Διεθνείς Προσκεκλημένοι Ομιλητές

Practice: Consultant at Mater Dei Hospital, Malta
Consultant at St. James Hospital, Malta
Mr Andrejevic is a surgeon with over 15 years of experience in Laparoscopic Colorectal, Emergency and Metabolic Surgery. He has been at the forefront in introducing minimally invasive techniques, mainly colorectal resections, emergency laparoscopic colon and gall bladder resections, abdominal wall hernia and metabolic surgery in Malta. Mr Andrejevic is the pioneer of Endoluminal Obesity Surgery in Malta.

One of Mr Andrejevic's activities is teaching undergraduate and postgraduate students. He holds the position of Post - Graduate Training Coordinator. He is the founder of the intranational postgraduate surgical program in Malta.
His contribution to teaching and training surgeons locally and internationally gained him a place in the Educational and Training Committee of the European Association of Endoscopic Surgeons and at The Queens Mary University of London as an Honorary Clinical Senior Lecturer.

His primary research is in benign and malignant colorectal disease. He led the local committee to implement robotics in general surgery in Malta.

Mr Andrejevic has published locally and internationally and attended several international meetings as an invited speaker. He is also a peer reviewer for " The Surgeon" journal of the RCSEd and RCSI, Endoscopic Surgery and the World Journal of Surgical Oncology.

Position and scientific membership:

• Consultant Surgeon
• Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland
• Fellow of the American College of Surgeon
• Honorary Clinical Senior Lecturer in the Centre for Medical Education within the Institute of Health Sciences Education, Queen Mary University of London
• Honorary Fellow of European Board of Minimally Invasive Surgery
• Ex- Postgraduate Training Coordinator- Malta
• Visiting Senior Lecturer at the University of Malta
• Visiting Senior Lecturer for Bart and London School of Medicine, Malta
• Examiner for the MRCS part B at the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburg
• President of the Laparoscopic and Endoscopic Society of Malta
• EX-Foreign Secretary of the Association of Surgeons of Malta
• Member of the Faculty of Sport and Exercise Medicine in Ireland
• Member of the European Association of Endoscopic and Laparoscopic Surgery (EAES)
• EX-Member of the Educational Committee of the EAES
• Member of the European Society of Coloproctology (ESCP)
• Member of the European Society of Trauma and Emergency Surgery (ESTES)

SUMMARY OF CLINICAL EXPERIENCE:
Expert in laparoscopic and robotic colorectal surgery. I am doing the most complex cases of Catalonia of colon, rectum and anus oncologic cases, IBD (Inflammatory Bowel Disease), Pelvic Floor disease (rectocele, enterocele, constipation, incontinence). I also do basic and complex proctology surgery. As a chief of colorectal surgery, I have been managing all these cases since more than 20 years. I also have experience in education (training) and in creating and managing different committees (like colorectal cancer, IBD, Pelvic Floor Disease).
I am now a proctor in laparoscopy and in robotics surgery. In fact our unit is one of the 8 units of Europe that has been chosen by the ESCP (European Society of Coloproctology) to do fellowship if Robotic Colorectal Surgery.

Research:
- Several national and international publications and scientific articles.
- Author of more than 270 national presentations and 100 international presentations.
- Large experience in National and International Trials
- P.I. in 9 granted research projects.

Other:
- President of the European Society of Coloproctology (2022-2023)
- Vicepresident of the Asociacion Española de Cirujanos (2018-2020)
- President of the Spanish Society of coloproctology (AECP) (2017-2019)
- General Secretary of the European Society of Coloproctology (2014-2018)
- Member of the Educational Committee (ESCP) (2018-2020)
- Member of the Steering Committee of the European School of Coloproctology

Prof. Frederik Berrevoet, MD, PhD, FEBS-HPB/AWR-HON, FACS, obtained his medical degree at Ghent University after which he received his surgical training at the University Hospital in Ghent, University Hospital Saarland, Homburg, Germany and Albert Schweitzer Hospital in the Netherlands. He started as a fellow at the Department of General & HPB and Transplantation Surgery at the University Hospital Ghent in 2004 after which he became a consultant in the Department for General and HPB Surgery and Liver Transplantation and Procurement since 2006.
Secretary General: Royal Belgian Society of SurgerySecretary of Science: European Hernia SocietyVice Chair: Educational Committee of EAHPBA
Chair: EAHPBA online Academy Group subcommitteeTreasurer: HPB Division, UEMS
Board member: BSHPBS and Belgian Section of Abdominal Wall Surgery of the RBSS
Reviewer and Associate editor for different scientific journals

