Peter Gibson is Professor of Gastroenterology at the School of Translational Medicine, Monash University, having previously been Professor-Director at Alfred Health, and prior to that, Professor of Medicine at Eastern Health and Head of the Eastern Health Clinical School. From a background of research in epithelial cell biology, he directs a program of translational research with major foci being in inflammatory bowel disease, coeliac disease and irritable bowel syndrome. Major foci of his work include the use of non-pharmacological therapy to control gut symptoms and influence outcomes in chronic intestinal conditions, and the optimisation of clinical management in inflammatory bowel disease. Examples of his team’s contribution include the development and evaluation of the Monash University FODMAP diet that has changed paradigms of therapy for people with irritable bowel syndrome across the world, and bringing reality into the role of gluten in gut conditions (other than in coeliac disease). He is a Past-President of the Gastroenterological Society of Australia and was the founder and inaugural Chair of IBD-Australia. His team have won many prestigious awards including Ten-of-the-Best in 2016 by the National Health & Medical Research Council and the Vice Chancellor’s Award Excellence in Research Impact (Economic and Social Impact) in 2016. He has personally received many awards that include the Distinguished Research Prize by the Gastroenterological Society of Australia in 2010 and the Web of Science Highly Cited Researchers Awards in 2020, 2021 and 2022.

Dr Yoon An is a gastroenterologist and endoscopist who combines public and private practice at Mater Hospital Brisbane, Mater Private Hospital Brisbane and Mater Private Hospital Redland. She is the Head of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) at Mater Hospital Brisbane and the Clinical Lead of IBD Clinical Trials Unit at Mater Research, a world class centre of clinical and research excellence. She also holds a senior lecturer position at the University of Queensland. Dr An is a co-founder of GutTalk, a social media platform empowering patients and communities by closing the communication and knowledge gap in Gut Health.

Dr An completed her Medical Science degree (BMedSc) at the University of Sydney and her Medical degree (MBBS) at the University of Queensland. She undertook her physician and advanced gastroenterology training at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital and Mater Hospital Brisbane. She completed a clinical and research fellowship in IBD at the Mater Hospital Brisbane. She completed the executive business and leadership training program at the University of Oxford Said Business School and MBA through Griffith University. She is currently pursuing a PhD through the University of Queensland.

Dr An is a passionate advocate for optimising patient outcomes through a holistic approach to care including personalised treatment plans to manage digestive health and incorporation of clinical and translational research. She is an active IBD clinician and researcher as well as a patient advocate. Her own research focusses on real-world effectiveness of biologic therapy in IBD and the use of intestinal ultrasound to monitor disease activity and predict responses to therapy while minimising the need for endoscopic assessments. She drives collaborative research projects throughout Australia and is actively involved with the Australia New Zealand Inflammatory Bowel Disease Consortium (ANZIBDC), the Gastroenterology Network for Intestinal Ultrasound (GENIUS) and the Gastroenterological Society of Australia (GESA). She has affiliations with many Gastroenterology and IBD societies and has a national presence through her numerous symposia and conference presentations.

Mayur Garg is Director of Gastroenterology and Research Executive Committee Officer at Northern Health, Clinical Associate Professor at University of Melbourne and member of the Scientific Committee of the ANZ IBD Consortium. His clinical and research interests include IBD, interventional colonoscopy, functional gastrointestinal disorders, iron deficiency and eosinophilic oesophagitis. He recently co-convened the inaugural GESA AGW Postgraduate Course, and chaired the working group for the development of patient information resources for GESA. He previously completed his PhD at Monash University investigating novel therapeutic targets in IBD, and was awarded fellowships at St Mark’s Hospital in London including the GESA Olympus Endoscopy Fellowship and ECCO Fellowship.

Abhey Singh moved to Australia after gaining his medical degree in India. He completed his Advanced Gastroenterology training in Perth and then undertook a two-year clinical and research fellowship in Inflammatory Bowel Disease from Exeter, UK focusing on management of complex inflammatory bowel disease as well as research into IBD pharmacogenetics.

Since returning to Perth, he has been working in Fiona Stanley Hospital as a consultant Gastroenterologist where he is the clinical lead for Inflammatory Bowel Diseases and till recently was the Head of Department.

