Gastroenterology and Hepatology

Research Activities

The research activities of our department focus on clinical and societal relevant problems regarding patients with gastroenterological and hepatological diseases. These activities consist out of clinical (interventional pharmacological and endoscopic) and non-interventional and epidemiological studies. They take into account the physical as well as psychological wellbeing of the patient. There is a close interaction with bench-based research, using a combination of animal models, in vitro techniques and patient samples.

Additionally there is a close collaboration in several research projects with other departments such as surgery, rheumatology, dermatology, radiology or paediatrics in order to optimize the holistic management of  chronic conditions.

Research Staff

• Prof. dr. Danny De Looze: faecal Microbiota transplantation, coloproctology with current emphasis on HPV-related diseases
• Prof. dr. Karen Geboes: clinical trials, epidemiology, molecular targets and end-of-life care in digestive oncology  (esophageal, gastric, biliary and anal cancer, colorectal and pancreas cancer, GIST and NET), screening and surveillance in hereditary cancer syndromes 
• Prof. dr. Anja Geerts: non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD ) including pediatric NAFLD
• Prof. dr. Pieter Hindryckx: focus on biliopancreatic disease, interventional endoscopy (mainly EUS and ERCP)
• Prof. dr. Triana Lobaton: Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, extraintestinal manifestations, efficacy and safety of biological therapies in IBD
• Prof. dr. Hans Van Vlierberghe: primary liver cancer or hepatocellular carcinoma
• Prof. dr. Xavier Verhelst: development of precision medicine in liver disease and liver transplantation; glycomics and liver disease; auto-immune liver diseases