Consultant at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation

Douglas B. Evans Endowed Chair for Surgical Research, Division Chief of Surgical Oncology, Assistant Director of Clinical Research, Medical College of Wisconsin Cancer Center, Associate Professor of Surgery, Medical College of Wisconsin

Pierre A. Clavien, a world-renowned surgeon-scientist, is currently professor of Surgery and Transplantation at the university of in Zurich, Switzerland. After a Swiss board of surgery in 1989, he moved to Toronto, Canada, to complete a PhD program in organ preservation, followed by a clinical fellowship in HPB surgery and liver transplantation. He then moved to Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, where he initially led the liver transplantation and HPB programs, and subsequently the Division of Transplantation, and obtained the rank of full Professor within 4 years. The main interest of Prof. Clavien has been in several aspects of transplantation and liver surgery. Since 1994, he has run an active basic science laboratory continuously funded through NIH and Swiss National Science Foundation Grants and other private and non-private sources. His areas of research include organ preservation, liver ischemia-reperfusion injury and liver regeneration, and pathogenesis of cancer, as well as outcome research with publication in Science, Nature, PNAS, Annals of Surgery, Gastroenterology, Lancet and NEJM. His laboratory made the discovery of serotonin as a key mediator of liver regeneration and 6 pathogenesis of cancer (Science 2006). Prof. Clavien has also developed a simple and widely used system to evaluate complications after surgery, which holds his name. The impact of his research might be highlighted with an H-factor of 140. He has been president of the European Surgical Association (ESA), European Hepatobiliary Association (E-AHPBA) and the Swiss Transplantation Society. Furthermore, Prof. Clavien was appointed Congress President of the 13th IHPBA World Congress in Geneva in 2018 and Outcome4Medicine consensus conference in 2022 and organized these major events. He is currently Associate Editor of two top surgical and Hepatology Journals (AnnSurg: IF 11 and Journal of Hepatol: IF:30.1), and in the editorial of many other high ranked international journals, such as Gastroenterology, Hepatology, Am J of Transpl. He was appointed Associate Editor of Ann of Surgery to cover the liver topics, and Editor for the ESA articles. He received many competitive grants and awards, including one of the most prestigious prices for scientific research in Switzerland, the Otto Naegeli Award 2008, and the UEGW (European Union of Gastroenterology) Award 2012 for his research in partial liver graft. He has also written several books, with the very popular book of “Medical Care of the Liver Transplant Patient” and an atlas of upper GI and HPB surgery. Prof. Clavien received the honorary fellowship of the American College of Surgeons (ACS) and of the American Surgical Association (ASA). He was also appointed honorary member of the Académie Nationale de Médecine in France and in year 2020 he became member of prestigious National Academy of Medicine USA, as being the only surgeon outside of the USA

Mr Dimitrios Damaskos is a Consultant General Surgeon in Edinburgh with a specialist interest in emergency surgery and abdominal wall reconstruction. He completed a fellowship in Emergency General Surgery at the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, before taking up his consultant post at NHS Lothian in 2017. Alongside his clinical work, he plays a leading role in surgical education as Director of Conferences for the British Hernia Society, Director of the Scientific Programme for the Association of Surgeons of Great Britain and Ireland, Vice President of the World Society of Emergency Surgery and member of the International Relations Committee of the American College of Surgeons, helping shape the national and international agenda in hernia and general surgery.

DiMare Family Chair in Immunothery, Associate Professor of Surgery, University of Miami

Assistant Professor of Surgery in the Division of Surgical Oncology, University of Michigan

Clinical Professor, Surgery - General Surgery, Stanford Medicine

Dr. Myrthe Eussen is a medical doctor and PhD candidate at Maastricht UMC+ and Maastricht University, with a focus on sustainable surgical care. Her research explores the environmental impact of surgical practices and is known for its interdisciplinary approach, involving collaborations with psychologists, economists, and other experts. She leads the CAREFREE and RESET projects and serves as Chair of the Education Committee of the Joint EAES-SAGES Task Force on Sustainability. Myrthe actively contributes to Green Teams, lectures on Planetary Health, and participates in national and international working groups to advance greener surgical systems through research, education, and policy engagement.

