To date, Robby is involved in the supervision of 7 PhD students, has guided over 80 MSc students during his career, and has published over 50 peer-reviewed journal articles.
Prof. Dr. Hankje Escher, M.D., PhD
Erasmus MC, Netherlands
Professor Johanna (Hankje) Escher is a Pediatric Gastroenterologist and is Head of the Pediatric Gastroenterology Department of the Erasmus MC-Sophia Children’s Hospital in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Her research focus is on pediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease (PIBD), with publications on disease phenotype, treatment and transition. Professor Escher is the initiator of EUROKIDS, an ongoing multicenter European prospective PIBD registry, now harboring data of over 6000 PIBD patients.
She has chaired the international Porto IBD working group of ESPGHAN (2007-2001), was a frontline P-ECCO committee member (2010-2013) and is now an active member of the Porto IBD working group of ESPGHAN as well as member of the operational board of PIBD-net. Prof. Escher has authored over 150 international publications concerning pediatric IBD. Together with her 7 PhD students she is currently working on new treatments in pediatric IBD, psychosocial aspects of pediatric IBD, and the outcome of transitional care. She is the initiator of the Erasmus MC transition working group that aims at developing and implementing a blueprint for transitional care for all adolescents transitioning to adult healthcare in the Erasmus MC.
Prof. Dr. Marc Ferrante, M.D., PhD
UZ Leuven
Professor Marc Ferrante is a Full Professor at KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium, and staff member of the Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at the University Hospitals Leuven since 2012. His main research topics include biological therapy, post-operative recurrence, endoscopy, and quality of care. Prof. Ferrante has published more than 350 papers in high ranked gastroenterology journals (h-index: 75). He has received numerous research grants for his work and received the United European Gastroenterology (UEG) Rising Star Award in Gastroenterology in 2014. Prof. Ferrante holds a basic-clinical research position at the Flemish Foundation for Scientific Research (FWO Vlaanderen). He has been chair of both the Clinical and Scientific Committee of the European Crohn’s and Colitis Organisation (ECCO). He is currently Secretary and Board member of the Belgian IBD Research and Development (BIRD) group.
Dr. Jeroen Geldof, M.D.
UZ Gent
Dr. Jeroen Geldof is staff member (kliniek hoofd) at the Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at the Ghent University Hospital since 2019.
He graduated as MD at the Ghent University after passing the European Specialty Examination in Gastroenterology and Hepatology. Part of his MD training was done at the Christian Albrechts University, Kiel, Germany, under the Erasmus program. His gastroenterology training included internships at the University Hospital of Ghent and AZ Delta hospital Roeselare.
After his Gastroenterology training, Jeroen did a combined clinical and research IBD fellowship under supervision of prof. dr. Ailsa Hart at the St Mark's hospital (Harrow, London, United Kingdom) and completed an inter-university training in medico-surgical proctology (DIU) at the Paris Cité University, France (SNFCP).
Jeroen Geldof is member of the international TOpclass consortium involved in optimization of perianal Crohn's disease classification and treatment. Furthermore, he is currently performing a PhD study at the Ghent University. His main research topics of interest are perianal Crohn's disease, postoperative optimization and overlap between IBD and other immune mediated inflammatory diseases.
Prof. Dr. Lode Godderis, M.D., PhD
IDEWE, KU Leuven
Dr. Maia Kayal, M.D., M.S.
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, USA
Dr. Maia Kayal is an Associate Professor in the Division of Gastroenterology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and The Susan and Leonard Feinstein IBD Center. She graduated from New York University School of Medicine Alpha Omega Alpha. She then completed her internal medicine residency at Columbia University Medical Center-New York Presbyterian Hospital and fellowship training in gastroenterology at the Mount Sinai Hospital.
Dr. Kayal's research in inflammatory conditions of the ileal pouch is funded by the NIH, Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation, and Rainin Foundation. She is a former ACG Young Physicians Leadership Scholar and AGA Future Leader.
