Jeanin E. van Hooft is full professor in Gastroenterology and Hepatology, and Head of the department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at the Leiden University Medical Center. She holds a position in the Research board of the Dutch Pancreatic Cancer Groupand, is chair of the Pancreatitis Working Group of the Netherlands and Secretary General of the United European Gastroenterology (UEG). In addition she is co-founder and member of the international organization on Women in Endoscopy and member of the Equality & Diversity taskforce of the UEG.

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Jeanin E. van Hooft is full professor in Gastroenterology and Hepatology, and Head of the department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at the Leiden University Medical Center. She holds a position in the Research board of the Dutch Pancreatic Cancer Group and is chair of the Pancreatitis Working Group of the Netherlands and Secretary General of the United European Gastroenterology (UEG). In addition she is co-founder and member of the international organization on Women in Endoscopy and member of the Equality & Diversity taskforce of the UEG.

Gastroenterology

Gastroenterology is a field that deals with diseases of the esophagus, stomach, intestines, liver and pancreas. This may include inflammations such as Crohn's disease (inflammation of the bowel) and pancreatitis (inflammation of the pancreas), but also malignancies such as colon cancer, esophageal cancer or pancreatic cancer. All these conditions are inextricably linked with endoscopy, the examination in which a scope inspects the esophagus, stomach or intestine or the pancreas as in an endoscopy with an integrated ultrasound.

Endoscopy has developed in recent years from a technique with a diagnostic purpose to a technique with capacity to treat the established disease, such as removing small malignancies in the intestine, but also clearing out collections of inflammatory tissue that can arise from a pancreas inflammation.

In the coming years, more and more minimally invasive endoscopic techniques will become available. In this regard, it is important to investigate, in close collaboration with the adjoining specialties such as surgery and interventional radiology, which diagnosis and treatment is best for that one patient with a digestive disorder, in which the patient's preference also plays an important role.

Academic career

Jeanin E. van Hooft studied medicine at the University of Groningen and was trained as a gastroenterologist at the University of Amsterdam, where she also conducted her PhD research. The title of her thesis (2010) is ‘Endoscopic treatment of gastrointestinal strictures’. Subsequently, Van Hooft specialized in intervention endoscopy, in particular of the bile ducts and pancreas. Bile duct and pancreas disorders in a broader sense is also her focus of research. She was appointed professor of Gastrointestinal and Hepatology at the Leiden University Medical Center in December 2020. She held her inaugural lecture in September 2022 which was titled “the scope of connecting”.

Van Hooft has now been doing more than 15 years of research in the field of interventional endoscopy, diseases of the pancreas, bile ducts and gastrointestinal oncology. She has over 300 scientific publications, various invitation reviews and several book chapters to her name. She holds a number of national and international positions at scientific organizations. Van Hooft is secretary of the United European Gastroenterology and is a member of the scientific council of the Dutch Pancreatic Cancer Group and is chair of the Pancreatitis Working group Netherlands.

From 2016 to 2021 she was chair of the guidelines committee of the European Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy and was involved in the Dutch Society for Oncology for 6 years. She was also intensively involved in the organization of 2 leading endoscopy conferences for 10 years.

To date, she has delivered more than 400 lectures and presentations at international conferences and was a visiting professor in 2019 at both Johns Hopkins and Mayo Clinics Florida, clinics with which she has close research relationships. In 2023 she visited the University of Chicago, the Cleveland Clinics, Penn State University and Weill Cornell as a visiting professor.

Van Hooft is on the editorial board of Techniques and Innovations in Gastrointestinal Endoscopy and is an international reviewer for the leading endoscopic journals Endoscopy and Gastrointestinal Endoscopy.

In addition to her interest in medical sciences, Van Hooft is also interested in business and public administration, which is evident from a completed Master in Business Administration.

Publications