Prof Ferreres received his medical degree “suma cum laude” from the University of Buenos Aires School of Medicine, where he also trained in General Surgery and Surgical Oncology. His accolades also include: a JD degree, Master of Public Health, Patient Safety and Medical Error Fellowship (Virginia Commonwealth University) and a Clinical Ethics Fellowship at the University of Chicago’s MacLean Center. He is presently Professor of Surgery and Department Chair at the University of Buenos Aires and also holds an appointment as Professor of Surgery and Ethics at the University of Washington (Seattle, WA). He also has been bestowed with Honorary Fellowships from the American Surgical Association, American College of Surgeons, Chinese College of Surgeons, Royal College of Surgeons Edinburgh, among others. He is the current Governor of the ACS Argentine Chapter and Past President of the International Society of Digestive Surgery (ISDS) and the Argentine Surgical Academy. Prof. Ferreres in a gastrointestinal surgeon and renowned ethicist, author of 4 texbooks, 30 book chapters and more than 100 contributions to medical literature. He is member of the Editorial Boards of various journals.

Mr Ben Griffiths is a Consultant Colorectal Surgeon at Manchester Royal Infirmary with extensive experience in advanced and emergency laparoscopic surgery. He specializes in complex and recurrent colorectal cancer, emergency gastrointestinal surgery, and abdominal wall reconstruction, with a strong focus on improving outcomes in emergency general surgery. A leading surgical educator, he currently serves as Director of Education and Training for the Association of Surgeons of Great Britain and Ireland (ASGBI) and sits on the Specialty Advisory Committee (SAC) for General Surgery.
Mr Griffiths has been instrumental in developing and leading numerous national and regional surgical training programs, including the National Laparoscopic Fellowship, the Newcastle MRCS and FRCS Viva Courses, and the Laparoscopic Colorectal and TAPP/Ventral Hernia courses. His dedication to surgical education is reflected in multiple teaching and examiner roles with Newcastle University and the Royal College of Surgeons.
His research portfolio includes several NIHR- and charity-funded trials in emergency laparoscopic surgery and abdominal wall reconstruction, notably the LACES2 Trial on laparoscopic versus open emergency colorectal surgery. Recognized for his leadership and innovation in training, Mr Griffiths was named ACPGBI Trainer of the Year (2021).

Consultant Colorectal Surgeon

Chief, Division of General Surgery, Martin and Diane Trust Career Development Chair in Surgery, Department of Surgery - Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Associate Professor - Harvard Medical School

Associate Professor in the Department of Surgery, Johns Hopkins University

Andreas Karakatsanis currently serves as Chief of Breast Surgery at the Akademiska University Hospital in Uppsala, Sweden, where he is the director of the International Oncoplastic fellowship, and Reader (Associate Professor) of Breast Surgery at the Medical School of Uppsala University.
He is an Aluminus of the Athens Medical School where he also received his core surgical training. He completed a fellowship within Breast and Endocrine Surgery t the Akademiska University Hospital in Uppsala, Sweden, and the EJSO fellowship at the Royal Marsden Hospital in London.
Andreas is a fellow of the UEMS European Board of Surgery (Breast). Since 2024 he is the Secretary of the Executive Board of the UEMS Breast Division and the Deputy Editor-In-Chief of the European Journal of Surgical Oncology (EJSO).
His research is focused on surgical innovation with the use of magnetic guidance in breast and axillary surgery, data-driven decision-making through meta-analysis based consensus and oncoplastic breast conservation with a particular interest in chest wall perforator flaps.

Professor of Surgery, Director of the Division of Gastrointestinal Surgery, University of Alabama in Birmingham

Associate Professor of Surgery and Medical Education, Assistant Dean for Graduate Medical Education, University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Heersink School of Medicine

Dr Christian Macutkiewicz qualified from University of Manchester Medical School with honours and trained in Nottingham, Cambridge, London, Manchester and Leeds. He was appointed Consultant Pancreatico-Biliary and Laparoscopic Surgeon at St James’s University Hospital in Leeds in 2014 and enjoyed training international fellows in complex pancreatic surgery. He moved to Manchester in August 2018 to become Chief of General Surgery at Manchester University Hospital. There he is a Consultant General, HPB and Hernia Surgeon and his clinical interests lie in complex biliary surgery and robotic hernia surgery. He is the President of the Association of Surgeons of Great Britain and Ireland (ASGBI), having previously been Director of the Scientific Programme for 4 years. He also has an interest in surgical coaching, mentoring and is a member of the ASGBI EDI committee and advocates for equality and inclusivity for all surgeons. Out of the office he enjoys cooking and fine wine, and often combines them with his love of travel.

Balkan Surgical Association - President Head of HPB / Liver Transplantation Department, Clinic for Abdominal and Transplantation Surgery, University Clinical Center of Vojvodina, Novi Sad, Serbia

Associate Professor, Medical College of Wisconsin

Education and clinical training

Undergraduate and graduate studies in medicine (läkarlinjen) at Karolinska Institutet1986-1992.
·         Swedish licence to practice medicine as a Medical Doctor in 1995.