Dr. Matthias Lenfant, M.D.
UZ Leuven
Matthias Lenfant graduated medical school at the KU Leuven in 2018, and is currently completing his training in Gastroenterology and Hepatology. During his training, he performed internships at AZ Damiaan (Ostend, Belgium) and the University Hospitals Leuven (Leuven, Belgium).
In October 2021, he partially interrupted his training in Gastroenterology and Hepatology to start his doctoral research entitled ‘Role of histological remission and mucosal healing as a novel therapeutic target for inflammatory bowel disease’ under supervision of prof. Séverine Vermeire, prof. Gert De Hertogh, and prof. João Sabino. To perform this research, he received a research grant from Belgian IBD Research and Development (BIRD) for this project.
Ms. Stephanie Louis, IBD Nurse, MSc
Imelda Hospital
Stephanie Louis completed her nursing degree in 2020 and began her career at UZ Leuven at the Department of Abdominal Surgery, where she gained extensive experience in stoma care, acute care and pre- and postoperative management of IBD patients. Concurrently, she pursued a master’s degree in nursing and midwifery, further enhancing her expertise in patient assessment, clinical decision-making, care coordination, and multidisciplinary collaboration. Since 2023, Stephanie has been part of the IBD team at Imelda Hospital in Bonheiden (Belgium), where she works as a full time specialized IBD nurse. Ms Louis is an active member of ECCO and BINAstoria. In addition to her clinical work, she focuses on optimizing patient care by developing effective digital care pathways and driving quality improvement initiatives that enhance patient’s outcomes and experiences. She recently published on how digital healthcare solutions contribute to a more accessible, sustainable and efficient IBD-care management (UEGj, 2024).
Prof. Dr. Triana Lobatón, M.D., PhD
UZ Gent
Triana Lobatón finished her training as gastroenterologist in Barcelona and in 2015 she obtained her PhD on "Fecal calprotectin as a surrogate marker of disease activity in IBD patients" at the University of Barcelona. As part of her PhD program, she spent 18 months (2013-2014) at Leuven University Hospital under the supervision of Prof. Séverine Vermeire.
Since December 2017 Dr.Lobaton is working as a full time staff member at the Department of Gastroenterology at Ghent University Hospital, where she leads the IBD unit. In 2019 she became assistant professor at University of Gent. Her clinical activity and research is focused on IBD. She is currently involved as PI in several RCT of new therapeutic compounds.
Triana Lobatón has been coordinator of the young GETECCU (Spanish group of Crohn and Colitis), member of the ECCO CONFER task force and National Representative for BIRD at ECCO and she is currently one of the members of Educom from BIRD (Belgian Inflammatory Bowel Disease Research and Development).
Mrs. Ingrid Maes, Ir
Inovigate
Ingrid Maes is founder and Managing Director at Inovigate, based in Antwerp, Belgium. Inovigate is a strategy and management consulting company, specialised in the life science and health sector (www.inovigate.com ).
Ingrid has 30+ years of experience in the pharmaceutical and life science sector, and 20 years’ experience in international leadership roles at Alfa-Laval, Siemens and PwC. She is an expert in innovation, R&D, market access, manufacturing and regulatory compliance, and bridges the scientific / technology world with the business and finance aspects.
She advises large pharma, biotech, medical device and digital health companies, investors, research institutions, governments, FDA and EMA and is also author of many thought-leadership papers and reports. Ingrid has a master’s in engineering sciences - chemistry & biotechnology, medicinal chemistry and genetic engineering, from the University of Brussels (1989).
Ms. Lucie Monin, IBD Nurse
CHU de Liège
With a nursing graduation in ICU in 2013, Ms. Monin began her career in the intensive care unit at Liège University Hospital. In 2015, she graduated as Master dégrée in Public Health and epidemiological and worked on chronic inflammatory bowel diseases. In 2018, she joined the gastroenterology team at the department of Edouard Louis to develop therapeutic education and patient projects. Since then, she has been coordinating and setting up various projects, always with the patient at the heart of their care.
