Dr. Douglas K. Rex is Distinguished Professor of Medicine at Indiana University School of Medicine, Chancellor’s Professor at Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis, and Director of Endoscopy at Indiana University Hospital in Indianapolis. He graduated from Harvard College, Summa Cum Laude in 1976 and with highest distinction from Indiana University School of Medicine in 1980. He served as Chief Medical Resident at Indiana University Hospital and joined the faculty at Indiana University in 1985. He received the Outstanding Teacher Award in the Introduction to Medicine course five times and has been awarded the Indiana University School of Medicine Outstanding Teacher Award as well as Department of Medicine’s Excellence in Teaching Award. He is a full-time clinical gastroenterologist at Indiana University Hospital.

His major research interests have been in colorectal disease and, in particular, colorectal cancer screening and the technical performance of colonoscopy. He co-authored the colorectal cancer screening recommendations of the American College of Gastroenterology and the U.S. Multi-Society Task Force on Colorectal Cancer. He also authored the recommendations on quality in colonoscopy of the U.S. Multi-Society Task Force on Colorectal Cancer and the American College of Gastroenterology/American Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy. He has authored more than 200 original research papers, 55 book chapters, 200 invited papers, 40 editorials, and 40 guideline papers. He is an Associate Editor of Journal Watch Gastroenterology and serves on the editorial boards of 11 gastroenterology journals.

He is the current chair of the U.S. Multi-Society (ACG, ASGE, AGA, ACP-ASIM) Task Force on Colorectal Cancer. He has also served in the American College of Gastroenterology as Chairman of the Board of Governors and is a Past President of the ACG. He is a member of the Governing Board of ASGE and a recipient of the Rudolph V. Schindler Award from ASGE.

Professor East is one of Europe’s leading colonoscopists and is a Consultant Gastroenterologist & Endoscopist and Honorary Senior Clinical Lecturer specializing in advanced luminal GI endoscopy. He is the Endoscopy Research Lead for the Translational Gastroenterology Unit, Clinical Lead for Endoscopy at the John Radcliffe Hospital, and Clinical Director for Bowel Cancer Screening Oxfordshire.

He graduated from Edinburgh University in 1999, and trained in Gastroenterology and General (Internal) Medicine on the North West London rotation. He was awarded an MD (Res) in 2009 from Imperial College London after research into dysplasia detection at colonoscopy at St. Mark’s Hospital. He was appointed Consultant Gastroenterologist at Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust in January 2010, and become an Associate Professor at the University of Oxford in July 2018.

His clinical practice focuses on general gastroenterology including heartburn, gastro-oesophageal reflux, nausea and vomiting, swallowing problems, abdominal pain, diarrhoea and constipation, irritable bowel syndrome, anaemia and rectal bleeding. He also has a specialist interest in advanced upper and lower GI endoscopy, as well as endoscopic screening and surveillance.

Dr. Panaccione is currently a Professor of Medicine, the Director of the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Clinic at the University of Calgary and Director of Gastroenterology Research.

Dr. Panaccione graduated from the University of Western Ontario (London, Ontario) with a degree in Medicine in 1993. He went on to complete his Internal Medicine and Gastroenterology training at the University of Western Ontario and is certified as a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada in both Internal Medicine and Gastroenterology. Dr. Panaccione completed advanced training in Inflammatory Bowel Disease at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. He joined the faculty of Medicine at the University of Calgary in 1999. He is an internationally recognized expert in inflammatory bowel disease. He has lectured nationally and internationally on various topics in inflammatory bowel disease and has delivered over 200 lectures in the last five years.

He is the author of many peer-reviewed articles (~250) and book chapters (25) on inflammatory bowel disease. His special interest lies in the fields of advanced therapies, biological therapy, and delivery of care through the implementation of clinical trials. He is a recognized authority on the use of biologics and has co-authored numerous guidelines on the management of inflammatory bowel disease for the Canadian Association of Gastroenterology. He actively participates in clinical trials of new therapeutic agents in Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. He has published in and reviews for prestigious journals including NEJM, Lancet, Gastroenterology and Gut. He sits on the editorial board of Inflammatory Bowel Diseases, JCC, APT, and the Canadian Journal of Gastroenterology.

