ABOUT US

Prof. Dr Geert D’Haens is Professor and Head of the Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at Amsterdam University Medical Centers (University of Amsterdam).

 

Trained in gastroenterology, gastrointestinal endoscopy, and inflammatory bowel disease at the University Hospitals Leuven and the University of Chicago, he earned his PhD in 1996.

 

His research focuses on mechanisms of action of novel IBD therapies, endoscopic endpoints, surrogate markers, and innovative treatment algorithms. A co-founder of ECCO (European Crohn’s and Colitis Organisation), he has authored over 600 peer-reviewed publications and leads numerous IBD drug development programs and clinical trials.

Severine Vermeire is Full Professor of Medicine at KU Leuven and Consultant Gastroenterologist at University Hospitals Leuven, Belgium. Since August 2025, she serves as Rector/Vice-Chancellor of KU Leuven.

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She obtained her MD (1995) and PhD (2001) from KU Leuven and completed research training in Paraguay, Oxford (Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics), and McGill University in Montreal.

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Her research focuses on the role of the microbiome, genetic susceptibility, therapeutic drug monitoring, and predictive biomarkers in IBD. She has led numerous international clinical trials and has authored more than 800 peer-reviewed publications. She was awarded an ERC Advanced Grant in 2016. She is a member of the German Leopoldina Academy of Sciences and Academia Europaea.

Prof. Dr Ailsa Hart is a Consultant Gastroenterologist and Past Dean at St Mark’s Hospital, the National Bowel Hospital in London, Professor of Practice at Imperial College London, and HonorarySkou Professor at the University of Aarhus, Denmark.

 

She trained in medicine at Oxford University, graduating with First-Class Honours, and at London teaching hospitals (Barts and the London, and University College London), and was awarded a PhD from Imperial College London in 2005 supported by a Wellcome Trust Fellowship. Her research focuses on perianal Crohn’s disease, inflammation and dysplasia pathways, and psychological interventions in IBD.

 

She has served on ECCO committees and its Governing Board for over a decade, is a Past Chair of the Gut Microbiota Group of the British Society of Gastroenterology, has supervised over 35 higher-degree students, and authored more than 400 peer-reviewed publications.