Mrs. Ariane Paps, IBD Nurse
UZ Leuven
Ariane Paps joined the IBD specialist nurse team at the University Hospitals Leuven Belgium in September 2018 . Ariane began her career at the University Hospitals Leuven in 1995, after training for her nursing degree at Sint Elisabethinstituut, Leuven. During her career, Ariane has also attended specialist training courses in woundcare and mentor skills.
Prof. Dr. Hubert Piessevaux, M.D., PhD
Cliniques Universitaires Saint-Luc
Dr. Lieven Pouillon, M.D.
Imelda Hospital
Gastroenterologist-hepatologist, IBD Clinic and GI Clinical Research Centre, Imelda General Hospital, Bonheiden, Belgium
Dr Pouillon graduated as a gastroenterologist at K.U. Leuven (Belgium). He completed a one-year IBD fellowship at CHRU Nancy in France, before joining the IBD unit at Imelda General Hospital Bonheiden (Belgium) in 2018. He has (co-)authored >50 peer-reviewed publications (h-index 24), presented at >10 international congresses, and has clinical trial experience as a principal and sub-investigator in over 25 international trials. Dr Pouillon is an elected member of the educational committee of the Belgian Inflammatory Bowel Disease Research and Development Group (BIRD), editorial board member of JCC journal, chair of the Belgian IBD Register Steering Committee, and the National Representative for Belgium at ECCO.
Prof. Dr. Jean-François Rahier, M.D., PhD
CHU UCL Namur
Jean-François Rahier was born in Belgium in 1975. He obtained his diploma of medical doctor cum laude in 2000 from the University of Louvain (UCL) and specialized in Gastroenterology in 2007. He was first trained by Pr O Dewit in Cliniques Universitaires Saint-Luc in 2005, then by Pr JF Colombel in Lille in 2006-2008. Besides, he had a part-time research activity in 2008-2013 at the INSERM U995 laboratory of Professor Desreumaux in Lille (France) where he obtained his PhD on “lymphangiogenesis in IBD” in 2014.
Since 2020, he is the Head of the Gastroenterology department at the University Hospital CHU UCL Namur in Belgium where his clinical activity is focused on inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), and also acted between 2014 and 2018 as consultant for phase II-III clinical trials in CHU Liège (Pr E Louis). He has special interest in management and prevention of opportunistic infections (OI) in IBD and was the leading author for the OI European consensus in 2009 and 2014. He has authored or co-authored over 99 peer-reviewed manuscripts (H-index 36) and is part of the scientific and executive committee of I-CARE. He is reviewer for international journals such as GUT, Gastroenterology, JCC, APT, CGH and others. He is an active member of the Belgian IBD Group where he acted as secretary, then President between 2014-2020, of the European Crohn's and Colitis Organisation and of the GETAID (France).
Prof. Dr. Catherine Reenaers, M.D., PhD
CHU de Liège
Professor Catherine Reenaers is a senior gastroenterologist at the University hospital of Liege, Belgium. She completed her specialist training in the University hospital of Liège and was a research assistant and research fellow of the Belgian fund of research (FNRS) from 2004 to 2011. Her PhD studied the impact of osteoprotegerin on T cells/dendritic cells interaction and bone remodeling and the role of fibroblasts’ apoptosis on fibrosis in IBD. After her PhD, Professor Reenaers was a Senior Clinical and Research Fellow of Dr Travis at the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford. She returned to Liège to take a permanent position as IBD specialist where she works with Professor Edouard Louis. She is full professor and has a charge of course at the university of Liège. She is part of several scientific associations including the scientific committee of BIRD (Belgian Intestinal Research and Developpment group) and the scientific committee of the GETAID (groupe d'Etude Thérapeutique des Affections Inflammatoires du Tube Digestif). She was the ECCO (European Crohn and Colitis Organisation) national representative from 2012 till 2020.
