Young ESCP

Gianluca Pellino, Chair

Gianluca Pellino

Current position

• Consultant Colorectal Surgeon, Università degli Studi della Campania "Luigi Vanvitelli", Naples, Italy
• Advanced Formation and Research, University Hospital Vall d’Hebron, Barcelona

Medical school

Graduated in Medicine and Surgery in 2008 at the Second University of Naples, Italy (MD)

General surgical and colorectal training

• General and Colorectal Surgery, Second University of Naples, Naples, Italy
• ESCP 2016 Colorectal Fellow, Colorectal Surgery, Royal Marsden Hospital, London, UK
• Colorectal Clinical Assistant, St. Mark’s Hospital and Academic Institute, Harrow, UK
• AECP International Colorectal Fellow 2017, Colorectal Unit, Hospital “La Fe” Valencia, Spain
• Colorectal Unit, University Hospital Vall d’Hebron, Barcelona, Spain

Main clinical and research interests

• Inflammatory Bowel Diseases
• Colorectal cancer
• Pelvic exenteration
• Transanal minimally-invasive colorectal surgery (TAMIS, TaTME) and Robotic surgery
• Applied colorectal anatomy

Member of the Y-ESCP Committee since

2022

Additional information

• Fellow of the European Board of Surgery (FEBS), Coloproctology 2018
• International Fellow of the American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons (FASCRS), 2018
• PhD “Doctor Europaeus” in Translational Medicine (2018), Thesis on TaTME and Pelvic exenterations
• Member of the Young European Crohn’s and Colitis Organisation (Y-ECCO) Committee
• Member of the IBD Section and of the Communication and Research Committees of the Italian Society of Colorectal Surgery (SICCR)
• Member of the Editorial Board of Techniques in Coloproctology (Social Media Editor)
• Editor Assistant 2019 British Journal of Surgery
• Associate Editor of BMC Surgery
• Editorial Board of World Journal of Gastroenterology, Gastroenterology Research and Practice, Medicine
• EuroSurg co-chair 2017-2018 and ItSurg vice-chair since 2017

Ilsalien Bakker

Ilsalien Bakker

Current position

Surgical resident, differentiation gastro-intestinal surgery and robotic surgery, Meander Medical Center, Amersfoort, the Netherlands (since August 2022)

Medical school

University of Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands Name (graduated in 2011)

General surgical and colorectal training

• Treant Zorggroep, Emmen, the Netherlands
• University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands
• Isala clinics, Zwolle, the Netherlands
• Meander Medical Center, the Netherlands

Main clinical and research interests

• Colorectal surgery
• Anastomotic leakage
• Hernia surgery

Member of the Y-ESCP Committee since

2022

Additional information

PhD thesis: Colorectal Anastomoses - Surgical outcome and prevention of anastomotic leakage

Rogini Balachandran

Rogini Balachandran

Current position

Ph.D. student, Department of Surgery, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark (since October 2020).

Medical school

Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark (graduated in 2012)

General surgical and colorectal training

• Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark
• Bispebjerg Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark
• Slagelse Hospital, Slagelse, Denmark
• Koege University Hospital, Koege, Denmark
• Herlev University Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark

Main clinical and research interests

• Colorectal cancer
• Late adverse effects
• Pelvic exenteration
• Cytoreductive surgery + HIPEC

Member of the Y-ESCP Committee since

2022

Additional information

Currently doing a PhD which I will be finishing in a year. My research area is late adverse effects following pelvic exenteration or cytoreductive surgery+HIPEC for colorectal cancer. I have been a member of the ESCP Programme Committee board for the past 2 years.