He has keen interest in optimal monitoring and treatment of complex inflammatory bowel disease. He is dedicated to improve provisioning of patient centric, multi-disciplinary IBD services in hospital as well as community setting.

Associate Professor Robert Bryant is Head of the Inflammatory Bowel Disease service at The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Research Lead at the Basil Hetzel Institute, Chair GESA IBD Faculty, previous Chair Gastroenterology Network of Intestinal Ultrasound (GENIUS), and Clinical Associate Professor at the University of Adelaide.

Rob undertook a Clinical Fellowship in Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IBD) at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford, after which he completed a Master of Science by Research (MScR) at the University of Oxford in the field of genetics and mucosal immunology in IBD. He thereafter completed a PhD at the University of Adelaide in the area of treatment targets in IBD, for which he was awarded a University Medal.

Rob leads the intestinal ultrasound service at TQEH and coordinates a clinical and translational research program exploring therapeutic manipulation of the microbiome in IBD, both through diet and faecal microbial transplantation. He has been awarded the Michell McGrath Fellowship from The Hospital Research Foundation to pursue microbial manipulation in IBD.

Dr Paramsothy is a Consultant Gastroenterologist & Hepatologist with a subspecialty interest in IBD. He completed an NHMRC postgraduate scholarship funded PhD evaluating faecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) in ulcerative colitis, and subsequently undertook post-doctoral Advanced IBD fellowships at both the University of Chicago Medicine Hospital and Mount Sinai Hospital New York. He is now based at Concord Repatriation General Hospital, Sydney co-managing their IBD service. He is an NHMRC Emerging Leadership Fellow and remains active in IBD teaching, supervision and research, involved in collaborative clinical and translational research studies in IBD, FMT and the gastrointestinal microbiota.

Taryn is a Senior Health Psychologist with the Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) Service at the Royal Adelaide Hospital and at Inspired Psychology. She gained general registration in 2012, completed her Master of Health Psychology at the University of Adelaide in 2014 and recently completed her PhD on psychological care for people with IBD through Deakin University.

Dr Thin is a Consultant Gastroenterologist at Fiona Stanley Hospital with a special interest in managing complex Inflammatory Bowel Disease patients. Dr Thin is the IBD Research Lead Fiona Stanley Hospital and sits on numerous advisory boards. She is an IBUS and GENIUS accredited gastrointestinal sonographer and continues to work actively in the IBD research.

Anke Nguyen is a gastroenterologist and hepatologist located in Melbourne, Victoria. She graduated with a Bachelor of Medicine from Deakin University in 2012. Her gastroenterology training was undertaken at major metropolitan centres in Melbourne, followed by a 1.5 year-research fellowship at Charité Universitaetsmedizin Berlin, Germany. Anke completed her PhD through Monash University in December 2023, where she conducted a prospective study examining changes in body composition and methods of assessing body composition in patients with inflammatory bowel disease.

Dr Alice Day is a post-doctoral researcher with the Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) Translational Research Group at The Queen Elizabeth Hospital & Basil Hetzel Institute in Adelaide, South Australia and holds an adjunct clinical role as an IBD dietitian. Alice completed her PhD in 2021 on food-related quality of life and therapeutic dietary interventions for ulcerative colitis at The University of Adelaide. Alice now co-leads a research program with a focus on investigating interventional approaches to manipulate the gut microbiome for therapeutic effect, in particular faecal microbiota transplantation and novel dietary therapies. The IBD research group is a multidisciplinary team comprising of gastroenterologists, scientists, trials nurses, PhD candidates and research dietitians. Alice is principal investigator on an active placebo-controlled randomised controlled trial investigating a sulphide-reducing diet as therapy for people with ulcerative colitis. In her clinical role Alice has established South Australia’s first dedicated IBD-diet clinic and Alice’s group are exploring new models of care for delivering dietary care in gastroenterology clinics.

Dr John Chetwood is a gastroenterologist with a specialist interest in IBD. John is a clinician and PhD candidate at St Vincent’s Hospital in Melbourne, and holds an academic lectureship with the University of Sydney. His principal research interests include methods to optimise biological agents in IBD, for which he has been awarded a prestigious NHMRC postgraduate scholarship to undertake a PhD.

