Dr. Waqqas Afif is an Associate Professor of Medicine in the Department of Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology at McGill University and serves as Division Director of Gastroenterology and Hepatology for McGill University and the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC). He is also Site Director of Gastroenterology at the Montreal General Hospital and Co-Director of the Multidisciplinary Eosinophilic Esophagitis (EoE) Clinic. His clinical and research interests focus on immune mediated gastrointestinal diseases, including inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and eosinophilic esophagitis, with a particular emphasis on optimizing long-term disease management and monitoring strategies. Dr. Afif completed his medical degree and residency training in Internal Medicine and Gastroenterology at McGill University, followed by an advanced fellowship in Inflammatory Bowel Disease at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. He also holds a Master of Science in Epidemiology from McGill University.

Dr. Milli Gupta is an Associate Clinical Professor of Internal Medicine at the University of Calgary and serves as Director of the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology Research Team at the University of Calgary. She is a member of the Administrative Affairs and Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion committees at the Canadian Association of Gastroenterology, as well as a member of the American College of Gastroenterology Patient Care Committee. Her clinical and research focus is on esophageal and motility disorders, including eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE), Barrett’s esophagus, and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). Dr. Gupta completed her medical training and gastroenterology residency at the University of Western Ontario, followed by an Advanced Esophageal Fellowship at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.

Dr. Laura Targownik is currently a Clinician Researcher in the Mount Sinai Hospital Inflammatory Bowel Disease Clinic and is a member of the Zane Cohen Centre for Gastrointestinal Research. She is also the Director for the University of Toronto Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology and is a faculty member of the University of Toronto School of Public Health Institute for Health Policy, Management and Evaluation. Prior to joining the Department of Medicine as Division Director for Gastroenterology, she was the Chief of the Section of Gastroenterology at University of Manitoba. She has authored or co-authored over 220 articles in peer-reviewed publications. Her current focus of research is in using secondarily collected data sources to evaluate the costs and benefits of medications used in IBD, assessing how to optimize delivery of mental health care for persons with IBD in diverse practice settings, and on assessing the impact of patient and physician gender on the patient journey and associated outcomes.

Dr. Daniel von Renteln is a Canadian gastroenterologist, clinical investigator, and Full Professor at Université de Montréal, based at CHUM. His clinical practice focuses on advanced diagnostic and therapeutic endoscopy. His research centers on colorectal cancer prevention—improving colonoscopy quality, polyp detection, and screening outcomes—with a strong emphasis on AI-assisted endoscopy to enhance real-world performance and standardize care. He collaborates internationally and is a recognized expert endoscopist and researcher within major GI societies (e.g., ESGE, ASGE, CAG).

Dr. Mark Swain is a hepatologist and Professor of Medicine at the University of Calgary in Canada. He is a clinician-scientist with a basic science research interest focused on body-brain communication pathways that drive symptom development (e.g., fatigue, brain fog’) in chronic liver disease. His clinically focused research programs involve clinical care pathway development/implementation and performing clinical trials and translational research in Metabolic dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease (MASLD) and autoimmune liver diseases.

Dr. Giada Sebastiani is a Tenured Professor of Medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology of Hepatology at McGill University and Clinician Scientist at the Research Institute of McGill University Health Centre. She is the President Elect of the Canadian Association for the Study of the Liver (CASL) 2024-2026 and Fellow of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD).

She received a medical degree and specialized in internal medicine at the University of Padua, Italy. She had research training at Harvard Medical School (US), University College of London (UK), University of Bordeaux (France). Her work focuses on steatotic liver disease (MASLD), liver fibrosis and non-invasive diagnostic tools in liver disease.

She is author of 220 articles in peer-reviewed journals (including Nature Reviews Gastroenterology & Hepatology, Lancet Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Lancet Regional Health, Lancet HIV, Gastroenterology, Hepatology, Journal of Hepatology, Clinical Infectious Diseases, Diabetes Care; h-index 56), 14 book chapters.

