Board of Directors

Lorenzo Ferri
Montreal General Hospital, Montreal, QC, Canada

It is an honour to serve on the ISDE Board of Directors as Vice President, a society I have faithfully served since attending my first meeting in Adelaide over 15 years ago. I am an esophageal surgeon at McGill University in Montreal Canada and director of the division of Thoracic and Upper Gastrointestinal Surgery at this institution.

In addition to being an active clinician directing the multidisciplinary McGill University Program in Upper Gastrointestinal Cancers, I am a tenured professor and scientist in the Departments of Surgery and Oncology. Through these roles, I have spearheaded numerous initiatives designed to improve outcomes in esophageal surgery and upper GI cancer through carefully coordinated basic, translational, and clinical scientific research.

Over the past 20 years I have been fortunate to have benefited from numerous peer review grants from funding agencies in North America and Europe for my work into the inflammatory basis of cancer progression and metastasis. In 2019, I was a part of an international team of scientists who received a Cancer Research UK Grand Challenge to investigate the stromal drivers underpinning Barrett’s adenocarcinoma progression.

My roles in ISDE include being the program co-chair of the 2020-2021 ISDE World Congress and serving as associate editor of the Disease of the Esophagus journal since 2015. I look forward to contributing and continuing my service to the ISDE as Vice President.

Neil Gupta

Loyola University Medical Center, USA

Dr. Gupta has served the ISDE as the co-Editor in Chief of Diseases of the Esophagus since 2016.  He has clinical and research interests in diagnostic and therapeutic endoscopy, malignant and pre-malignant conditions of the gastrointestinal tract, and improving the quality of endoscopy. He has published over 100 papers in peer reviewed medical journals, presented over 200 abstracts at national medical conferences, and written chapters for several medical textbooks.  Dr. Gupta has been very active in multiple gastroenterology medical societies and has served on several committees for the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) and the American Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ASGE).

Hideaki Shimada
Toho University Graduate School of Medicine, Japan

I am professor of the Department of Surgery and Clinical Oncology, of Toho University, Tokyo, Japan. My main clinical work is dedicated to esophageal and gastric cancer surgery. I'm in charge of the guidelines for the treatment of esophageal cancer and gastric cancer. My main research & scientific interests are immunotherapy and biomarkers to improve overall prognosis of cancer patients. I am scheduled to be a president of the Annual congress of Japanese Esophageal Society in September, 2022. I have been a board member and program committee of ISDE. I am very pleased and honored to be given the opportunity to take charge of financial operations as a Treasurer at the ISDE Board. I also want to take full advantage of the opportunities to work to develop international cooperation for the benefit of ISDE and its members.

• Publications and editorial activities on scientific field are shown below:
• A total of 560 publications, Total Citation=11305, h-index=54, i10-index=212
• Editor & Associate editor: Cancer Science, Int J Clin Oncology, Ann Gastroenterological Surgery, Esophagus, Gastric Cancer, Ann Thoracic Cardiovascular Surgery, J Hepato-Biliary-Pancreatic Science, Toho J Medicine
• Editorial Board: J Gastroenterology, Digestive Surgery, World J Gastroenterology, J Surgical Oncology, Dis Esophagus etc.

Nicholas J. Shaheen
University of North Carolina, USA

I am a gastroenterologist and professor of medicine at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, and Chief of the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at UNC. I specialize in endoscopic treatment of precancerous and cancerous conditions of the esophagus, and am an active clinical researcher in these areas. I am a longstanding member of the ISDE and support its mission. The unique multidisciplinary and international nature of the group provides a perspective not found elsewhere, and leads to enriched and stimulating academic interaction. I have enjoyed serving as a co-chair of the planning committee for our upcoming virtual Congress, and addressing the challenges presented by mounting a meeting in the time of a pandemic.

I have extensive administrative experience, both at my institution and in professional organizations, which make me well-suited for this position. In addition to managing our GI division and the clinical research center here at UNC, I have served as the Director of the American College of Gastroenterology Institute, the research and education arm of the ACG. I have also been a trustee of that organization for the past decade. I also served the American Gastroenterological Association as head of the Clinical Practice section, and a member of AGA Council. I am highly collaborative and believe that the best ideas to engage a professional society usually originate from the membership up, not the leadership down. I am honored to be elected in this position, and will work hard to promote the ISDE in national and international venues.

Vani Konda
Baylor University Medical Center, USA

Vani J.A. Konda, MD is a gastroenterologist with clinical expertise in esophageal diseases including Barrett's esophagus, early esophageal cancer, achalasia, swallowing disorders, eosinophilic esophagitis, reflux, and complex esophageal strictures. She completed her residency and fellowship training and remained on faculty at University of Chicago in Chicago, Illinois. Since 2017, she has served as the Medical Director at the Baylor Scott and White Center for Esophageal Diseases at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas, Texas. Collaborating with other gastroenterologists, surgeons, and otolaryngologists, she has developed a clinical multidisciplinary program for complex benign and malignant disorders of the esophagus. She actively participates in a unique multidisciplinary, translational research program at the Baylor Scott and White Center for Esophageal Research. Her research interests have focused primarily on premalignant lesions of the gastrointestinal tract, in particular Barrett’s esophagus and advanced endoscopic imaging. She has authored over 100 articles, book chapters, and videos. She has been active in the International Society of Diseases of the Esophagus (ISDE) on the Board of Directors and as Communications Committee Co-chair and in the three major national societies, American Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ASGE), American Gastroenterological Association (AGA), and the American College of Gastroenterology (ACG).

Ken Kato
National Cancer Center Hospital, Japan

I am a medical oncologist and chief of Department of Head and Neck, and Esophageal Medical Oncology, and Gastrointestinal Medical Oncology, National Cancer Center Hospital, 2020-2022, and chief, Biobank Translational Research Support Section, Clinical Research Coordinating Section, Clinical Research Support Office, National Cancer Center Hospital. My primary interest is chemotherapy and chemoradiotherapy for oesophageal, esophagogastric, and gastric cancer. I am a group coordinator of the Japan Esophageal Oncology Group of JCOG, the most significant clinical trial group for cancer in Japan.

Our group has conducted clinical trials to develop new chemotherapy for metastatic disease and early oesophageal cancer in multimodality therapy. As a study coordinator, I conducted the randomized phase III trial, which compared the surgery and chemoradiotherapy for clinical stage I oesophageal squamous carcinoma, named JCOG0502, which reported the non-inferiority of chemoradiotherapy to surgery. The randomized phase III trial of neoadjuvant therapy for resectable oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma, named JCOG1109, showed superior survival of triplet-chemotherapy over doublet-chemotherapy. This trial gave a new aspect to neoadjuvant therapy for esophageal cancer.

To develop new drugs, such as immune-checkpoint inhibitors, I committed to the international phase III trial of oesophageal cancer as a steering committee member, for example, ATTRACTION-3 KEYNOTE-590, CheckMate-649, RATIONALE-306, and others. 

I am a director of the Japan Esophageal Society (JES) and am committed to international conferences in Asia and the public relations activity of JES. I am honored to be serving on the ISDE Board of Directors  and I will work hard to promote the ISDE in national and international venues.