Prof Reenaers is also involved in intestinal ultrasound. She was trained in San Rafaelle hospital, Milano, Italy and obtained her IBUS certificate in 2024. She is involved in many teaching in IUS for the IBUS, the University of Liège, the BIRD, and the French association of ultrasound (AFUMI). Prof Reenaers has obtained several scientific awards in Belgian and European conferences and has given many lectures for different scientific societies including outside Belgium. She contributed to more than 115 papers in international reviews.
Prof. Dr. João Sabino, M.D., PhD
UZ Leuven
Prof. Dr. João Sabino is assistant professor at KU Leuven (Leuven, Belgium) and staff member of the Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at the University Hospitals Leuven since 2019.
João Sabino graduated as MD at the University of Lisbon, Portugal. Part of his MD training was done at the University of Salamanca, Spain, under the Erasmus program. In 2010, he moved to Belgium for his gastroenterology fellowship, which included internships at the University Hospitals of Leuven, Hospital of Lier, and Hospital of Genk.
In December 2017, he successfully defended his PhD thesis entitled “Host-microbiome interactions in health and digestive diseases” at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Leuven. After his PhD, he did a short postdoctoral stay at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York.
João Sabino holds a basic-clinical research position at the Flemish Foundation for Scientific Research (FWO Vlaanderen). He is member of the Educational Committee and of the board of the Belgian IBD Research and Development (BIRD) group.
His main research interests are the role of dietary approach to treat intestinal inflammation, the role of dietary components in the development and resolution of intestinal inflammation, and the impact of undernutrition in the quality of life of patients with IBD.
Dr. Michael Somers, M.D.
UZ Antwerpen
Ms. Ruth Storme, MSc.
KU Leuven
Ruth Storme is Coordinator at the Ethics Committee Research of UZ/KU Leuven, Belgium. She holds a degree in Pharmacy and a post-master’s degree in Industrial Pharmacy. Ruth began her professional career in 2016 at the hospital pharmacy of UZ Leuven, where she developed a strong foundation in clinical and hospital pharmaceutical practice. Thereafter, she joined the Ethics Committee Research at UZ Leuven, where she currently serves as Coordinator. In her position, Ruth guides researchers through the clinical research process, offering expert input on trial submissions and amendments, while also coordinating the quality systems within the Ethics Committee.
Beyond her institutional work, Ruth is an active member of the BAREC Board (Belgian Association of Research Ethics Committees). Ruth also regularly attends meetings with internal and external stakeholders, such as the Belgian Medicines Agency (FAGG) and the CT College. Finally, Ruth remains actively involved in patient care by working in a community pharmacy on Saturdays.
Mrs. Noortje Straetemans, IBD Nurse
AZ Vesalius
Mrs. Martha van Gaalen, IBD Nurse
Erasmus MC, Netherlands
Martha van Gaalen has been working as a nurse practitioner in pediatric gastroenterology at Erasmus MC - Sophia Children's Hospital since 2012. She's an expert in treating and supporting children and adolescents with IBD. She finished her PhD in May 2025. The title was "Searching for Success: Improving the Quality of Transitional Care for Young People Living with IBD." In it, she came up with several tools (Rotterdam Transition Test and TRAQ-NL) to help adolescents with IBD become more independent as they transfer into adult care. She also came up with the Transition Success Score, which is a way to, quantitative, measure the success of the transition phase.