Dr. Sebastiani is co-founder of the Canadian MASLD Network, Co-Chair of the first MASLD chapter of Diabetes Canada guidelines and panelist of the first guidance on MASLD of the Canadian Association for the Study of the Liver. She is the sole North American representative in the guidelines of the European AIDS Clinical Society as primary reviewer of the Liver Group. Dr. Sebastiani hold the prestigious Merite Clinical Research Salary Award from Fonds Recherche Sante Quebec. Her research program is funded by the Canadian Institute for Health Research, the Fonds Recherche Sante Quebec, the CIHR, Crohn’s Colitis Canada, and the Montreal General Hospital Foundation.

Dr. James Kim is a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Calgary, specializing in diabetes, metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease, chronic migraine and medical education.

He is a lead editor for the Primary Care section of the Canadian Journal of Diabetes and a coeditor for Canadian Primary Care Today. Dr. Kim served as a member of the steering committee for Diabetes Canada’s Clinical Practice Guidelines and the lead author of the guidelines on Diabetes and MASLD in adults. He contributes to the Canadian Stroke Best Practice Guidelines, a scientific committee member for Migraine Canada and board member of numerous international organizations.

Dr. Kim is working on a project in Calgary and Prince Edward Island to reduce specialist wait times. He has also been recognized as a Certified Professional in Continuing Professional Development (CPD) for his contributions to continuing medical education in Canada. He is a member of Global NASH/MASH Council, and global MASH consensus guideline panelist.

Dr. Lisa Barrett, MD, PhD, FRCPC, Assistant Professor, Division of Infectious Diseases , Department of Medicine , Department of Microbiology & Immunology , Department of Pathology. Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS

Dr. Curtis Cooper, MD, FRCPC, Professor, Department of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Division of Infectious Diseases, The Ottawa Hospital, The Ottawa Hospital Viral Hepatitis Program, Ottawa, ON

Dr. Jordan Feld, MD, MPH (CHAIR), R. Phelan Chair in Translational Liver Research Professor of Medicine, University of Toronto

Dr. John Marshall is a Professor of Medicine and Director of the Division of Gastroenterology at McMaster University, as well as a consultant gastroenterologist at Hamilton Health Sciences in Hamilton Ontario. He completed his B.A. and M.D. at Queen’s University and then undertook his residency training and M.Sc. in Clinical Epidemiology & Biostatistics at McMaster University. He is a Full Member of the Farncombe Family Digestive Health Research Institute. His publications include over 350 academic papers and book chapters. Dr. Marshall was the founding Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of the Canadian Association of Gastroenterology (JCAG). He is also an Associate Editor of ACP Journal Club and an Editorial Board Member for the Journal of Crohn’s and Colitis. Recent honours include the CAG Visiting Clinical Professorship (2020), Physician of the Year from Crohn’s and Colitis Canada (2024), and Fellowship in both the American Gastroenterological Association (AGAF) and CAG (CAGF). Dr. Marshall’s clinical and research interests include inflammatory bowel disease, post-infectious irritable bowel syndrome, clinical epidemiology, and health outcomes.

Dr. Neeraj Narula completed the Present‑Levison advanced IBD fellowship at Mount Sinai Medical Centre in New York and an MPH at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. His clinical interests include luminal ultrasound and chromoendoscopy in IBD. He has authored over 120 peer‑reviewed publications and four book chapters. He also holds leadership roles within several national organizations, including VP‑Treasurer for the Canadian Association of Gastroenterology and President of the Canadian IBD Research Consortium.

Dr. Melinda Gooderham, MD, MSc, FRCPC, Dermatologist and Medical Director at SKiN Centre for Dermatology, is also an Investigator at Probity Medical Research, Assistant Professor at Queens University, and Consultant Physician at Peterborough Regional Health Centre. A fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, she has been an investigator in over 200 clinical trials focusing on inflammatory skin diseases. Beyond clinical practice, Dr. Gooderham actively contributes to dermatology publications as an author, associate editor and reviewer, with authorship of over 200 articles. Her passion for education extends to global audiences through engaging lectures on innovative therapies for skin diseases.

