ESGE news and upcoming events January 2026

Happy New Year!

Members of the ESGE Governing Board [rerif]

Dear ESGE Family,

As we welcome 2026, we wish all of you and your families a very happy and healthy year ahead!

By totalling nearly 6,000 members across 45 National Societies, ESGE has become one of the most influential communities in the field of innovation and clinical application of GI endoscopy. Together, we continue to advance excellence in endoscopy through innovation, collaboration, and education:

ESGE Days: The over 2,000 abstracts submitted for Barcelona last year represent a milestone in original research, anticipating the best studies to be published in our field. Six top abstracts were presented in the Presidential session by Giulio Antonelli, Ilse Beaufort, Rawen Kader, Hardik Rughwani, Marco Spadaccini and Daniel Schmitz. With 559 participants joining us for the fully in-person Postgraduate Course, 108 hands-on training sessions, and a full day of live transmission from the University Hospital Ramón y Cajal (IRYCIS, Madrid), we provided an intensive educational experience to over 5,300 attendees. Our strong ESGE Next Generation Awardees: Gianluca Esposito, Marcello Maida, João Santos-Antunes, Pieter Sinonquel and Sara Teles de Campos will now start shaping the future of endoscopy.

We are looking forward to ESGE Days 2026, May 14–16 in Milan, Italy. Alongside our core scientific programme, there will be a Postgraduate Course, and for the first time, Specialist Interest Groups, and a Safe Sedation Course on May 13. Participants can look forward to both basic and “cutting edge” hands-on training, an academic skills course, a symposium on “How to Teach Endoscopy”, and six hours of live endoscopy from Humanitas University Medical School, Milan. ESGE will join forces with our Italian member society, Società Italiana di Endoscopia Digestiva (SIED), for two symposia on day one. European and international partners ASGE, EASL, ECCO, ESGENA, JGES, KSGE, SIED, SOBED and WEO will present interactive joint sessions, and ESGENA’s “Spring School” will once again take place. Now known as Europe’s premier endoscopy meeting, ESGE Days 2026 is not to be missed – I look forward to seeing you there!

The ESGE Academy: 3410 endoscopists have now logged in, and the ESGE Academy has established itself as Europe’s hub for online endoscopy learning. Under a highly motivated editorial team, it offers top-quality videos including live sessions from ESGE Days, myESGE Tutor modules with certification, and themed collections such as the new POEM resource. The team is releasing Issue 4 of The Video Journal of the ESGE Academy this month, and it’s also the go-to place to watch our webinars. Available online and via mobile app, the Academy is an invaluable tool for everyone who wants to prioritise professional development.

The Journal Endoscopy: We are immensely proud that Endoscopy has reached a remarkable Impact Factor of 12.8 – a testament to the vision and great commitment of Professor Dr. Peter D. Siersema, who has led the journal with excellence for over a decade. As he now passes the torch to Professor Jacques Bergman, we are delighted to welcome such an accomplished expert and visionary to this pivotal role. His leadership and foresight will ensure that Endoscopy continues to thrive and build on its outstanding success. We warmly thank Professor Siersema for his exceptional dedication and for elevating Endoscopy to one of the world’s foremost journals in the field.

The ESGE Endoscopy Camp 2025 held in Milan, brought together 80 ‘campers’ from 21 countries for 2.5 days of hands-on training and lectures by world-renowned experts. Thanks to the overwhelmingly positive feedback and growing demand from our participants, the ESGE Endoscopy Camp will return in 2026 in an expanded format. The next edition, taking place from September 10–14, 2026, in Munich, will feature a 2.5-day Basic Course and a 1.5-day Advanced Course, offering tailored learning experiences for both beginners and more experienced endoscopists.

The ESGE Research Camp: Our inaugural ESGE Research Camp in 2025 brought together 23 talented young endoscopists for an inspiring exchange with leading experts. Over two days, creativity and collaboration flourished as participants shaped their own research ideas. The next Camp, on February 26–27, 2026, in Munich, has already sparked enormous interest – proof of the growing passion for research within our ESGE community.

Webinar Wednesdays: In 2025, ESGE welcomed more than 4000 participants to 23 ESGE webinars covering a wide range of exciting and timely topics. We are delighted that our Webinar Wednesdays continue to attract such strong interest from the endoscopy community. Stay tuned for another inspiring line-up in 2026, featuring new themes, expert discussions and the latest advances in the field.

The ESGE Travelling Endoscopy Programme (ESGE-TEP): “Bringing ESGE to you,” this initiative strengthens our ties with member and partner societies. The TEP disseminates ESGE’s guidelines and quality improvement measures through high level, evidence-based didactic lectures. In 2025, the TEP visited the National Congresses of Morocco, Croatia and Greece.

ESGE Guidance: ESGE remains a leading international body in providing guidance through clinical guidelines, quality documents, curricula, technology reviews, and position statements. This year we published 17 documents with over 200 authors, including our first Position Statement on ‘Use of computer-assisted detection (CADe) colonoscopy in colorectal cancer screening and surveillance’. We anticipate that our publications will experience an increased trajectory to success, thanks to our newly founded Publications Working Group overseeing all ESGE-related publications to ensure consistency and synergy.

Research and Fellowship Grants: These career-changing opportunities remain as popular as ever. Our fellowship programme now includes 31 host units across Europe, Japan and India offering four-week “Observational Training with Experts.” Research grants provide both funding and international exposure through the Research Champions’ Den at ESGE Days. In 2025, Giulio Antonelli, Marine Camus and Lucia Guilabert Sanz won. For 2026, funding has increased from €30,000 to €50,000, reflecting our growing ability to support innovation in GI endoscopy.

The Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Working Group: This hardworking group runs the ESGE Mentorship Programme, now in its fourth year. In 2025, 16 mentor/mentee pairs worked together to promote diversity and support endoscopists seeking mentorship. Along with the Taskforce on Ergonomics, they conducted a major survey that will inform a forthcoming Position Statement.

Innovation of the Year Award: In 2025, we recognized Dr Julius Mueller (Germany) for The ArgoCap (“Best Procedural Innovation”) and Drs Mingyan Cai and Pinghong Zhou (China), with Leo Medical, for the ALL IN ONE Single-Use Snare Probe (“Best New Device”). Applications for the 2026 Award close February 28.

ESGE Strategy: A stronger vision for the future: ESGE’s newly updated Strategic Plan 2025–2029 sets a clear direction for the coming years. Built on the foundations of scientific excellence, integrity, inclusivity, and sustainability, the plan strengthens ESGE’s mission to educate, innovate, and promote quality and safety across all aspects of GI endoscopy. With the ESGE Green Working Group leading our sustainability agenda, ESGE is committed to advancing endoscopy that benefits both patients and the planet.

I am deeply grateful to lead this society at such a dynamic time, alongside the members. As I enter my second year as President, I thank my Executive Committee: Marianna Arvanitakis, Tomas Hucl, Raf Bisschops and Ian Gralnek for their support, and the Governing Board for their dedication. A special thank you to Jennifer Haas, ESGE’s Executive Director, and her team – their commitment and enthusiasm make everything we do possible.

On behalf of the ESGE Executive Committee, Governing Board, and ESGE Office, I thank you for your support and wish you all the very best for 2026!

Cesare Hassan
ESGE President

Publication History

Article published online:
15 December 2025