Dr. Haifer completed a PhD through The University of Sydney assessing the role of the gut microbiome and faecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) in the management of various conditions including ulcerative colitis. During this time, Dr Haifer led the national guidelines using FMT. He also completed the first clinical trial using orally administered capsule FMT in the management of ulcerative colitis.
Dr. Haifer works in the IBD and gastroenterology service at at St Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney and is a conjoint Associate Professor through UNSW where he actively investigating the role of the microbiome in the development of various diseases including immunotherapy associated colitis and using FMT to modulate the microbiome with the aim of treating and preventing this disease and potentially altering the underlying response to cancer therapy.

Dr Heidi Staudacher is an advanced accredited practising dietitian and NHMRC Emerging Leadership Fellow at the Food & Mood Centre at Deakin University. Her PhD studies, funded by a prestigious NIHR Clinical Doctoral Research Fellowship, led to the discovery that a low FODMAP diet shifts the gut microbiome in irritable bowel syndrome, and that probiotic co-administration can mitigate these effects. Her current research aims to evaluate diet interventions in common mental disorders and in IBS. Her research also investigates the nature and relevance of diet-induced microbiome shifts with the ultimate aim of developing better treatments. She has >70 publications and is the recipient of >$3.7mill research funding. Heidi’s research has significantly expanded knowledge on irritable bowel syndrome treatment and underpins clinical guidelines globally. She was a highly commended finalist for the Griffith University Research Australia Discovery Award in 2021 and serves on the Rome V Treatment Trials committee.

A/Prof Santosh Sanagapalli is a gastroenterologist, clinician researcher, and specialist in swallowing disorders. He undertook a clinical research fellowship in gastrointestinal physiology at University College London and completed his PhD at the University of Sydney. He established the Centre for Swallowing & Oesophageal Disorders at St Vincent’s Hospital Sydney where he runs an active clinical research program. His research is primarily focused on advancing the methodology and utility of the technology used to investigate swallowing disorders and reflux, including high-resolution manometry, ambulatory reflux monitoring, endoscopy and barium oesophagography.

Jessica Fitzpatrick is specialist gastrointestinal dietitian and PhD candidate, investigating emulsifiers in Crohn’s disease. She completed her Masters of Research in body composition in Crohn’s disease. She is the proud recipient of the Crohn’s Colitis Australia PhD Scholarship, GESA Young Investigator Award and DECCO travel grant. Jessica the founder of DECCAN, the Dietitians Crohn’s and Colitis Australian Network which connects over 100 Australian/ New Zealand IBD dietitians.

Dr Aviv Pudipeddi is a Staff Specialist Gastroenterologist at Concord Hospital and Clinical Senior Lecturer with the University of Sydney and Australian National University. He currently serves as a member on the GESA IBD Faculty and Young GESA Faculty. He recently completed his NHMRC scholarship-supported PhD, examining ways to optimise the use of biological medications in IBD, culminating in both national and international awards.

Simon Knowles is an Associate Professor of Clinical and Health Psychology and Clinical Psychologist based at Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne. Simon is a recognised leading expert in the field of Psychogastroenterology. He has attained over AUD$5.9 million in competitive funding, has over 100 peer reviewed publications and also co-edited four books, with the two most recent identified as the leading handbooks for mental health professionals in pediatric and adult Psychogastroenterology. His research has been cited in several leading medical texts (e.g., DSM-5-TR, upcoming Rome-V) and national and international treatment guides and standards for gastrointestinal conditions. Simon has also developed multiple online resources and psychological support programs for psychological distress associated with IBD (www.IBD.Mindovergut.com) and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS; www.IBS.Mindovergut.com), and gastroparesis (www.gastroparesisclinic.org). Together, these eHealth resources have been used by over 600,000 individuals worldwide.

A/Prof Rebecca Burgell is a consultant gastroenterologist at Alfred Health and Monash University in Melbourne with an interest in functional gastrointestinal disorders, clinical nutrition, inflammatory bowel disease and pelvic floor dysfunction. She is the Head of the Functional Gastrointestinal disorders service at Alfred Health and medical lead of the Home Enteral Nutrition Program.
Dr Burgell is passionate about advancing the multi-discipline care of patients with Functional GI disorders and improving our understanding of the contributing factors to symptom generation and impact on quality of life.
Her research interests include exploring novel models of care for patients with functional bowel disorders, non-invasive neuromodulation techniques, exploring the intraluminal environment in health and disease and the use of intestinal ultrasound in patients with functional bowel disorders.