Dr. Sherry Rohekar completed medical school at the University of Western Ontario, and then went on to train in general internal medicine at Queen's University and rheumatology at the University of Toronto. She also has a Master's of Clinical Epidemiology from UWO. She is now an Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine, Division of Rheumatology at UWO. Her research and clinical interest is spondyloarthritis, including ankylosing spondylitis and psoriatic arthritis. She is currently on the executive committee the SPondyloArthritis Research Consortium of Canada, and member of the International Psoriasis and Arthritis Research Team, the Group for Research and Assessment of Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis and the SPondyloArthritis Research & Treatment Network.

Dr. Cynthia Seow is Professor at the Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary working as a Clinician Researcher in Gastroenterology. She completed internal medicine in Australia, then an Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) fellowship along with a MSc in Clinical Epidemiology at the University of Toronto. Her interests include special populations, (pediatric to adult transition, sexual health, preconception and pregnancy health), pharmacokinetics of advanced therapies, and preventive care with a specific interest in vaccinations in IBD. Dr. Seow is the North American lead for the Global Consensus for the Management of IBD in Pregnancy and lead of the Medications in Pregnancy section. She has been involved in other international IBD pregnancy as well as IBD pharmacology guidelines. She maintains active research funding, has >150 peer reviewed publications, and is on several journal editorial boards. She enjoys education and mentorship and is on the Steering Committee for Mentoring in IBD (a national educational program in IBD), the Steering Committee for MILESTONE Canada (for IBD fellows), faculty for MILESTONE USA, and faculty for the GI Fellows Course in IBD. Dr. Seow is a mentor for the TRIANGLE program and involved in the CAG CDDW Mentorship Café. Further, she is involved in initiatives by Crohns and Colitis Canada and the Canadian Digestive Health Foundation with the goal of increasing patient education.

Dr. Erin Kelly is an Assistant Professor of medicine at the University of Ottawa and head of Hepatology. She completed her medical school at McGill University, Internal Medicine and Gastroenterology at the University of Ottawa and Advanced Hepatology at UCSF in San Francisco. She obtained her Masters in clinical trials through the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Her interests include improvement in care care delivery for patients with liver disease including PBC

Dr. Magnus McLeod is a specialist of Hepatology and is currently the director of the PEI Liver Clinic which was established in 2025 with a cross-appointment at Dalhousie University. Originally from Merritt, BC, he obtained his medical degree from St. George’s University, Grenada, West Indies in 2011. Dr. McLeod went to Halifax, Nova Scotia for his Internal Medicine as well as General Internal Medicine fellowship training, and then later received his Royal College Diplomate in Hepatology in 2021. He has been a Faculty member at Dalhousie University as an Assistant Professor since 2015. He is a member of the Atlantic Multi-Organ Transplant Program (MOTP) with academic and clinical interests including Steatotic Liver Disease (SLD), Autoimmune Liver Disease, and Liver Transplant. He was the Medical Director for Liver Transplantation at the QE2 Health Sciences from 2023-2024. He is an active member of a number of regional and national committees but notably the Canadian Association for the Study of the Liver (CASL) and since 2020 has been on the CASL Research Committee and CASL Guidelines Committee

Dr. Mark Swain is a hepatologist and professor in the Department of Medicine at the Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, where he holds the Cal Wenzel Family Foundation Chair in Hepatology. A founding member of the Calgary Liver Unit and Canadian Network for Autoimmune Liver disease (CaNAL), he specializes in managing complex liver disease with a specific focus in the treatment of autoimmune liver diseases, including primary biliary cholangitis (PBC). Dr. Swain is a clinician-scientist with well-established laboratory based and clinical research programs focused on defining body-brain communication pathways that drive symptom development in cholestatic liver disease.

Dr. Scott Fung, MD, FRCPC, FAASLD is Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Toronto and the Director of Education for the Toronto Centre for Liver Disease, Francis Family Liver Clinic. He specializes in the management of Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C and Delta Hepatitis.