ISG News May 2007

The 47th annual national conference of the Indian Society of Gastroenterology was held in Mumbai from 8th to 12th November 2006. I hope you enjoyed the scientific sessions, the warm hospitality of the organizing team. Prof Prabha Sawant and her team deserve our heartiest congratulations and thanks.

Awards and orations for 2006:
Prof Raj Goyal (USA) delivered the prestigious Dr PN Chuttani Oration, Dr H Ramesh (Cochin) delivered the Pfizer Oration and Dr SP Misra (Allahabad) delivered the Abbott Oration. Dr Mahesh Goenka (Kolkata) was the recipient of the Olympus J Mitra Award and Dr Ajay Duseja (Chandigarh) received the Alkem- Om Prakash Memorial Award given to a scientist under 40 years of age, for the best research in Gastroenterology.
The conference was attended by several international guests and delegates from the USA, UK, Holland, Singapore and Bangladesh. Prof Guido Tytgat (past president, World Gastroenterology Organization, Prof Michael Farthing (president elect of WGO), Dr Prateek Sharma (USA) were amongst the international faculty. Two sessions were jointly organized by the European Association of Gastroenterology and the ISG, which were widely appreciated.

The papers presented in the plenary and young investigator sessions were of high quality and a total of 260 papers and posters were presented during the conference. The list of authors who received awards for their presentations has been put up on the society’s website. Congratulations to all of them.

Conferences and state chapter activities, 2007
The 48th Annual Conference of Indian Society of Gastroenterology will be held in Bangalore in November 15-18, 2007. The Organizing Secretary, Dr B Satyaprakash, will keep you posted on the arrangements. He has already sent the 1st announcement, which I am sure, all of you have received. For more details, please visit the conference website www.isgcon2007.com , or e-mail him at isgcon2007@yahoo.com.

One mid-term conference of the ISG for 2007 (an Indo-US venture) was held in Delhi in March 10-11 with inflammatory bowel disease as its theme; it was organized by the president of ISG, Prof Subrat Acharya and Dr Vineet Ahuja, and witnessed discussions and debates of a very high scientific order.

The 2nd mid-term conference of ISG will be held in Lucknow on September 1&2, 2007. The themes will be “Dilemmas in Clinical Practice” on day 1 and “Preventive Gastroenterology” on day 2. The 2nd day’s session will be in collaboration with the World Health Organization, and will mark the formal beginning of this subspecialty in India. For details please contact Dr UC Ghoshal, organizing secretary (ghoshal@sgpgi.ac.in) or Prof Gourdas Choudhuri, Chairman, organizing committee (gourdas@satyam.net.in).

Submission of abstracts for ISGCON2007:
Please note that abstracts for ISGCON 2007 are to be submitted on-line at the ISG website www.isg.org.in . Abstracts sent by any other means or elsewhere, will not be accepted. The deadline for abstract submission is 31 July 2007.

Website
The society’s website is functional and running well for the last 4 years. I hope all of you have visited it. Abstracts are to be submitted on-line at the website. All the information about the society, its constitution, news, scientific programs and membership application forms are now on the net. I request all members to visit the website at least once a month to keep track of all that is happening.

Editorship of Indian Journal of Gastroenterology
With the completion of a very successful term of Prof Philip Abraham as the Editor of IJG and his desire to step down, the selection of editor was held in Delhi on March 10th. Prof Shobna Bhatia will take over as Chief Editor of IJG, Prof BS Ramakrishna will be section editor of Gastroenterology and Prof Rakesh Aggarwal will be section editor of Hepatology.

Election of Office Bearers
The post of president-elect and 2 seats of the governing council of ISG will fall vacant this year. Election to these posts will be conducted by the current president-elect and election officer, Prof Ramesh Roop Rai (Jaipur). You will hear from him shortly.

Task Force
The ISG has constituted Task Forces to collect data and develop practice guidelines for certain chronic diseases, such as IBS, dyspepsia, malabsorption, IBD. The questions and pro forma of some of the diseases are on the net, and I strongly urge all interested members to join in this collective scientific activity to help the society develop consensus guidelines soon. The data collected on GERD and IBS in the first phase is being analyzed and will be ready before the forthcoming conference. Those interested in joining the Task Force(s) on IBD and Malabsorption may kindly download the information and questionnaire from the website and contact the coordinators of the respective groups.

International Fellowships
ISG-APDW Travel Fellowship: The Indian Society of Gastroenterology sponsored around 25 gastroenterologists for attending the Asia Pacific Digestive Week held in Cebu, Phillipines in November 2007. The Indian contingent was sizeable and the delegates contributed well by presenting lectures and papers of a high standard. The APDW 2007 will be held in Japan for which the ISG will try and provide travel fellowships this year too. You will hear about it shortly.

The Japanese Society of Gastroenterology offers a 3 month training fellowship in Japan to a young Indian gastroenterologist. Dr CS Baba (New Delhi) has been selected for the fellowship for 2007-8.