Jan Colpaert

Jan Colpaert

Current position

Consultant colorectal surgeon, ASZ Aalst, Belgium

Medical school

Ghent University (graduated in 2014)

General surgical and colorectal training

General surgical training:

• OLV Hospital Aalst, Belgium
• ASZ Aalst, Belgium
• Ghent University Hospital, Belgium
• AZ Sint-Jan Hospital Bruges, Belgium

Colorectal training:

• ETZ Tilburg, the Netherlands
• Ghent University Hospital, Belgium
• Leuven University Hospital, Belgium
• Aarhus University Hospital, Denmark

Main clinical and research interests

• Colon / Rectal cancer
• IBD
• Proctology and anal fistula

Member of the Y-ESCP Committee since

2022

Stefanie Devriendt

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 Y-ESCP Committee since

2022

Frances Dixon

Caterina Foppa

Caterina Foppa

Current position

• Staff surgeon, Division of Colon & Rectal Surgery, IRCCS Humanitas Research Hospital, Rozzano, Milan, Italy (since March 2019)
• Assistant Professor, Dept of Biomedical Sciences, Humanitas University, Pieve Emanuele, Milan, Italy (since May 2022)

Medical school

Florence University, Italy (graduated in Medicine and Surgery)

General surgical and colorectal training

• Florence University Hospital, Italy (residency in General Surgery)
• Division of Colon & Rectal Surgery, IRCCS Humanitas Research Hospital, Rozzano, Milan, Italy

Main clinical and research interests

• Early onset colorectal cancer
• Early colorectal cancer (stage I)
• Transanal transection and single stapled anastomosis (TTSS)

Member of the Y-ESCP Committee since 

2022

Additional information

PhD in Clinical Sciences (Curriculum Anesthesiology and Surgical Sciences) – Thesis: minimally invasive surgery in the treatment of gastrointestinal and endocrine tumors

Editorial experience:

• Junior Editor, Techniques in Coloproctology (2014-2015)
• Junior Editor, Colorectal Disease (2016-2017)
• Junior Editor, Techniques in Coloproctology (2016-2017)
• Junior Editor, Diseases of Colon and rectum (2018-2021)
• Reviewer’s Guild Member of Diseases of the Colon and Rectum (2019-2020)

ESCP guidelines:

• T1 rectal cancer guideline committee

Zoe Garoufalia

 Zoe Garoufalia

Current position

Colorectal Research Fellow, Cleveland Clinic, Florida, USA (since July 2021)

Medical school

School of Medicine of the Aristotle University, Thessaloniki, Greece (graduated in 2013)

General surgical and colorectal training

• Transplantation Unit, Laiko University Hospital, Athens, Greece
• Second Department of Propaedeutic Surgery, Laiko University Hospital, Athens, Greece
• Colorectal Department, Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge, UK

Main clinical and research interests

• Inflammatory bowel disease
• Colorectal cancer
• Patients’ outcomes
• Training and accreditation systems

Member of the Y-ESCP Committee since

2022

Additional information

• PhD Candidate
• Member of the ESCP's Programme and Research Committees and Social Media Working Group
• Member of ASCRS Communications Committee

Jurij Aleš Košir

Jurij Aleš Košir

Current position

Resident of abdominal surgery at University Medical Centre Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia, since January 2018.

Medical school

Graduated in April 2017 from Faculty of Medicine, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia.

General surgical and colorectal training

University Medical Centre Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia

Main clinical and research interests

• Fluorescence-guided surgery
• Colorectal robotic assisted surgery
• Surgery for inflammatory bowel disease

Member of the Y-ESCP Committee since

2022

Additional information

I’m a senior resident of abdominal surgery at UMC Ljubljana, enthusiastic about research and education. I have research experience in the areas of fluorescence-guided surgery, colorectal robotic assisted surgery and surgery for inflammatory bowel disease. My PhD-thesis is focused on the treatment of adhesive small bowel obstruction and my clinical experience also includes proctology, oncologic abdominal surgery and emergency abdominal surgery.

Panchali Sarmah

Panchali Sarmah

Current position

Specialty Registrar, University Hospitals of Leicester, Leicester, UK (since 2021)

Medical school

University of Warwick, Coventry, UK (graduated in 2010)

General surgical and colorectal training

Since 2016: Specialty Registrar, East Midlands, UK

Main clinical and research interests

• Pelvic floor
• Proctology
• Pelvic exenteration
• Genomics

Member of the Y-ESCP Committee since

2022

Additional information

I am a higher surgical trainee in emergency general and colorectal surgery in the UK. I have an interest in improving surgical training and encouraging more diversity within the colorectal workforce and is keen for colorectal trainees across the world to collaborate. I have been a council member for the Association of Surgeons in Training (ASiT), a trainee member of the Genomics Group at the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges (AoMRC), part of the Executive of The Dukes’ Club, the colorectal trainee group in UK, and has been a council member of the Association of Coloproctology of Great Britain and Ireland (ACPGBI). I am the immediate past President of The Dukes’ Club and a current member of the social media team for Colorectal Disease. I am completing a doctorate in liquid biopsies for colorectal cancer.

