WEO Newsletter: ENDO 2024 was a great success! Thanks to all who participated

Professor Hisao Tajiri, WEO and ENDO 2024 President made the following statement:

“ENDO 2024 had 3200 participants from all over the world despite the current medical strike happening in Korea, and we were able to have an intimate international exchange through many symposia, live demonstrations, hands-on courses, receptions, and so on. Many young doctors from developing countries in Asia also participated in the Congress. I believe that our WEO was instrumental in fulfilling its mission in terms of education for developing countries.

I sincerely appreciate the strong support of Prof Hoon Jai Chun, ENDO 2024 Congress Co-President and Prof Jong-Jae Park, President of KSGE [Korean Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy] and IDEN [International Digestive Endoscopy Network], and many other doctors involved in KSGE.

And I also thank organizing committee members of ENDO 2024, Dr. Jean-Francois Rey, Chair of the Steering Committee, Drs. Philip Chiu and Jong Ho Moon, Chair and Co-Chair of the Scientific Committee, Dr. Robert Hawes, Treasurer, Dr. Yutaka Saito, WEO Secretary General, colleagues in Japan, and all other organizing committee members including WEO office staff. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all of them.

From Seoul, Korea, through the top experts of GI endoscopy, new insights and bright futures were brought to many endoscopists. I believe that the three-day program met the expectations of all gastroenterologists, endoscopists, and nurses who participated in ENDO 2024. The overwhelming response we have received from the participants, faculty, and industry alike is a great testament to the quality of the Congress and its high relevance to continuing education and to medical advancement; the initiation of both of those is part of WEO's mission, as well as maintaining the quality of endoscopic teaching.

Some highlights of ENDO 2024 included six outstanding live demonstrations and discussions from three international and three of the most advanced Korean centers, 22 hands-on training stations, 8 of WEO's best-established educational courses, 10 joint symposia with our global partners, 5 KSGE-IDEN sessions and 2 young endoscopist forums, 17 sessions presenting the ENDO 2024 best oral abstracts, and 23 innovative industry symposia.

ENDO 2024 was honored to host several distinguished educational lectures, by Joo Young Cho (Korea), Fabian Emura (Colombia), Ian Gralnek (Israel), and Nageshwar Reddy (India).

As is traditional at ENDO congresses, the learning track offered well-established WEO courses including the Advanced Diagnosis Endoscopy Course (ADEC), Colorectal Cancer Screening Committee meetings, WEO International School of Endoscopy (WISE) sessions, the Research Forum, Video Capsule Endoscopy (VCE) and High-Q courses. A Women in Endoscopy session was held for the first time, covering gender-related aspects of endoscopy. ENDO 2024 President Hisao Tajiri commemorated this as the last session of the last day.

The WEO Awards were established in 2020 to recognize outstanding leaders who have significantly contributed to the field of endoscopy worldwide and to the fulfilment of the WEO mission.

After careful evaluation, the WEO Awards Committee led by WEO President, Hisao Tajiri (Japan) and composed of representatives of all WEO zones, is very pleased to announce the 2024 recipients of its four prestigious awards:

Dr. Jerry Waye (USA), WEO Lifetime Achievement Award 2024

Dr. Jerry Waye has been at the Mount Sinai Hospital in New York for his entire medical career, following graduation cum laude from Boston University School of Medicine which he attended after graduating from MIT.

A past president of ASGE and recipient of the Rudolf Schindler Award, Dr. Waye's many accomplishments include groundbreaking work on colonoscopy and polypectomy techniques, and he has become one of the world's most impactful teachers and mentors in this field. He has published several hundred articles in peer-reviewed journals and has written seven textbooks including the major text on colonoscopy. He has lectured and participated in live endoscopy demonstrations on every continent. Dr. Waye was a co-founder and president of the New York Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy and a past president of the World Endoscopy Organization. He was also President of the Mount Sinai Alumni Association and received its highest honor, the Gold Cane Award. He pioneered remote endoscopy education, teaching GI endoscopy techniques to colleagues in several African countries via a virtual platform.

Dr. Fabian Emura (USA), WEO Master Endoscopist Award 2024

Dr. Fabian Emura has been awarded the WEO Master Endoscopist Award.

Dr. Emura is a full-time gastroenterologist and advanced therapeutic endoscopist at the Digestive Health and Liver Diseases Division of the University of Miami and the Surgical Endoscopy Center at Jackson Memorial Hospital. With over 20 years of experience, Dr. Emura is deeply involved in gastrointestinal cancer research and publication. His focus lies in endoscopic diagnosis and treatment of early tumors, as well as image-enhanced endoscopy. Having taught over 260 gastroenterologists worldwide in advanced endoscopic techniques, Dr. Emura is a pioneer in minimally invasive therapies for esophageal, gastric, and colorectal cancer in Latin America. Additionally, he holds the patent for the global clinical application of systematic alphanumeric code endoscopy (SACE) for early upper GI cancer diagnosis and has made remarkable contributions to colon polyps categorization using NBI technology. Notably, since 2006, he has funded an annual stomach cancer screening program in Colombia, benefiting over 2200 economically disadvantaged patients. Dr. Emura's contributions also include the development of novel endoscopic techniques for treating cancer patients, particularly those with Barrett's neoplasia, laterally spreading tumors in the colon, and rectal cancer. The Medical Associations have awarded Dr. Emura numerous national and international recognitions, such as the 2016 Presidential Award by the Colombian Society of Endoscopy, the 2020 International Service Award by the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, and the 2023 International Service Award by the InterAmerican Society of GI Endoscopy.

