Dr Edward J Despott
Consultant Gastroenterologist and Lead Interventional Endoscopist, The Royal Free Hospital and Honorary Associate Professor, University College London
Speaker's biography
Dr Edward John Despott is the Lead of Endoscopy Services and Honorary Associate Professor at the Royal Free Unit for Endoscopy, Royal Free NHS Foundation Trust and University College London (Institute for Liver and Digestive Health) (Hampstead campus) in London. He is a consultant gastroenterologist and interventional endoscopist whose specialist interests include device assisted enteroscopy (double-balloon enteroscopy (DBE) in particular), capsule endoscopy (CE) and therapeutic colonoscopy (mainly wide-field EMR and ESD). He is also interested in transnasal upper GI endoscopy and in the diagnosis and management of inflammatory bowel disease and related complications (such as endoscopic management of small bowel and colonic strictures). He instigated significant advances at the Royal Free Unit for Endoscopy by making it one of the only 2 centres in London (and one of a handful in the UK) to offer a comprehensive small bowel endoscopy service, now one of the busiest in Europe. His expertise is recognised and he is regularly invited to speak at national and international meetings and forms part of several international steering committees (including the European Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ESGE) guidelines committee for small bowel endoscopy and the World Endoscopy Organisation (WEO) committees for education and standards of practice. Dr Despott maintains an interest in endoscopic research; he is well published (peer-reviewed papers, several book chapters and review articles) and regularly acts as a referee for scientific journals of high impact. His group's work is also regularly accepted for oral presentation at national and international conferences and he is regularly invited to form part of the faculty at the United European Gastroenterology (UEG) week. He also maintains an active interest in endoscopy education and teaches on several hands-on endoscopy courses, forms part of the faculty of the ‘European Capsule Endoscopy Course’ and is a co-director of the successful Royal Free International Advanced Endoscopy Masterclass (AEM), held annually in central London. His other interests include oil painting and deep-sea fishing.
