About us

President

University of Adelaide

Bio: Prof Christine Feinle-Bisset is a nutritional scientist with an undergraduate degree from the University of Stuttgart-Hohenheim (Germany). Following a PhD at the University of Sheffield, UK, and a post-doc at the University of Zurich, Switzerland, she joined the University of Adelaide in 2000. She is an NHMRC-funded Senior Research Fellow. Her research is clinical and relates to the impact of nutrients on appetite, gastrointestinal motor and hormone function and perception, in health, obesity and functional dyspepsia. It has contributed significantly to current concepts of the role of gastrointestinal mechanisms in the regulation of energy intake in health and obesity, and symptom generation in functional dyspepsia.

Website: https://researchers.adelaide.edu.au/profile/christine.feinle

Twitter: https://twitter.com/FFeinle

President-Elect

Department of Anatomy and Physiology, the University of Melbourne

Bio: Marlene is a developmental neurobiologist, co-heading a research group at the University of Melbourne. Our lab is investigating the development and plasticity of neurons in the enteric nervous system, studying the plasticity of enteric neurons, enteric glia as a source of progenitor cells in the gut and the mechanisms controlling glial proliferation in the adult nervous system. In addition, we are examining the potential of stem cell therapy for treating diseases of the gastrointestinal tract.

Email: hao.m@unimelb.edu.au

Website: https://tinyurl.com/STAMP-HAO-LAB2

Twitter: https://twitter.com/StampHaoLab

Secretary

Monash University

Bio: Jess is a registered nutritionist and senior lecturer at Monash University, with an interest in how diet influences gastrointestinal function, particularly for disorders of gut-brain interactions such as irritable bowel syndrome and functional dyspepsia. Her research group aims to improve dietary management of gastrointestinal symptoms through mechanistic insights and clinical outcomes assessing gut-brain signalling and symptom processes.

Email: jessica.biesiekierski@monash.edu

Website: https://research.monash.edu/en/persons/jessica-biesiekierski

Twitter: https://twitter.com/jrbiesiekierski

Treasurer

Flinders Health and Medical Research Institute, Flinders University

Bio: Dr Alyce Martin is an ARC DECRA Fellow in the College of Medicine and Public Health, and Flinders Health and Medical Research Institute at Flinders University. Her research portfolio is centred around characterising the functional biology of hormone producing enteroendocrine cells in the gut, with a particular interest in serotonin producing enterochromaffin (EC) cells. She is using her specialist skills in gut endocrinology to examine how EC cells sense the unique environment of the gut, including dietary nutrients and bacteria, and how this impacts fundamental physiological processes such as gut function, metabolism, fat storage and gut-brain signalling.

Email: alyce.martin@flinders.edu.au

Website: www.amartingutlab.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/AMartinGutLab

General Committee

Alfred Hospital, Melbourne.

Monash University, Melbourne.

Bio: Dr Burgell is a consultant gastroenterologist at Alfred Health and Monash University in Melbourne with an interest in functional gastrointestinal disorders, clinical nutrition, inflammatory bowel disease and pelvic floor dysfunction. Dr Burgell completed her Phd at Bart’s Health in London before returning to Melbourne where she is the Head of the Functional Gastrointestinal disorders service at Alfred Health and medical lead of the Home Enteral Nutrition Program.

At present, her research interests include exploring novel models of care for patients with functional bowel disorders, non-invasive neuromodulation techniques, exploring the intraluminal environment in health and disease and the use of intestinal ultrasound in patients with functional bowel disorders.

General Committee

Department of Gastroenterology & Hepatology, Flinders Medical Centre, Adelaide.

Bio: Charles is a gastroenterologist with an interest in swallowing disorders and gastrointestinal motility. He is the head of luminal gastroenterology at Flinders Medical Centre and is involved in research collaborations in upper gastrointestinal motility, including pharyngeal and oesophageal manometry and its interrelationship with symptoms and functions and also involved in endoscopy and cancer prevention programs. He sees his role as promoting, through education and other initiatives, neurogastroenterology among clinicians.

Email: charles.cock@flinders.edu.au

General Committee

Royal North Shore Hospital, Sydney

Bio: Dr Wong is a gastroenterologist working at the Neurogastroenterology Unit as a staff specialist at Royal North Shore Hospital, Sydney. She is an Academic Senior Lecturer for the University of Sydney. She performs and interprets oesophageal and pH monitoring. She is interested in oesophageal sensitivity and has subspecialty expertise in motility and functional gastrointestinal conditions.

Email: may.y.wong@sydney.edu.au

Website: https://www.drmaywong.com

General Committee

St Vincent’s Hospital Sydney; University of New South Wales

Bio: Dr Santosh Sanagapalli is a gastroenterologist and specialist in swallowing disorders. He undertook a clinical research fellowship in gastrointestinal physiology at University College London and completed his PhD at the University of Sydney. He established the Centre for Swallowing & Oesophageal Disorders at St Vincent’s Hospital Sydney where he runs an active clinical research program. His research is primarily focused on advancing the methodology and utility of the technology used to investigate swallowing disorders and reflux, including high-resolution manometry, endoscopy and barium oesophagography.

Website: https://www.unsw.edu.au/staff/santosh-sanagapalli

General Committee

University of NSW; St George Hospital

Bio: Dr Peter Wu is a gastroenterologist at St George Hospital, Sydney. After completing his PhD (UNSW), he undertook a fellowship at Prince of Wales Hospital, the Chinese University of Hong Kong. He is the director of the St George Motility Services, supervising the Swallow Clinic, Gastrointestinal Motility Laboratory, and his research team. His research topics include the advances in diagnostics and therapeutics for oropharyngeal swallowing disorders. As part of his research, he pioneered a novel minimally invasive procedure, cricopharyngeal per oral endoscopic myotomy (C-POEM), intended as a treatment for swallowing disorders due to neuromyogenic disorders (e.g., Parkinson’s disease).

Email: p.wu@unsw.edu.au