Dr. Abdulrahman Alfadda is the advanced therapeutic endoscopy program director at King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center (KFSH&RC) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. He is as well the a Professor at Alfaisal university in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and the current treasurer of the Pan Arab Crohn’s and Colitis Association (PACCA).

Dr. Alfadda achieved his MBBS degree from King Saud University in Riyadh with an honouree of being the university outstanding student upon graduation. He then pursued his residency and fellowship training programs in KFSH&RC after which he joined University of Calgary in Canada for a second gastroenterology and advanced therapeutic endoscopy fellowship programs.

Dr. Alfadda is a regular participant in a lot of national and international live advanced therapeutic endoscopy conferences across the globe. He has published more than 40 articles in several national and international peer reviewed journals. He is as well an active speaker in various national and international congresses.

He received his MD degree in 2006, then specialized in internal medicine, and was awarded the Oman medical specialty board certification in 2012. Dr. Al-Darmaki completed an adult gastroenterology fellowship at the University of Calgary in Canada, followed by an advanced fellowship in Inflammatory Bowel Disease. He is the Head of the Gastroenterology Unit at Royal Hospital and a faculty member of the OMSB internal medicine residency program. He is well-versed in the diagnosis and treatment of all gastrointestinal disorders. He is skilled in both diagnostic and therapeutic GI endoscopies, including the management of GI bleeding, peptic ulcers, esophageal and colonic strictures, polyp removal in the gastrointestinal tract, and colon cancer screening and surveillance. He is the author of numerous publications and has presented research abstracts at numerous conferences, including Digestive Disease Week and the ECCO meeting.

Crohn’s disease
Ulcerative colitis
Celiac disease
Microscopic colitis
Malnutrition
Peptic ulcer disease
Colon cancer/colon polyps
Screening and surveillance

Professor of Medicine at Alfaisal University, Riyadh

Consultant Gastroenterologist at King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre in Riyadh

Secretary General of Saudi Gastroenterology Association

More than 50 publications with main interest in Helicobacter pylori treatment in Saudi Arabia

MD

Education and Training (List all Colleges, Universities and Medical Schools attended incl. postdoctoral/fellowship training, including board certification/medical license)

Professional Experience

MBBS, MSc (Clinical Epidemiology), FRCPC

Prof. Almadi obtained an MBBS degree from King Saud University and completed his training in internal medicine and gastroenterology at McGill University, Montreal, Canada. He also completed two years of training in therapeutic endoscopy and EUS at the same university and obtained a Masters Degree in Clinical Epidemiology as well as training in the Clinical Investigator program from the same university. Later, he attained an MBA in healthcare administration from the Frankfurt school of Business.

Currently he is a Professor of Medicine at the College of Medicine at King Saud University and an Adjunct Professor at McGill, Montreal, Canada as well as at Alfaisal University in Riyadh. Dr. Almadi is the current president of the Saudi Gastroenterology Association and is an Associate Editor for the Saudi Journal of Gastroenterology.

President, Pan Arab Gastroenterology Society, Consultant Gastroenterologist, Head of GI Endoscopy Department – Gastroenterology, Ibrahim bin Hamad Obaid Allah Hospital Ras Al Khaimah, UAE

• Head of Gastroenterology and Hepatology department IBHOH
• President of Emirates Gastro & Hepatology Society - Emirates Medical Association from 2011 up to date. Elected President of Pan Arab of Gastroenterology for 2018.
• Recipient of the "Happiness Doctor" award in 2018, Ministry of Health & Prevention.
• Recipient of the Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum award for Medical Sciences for the best research in 2010
• Recipient of the Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum award for Medical Sciences as the best doctor in 2009
• Recipient of the most "Outstanding Doctor" award in 2008, Ministry of Health & Prevention
• Initiative of inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) guidelines in UAE.

Professor Michael Heneghan is a Consultant Hepatologist at King's College Hospital London. He has over 25 years experience in General Hepatology, Liver Transplantation, Autoimmune liver disease and has worked as a hepatologist at Duke University Medical Centre, Durham, North Carolina, USA and at King's College Hospital London. He has published extensive in the field with over 300 published papers and more than 30 book chapters. He has over this time held many administrative roles including Medical Director of Liver Transplant at Duke University, and Clinical Director of Liver Services at King's from 2012 to 2019. He Is also Corporate Medical Director for Strategy at King's. He has welcomed many generations of visiting trainees to London. He also has served on the committees of the British Society of Gastroenterology and The British Association for the Study of the Liver. He has contributed to multiple Clinical Practice Guidelines (CPG) including the EASL CPGs on Autoimmune Hepatitis 2016 and Liver Disease in Pregnancy 2023, British Society of Gastroenterology Guidelines on Autoimmune Hepatitis (2010 and 2023), Cirrhosis Management in Out Patients (2023) and Liver Disease in Young Adults (2023).

