TCD’s Dean of Health Sciences Elected President of the United European Gastroenterology Federation

Posted on: 18 December 2009

Professor Colm O’Morain, Dean of Health Sciences at Trinity College Dublin and consultant gastroenterologist at the Adelaide and Meath Hospital, Dublin incorporating the National Children’s Hospital, Tallagh (AMNCH), was recently elected President of the United European Gastroenterology Federation (UEGF).  The UEGF represents over 22,000 specialists from all over Europe and is the most comprehensive organisation of its kind in the world. 

Professor O’Morain was elected President of the UEGF during an international, multi-disciplinary conference that was attended by delegates from European societies that included specialists in medicine, surgery, paediatrics and endoscopy.  The UEGF focuses primarily on diseases of the digestive system including the oesophagus, stomach, liver, gallbladder, pancreas, intestine and bowel.  

A founder member of the European Board of Gastroenterology, the European Society of Digestive Oncology and the European Helicobacter Pylori Study Group, Professor O’Morain is also a world authority on screening for colorectal cancer.  His appointment to the role will ensure a global context that will promote and co-ordinate, throughout Europe and beyond, discussion and exchange of ideas and results relating to the diagnosis, treatment, research and prevention of diseases.

In recent times Professor O’Morain has been active in forging links with academic institutions in Eastern and Western Europe.  He has been a frequent guest speaker in both Greece and Serbia and has encouraged research initiatives amongst young international researchers.  The efforts Professor O’Morain has made towards ensuring quality assurance for colorectal cancer screening has been recognised at both a national and European level.