·         Swedish board certification as specialist of General Surgery in 2000.

Doctoral degree (PhD)

·         Doctoral studies at the Department of Surgical Sciences (currently included in the Department of Surgery and Molecular Medicine, MMK), Karolinska Institutet, from September 2000 to thesis defense on May 7, 2004. The main supervisor was Jesper Lagergren and the title of the thesis was “Etiology of gastroesophageal reflux”.

Associate professorship

·         Associate professor (docent) of Surgery at the Division of Surgery, CLINTEC, Karolinska Institutet since 2011.

Professorship

·         Professor of Surgery at the Division of Surgery and Oncology, CLINTEC, Karolinska Institutet since 2017.

Current positions

Head of the Division of Surgery and Oncology (enhetschef, enheten för kirurgi och onkologi), CLINTEC, Karolinska Institutet since June 1, 2014 (50% basis).
Senior consultant surgeon at the Department of Upper Abdominal Surgery (ME Övre buk), Karolinska University Hospital, (50% basis).
Head of Research, Education and Development (FoU-chef), Tema Cancer, Karolinska University Hospital since June 2024.
Vice-Chairman of the Department of Clinical Science, Intervention and Technology (CLINTEC), Karolinska Institutet since 2017.
·         Editor-in-Chief of the international peer reviewed journal Diseases of the Esophagus (http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1442-2050) official journal of the International Society for Diseases of the Esophagus (ISDE), since September 2022.

Chairman of the steering committee for the Swedish National Registry for Esophageal and Gastric Cancer (NREV) since 2018.
Faculty member of the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Upper GI group since 2019.
·         Member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Central German Cancer Center, Leipzig and Jena since 2019.

·         Member of the editorial board of the international peer reviewed journal British Journal of Surgery since 2021.

·         Member of the editorial board of the international peer reviewed journal ESMO Gastrointestinal Oncology since it was started in September 2023.

·         Associate Editor of the international peer reviewed journal ESMO Gastrointestinal Oncology since February 2025.

Selected prior positions

·         Senior Academic Visitor at the Nuffield Department of Surgical Sciences, University of Oxford September 2023 - May 2024.

·         Director of the board of the International Society for Diseases of the Esophagus (ISDE) 2021-2022.

·         Vice-President in the board of the Division of Oesophagogastric Surgery, within the European board of surgery, UEMS, (https://www.uemssurg.org/divisions/ecs-surgery/executuves) 2015-2022.

Canadian Royal College of Physicians’ and Surgeons’ Jane’s Visiting Professor 2021 at McGill University, Quebec, Canada
·         President of the European Society for Diseases of the Esophagus (ESDE) (http://www.esdeesophagus.org/about/executive-board/) 2017 – 2019.

·         General secretary of the European Society for Diseases of the Esophagus (ESDE) (http://www.esdeesophagus.org/about/executive-board/), 2015 – 2017.

·         Chairman of the Swedish Society for Upper Abdominal Surgery (http://www.sfoak.se) between August 19, 2015 – 2018.

·         Head of the Division of Upper Abdominal Surgery (sektionschef övre abdominell kirurgi), Gastrocentrum, Karolinska University Hospital, January 2007 to May 31, 2014.

·         Acting chief (verksamhetschef) of the Department of Surgical Gastroenterology (Gastrocentrum Kirurgi), Karolinska University Hospital, Sept 2011 to Aug 2012.

PhD supervision

·         Main supervisor for six graduated candidates (Cecilia Strömberg, Björn Törnqvist Fredrik Klevebro, Sebastian Sjöqvist, Berit Sunde and Klara Nilsson) and ongoing main supervisor for four (Rebecka Zackarias, Magnus Konradsson, Halla Olafsdottir and Angeline Enton Raj). Co-supervisor for eleven graduated candidates (Anne Waage, Helena Nordenstedt, Fredrik Swahn, Jiaqi Huang, Gabriella Alexandersson von Döbeln, Chihan Kung, Jessica Ericson, Zhao Cheng, Yun Du, Andrianos Tsekrekos and Johanna Samola Winnberg) and ongoing co-supervisor for four (Biying Huang, Gabriel Saliba, Rebecca Malthez de Souza and Ida Lagstam).

EU Horizon grant beneficiary

o   Marie Sklodowska Curie Horizon Europe, beneficiary PRESSURE project, 2024-2026 approximately 200,000 Euros

o   EU Horizon 2023, beneficiary ENDEAVOR project, 2024-2028 approximately 600,000 Euros