M.Sc MRCP(UK) FRCP London

Graduated from Ain-Shams University in Cairo, Egypt where he was trained as gastroenterologist and Hepatologist in Ain-Shams university academic hospital then in the international medical centre (IMC) in Cairo where he was one of the team who established living related liver transplant in 2005.

In 2007, he moved to Kuwait to join Kuwait University academic hospital (Mubarak Al-Kabir hospital) in one of the two tertiary GI referral centres in Kuwait where he is still working till now.

Dr. Motaz has special interest in viral hepatitis and autoimmune liver diseases and a founder member of Kuwait Hepatology Club and is the main author of Kuwaiti guidelines for management of hepatitis C.

Dr. Motaz was responsible for the only dedicated clinic for treatment of PWID with chronic hepatitis C in the region and has a large experience in treating this group of special populations.

He has a good number of publications in the field of Gastroenterology and Hepatology and worked as a clinical tutor in the programme of the Kuwaiti board of internal medicine and peer reviewer for the Saudi Journal of Gastroenterology.

In early 2018 Dr. Motaz was a member in the team who started the liver transplantation programme in Kuwait.

In June 2022 Dr. Motaz went back home to Cairo and started to work as consultant gastroenterology and hepatology.

Dr. Motaz was invited speaker in many local and international scientific events in the field of Gastroenterology and Hepatology.

Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospitals, London, UK

Peter Irving is lead for IBD at Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital Foundation Trust in London and is an Honorary Reader at King’s College London where he is funded by an MRC grant. Dr Irving trained in medicine at Cambridge University and The London Hospital Medical College, UK. He trained in gastroenterology in London before undertaking an IBD fellowship in Melbourne, Australia. He has a large IBD practice and a number of active research interests in translational research, clinical IBD and clinical trials. He has published widely in IBD including several books and book chapters, and over 200 peer-reviewed articles. He is formerly served as Chair of the Education Committee of ECCO and e-Learning Ambassador for ECCO and now sits on the Education Committee of UEGF.

Dr. Panaccione is a Professor of Medicine and the Director of the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Unit at the University of Calgary. He also serves as the Dean of MD Admissions and Director of the IBD Fellowship Program. He has been honoured with the Crohn’s Colitis Canada Endowed Research Chair in Inflammatory Bowel Disease at the University of Calgary.

He is the 2020 Crohn's Colitis Canada Outstanding Physician of the Year and has been recently recognized as a 2020-23 Clarivate Research Scholar for being cited in the top 1% of researchers cited in the world. He has co-authored over 350 manuscripts, 7 book chapters, and 426 abstracts including publications in journals such as the New England Journal of Medicine, Lancet, JAMA, Nature, and Annals of Internal Medicine.

Dr. Panaccione is the principal investigator on several studies evaluating the efficacy and safety of new agents in subjects Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. His special interest lies in the fields of advanced therapies, biological therapy, and delivery of care. He is a recognized authority on IBD therapeutics and has co-authored numerous guidelines for the Canadian Association of Gastroenterology. He actively participates in clinical trials of new therapeutic agents in Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. He reviews for prestigious journals including NEJM, Lancet, Gastroenterology and Gut.

Dr. Vito Annese achieved his Medical Degree at the Catholic University of Rome and subsequently the CCST in Internal Medicine and Gastroenterology at the same University. He also achieved the Master Degree in Medical Sciences at the KUL University of Leuven in Belgium. He has over 35-years of experience, with specific interest in functional and inflammatory bowel disorders. He authored over 300 peer reviewed publications mainly in the field of genetic predisposition and clinical trials in IBD and development of clinical guidelines. After about 30 years in Italy in large research and University Hospitals (last appointment in Florence) is in Dubai since 2016. Actually, is Chair of Internal Medicine and Gastroenterology and Director of Academic and Training Affair at the Fakeeh University Hospital in Dubai.

• A consultant Gastroenterologist and Hepatologist currently working in Haya Al Habeeb Gastroenterology centre.
• Graduated from Faculty of Medicine, Kuwait University
• Member of the Royal college of Physicians (UK)
• He completed his Gastroenterology and Hepatology training in Queens University, Canada
• Completed training in Therapeutic Endoscopy and EUS in McGill University, Canada

Dr. Ali Alali is currently an assistant professor in the department of medicine at Kuwait University and a gastroenterologist at Haya Al-Habeeb center in Mubarak Al-Kabeer hospital.