Fellowship in Hepatology to Asian Center for Liver Diseases & Transplantation, Singapore: Dr Tan Kai Chah has most kindly offred this fellowship slot for a young hepatologist to visit his center and undertake research or training in hepatology for 3 months. The feloowship will cover the to-and-fro travel cost and a living stipend. Applicants should be under 40 years, be part of a team /center with interest in liver diseases or liver transplantation. Those who have not availed of ISG fellowships in the last 3 years will be given preference. Please send 5 copies of your CV with recommendations, and reasons for applying for the fellowship, to the ISG secretariat by July 31, 2007.

Awards
Nominations for the various awards for 2007-8 should be sent to the secretariat by July 31, 2007. Please indicate the name of the award or fellowship on the envelope cover. Details of the awards are as follows:

ISG-Astra Zeneca Oration (2008) (earlier known as ISG-Pfizer oration)
The applicant should have done research in any branch of Gastroenterology, as evidenced by at least 20 publications in recognized journals. The publications should be full reports with references; summaries in conference proceedings or abstracts of presentations are not acceptable. The work should have been done in India as far as possible. If a suitable awardee is not found, the award may be given to a person whose work has significance for Indian conditions. Five sets of the application submitted by the proposer should include the curriculum vitae and reprints of the five best research papers of the applicant.

ISG-Knoll Oration (2008)
This oration is in the field of parasitology/ gastrointestinal infection or nutrition as related to Gastroenterology. The applicant should have done research in these areas as evidenced by at least 20 publications in the form of full reports with references; summaries in conference proceedings or abstracts of presentations are not acceptable. Five sets of the application submitted by the proposer should each include the curriculum vitae and reprints of the five best research papers of the applicant.

ISG-Alkem Om Prakash Memorial Award (2008)
This award will be given to a gastroenterologist member of the ISG who is below the age of 40 years. The award is based on the 10 best research papers published by the applicant. Five sets of the application should each include the biodata and reprints of the five best research papers of the applicant. The application may be submitted by the prospective awardee or by a proposer who should be a member of the Society.

ISG-Olympus Mitra Endoscopy Award (2008)
This award to promote continuing education in the field of endoscopy is given to a senior member of the Society skilled in endoscopy who will visit one or more centers to enhance knowledge in the field. The awardee will be selected based on experience in endoscopy (as judged from the biodata and publications) and the centers proposed by him. Five sets of the application should each include the bio-data and reprints of the five best research papers published in the field of endoscopy. The application may be submitted by the prospective awardees or by a proposer who should be a member of the Society.

ISG-Dr P N Chuttani Oration (2008)
Nominations are invited for this prestigious oration. Nominations along with 10 sets of the curriculum vitae, should reach the Secretariat by July 31, 2007. The nominee should have a distinguished academic career and should have made outstanding contributions in Gastroenterology or related fields. The awardee will be selected on the basis of the bio-data. In case no nomination is received or no suitable awardee is found, the Scientific Committee along with a representative of the Trust will have the right to nominate any person who fulfils these criteria. The awardee will be provided airfare within India, and reimbursement for accommodation for three days during the annual conference.

ISG-Dr S R Naik Memorial Award (2007)
This award will be given to an Indian scientist for the best published work in the field of diseases of the digestive tract and liver, and other sciences as related to these areas in 2006-7. Applicants are required to send their full bio-data, a list of publications in the calendar year for which the award is meant, and 5 photocopies of such publications, to the Hon. Secretary. Selection Committee for the award will consist of two representatives of the ISG and one person from among the faculty of the Department of Gastroenterology at the SGPGI. The award carries a certificate and a cash of Rs. 20,000.

ISG-Dr S R Naik Travel Fellowships (2008)
These fellowships are aimed at encouraging exchange of postgraduate students (DM/MCh/DNB) between different academic departments imparting training in gastroenterology, surgical gastroenterology and pediatric gastroenterology. These will be awarded to postgraduate students in the above fields to enable them to visit another academic department for training.
Applicants are required to send their bio-data, proof of being a bonafide student in the specialty (from the head of the their department), name of the department and institution that they wish to visit, a letter from the head of the host department accepting her/him for training, and a certificate that s/he is not in receipt of any other financial support for this purpose.
Selection Committee for the fellowship will consist of three persons (a) a representative of the ISG, (b) one person from among the faculty of the Departments of Gastroenterology or Surgical Gastroenterology at the SGPGI, Lucknow and (c) a person nominated by the Head, Department of Gastroenterology, SGPGI, Lucknow.
The fellowship will cover the cost of travel (AC chair car or AC-3-tier), and of lodging and boarding (an amount of Rs. 5,000 per month, reduced on a pro-rata basis if duration is shorter). The fellowship will be tenable for a maximum period of one month.

Other Awards

Please inform the secretariat of your recent e-mail ID and pass me your valuable suggestions and advice. Kind regards,

Gour Choudhuri
Honorary Secretary
Indian Society of Gastroenterology.