He is presently the medical director for the Crohn’s and Colitis Canada (CCC) Calgary Chapter and sits on the Medical Advisory council for the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of Canada. He is the national chair of the CCC scholarship program. He has been awarded the highest honour, the Finkelstein award by Crohn’s and Colitis Canada for his work in the field of IBD. He is also an elected member of the International Organization of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IOIBD) reflecting his status in the area. He was awarded the CAG Visiting Professor Award in 2016 for his contribution o the field of Gastroenterology in Canada. He is ranked amongst the top ten experts in the field worldwide (www.expertscape.com). He presently holds a senior leadership position within Alberta Health Services as the Medical Lead for Systems Integration with the mandate of improving the efficiency and quality of care that is delivered to patients.

Dr. William E. Karnes is a Clinical Professor of Medicine at the University of California Irvine School of Medicine, Director of the High-Risk Clinic, and Director of Colonoscopy Quality. He graduated from the University of Minnesota Summa Cum Laude in 1977, where he completed Internal Medicine training and served as Chief Resident. He completed his Gastroenterology fellowship training at UCLA in 1987, where he joined the faculty for one year before joining the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. His primary area of interest is colorectal cancer prevention.

After several years as an RO1-funded researcher and Director of Research in the Colorectal Neoplasia Clinic at the Mayo Clinic, he transitioned to private practice for ten years. He was subsequently recruited to UCI in 2012 to spearhead efforts to reduce the colorectal cancer burden in Orange County. As part of these efforts, he established a browser-based Colonoscopy Quality Database to promote high-quality colonoscopy exams among Orange County providers.

An area of his particular interest is the application of artificial intelligence to improve and report quality in colonoscopy. Toward this aim, he co-founded Docbot (later acquired by Satisfai) to develop neural networks that accurately record quality measures and assist in discovering and characterizing precancerous lesions during live colonoscopy. Utilizing the extensive colonoscopy quality database for training and validation, he led the development of several highly accurate deep-learning algorithms, including polyp detection/localization, optical pathology, IBD mucosal severity scoring, and measures of cecal intubation, preparation quality, and withdrawal time. These algorithms simultaneously process and display outputs during live colonoscopy and are under clinical validation. Using machine learning, he is also leveraging the UCI Colonoscopy Quality Database and electronic health records to develop novel risk models for precancerous polyps.

Dr. Messmann is Director of the Department of Internal Medicine at Augsburg Medical Centre and Head of the Interventional Endoscopy Center at the University Hospital Augsburg, which is the largest in Germany. His focus is on gastrointestinal oncology, intensive care medicine, and interventional endoscopy. He is the past president of the European Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ESGE) and the current General Secretary of the Section of Endoscopy of the Germany Society of Gastroenterology (DGVS).

Professor Messmann is one of Europe’s leading experts in ESD. An early adopter of the technique, he has been practicing it since 2003 and now leads the largest center using the technique in Europe. Professor Messmann was also involved in developing the European Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy Guidelines for ESD.

He is the co-author of the German Guidelines for Esophageal (S3) and Gastric (S3) cancer and also the editor of “Gastroenterologische Onkologie”, Thieme Verlag ed. Messmann, Tannapfel, Werner, 2017.

Dr. Kerri Novak is an academic faculty at the University of Calgary, offering an IBD-focused practice at the Foothills Medical Center. She was the first IBD physician in Canada to introduce routine use of intestinal ultrasound in clinic in in North America in 2012 and has been a passionate advocate and champion ever since. She is a founding member of the International Bowel Ultrasound Group (IBUS), their current Secretary on the Governing Board, and is the Chair of the Canadian interest group (CAN BUS) and a co-chair of the American-Canadian joint group (iUSCAN).

She is an enthusiastic trainer of all those interested in IUS and has visitors to Calgary from all over the world as she works diligently to democratize this less invasive procedure.