Prof. Geert Verbeke, PhD
KU Leuven
Geert Verbeke (°1967) is Full Professor in Biostatistics at L-BioStat, one of the research units of the Department of Public Health and Primary Care of KU Leuven. He received the M.S. degree in mathematics (KU Leuven, 1989) the M.S. degree in biostatistics (U Hasselt, 1992), and earned a Ph.D. in science (biostatistics) from KU Leuven (1995). He served as chair of the Department of Public Health and Primary Care of KU Leuven (2013-2020), and was director of L-BioStat (2008-2024). He published >250 peer reviewed papers and authored/edited several text books on various aspects of longitudinal data analysis. He has held visiting positions at the Gerontology Research Center and the Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore, MD). Geert Verbeke is Past President of the Quetelet Society, International Program Chair for the International Biometric Conference in Montreal (2006), Joint Editor of the Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, Series A (2005-2008), Co-editor of Biometrics (2010-2012), and Organizing President of the International Biometric Conference in Riga (2022). He has served on a variety of committees of the International Biometric Society. Geert Verbeke is elected Fellow of the American Statistical Association and Elected Member of the International Statistical Institute. He served as International Representative on the Executive Board of the American Statistical Association (ASA) for the period 2007-2009, was council member for the Royal Statistical Society (RSS, 2013-2016), and was President of the International Biometric Society (IBS, 2020-2021). He received accreditation as professional statistician from the American Statistical Association (ASA, 2010-…), received the International Biometric Society Award for the best Biometrics paper in 2006 and 2021, and received several awards in Excellence-In-Continuing-Education from the American Statistical Association. He taught a large number of short courses for academia, industry, the regulatory authorities, and at scientific meetings. He also regularly serves as expert-statistician for the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) of the European Medicines Agency (EMA, 2004-...).
Prof. Dr. Hans Van Vlierberghe, M.D., PhD
UZ Gent
Prof. Van Vlierberghe is a physician-scientist with specific expertise in chronic liver disease and complications. He joined Ghent University Hospital as a hepatologist in 1995 and obtained his PhD in 2002. Under his leadership, the department has evolved into a distinguished center of expertise in hepatology, both clinically and in research. Since 2016, he is the Head of the Department, overseeing significant growth in the Hepatology Research Unit, which now comprises 5 subdivisions focusing on basic, translational and clinical research in: 1/ chronic liver disease and complications including HPS and PoPH, 2/ liver transplantation, 3/ hepatocellular carcinoma, 4/ fatty liver and 5/ auto-immune liver disease. His research unit has extensive expertise in chronic liver disease, advanced mouse models, and lab techniques to study angiogenic and inflammatory processes. A key area of focus is HPS and PoPH, where his team was the first to validate the experimental mouse model for HPS.
Prof. Van Vlierberghe has authored >300 publications, holds an H-index of 58 and owns 2 patents related to glycomic analysis in chronic liver disease. He is an active member of numerous associations and has built a strong European network, especially in the field of chronic liver disease and liver transplantation.
Dr. Sophie Vieujean, M.D., PhD
UCL Saint-Luc
Sophie Vieujean obtained her medical degree in 2014 and completed her fellowship in Gastroenterology in 2021 at the University of Liège, both with summa cum laude. In October 2018, she began her PhD on the role of epithelial cells and mesenchymal stem cells in intestinal fibrosis in Crohn’s disease, under the supervision of Professor Edouard Louis. She successfully defended her thesis in February 2022. Her research was supported by the Belgian Fund for Scientific Research (F.R.S.–FNRS) and the Belgian Inflammatory Bowel Disease Research and Development Group (BIRD). Following her PhD, Professor Sophie Vieujean completed a seven-month clinical fellowship at the CHRU of Nancy, France, under the mentorship of Professor Laurent Peyrin-Biroulet. She then pursued a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Cambridge, United Kingdom, in the laboratory of Professor Arthur Kaser. She is currently working as a gastroenterologist at UCL Saint-Luc, in ongoing collaboration with the IHU Infiny Institute in Nancy, and serves as a lecturer at the University of Liège.
A member of the Scientific Committee of BIRD and of GETAID, as well as the national representative to ECCO, Sophie Vieujean is the author and co-author of numerous peer-reviewed publications in the field of inflammatory bowel disease, with articles published in leading journals including Nature Reviews Gastroenterology & Hepatology, Gut, The Lancet Healthy Longevity, and the Journal of Crohn’s and Colitis.