The Membership Committee is responsible for promoting ESCP and increasing awareness of its values. The Membership Committee work in close liaison with National Representatives to connect with ESCP members on a local level and is also responsible for co-ordinating their activities.

The Membership Committee is made up of one chairman, elected on merit, a Y-ESCP member, and six Regional Representatives, two from each geographic region, who normally have previous experience as a National Representative.

Chair

Frederic Ris (Switzerland)

Y-ESCP

Stefanie Devriendt (Belgium)

 

Regional Representatives

Frederic Ris

Frederic Ris Chair

Frederic Ris (Chair)

Current position

Professor of Surgery, Geneva University Hospitals and medical school, Geneva, Switzerland

Medical school

Geneva University and medical school, Geneva, Switzerland (graduated in 1999)

General surgical and colorectal training

  • Geneva University Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland
  • Lachen Hospital, Lachen, Switzerland
  • St Luc Hospital, Brussels, Belgium
  • Oxford University Hospitals, Oxford, United Kingdom

Main clinical and research interests

  • Colon and rectal cancer
  • Pelvic floor disorders and proctology
  • Fluorescence imaging
  • Teaching surgery

Member of the Membership Committee since

2019

Additional information

  • Swiss ESCP National Representative since 2016
  • Member of editorial board of Techniques in Coloproctology
  • President of the ASRCC, French Swiss Laparoscopic Association
  • Member of the committee of the Swiss Visceral Surgical Society
  • Member of the Swiss Surgical Society, ESA, SALTC, ESSO, among others
  • Supporting any coloproctology activity in Switzerland

Stephanie Devriendt

Stefanie Devriendt, Y-ESCP Representative

Stefanie Devriendt

Current position

General and colorectal surgeon, ZNA, Antwerp, Belgium (since 2022)

Medical school

Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium (graduated in 2014)

General surgical and colorectal training

General surgical:

  • Ziekenhuis Netwerk Antwerpen (ZNA), Antwerp, Belgium (2years)
  • AZ Sint Blasius, Dendermonde, Belgium (2years) - ETZ, Tilburg, The Netherlands (1 year)
  • University Hospitals Leuven, Belgium (1 year)

Colorectal fellowships:

  • University Hospitals Leuven, Belgium (1 year)
  • Amsterdam UMC, Amsterdam, The Netherlands (1 year)

Main clinical and research interests

I am interested in the broad range of colorectal surgery, with a slight preference to IBD and colorectal oncology, but also functional and benign colorectal diseases.

Member of the Membership Committee since

2023

Michel Adamina

Michel Adamina, Central Region Representative

Michel Adamina

Current position

Chief of Colorectal Surgery, Kantonsspital Winterthur and Professor of Surgery, University of Basel, Switzerland

Medical school

University of Lausanne, Switzerland

General surgical and colorectal training

  • Surgeon-Scientist University of Basel - graduated 2003
  • EBSQ Coloproctology 2007
  • Clinical Colorectal fellowships University of Toronto, Canada (2006-2008) and Cleveland, OH, USA (2008-2009)

Main clinical and research interests

  • Colorectal and peritoneal cancer
  • Inflammatory Bowel Disease
  • Pelvic floor
  • Education and Training
  • Translational Research and Entrepreneurship 

Member of the Membership Committee since

2022

Additional information

  • Swiss ESCP national representative 2019-2022
  • ESCP Programme Committee since 2021
  • Organiser of the European Colorectal Congress of St.Gallen since 2010
  • Editoral Board Member of Cancers
  • President, Swiss Peritoneal Cancer Group
  • Past President, Swiss Society for Minimally Invasive Surgery
  • Past Chair of the Surgeons of the European Crohn and Colitis Organisation (ECCO)
  • Member of the Guidelines Committee of ECCO
  • Member of the Swiss Society of Surgery and of the Swiss Visceral Surgeons
  • Founding member of the Swiss Biodesign Programme taught with ZHAW and Stanford
  • MSc Clinical Epidemiology and Healthcare Research 2008 (Toronto)
  • EMBA HSG 2014

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Giuseppe Sica, Central Region Representative

Giuseppe Sica 

Current position:

Associate professor of surgery and Head of Minimally Invasive and Gastrointestinal Surgery, University and Policlinico Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy

Medical school:

Sapienza University 1985-1990, 1993-1995 (PhD program; research fellow Harvard and NYU, U.S.A.)

General surgical and colorectal training:

Tor Vergata University 1998 Specialist in General Surgery Oxford University Hospitals 2000-2003 G.I. Surgery clinical fellow and consultant surgeon

Main clinical and research interests:

Colon cancer and IBD Surgery

Member of the Membership Committee since:

  • 2019-2022 Italian representative
  • 2022-2025 Program Committee
  • 2023-2026 Central region representative

Additional information:

  • Host centre for ESCP fellowship laparoscopic colorectal surgery
  • Centre of Excellence Italian Society of colorectal surgery for laparoscopic surgery

 Albert_Wolthius.jpg

Albert Wolthius, Western Region Representative

Albert Wolthius

Professor Albert Wolthuis graduated medical school in 2002 (KU Leuven, cum laude). He became a general surgeon in 2008 and further trained in abdominal surgery with specialization in colorectal surgery. Since 2011 he has been a staff member at the department of Abdominal Surgery (University Hospital Leuven) with special interest in minimally invasive colorectal surgery (NOSE, CME), IBD, transanal approaches (TaTME, TAMIS, Ta-IPAA), reoperative (pelvic) surgery, debulking and HIPEC. He defended his PhD titled ‘New strategies to improve outcome after colorectal surgery’ in 2015.

Furthermore, he is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons, a fellow of the American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons, and he passed the European Board of Surgical Qualification exam for Coloproctology and for Surgical Oncology. He is EBSQ-honorary fellow in minimally-invasive surgery. He has been secretary general of the Belgian Group for Endoscopic Surgery, and is board member of the Belgian Society of ColoRectal Surgery. He is a regular reviewer for many surgical journals and is associate editor for the Acta Chirurgica Belgica, for Colorectal Disease and for the European Journal of Surgical Oncology. He (co-)authored more than 100 peer-reviewed publications and several book chapters.

Rosa

Rosa Jímenez-Rodriguez, Western Region Representative

Rosa Jímenez-Rodriguez 

Current position:

Attending at Hospital Universitario Virgen del Rocío. Professor of Surgery at Universidad de Sevilla

Medical school:

Universidad de Extremadura

General surgical and colorectal training:

General Surgery training at Hospital Universitario Virgen del Rocío. Fellow in colorectal surgery at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, NY, USA

Main clinical and research interests:

Colorectal cancer, minimally invasive surgery, robotic surgery

Member of the Membership Committee since:

2021

Additional information: 

  • PhD Universidad de Sevilla, Sevilla, Spain
    • European Board of Surgery Qualification - Coloproctology.

Tomas_Poskus.jpg

Tomas Poskus, Eastern Region Representative

Tomas Poskus

Current position:

Head of abdominal and oncosurgery, Vilnius University Hospital Santara Clinics

Director of Institute of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Vilnius University

Professor of surgery, Vilnius University

Medical school:

Faculty of Medicine, Vilnius University 1999

General surgical and colorectal training:

General Surgery Residency, Faculty of Medicine, Vilnius University 2004

PhD, Vilnius University, 2008

Clinical fellow, Mayo Clinic, USA 2010

FEBS Coloproctology, 2018

Main clinical and research interests:

Colon cancer, anorectal disorders

Member of the Membership Committee since:

2020-2023 Programme Committee

2021-2023 Lithuanian representative

2023-2026 Eastern region representative

ESCP Affiliates