Professor Thomas Berg is Head of the Department of Gastroenterology and Rheumatology – Section Hepatology at the University Hospital Leipzig (Germany).

Marco J. Bruno (1963) is a full professor of Gastroenterology & Hepatology and chief of the department of Gastroenterology & Hepatology at the Erasmus Medical Centre in Rotterdam.

He received his training at the Academic Medical Centre in Amsterdam under the supervision of Prof. dr. Guido Tytgat and Prof. dr. Kees Huibregtse. His clinical and research activities focus on gastrointestinal oncology, hepato-pancreato-biliary diseases and interventional endoscopy, including endoscopic retrograde cholangio¬pancreatography (ERCP) and endoscopic ultrasound (EUS). He (co)-author of numerous peer reviewed articles in high ranking journals including the New England Journal of Medicine. He is a recognized international authority on the diagnosis and treatment of pancreatic diseases and has served as invited faculty at many international conferences and live endoscopy workshops. He is chairman of the Dutch Pancreatitis Study Group, council member end treasurer of the European Association of Gastroenterology, Endoscopy & Nutrition (EAGEN), and past council member and chairman of the Education Committee of United European Gastroenterology (UEG).

The Erasmus Medical Center is a large tertiary care 1320 bed academic hospital located in the city of Rotterdam the Netherlands. The department of Gastroenterology & Hepatology employs 16 staff members covering all the relevant GI & H specialty areas including hepatology (hepatitis, hepatocellular carcinoma, and liver transplantation), advanced endoscopy, GI oncology (esophageal, stomach, pancreas and colon), and inflammatory bowel disease and intestinal ischemia. The department has 16 fellows in training to become gastroenterologists and 2 foreign fellows for advanced endoscopy training. The department has its own dedicated laboratory facilities for translational and basic research. In total, 40 PhD students are working in the department to complete their PhD thesis on clinical, translational and basic research topics covering the various focus areas of the department.

Peter Malfertheiner is Professor of Medicine and Chairman of the Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Infectious Diseases at the Otto v. Guericke University of Magdeburg in Germany, an appointment he has held since 1995 and has been Professor for Internal Medicine and Gastroenterology at the University of Bonn from 1993 – 1994.

He received his MD from the University of Bologna, Italy in 1975, and gained subsequent medical experience at the Regional Hospital of Bozen, Italy, and the University Hospital of Ulm, Germany (1978-1992), a Research Fellow at the Mayo Clinic GI Unit in Rochester, MN, USA. Professor Malfertheiner has been Chairman of the UEGF (2004) and President of the UEGW 2006 and of the Education Committee of the United European Gastroenterology Federation (UEGF). He is also the Editor of Digestive Diseases, Associate Editor of the American Journal of Gastroenterology, and a member of the Editorial Boards of several other journals; the European Journal of Gastroenterology, Helicobacter, Digestive Surgery, and the International Journal of Pancreatology. His main research interests are Helicobacter pylori infection and related diseases, chronic inflammation and carcinogenesis, gastric cancer, hepatocellular cancer, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD).

Frederik Nevens, MD, is chairman of the Department of Hepatology, the Head Lab of Hepatology at University Hospital Gasthuisberg, Catholic University of Leuven (Belgium) and the medical director of the Liver Transplant program In Leuven, as well as senior clinical investigator of the Fund for Scientific Research Flanders. He is also a professor of medicine at the Catholic University of Leuven.

A specialist in internal medicine, gastroenterology, and hepatology, he earned his medical degree from the Catholic University of Leuven as well as a PhD in the pathophysiology of esophageal varices. Current research interests include complications of cirrhosis, liver transplantation, and chronic hepatitis B and C viruses and polycystic liver disease. The author of more than 200 peer-reviewed manuscripts, Dr. Nevens is a board member of the Flemish Society of Gastroenterology and the Belgian Transplant Society, and is a member of the European and International Associations for the Study of the Liver and the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases. He cofounded the Belgian Association of the Study of the Liver, and has served as an EASL board member and president of the Belgian Liver and Intestinal Transplantation Committee.

Oliver Pech is Head of Gastroenterology and Interventional Endoscopy at St. John of God Hospital, Regensburg.