Dr. Alali finished his medical training at the National University of Ireland, Galway (NUIG). He then undertook his internal medicine and gastroenterology residency training at the University of Toronto. He did 2 advanced therapeutic endoscopy fellowships (EUS and ERCP) at McGill University in 2016 and St.Michael’s hospital in Toronto in 2017. In addition, he holds a master’s degree in clinical epidemiology from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM).

Dr. Alali has participated and presented in many international conferences including DDW and CDDW. He has a number of publications including abstracts, manuscripts and review articles in the field of gastroenterology. Furthermore, he was awarded the Marsha Dreyer award for excellence in research by the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ASGE) in 2017.

Dr. Alkandari was appointed as a Senior Specialist Gastroenterologist and Heptologist in AlJahra hospital. She is Graduated from King Abdulaziz University (Jeddah). She received her training in internal Medicine, Gastroenterology & Hepatology in king Faisal specialist Hospital and research Center Jeddah. She has done further training in advanced endoscopic diagnosis and Luminal resection in UK as well as Milan. Her main area of interest is Cancer diagnosis, Optical diagnosis and resection of early cancer and third space endoscopy.

Consultant Gastroenterologist at Al-Ahmadi Hospital

LRCP & SI, MB, BCh, BAO (Second Class Honours - National University of Ireland), Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, 2007

EUS and Advanced Therapeutic Fellowship, Western, London Ontario, Canada (Jun 2017)

Gastroenterology Fellowship, UBC, Vancouver, Canada (Jun 2016)

Saudi Board Internal Medicine, King Faisal Specialist Hospital, Riyadh (SBIM) (Dec 2013)

Member of Royal College of Physicians MRCP (UK) 2012

A graduate of Charles University, School of Medicine, Prague, Czech Republic. Completed internship, residency programme in Internal Medicine and Gastroenterology in Salmaniya Medical Complex. Successfully completed a 2-year Advanced GI endoscopy and Inflammatory Bowel Disease fellowship, Dublin, Ireland.

EDUCATION

• Medical Degree – Charles University – Prague
• Membership of the Royal College of Physicians – MRCP - U.K
• Membership of the Royal College of Physicians Speciality Certificate – MRCP – UK Gastroenterology
• Council of Arab Board of Medical Specializations – Internal Medicine
• Advanced GI Endoscopy and IBD Fellowship, Dublin, Ireland

• Consultant Pediatric Gastroenterologist and Head of pediatric GI Unit Al Adan Hospital
• Former Secretary General of Kuwait Institute for Medical Specializations (KIMS) 2020-2022
• Former Assistant Undersecretary for Supportive Medical Services (2018-2020)
• Former Head of Pediatrics Department, Al- Adan Hospital (2014-2018)
• Former Head of Pediatrics Council, Ministry of Health,Kuwait (2016-2018)
• Former Program Director of Pediatrics Residency Program (KIMS) (2012-2018)

Dr. Fawaz finished medical school at Faculty of Medicine, Kuwait University (MBBS) then went to Canada to obtain residency in Pediatrics at Dalhousie University, Nova Scotia, Canada, then Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and nutrition fellowship at University of Alberta, Canada. Furthermore, Dr. AlRefaee he is a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (RCPSC) and the American Board of Pediatrics (ABP). He is having special interest in celiac disease, nutrition, functional GI diseases, and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Dr. AlRefaee is a member of many national and international societies like north American Society of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition (NASPGHAN), Canadian Pediatric Society (CPS) and others.

• Consultant gastroenterologist & hepatologist – Advanced IBD specialist in Thunayan Al Ghamin gastroenterology center, Al Amiri Hospital-Kuwait.
• Vice president of Kuwaiti gastroenterology association.
• Executive board member and comcom vice chair at the (INTERNATIONAL BOWEL ULTRASOUND GROUP e.V.SOCIETY - IBUS)
• Accredited trainer in bowel ultrasound from association international Bowel ULTRASOUND GROUP e.V.
• Completed Internal Medicine program & became Kuwait Institute of Medical Specialization (KIMS) board certification.
• Member of the royal college of physician in United Kingdom (MRCP-UK).
• Board certified in adult gastroenterology & hepatology from Saudi board of gastroenterology program.
• Sub-specialty training in advanced inflammatory bowel disease fellowship from university of Calgary in Canada.
• She was trained also in doing bowel images & point of care ultrasound to assess the IBD related large & small bowel disease in university of Calgary Canada & became an executive board member in the association international Bowel ULTRASOUND GROUP e.V. mainly vice chair of the communication committee.
• She had multiple publications that was accepted in the international journals concentrating on the importance of point of care bowel ultrasound for IBD patients. Last one was Defining transabdominal intestinal Ultrasound treatment response and remission in Inflammatory Bowel Disease: Systemic review and expert consensus statement. Journal of Crohn’s and colitis. Autumn 2021

Consultant Gastroenterologist & Transplant hepatologist, at Jaber AlAhmad & Farwaniya hospital. Kuwait.