Yegor Tryliskyy

Yegor Tryliskyy

Current position

Specialty Registrar (ST5) in General and Colorectal Surgery - Great Western Hospital, Severn Deanery, England (since 2022)

Medical school

Bogomolets National Medical University, Kyiv, Ukraine (graduated in 2012)

General surgical and colorectal training

• Higher Surgical Trainee - Severn Deanery (2020 to present)
• Specialty Registrar - Worthing Hospital, West Sussex, England, UK (2019-20) 
• International Fellow - Worthing Hospital, West Sussex, England, UK (2017-19) 
• Research Fellow - Shupyk National Medical Academy of Postgraduate Education, Kyiv, Ukraine (2015-17)
• Doctor-Intern- Shupyk National Medical Academy of Postgraduate Education, Kyiv, Ukraine (2012-15)

Main clinical and research interests

• Inflammatory bowel disease
• Abdominal wall
• Medical Education

Member of the Y-ESCP Committee since

2022

Additional information

• Tutor of the University of Edinburgh
• Faculty of the Royal College of Surgeons of England
• Ad-hoc systematic reviewer of the Guidelines subcommittee of the European Association of Endoscopic Surgery

Sofia Xenaki

Sofia Xenaki

Current position

General Surgeon, Department of Surgery. University Hospital of Heraklion Crete - Greece (since 2020)

Medical school

University of Crete - Greece (graduated in 2014)

General surgical and colorectal training

• Department of Surgery. University Hospital of Heraklion Crete - Greece
• University Hospitals of Geneva (HUG) - Switzerland
• VUMedical Center Amsterdam - the Netherlands
• Albert Ludwigs Universität Freiburg Universitätsklinikum Freiburg - Germany
• Karolinska University Hospital HUDDINGE - Gastrozentrum, Stockholm, Sweden

Main clinical and research interests

• Colorectal Surgery
• Fluorescence
• Laparoscopic and minimal invasive surgery
• Trauma surgery
• Hepatobiliary and pancreatic surgery

Member of the Y-ESCP Committee since

2022

Additional information

Membership of societies:

• European Association for Endoscopic Surgery (EAES) (2022 to present)
• International Society of Surgery (ISS-SIC) (2022 to present)
• Society of Laparoscopic and Robotic Surgery (SLS) (2021 to present)
• World Society of Emergency Medicine (WSES) (2019 to present)
• Hellenic Society of Colorectal Surgery (2017 to present)
• European Society of Coloproctology (ESCP) (2016 to present)
• American College of Surgeons - Resident and Associate Society of the American College of Surgeons (FACS) (2015 to present)
• Hellenic Study Group of Gastointestinal and Hepatobilliary Cancer (2012 to present)
• Hellenic Medical Student Association (2008-14)
• International Federation of Medical Student Association (IFMSA) (2008-14)
• Greek GastroInstestinal Cancer - Study Group (GIC-SG) (2007 to present)

Yaniv Zager

 Yaniv Zager

Current position

Chief resident of colorectal surgery service, Surgery B department, Sheba medical center, Ramat-Gan, Israel Tel-Aviv university

Medical school

Tel-Aviv university medical school. Tel-Aviv. Israel. Graduated at 2015.

General surgical and colorectal training

General surgery residency at Sheba medical center, Ramat-Gan, Israel

Main clinical and research interests

• Rectal Cancer
• Diverticulitis
• Biomarkers in colorectal surgery

Member of the Y-ESCP Committee since

2022

Additional information

• MD-Thesis: Optimization of Irreversible Electroporation Protocols for In-vivo Myocardial Decellularization.
• Residency basic-science project: Extracellular vesicles in colorectal cancer.