Joint Fondazione Aldo Torsoli – Rome Foundation Research Award

For this reason, she decided to return to TARGID in 2012 where she worked for four years as Senior Research Supervisor in charge of the development of high-resolution colonic manometry. She is one of two world experts in this technique.

In April 2016 Maura was appointed Associate Professor of Gastroenterology at the University of Nottingham where she leads the Functional Gastroenterology Clinic, the Gastrointestinal Motility Unit and has 5 PAs dedicated to academic work.

Maura is an internationally recognised expert in functional gastrointestinal disorders and, in particular, the study of gastrointestinal motility, as evidenced by her role as Editor-in-Chief of Neurogastroenterology and Motility, the official journal of the European (ESNM) and American Society of Neurogastroenterology and Motility, as secretary of the British Society of Gastroenterology (BSG) Neurogastroenterology and Motility Committee and as a member of the BSG Food and Function Committees, as ESNM representative to the United European Gastroenterology Scientific Committee, as co-chair of the UEG postgraduate course and co- chair of the Bowel Disorders Committee of the Roma V Foundation.

Ronnie Fass, MD MACG

Ronnie Fass, MD MACG, is the Medical Director of the Digestive Health Center, Chairman of the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, and head of the Esophageal and Swallowing Program at the MetroHealth Medical Center, Cleveland Ohio. He is also a tenured professor of medicine at Case Western Reserve University. Dr. Fass did his internship and residency in internal medicine at the University of Arizona Health Sciences Center, where he later became a Chief Resident. He then completed a fellowship in gastroenterology at the University of California in Los Angeles where he focused on GI motility and disorders of gut-brain interaction.

Dr. Fass has served in leadership positions in many societies. He is the former treasurer of the American Neurogastroenterology and Motility Society as well as the chair of the education committee. The former member of the Nominating Committees of the Upper GI Section and Neurogastroenterology and Motility of the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA). He has served as the chair of the Functional Esophageal Disorders committee for Rome IV, Membership committee of the American Neurogastroenterology and Motility Society, Practice Parameter Committee and Audio Committee of the American College of Gastroenterology (ACG) and the Publication Committee of the American Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ASGE). He has also served as a member of the management committee of the journal Neurogastroenterology and Motility. Moreover, Dr. Fass has served as a member of many committees in different GI societies. Currently Dr. Fass serves as a member of the World Gastroenterology Organization (WGO) Guidelines and Publications committee, member of the ACG Digital communications and publications committee, member of The American Foregut Society (AFS) research committee, member of the International Society of Diseases of the esophagus (ISDE), education committee and the ACG GI on demand task force steering committee. In addition, Dr. Fass has served on the ANMS/EMS consensus group for Refractory GERD and as a core team member of Chicago Classification 4.0. He is currently a member of the EndoFlip experts panel working group, Rome V for functional esophageal disorders, Lyon 2.0 for GERD metrics (core member) and the multi-society guidelines for endoscopy credentialing (Representative of the AFS). Currently, he is leading the AFS consensus for Nonerosive reflux disease (NERD) and the World Gastroenterological Organization (WGO) GERD guidelines committee.

Dr. Fass is the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Clinical Gastroenterology and he is the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Neurogastroenterology and Motility. Dr. Fass is a frequent lecturer and presenter and is a reviewer for more than 70 journals. He is and has served on the editorial board of 27 journals.

Dr. Fass is the recipient of the American Gastroenterological Association Award for Digestive Sciences in Clinical Research, the Southern Arizona VA Health Care System Investigator of the Year Award, and the International Foundation of Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders Senior Clinical Investigator Award. He has received the University of Arizona Dean’s Research Award, the Glaxo Institute of Digestive Health Clinical Research Award twice, the American College of Gastroenterology Research Award three times, the American Medical Association Resident-Mentor Award twice, and the American Journal of Gastroenterology Outstanding Reviewer Award. Dr. Fass has been selected as one of the Best Doctors in Arizona between 2004 and 2011, Best Doctor in Northern Ohio between 2012 and 2016, Castle Connolly Top Doctor from 2015-2023 and America’s Top Doctor in 2021-2023. Dr. Fass was named World’s Leading Expert in the research and treatment of GERD (press release 11/2013) and World’s expert in esophageal motility disorders (Press release 7/2019) by Expertscape.com. He is one of the 5 recipients of Mastership in Gastroenterology (MACG) for 2021 by the American College of Gastroenterology. Dr. Fass is the recipient of the 2023 Aldo Torsoli Award of the Rome Foundation for excellence in research, education and patient care in the area of disorders of gut-brain interactions (DGBIs). He is also the recipient of the 2023 Ray Clouse Visiting Professors of Excellence by Washington University in Saint Louis. Dr. Fass has delivered numerous named lectureships and key note presentations. In 2023 he delivered the ACG lectureship during the Japanese GI Society annual meeting and was a Keynote speaker at Stanford University annual GI meeting.

Dr. Fass research has focused on DGBI, specifically esophageal disorders, such as functional esophageal disorders, GERD, BE, dysphagia, esophageal dysmotility and others. He has received research grants from societies, academic and federal institutions as well as drug and device companies.
Dr. Fass has published more than 450 articles, editorials, and commentaries in journals such as New England Journal of Medicine, Gastroenterology, Gut, American Family Physician, American Journal of Gastroenterology, Archives of Internal Medicine, Lancet Gastroenterology and Hepatology and Nature reviews Primer. He has published three books and has written 62 book chapters, including 2 chapters in UpToDate.

Hans Törnblom, MD PhD

Associate Professor of Gastroenterology and Senior Consultant Gastroenterologist
Dept of Molecular and Clinical Medicine, Inst of Internal Medicine, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.

Dr Törnblom is a clinical scientist and educator in the field of disorders of gut-brain interaction (DGBI). As a physician, the management of patients with severe, incapacitating GI symptoms not responding to standard therapies is central. His research has a focus on pathophysiologic mechanisms and intervention studies in irritable bowel syndrome, functional dyspepsia, and severe gastrointestinal neuromuscular disease. He is current co-chair in the Rome V committee for Gastroduodenal Disorders and was member of the Rome Foundation Working Team report on Neuromodulators for FGIDs.

Carlo Di Lorenzo, MD

Dr. Ford is a proponent of evidence-based medicine, with an interest in disorders of brain-gut interaction (DGBI). His work has informed management guidelines in both the UK and USA, and has informed treatment paradigms for several DGBI. He is the principal investigator of the ATLANTIS study in the UK, a large randomised controlled trial of amitriptyline for irritable bowel syndrome.