Received his undergraduate degree from Royal college of surgeon in Ireland. Completed his medical residency & GI fellowship in Saudi Arabia, Riyadh (at king Khalid university hospital & King Faisal specialist hospital). Obtained his Hepatology fellowship from University of Calgary & University of Alberta in Canada.

His interest in NASH & liver transplantation.

Dr. Shehab received his medical degree from University College of Cork in Ireland. He then continued his internal medicine residency at University of Toronto and his gastroenterology fellowship at Mcgil University in Canada. Dr. Shehab is an IBD specialist, Consultant gastroenterologist at Haya Alhabib GI center, Kuwait. He's also the research lead at Kuwaiti Board of Interna Medicine.

Senior Specialist Internist, Gastroenterologist and transplant Hepatologist at Amiri Hospital

She had her Gastroenterology Training in Ireland and Transplant Hepatology at Kings College London

She is interested in Autoimmune Liver Disease and Liver Transplant

• American Board in Internal Medicine & Gastroenterology
• Arab Board for Medical Specialization in Internal Medicine
• Fellow of American Society of Gastrointestinal endoscopy
• Fellow of American Gastrointestinal Association
• Member of American College of Gastroenterology
• Member of American Medical Association
• Member of American College of Physicians

• Graduated from Aberdeen University School of Medicine, Scotland.
• Completed Internal Medicine residency in Kuwait obtaining Kuwait Institute of Medical Specialization (KIMS) board certification, MRCP(UK) and MRCPS(Glasg).
• Completed his residency training in Gastroenterology at McGill University, Canada.
• Pursued sub-speciality training in Gastroenterology, and completed 2 advanced fellowships in Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Therapeutic Endoscopy at McGill University.
• Currently practicing as a Consultant Gastroenterologist and is Head of the Gastroenterology Unit at Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah Hospital, Kuwait.
• Authored numerous publications in the field of Inflammatory Bowel Disease and is an active participant in the Cochrane Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Functional Bowel Disorders Review Group
• He is one of the founding council members of the Kuwait Gastroenterology Association.

Coming soon...

Dr. Zarate-Lopez graduated and completed her Gastroenterology CCT in Spain where she started her training in the field of Neurogastroenterology under the supervision of founder of the field Prof Malagelada. She then moved to Canada after been awarded a post CCT fellowship by the Canadian Association of Gastroenterology at MacMaster University to develop her PhD. Continued her training as Neurogastroenterologists at the Royal London hospital and UCLH. She is currently one of the GI physiology Unit leads at UCLH, Consultant in Neurogastroenterology, Honorary Consultant at GOSH and lead of the UCLH Adolescent Neurogastro transition service.

She is passionate about promoting training in the field to guarantee evidenced based experience and management and the development of new technologies to assess gut sensorimotor function. Dr Zarate-Lopez has published extensively in the field, contributing to the recent European Guidelines in Functional Dyspepsia and Gastroparesis.

• Senior Specialist in Gastroenterology - Jaber hospital
• BMBCH Kuwait University Faculty of Medicine 2008
• Saudi Board in Internal Medicine 2015
• Saudi fellowship in gastroenterology 2022

Dr. Maheeba Abdulla is Consultant of Internal Medicine, Gastroenterology and Hepatology at Ibn AlNafees Hospital, and Associate Professor of Medicine at Arabian Gulf University, Bahrain.

Dr. Abdulla graduated with honors in general nursing and subsequently completed her degree in Biomedical Sciences and Doctorate of Medicine from the College of Medicine and Medical Sciences at the Arabian Gulf University in Bahrain.

After gaining her medical degree, she completed her residency and subsequently undertook an international fellowship in gastroenterology and Hepatology at king Faisal Specialist Hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia followed by two fellowships in liver transplantation and advanced therapeutic endoscopy at King’s College London and Queen Alexandra Hospital, Portsmouth, both in the UK. She is a member of the Royal College of Physician (MRCP, Gastroenterology) UK. She has published several original articles and presented posters at international meetings. At present her research interests focus on hepatitis C virus infection, Hepatitis B virus infection and inflammatory bowel disease.