New members of the H-ECCO Committee
Gert De Hertogh, H-ECCO Chair
 Gert De Hertogh © ECCO |
As the new chair of the H-ECCO Committee, it is my pleasure to introduce our two newly elected members for 2020, Ann Driessen and Pamela Baldin, who are both Belgian pathologists. Thus, the current members of the H-ECCO Committee are: Monika Tripathi (Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge, UK), Francesca Rosini (Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, London, UK), Ann Driessen, Pamela Baldin, and myself, Gert De Hertogh (University Hospitals KULeuven, Belgium).
Ann Driessen works at the University Hospital Antwerp, Belgium. She is deputy chief of the laboratory and responsible for gastrointestinal and hepatobiliopancreatic pathology. Ann is also a staff member of the IBD clinic at her hospital. She was one of the co-authors of the 2013 European consensus document on the histopathology of IBD. Her research interests include upper GI tract and colorectal neoplasia (including dysplasia and cancer in IBD), fatty liver disease and medication-induced colitis. She also serves as the vice-president of the Digestive Diseases Working Group of the Belgian Society of Pathology.
Pamela Baldin works as a GI pathologist at the University Hospitals Saint-Luc, UCLouvain in Brussels, Belgium. Her main research interest is colorectal carcinogenesis, but she is also involved in paediatric and foetoplacental pathology.
 Ann Driessen © ECCO |
 Pamela Baldin © ECCO |
I have taken over as chair of the Committee from Roger Feakins, and will remain in the position for two years. My hospital has a large IBD clinic, and IBD pathology has been my main research interest for many years. My PhD thesis was on the detection and identification of bacterial DNA in Crohn’s Disease lesions. Since then, I have worked with our gastroenterologists in many studies on IBD pathogenesis and diagnosis. I also analyse biopsy material for clinical trials in IBD patients.
The H-ECCO Committee will continue to provide their expertise for all ECCO Activities and to promote better understanding and cooperation between histopathologists and IBD clinicians. We will do so by means of our yearly H-ECCO IBD Masterclasses and our participation in various working groups and guideline committees. We are considering setting up slide seminars under the auspices of ECCO to foster teaching efforts in IBD pathology.
I want to use this occasion to sincerely thank our two outgoing members, Roger Feakins and Magali Svrcek, for their efforts on behalf of H-ECCO over many years, and for their broader service to the ECCO Community. We wish them all the best for the future in their respective new positions.
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