Introduction of new P-ECCO Committee Members for 2023

Séamus Hussey: Séamus comes from Co. Kerry, Ireland – the most beautiful of Ireland’s counties. They are also the most successful county at Ireland’s national sport, Gaelic football. Paediatric IBD is a clinical and research passion for Séamus. He is one of four full-time paediatric gastroenterologists in Ireland, working at Children’s Health Ireland in Dublin. He returned to Ireland in 2010 after completing a fellowship in paediatric gastroenterology, hepatology and nutrition at the Hospital for Sick Children (Sickkids), Toronto, Canada. His research fellowship was in cell biology and immunology at the University of Toronto, focusing on translating the genetic causes of Inflammatory Bowel Disease. He was appointed as an Associate Clinical Professor at the Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland in 2016 and Clinical Professor in Paediatrics at University College Dublin in 2021. Séamus has a number of clinical leadership and healthcare advisory roles in Ireland. Séamus established the DOCHAS (the Gaelic word for ‘hope’) study (Determinants and Outcomes in Children and Adolescents with IBD) in 2011, a national prospective inception cohort study of paediatric IBD. This encompasses the themes of epidemiology, translational science and clinical outcomes research. Séamus is a winner of substantial competitive and pharma-sponsored grants, including the ECCO Grant 2021–2022. He has published more than 60 manuscripts in peer-reviewed journals, aiming for the highest ranked journals in the field. He is also a member of the Porto Group of ESPGHAN and has contributed to clinical guidelines, position papers and educational activities in paediatric IBD. Séamus likes a nice pint of Guinness or a good Irish whiskey. He also has protected time for gardening while gradually building his second career as a future farmer.

Firas Rinawi: Firas was born in Nazareth, Israel where he currently lives with his wife and three children. In 2020 he was appointed Head of the Paediatric Gastroenterology Service at the Emek Medical Centre, Afula (a large tertiary centre in Northern Israel) and Clinical Assistant Professor in the Ruth and Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, Technion, Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel. Paediatric IBD is a clinical and research passion for Firas. He completed his paediatric gastroenterology training at the Institute for Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, the Schneider Children's Hospital, Petah Tikva, Israel and remained there as a senior attending gastroenterologist before enhancing his training as a clinical and research fellow in paediatric gastroenterology and advanced IBD at the Institute for Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, Hospital for Sick Children (Sickkids), Toronto, Canada. Firas has published approximately 40 manuscripts in peer-reviewed journals, mostly focusing on long-term outcomes of paediatric patients with IBD. Firas is a talented biker and a poker player with an inclination for pure honesty.