Professor Susan Connor is a Senior Staff Specialist who established and leads one of Australia’s busiest adult Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) Services at Liverpool Hospital in South Western Sydney Local Health District (SWSLHD); she is Conjoint Professor with University of NSW (UNSW) and heads one of SWSLHD Academic Units (2018-present).

Prof Connor obtained her Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery from the University of New South Wales in 1991, graduating with first class honours. She undertook residency at Prince of Wales/Prince Henry Hospitals before continuing her training as a Physician in Gastroenterology at Concord Hospital. Following this Prof Connor obtained her Fellowship at the Royal Australian College of Physicians in 1998. In 2005, she completed her PhD on mucosal immunology in IBD at UNSW and received a postgraduate NHMRC fellowship.

Prof Connor received the Australia Day Award for Contribution to Health, Liverpool Council for her work in IBD. She is an active advocate for Inflammatory Bowel Disease care. She is currently on the Board of the IBD charity Crohn’s Colitis Cure and co-designer of the IBD Clinical Management Software Crohn’s Colitis Care including the real-time Clinical Quality Registry that lies behind it. Other current IBD representation includes Australian Faculty for Cornerstones Health, Editorial board member Inflammatory Bowel Diseases Journal, member of the spECTRUM consortium (International Consortium of the Therapeutic Drug Monitoring), Member of the International Fistulising Crohn’s Disease Consortium and member of the ANZIBD Consortium. Past representation includes Chair of the IBD Faculty within the Gastroenterological Society of Australia, committee member for Crohn’s & Colitis Australia and executive committee member for the ANZIBD Consortium. She is a keen supporter of medical education and of fostering undergraduate and postgraduate research students to ensure a sustainable future for optimising patient care.

Jesica Makanyanga is a consultant gastroenterologist with a sub-speciality interest in inflammatory bowel disease at Fiona Stanley Hospital.

Dr Sasha Fehily is a gastroenterologist and clinician researcher working at St Vincent’s Hospital and undertaking a PhD through the University of Melbourne. Her Masters of Public Health and work overseas in developing countries has shaped her holistic and open-minded approach that encompasses the public health sphere.
Her research involves examining the human microbiome and she is currently leading a trial evaluating faecal transplant in Crohn’s disease.

Greg Moore is Head of IBD at Monash Medical Centre in Melbourne and an Associate Professor at Monash University. He is a former Chair of the Australian Inflammatory Bowel Diseases Association and a Board member of Crohn’s and Colitis Australia and Chair of the Medical and Scientific Committee of CCA. He graduated from Monash University and completed Gastroenterology training at Monash Medical Centre and St. Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne. He then undertook a basic science PhD at the University of Melbourne, and returned to found the Inflammatory Bowel Diseases Unit at Monash Medical Centre in 2007 where he oversees a multi-disciplinary IBD clinic providing tertiary referral services to the South East of Melbourne and country Victoria. Greg combines ongoing translational and clinical research and is an active undergraduate and post-graduate teacher.

Dr Ruth Hodgson is a Gastroenterologist who undertook her medical education at New College, Oxford and St George’s Hospital Medical School, London and her medical training in and around London and Devon, England. Specialist training included time at the Hammersmith Hospital under Professor Humphrey Hodgson, and St Mark’s National Bowel Hospital under Dr Simon Gabe, Professor Alastair Forbes and Professor Michael Kamm. Dr Hodgson took time out to sail a small yacht from New Zealand to France over four years. This preceded a move to Brisbane via the British Virgin Islands and Bermuda 20 years ago. Since then she has been a Senior Medical Officer at The Prince Charles Hospital for 15 years, expanding the GE unit from 1 to 11 SMOs and between two and three advanced trainees. During that time she spent ten years of service at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital developing the Intestinal Failure service, establishing the very busy oesophageal physiology service and IBD service at TPCH and contributing to the education and training of medical students from University of Queensland and advanced trainees in Gastroenterology. Dr Hodgson is also a co-director of Brisbane Gastro.