Dr. Emura has contributed significantly to numerous programs in the World Endoscopy Organization and held several leadership positions including the President of the organization from 2020–2022.

Dr. Evelien Dekker (The Netherlands), WEO Research Mentoring Award 2024

Dr. Evelien Dekker, Professor at the Gastroenterology department of Amsterdam University Medical Centers, has been awarded the WEO Research Mentoring Award.

Evelien Dekker is Professor of Gastrointestinal Oncology at the University of Amsterdam's Faculty of Medicine (UvA) and the Amsterdam University Medical Centers (AUMC). She heads the AUMC expert clinic for familial and hereditary polyposis and colorectal cancer (CRC) and is medical director of the Bergman IZA expertise center for endoscopy.

She combines her clinical work with clinical and translational research, having chaired the CRC research group at the AUMC Gastroenterology department since 2005. This group focuses on screening and surveillance for CRC, both in average-risk individuals (population screening) and high-risk populations such as those with hereditary polyposis and cancer syndromes. Her research work also includes quality and advanced techniques in colonoscopy, and endoscopic treatment modalities for gastrointestinal polyps and early cancers.

Dr. Dekker has been one of the leading lights of the Dutch national CRC screening program and is currently the global chair of WEO's Colorectal Cancer Screening Committee.

Dr. Seigo Kitano (Japan), WEO Distinguished Educator Award 2024

Professor Seigo Kitano was awarded the WEO Distinguished Educator Award.

He is President of Endoscopic Surgery, Oita University, and current President of Oita University, Japan.

Professor Kitano graduated from Kyushu University School of Medicine and obtained his MD in 1976. After surgical training at Kyushu University Hospital, he finished a four-year course at the Postgraduate School of Kyushu University School of Medicine and received his PhD in 1981.

Professor Kitano's leadership roles include the Presidencies of The Asian-Pacific Society for Digestive Endoscopy (APSDE; from 2014 until the present) the Mekong Endosurgery Development Association (MESDA) (of which he is also the founder), and Asian Medical Education and Training Support (AMETS). He is also President Emeritus of the Japan Society for Endoscopic Surgery, and Advisor to the Japan Gastroenterological Endoscopy Society.

He became President of Oita University in 2011. Notably in 2012, he was elected as the 5th President of the International Federation of Societies of Endoscopic Surgeons (IFSES) by a unanimous decision. He served in this role until 2016.

This year live demonstrations were streamed during the first two days of the Congress from three world-renowned endoscopy centers in India, Thailand, and China, and also from the three most advanced hospitals in Korea. More than 100 doctors, technicians, and nurses worked together to share the most advanced endoscopic procedures. The six sessions were chaired by 17 eminent international faculty, with live discussion and interaction with experts at each of the following venues: the Asian Institute of Gastroenterology (AIG), India, the King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital, Bangkok, Thailand, the Chinese PLA General Hospital, China, and from Korea, the University of Ulsan Asan Medical Center, Korea University Anam Hospital, and Yonsei University Sinchon Severance Hospital, Korea.

Four video cases with live discussion were presented from highly renowned Japanese institutions, namely Tokyo Medical University, Osaka International Cancer Institute, Sano Hospital, and Dokkyo Medical University School of Medicine.

Authors of nearly 80 top-ranked abstracts received grants from WEO and our partner societies, the Japan Gastroenterological Endoscopy Society (JGES), the Asian-Pacific Society of Digestive Endoscopy (A-PSDE), and the Chinese Society of Digestive Endoscopology (CSDE).

A total of 250 international and local faculty members from more than 30 countries contributed to the enormous success of the event. Nearly 40 scientific sessions and about 300 expert presentations, including honorary lectures, provided every delegate with a learning experience tailored to their particular interest.

The industry presence was enormous, and companies had the chance to showcase their latest technology, as well as using ENDO 2024 as the best platform to reconnect with the clinicians.

On behalf of Professor Hisao Tajiri, ENDO 2024 President, and Professor Hoon Jai Chun, ENDO 2024 Co-President, WEO would like to thank all these faculty and partnering societies for their hard work and time in preparing for and presenting their sessions. Their contribution to the success of ENDO 2024 was absolutely crucial! Also, special thanks to all participants and industry for their great support too!

ENDO 2024 was unique and truly special. Thank you again for being a part of it!

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