MILWAUKEE, Oct. 18, 2019 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/
-- Professor Naima Lahbabi-Amrani was elected as the 2019-2021
President of the World Gastroenterology Organisation (WGO) by the
General Assembly during the World Congress of Gastroenterology in
Istanbul, Turkey on 23 September 2019. Professor Lahbabi-Amrani is
the first woman to hold this position and also the first President
from Africa and Middle East.
Professor Lahbabi-Amrani is a Professor of Medicine at the
University Mohammed V and also faculty of medicine and pharmacy in
Rabat, Morocco. She is also the
Director of the WGO Rabat Training Center, one of WGO's oldest
Centers.
Professor Lahbabi-Amrani is an Honorary President of the
Pan-Arab Association of Gastroenterology. She is a Governing
Council member of AMAGE (African-Middle Eastern Association of
Gastroenterology), a Governing Council member of the Pan-Arab
Society of Gastroenterology, and a Governing Council member of the
Moroccan Society of Gastroenterology. She is a Founding Member of
the AAFFCHGE, called since November
2017, the SAHGE (Société Africaine
d'Hépato-Gastro-entérologie et d'Endoscopie digestive). She is
member of numerous gastroenterology societies and associations.
Professor Lahbabi-Amrani serves as hepatologist and
gastroenterologist. She is graduated from Paris VII Medical
University. She holds a master's degree in Human Biology with a
focus on Physiology and Functional Digestive Exploration from
Claude Bernard University-Lyon,
France.
She has served as the Head of the Hepato-Gastroenterology
Department at CHU Ibn Sina-Rabat; the Associate Dean of Research
and cooperation at the Rabat Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy,
President of the Moroccan Society of Gastroenterology (SMMAD), and
President of the Pan-Arab Association of Gastroenterology. She was
an Executive Member of ASNEMGE.
Prof. Lahbabi-Amrani has served on both the Governing Council
and Executive Committee as Scientific Program Committee Chair
(2009-2015); Secretary General (2015-2017); WGOF Chair (2017-2019)
and President-elect (2017-2019). She has additionally, served on
several WGO committees as Member of the Training Centers Committee
(2001-present); Member of the Train the Trainers Committee
(2013-2019); Member of the Finance Committee (2015-2019); Member of
the Nominations Committee (2009-2013); and Member of the WDHD
Committee (2012 and 2018-Present).
She is an honorary member for rendered services to AAFFCHGE
(Association d'Afrique Francophone de Formation Continue en
Hépato-Gastroentérologie).
She has received royal decoration from the throne to the order
of the Knight.
"My aim is to follow the lead of those who have served in this
position. I hope to continue their efforts. This can allow us to
benefit from their experience and wisdom. During my presidency, I
have three main objectives: to attract more young physicians as
well as encourage females to serve on WGO committees to have more
impact in the global community, and increase efforts toward growing
our membership in Africa as well
as in all parts of the world. This will help to raise our position
as the global guardian of digestive health. However, this cannot be
done without the commitment, support and confidence of all of you
(the new Governing Council, our member societies and regional
affiliate associations). We are a Big Family with only One Voice to reflect the mission of WGO," said
Prof. Lahbabi-Amrani.
ABOUT THE NEW GOVERNING COUNCIL
Ratified during the WGO General Assembly meeting on Monday, 23
September were the following leadership appointments, with the most
notable being the handover of the WGO Presidency to Professor
Naima Lahbabi-Amrani. Professor
Cihan Yurdaydin (Turkey) is now Past President and Chair of
Nominations; Professor Guilherme
Macedo (Portugal) is now
WGO President-Elect and Chair of the WGO Foundation; Professor
Geoffrey Metz (Australia) continues as Secretary General; and
Professor Mark Topazian
(USA) will begin his first term as
Treasurer for the 2019-2021 term.
Additional members of the Governing Council are as follows:
Professor Desmond Leddin
(Canada), Chair of the Clinical
Research Committee; Professor Andrew
Veitch (UK), Chair of the Endoscopy, Other Procedures and
Outreach Interest Group; Professor David
Armstrong (Canada), Chair
of the Guidelines Committee; Professor Saeed Hamid (Pakistan), Chair of the Hepatology Interest
Group; Professor Carolina Olano
(Uruguay), Chair of the Scientific
Programs Committee; Professor Finlay
Macrae (Australia), Chair
of the Training Centers Committee; and Professor Jean-Christophe Saurin (France), Chair of the Train the Trainers
Committee. The Councilors at Large are Professor Alejandro Piscoya (Peru), Chair, Publications Committee, and
Professor Kaichun Wu (China), Promotion of Education in Asia-Pacific
Region. The four Regional Association Presidents/Representatives
are: Professor Eduardo Gutierrez
Galiana (Uruguay),
Pan-American Gastroenterological Association (OPGE); Professor
Daiming Fan (China), Asian Pacific
Association of Gastroenterology (APAGE); Professor Axel Dignass (Germany), representing the United European
Gastroenterology (UEG); and Professor Reda
Elwakil (Egypt) African
Middle East Association of Gastroenterology (AMAGE).
ABOUT THE WORLD GASTROENTEROLOGY ORGANISATION
Formed in 1935 and incorporated in 1958, The World Gastroenterology
Organisation (WGO) is a federation of 115 member societies and 4
regional associations of gastroenterology representing more than
50,000 individual members worldwide, focusing on the improvement of
standards in gastroenterology training and education on a global
scale. WGO's mission is to promote, to the general public and
healthcare professional alike, an awareness of the worldwide
prevalence and optimal care of gastrointestinal and liver
disorders, and to improve care of these disorders, through the
provision of high quality, accessible and independent education and
training.
###
SOURCE World Gastroenterology Organisation