Medical Advisors
EU
Per J. Nilsson is an Associate Professor of Surgery and Senior Lecturer at Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm. He has served as President of both the European Society of Coloproctology (ESCP) and the Swedish Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons. A principal investigator in the RAPIDO trial, he has published numerous articles and book chapters. Clinically, he is a senior consultant surgeon at the Department of Colorectal Surgery, Division of Pelvic Cancer, Karolinska University Hospital. His main interests are colorectal and anal cancer, particularly locally advanced cases, as well as peritoneal malignancies, and he is an active HIPEC surgeon.
Marja Boermeester is a professor of surgery and clinical epidemiologist at Amsterdam University Medical Centers, leading numerous multicenter trials on abdominal infections (e.g., RELAP, OPTIMA, ESCAPE). She has received over 10 National Health Care & Efficacy Research Grants, with her trials published in top journals like NEJM, JAMA, and Lancet. Specializing in abdominal infections, complex abdominal wall repair (CAWR), and intestinal failure surgery, she chairs a renowned Intestinal Failure and CAWR unit at AMC Amsterdam, recognized as an international expert center and ERN member. She supervises 10 PhD fellows and has mentored over 45 previous PhDs. She also serves on various national and international guideline committees and editorial boards, and was President of the Surgical Infection Society Europe (2017-2019).
Lars Nannestad Jørgensen is a Professor of Surgery at the Digestive Disease Center, Bispebjerg Hospital, University of Copenhagen, Denmark. With a specialization in minimally invasive surgery and complex abdominal wall hernias, his research focuses on postoperative complications, hernia repair, surgical wound healing, colorectal and pancreatic cancer, and acute pancreatitis. He played a key role in launching and chairing the Danish Ventral Hernia Database and has contributed to international guidelines on hernia repair. Dr. Jørgensen has supervised numerous PhD students and authored over 300 peer-reviewed papers and 20 book chapters, while also actively participating in international surgical workshops.
Baljit Singh is a consultant colorectal surgeon at University Hospitals Leicester, UK, specializing in rectal cancer, proctology, and early diagnosis of colorectal cancer using faecal immunochemical testing and novel biomarkers. He chairs the NHS England Specialised Colorectal Services Clinical Reference Group (CRG) and the East Midlands Colorectal Expert Clinical Advisory Group (ECAG), and is vice-chair of the Technology Appraisal Committee B. He also contributed to the NICE Colorectal Cancer Guidelines (NG151) in 2020 and the NICE Quality Standards in Colorectal Cancer in 2022. Baljit has served on the executive committees of the ACPGBI, ASGBI, and ESCP.
Gabrielle van Ramshorst is a Consultant colorectal surgeon at Ghent University Hospital and Associate Professor at Ghent University in Belgium. In 2019 she was appointed as a consultant at Ghent University Hospital. She leads several projects on abdominal wound closure and surgical site infection prevention as a member of the research committee and cohort studies committee of the European Society for Coloproctology (ESCP). Gabriëlle has authored over 150 scientific papers published in peer-reviewed impact scientific journals. In April 2020, she was appointed as Associate Editor for Colorectal Disease, and is also a member of the editorial board of the International Journal of Gynecological Oncology. She has been an active member of (international) guideline committees on behalf of the Dutch Surgical Society, the European Society for Coloproctology and the European Hernia Society.
Manuel López-Cano is Professor of Surgery at the Universidad Autonoma de Barcelona and Head of the Abdominal Wall Surgery Unit at Vall d’Hebron University Hospital, Barcelona. He serves on the Board of the European Hernia Society (EHS) and is Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Abdominal Wall Surgery (JAWS). Clinically, he specializes in complex abdominal wall reconstruction, hernia repair, and minimally invasive surgical techniques. He is actively involved in several European surgical associations, contributing to the advancement of abdominal wall and reconstructive surgery across the region.
US
Dr. Ashley Britton Christmas earned his B.A. from the University of Virginia and his M.D. from the University of Louisville School of Medicine, where he also completed his surgical residency and fellowship in critical care. He has been a trauma and critical care surgeon at Atrium Health’s Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte since 2006, where he serves as Medical Director and Chief of Trauma. He is also a Professor of Surgery at Wake Forest School of Medicine. In 2021, Dr. Christmas completed his MBA from East Carolina University. With over 80 peerreviewed publications, Dr. Christmas is an active member of the American College of Surgeons (ACS), Eastern Association for the Surgery of Trauma (EAST), and several other professional organizations. He has received multiple leadership scholarships and serves on the Board of Directors and Executive Committee for the Trauma Centers Association of America (TCAA), among other national committee appointments.
Aurora Pryor, MD, FACS, FASMBS Dr. Pryor is President of Brown Surgical Associates, Surgeon-in-Chief at Rhode Island and The Miriam Hospitals, and Chair of Surgery at Brown University’s Warren Alpert Medical School. She earned her engineering degree and MD from Duke University, where she also completed her General Surgery residency and a fellowship in minimally invasive surgery. After holding leadership roles at Duke, she moved to New York in 2011, where she served as Vice Chair of Surgery and Director of the Bariatric and Metabolic Weight Loss Center at Stony Brook. Dr. Pryor has over 250 publications, co-edited four textbooks, and given more than 300 presentations worldwide. She holds several patents, including for the Transenterix SPIDER single port system. Her research focuses on advancing laparoscopic bariatric and GI surgery, and she specializes in treating gastroesophageal diseases, obesity, and hernias using advanced surgical techniques.
Dr. Hope is an Associate Professor of Surgery at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and is the Program Director for the Novant/New Hanover Regional Medical Center Residency Program in Wilmington, North Carolina. He is the past President of the Americas Hernia Society and is a Board Member of the Americas Hernia Society Quality Collaborative Foundation. His research interest includes hernia surgery, minimally invasive surgery, and surgical education publishing over 100 peer review articles and 15 book chapters related to these topics.