Editorial introductions.

Abstract

Current Opinion in Gastroenterology was launched in 1985. It is one of a successful series of review journals whose unique format is designed to provide a systematic and critical assessment of the literature as presented in the many primary journals. The field of gastroenterology is divided into 12 sections that are reviewed once a year. Each section is assigned a Section Editor, a leading authority in the area, who identifies the most important topics at that time. Here we are pleased to introduce the Section Editors for this issue. SECTION EDITORS Matthew A. CiorbaMatthew A. CiorbaDr Matthew Ciorba is a gastroenterologist and biomedical researcher dedicated to advancing care in the Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IBD) and Colon Cancer. His clinical expertise is in caring for patients with Crohn's and ulcerative colitis and preventing colon cancer. He is Director of the IBD Center at Washington University, USA, and leads one of the largest clinical teams in the USA dedicated to providing comprehensive and cutting-edge clinical care to more than 8000 patients affected by IBD. His basic-translational research program is dedicated to defining pathways and mechanisms of intestinal inflammation and the transition to colon cancer. His lab has developed methods to study intestinal organoids and tumoroids to facilitate studies of the epithelial response to inflammation, injury and repair. His lab investigations have spawned four ground-breaking Bench-to-Bedside clinical trials addressing unmet patient needs in colitis, enteritis and rectal cancer using probiotics, novel immunotherapies and manipulating bile acids. In addition to his own lab, Dr Ciorba is also Director of IBD Research at Washington University and use this platform to foster collaborative discovery between the world-class scientific investigators and the robust IBD clinical program. Finally, he is deeply committed to training the next generation of medical investigators who will advance discovery and treatment of digestive diseases. Supporting this mission, he serves as Associate Director of the GI Fellowship's T32 Research Training grant and serves on several training grant review committees for several organizations including the CCF, AGA and NIH. Stuart J. SpechlerStuart J. SpechlerStuart Jon Spechler, MD is Chief of the Division of Gastroenterology and Co-Director of the Center for Esophageal Diseases at Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas, as well as the Co-Director of the Center for Esophageal Research at the Baylor Scott and White Research Institute. Prior to joining Baylor University Medical Center in January 2017, Dr Spechler was the Chief of the Division of Gastroenterology for the VA North Texas Healthcare System, Professor of Medicine, and holder of the Berta M. and Cecil O. Patterson Chair in Gastroenterology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, and he had been the Director of the Center for Swallowing Disorders at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts. Dr Spechler's research has focused primarily on disorders of the esophagus, especially GERD and its complications, and eosinophilic esophagitis. He has chaired three VA Cooperative Studies on medical and surgical treatments for gastroesophageal reflux disease. He described the condition known as “short-segment Barrett's esophagus” in 1994. Dr. Spechler has published more than 300 scientific reports, editorials, review articles, and book chapters on esophageal disorders. He is best known for his work in the areas of GERD, Barrett's esophagus, and eosinophilic esophagitis. Dr Spechler has served on the editorial boards of numerous journals including Gastroenterology, Gut, Alimentary Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Digestive Diseases and Sciences and Diseases of the Esophagus, and he has served as Chair of the Gastroenterology Teaching Project and the Esophago-Gastro-Duodenal Section of the American Gastroenterological Association.