International faculty

Palle Bekker Jeppesen

Rigshospitalet & University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark

Palle Bekker Jeppesen, is Associate and Clinical Professor, MD, Dr.med/Sci., phd., dls., at the Department of Transplantation and Digestive Diseases, Section of Intestinal Failure 3-16-3, Rigshospitalet, and Department of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Denmark.

His major research interests include patients with short bowel syndrome and intestinal failure with a recent focus on novel therapies for their management, rehabilitation and care.

Professor Jeppesen graduated in medicine from the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, in 1989 and completed his residency in medical gastroenterology at the Rigshospitalet in Copenhagen. He completed his PhD thesis, entitled; The significance of the fatty acid chain-length for the clinical effect in the enteral and parenteral nutrition in patients with malabsorption in 1998 and his Doctor’s Degree, entitled; Intestinal insufficiency and failure, in 2003.

PBJ has published more than 150 peer-reviewed papers and book chapters within this field, has more than 6000 citations and an H index of above 45.

Virginia Hernández-Gea

Hospital Clinic-IDIBAPS, Barcelona, Spain

Virginia Hernández-Gea (MD, PhD) is an interventional hepatologist working at the Liver Unit in Hospital Clinic-IDIBAPS (Barcelona). After her clinical training at hospital Sant Pau in Barcelona, she spent three years as a postdoctoral fellow at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York and one year at IDIBAPS in Barcelona. In 2013, she joined the Hepatic Hemodynamic Unit at Hospital Clinic where she is fully dedicated to the management of patients with portal hypertension and vascular liver diseases as well as conducting liver catheterization procedures including TIPS. She also runs a translational laboratory focused on the understanding of the role of the liver endothelium in liver diseases.

She is recipient of the Rising Star in Gastroenterology prize by the UEG and the EASL Young Investigator Award. She is chair of VALDIG, steering committee of Baveno, vicechair of the portal hypertension SIG at AASLD, and coEditor of J Hep Reports.

Hernández-Gea has published more than 180 peer-reviewed papers and book chapters within this field, has more than 15000 citations and an H index of above 50.

Maria Hukkinen

Helsinki University Hospital, Helsinki, Finland

Maria Hukkinen is a pediatric surgeon with a special interest in liver and biliary surgery. In her research work she has focused on biliary atresia. She has trained in Helsinki as well as in Necker hospital, Paris, France.

Pål-Dag Line

Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway

Professor Pål-Dag Line studied medicine in Germany and Norway. He is a board-certified consultant surgeon in the field of abdominal organ transplantation, HPB surgery and vascular surgery. He has since 2004 been the director of the department of transplantation surgery in Oslo University Hospital.

His main clinical and scientific experience is in the field of transplant oncology, and he has published numerous papers on this topic. He is seen as one of pioneers of the concept of live transplantation for non-resectable liver tumours such as liver metastasis from colorectal cancer and cholangiocarcinoma. He also has profound experience within the field of living donation and abdominal vascular diseases.

Professor Line is currently a board member of ELITA, Scandiatransplant, TTS and is also the representative for Norway in the UEMS.

Sarah Raevens

Ghent University Hospital, Ghent, Belgium

Professor Sarah Raevens (MD, PhD) is an hepatologist and senior clinical investigator at the Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology of the Ghent University Hospital. She is also Junior Lead Representative for European Reference Network Rare Liver-Vascular Liver Disease Group. Her clinical research work focuses on improvement of identification, risk stratification and management of cirrhosis and its complications. Her preclinical research mainly focuses on vascular biology of cirrhosis and related diseases using different animal models of chronic liver disease. She is in charge of the cirrhosis clinic of the Ghent University Hospital.

Pulmonary complications of chronic liver disease are one of her main interests. Her contribution to both research and clinical management of portopulmonary hypertension and hepatopulmonary syndrome is outstanding and she has been a wellreputated speaker at several hepatology meetings focusing on these complications.

Raevens has published more than 90 peer-reviewed papers, abstracts and book chapters within this field, has more than 1200 citations and an H index of above 20.