Simon Travis is one of the UK’s leading gastroenterologists. He is Senior Clinical Research Fellow at the Kennedy Institute, University of Oxford, one of the world’s leading institutes for the study of inflammation and Honorary Consultant Gastroenterologist at the Oxford University Hospitals Foundation Trust in Oxford. He is also Past-President of the European Crohn’s and Colitis Organisation (ECCO), and a Fellow of Linacre College at the University of Oxford.

Professor Travis qualified from St Thomas’ Hospital London in 1981 and trained in Gastroenterology both in London and in Oxford. In 2020 he received the International Golden Otis award from the Polish Society of Gastroenterology and in 2018 he was highlighted in the Daily Mail and voted top doctor by the patient group ForCrohn. In 2015 he received both the Joanna and David B Sachar International Award, Visiting Professor of Inflammatory Bowel Disease, ICAHN School of Medicine, New York and the Inaugural Distinguished Visiting Professor of IBD, Sydney. His clinical and research interests focus on inflammation across tissues and novel therapies, patient-reported outcomes, clinical prediction, and endoscopic assessment in inflammatory bowel disease. He is the author of 7 books, 30 chapters, over 350 papers and 25 international guidelines.

Dr. Travis remains very active his contributions to clinical publications related to GI. His recent publications in 2023 include “Artificial intelligence in inflammatory bowel disease: implications for clinical practice and future directions” amongst others.

Professor Travis specializes in Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, colonoscopy, upper gastrointestinal endoscopy, malabsorption and a full range of other treatments for conditions affecting the gut.

Dr. Jason Samarasena is a UCI Health physician who specializes in treating gastrointestinal disorders, including gastroesophageal reflux disease, esophageal disease, pancreatic cysts, biliary tract disorders, gastric intestinal metaplasia and colorectal cancer.

His research interests include advanced endoscopic imaging, characterization and treatment of pancreatic cysts, confocal laser endomicroscopy, bowel preparation before colonoscopy, endoscopic mucosal resection and endoscopic submucosal dissection.

Samarasena received his medical degree from Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada, where he graduated on the Dean’s List. He completed both general gastroenterology and interventional endoscopy fellowships at UC Irvine.

Press Ganey has named Samarasena as one of the top five physicians for patient satisfaction in the ambulatory surgery group at UCI Health. He was named the 2016 Teaching Attending of the Year by the UC Irvine Gastroenterology Fellowship. He is the current president of the Orange County GI Society.

Prof. Marietta Iacucci MD, Ph.D., FASGE, AGAF is a Professor of Gastroenterology at the University College Cork, Ireland. Prof. Iacucci spent two years in London and Cambridge, UK, and in Mainz, Germany, Milan, Italy, and Tokyo, Japan. During this period, she became very involved with the management of IBD. She is focused on advanced endoscopic imaging, endoscopic molecular labeling, and Artificial Intelligence in diagnosing gastrointestinal disease, advanced polypectomy (EMR, ESD), and managing inflammatory bowel disease.

She is a fellow of the American Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy. American Gastroenterological Association Fellow, a member of EduCom and e-Learning Taskforce of the European Crohn’s and Colitis Organisation (ECCO), member of the Global interventional Inflammatory Bowel Disease Group, member of the British Society of Gastroenterology clinical research group for endoscopy, sits on the ESGE advanced imaging in colorectal neoplasia guidelines committee and IBD quality improvement committee working group.

She has published many papers and invited reviews on advanced endoscopic imaging and has been invited to deliver keynote lectures and participate in live endoscopy at many international and national conferences.

Dr. Shahidi is a gastroenterologist at St. Paul’s Hospital and Pacific Gastroenterology Associates with a focus on the screening and management of pre-cancerous and cancerous lesions of the esophagus, stomach, colon and rectum; this includes the application of organ-sparing minimally invasive endoscopic resection techniques and third space endoscopy.

Dr. Shahidi’s clinical Interests include:

• Screening and management of pre-cancerous and cancerous lesions of the gastrointestinal tract: esophagus, stomach, colon, and rectum.

• Endoscopic mucosal resection (EMR)

• Endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD)

• Barrett’s endotherapy: Mucosectomy and radiofrequency ablation

• Per-oral endoscopic myotomy (POEM) and third space endoscopy/tunneling techniques