Prof. Jan Tack

University of Leuven, Belgium

Professor Jan Tack is currently Chairman of the Gastroenterology and Hepatology Division in Leuven University Hospitals, a Professor in Internal Medicine, former Chairman of the Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine at the University of Leuven, Belgium, a founding researcher of TARGID (the Translational Research Center for Gastrointestinal Disorders) at the University of Leuven and President of the Rome Foundation. He graduated summa cum laude in 1987 from the University of Leuven and specialised in internal medicine and gastroenterology at the same institution. A research fellow at the Department of Physiology at the Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA, from 1989 to 1990, he has been conducting research at Leuven University since 1990.

Professor Tack’s scientific interest focuses on Neurogastroenterology and Motility, and includes diverse topics such as the pathophysiology and management of gastrointestinal functional and motor disorders such as gastroesophageal reflux disease, functional dyspepsia, gastroparesis, chronic constipation and the irritable bowel syndrome, the physiology and pharmacology of the enteric nervous system, gastrointestinal hormones and the control of satiation and food intake. With an h-index of 101, he has published more than 980 peer-reviewed articles in the international literature, with over 45000 citations, and he contributed more than 45 book chapters on various aspects of scientific and clinical gastroenterology. He has co-authored publications in all leading Gastroenterology journals, and several high-ranked general scientific journals (e.g. New England Journal of Medicine, Journal of Clinical Investigation, Nature genetics, PNAS, JAMA, Gastroenterology, Gut, Nature Reviews Gastroenterology Hepatology, ….). Professor Tack was the promotor of more than 45 Ph.D. fellows. He currently supervises a research group which comprises 10 Ph.D. fellows, 2 postdocs and 3 technical/support staff.

Professor Tack has won several awards for basic and clinical research in gastrointestinal science. He was awarded with the national G. Brohée prize for gastrointestinal research in 1994, the Belgian Baron Simonart prize in 1999, the Biotherabel-AstraZeneca prize for Gastrointestinal Research and the Paternoster & Vantrappen prize for Neurogastroenterology in 2000, the international Janssen Award for Basic and Clinical Research in Gastrointestinal Science in 1999, the international International Janssen Award for Neurogastroenterology and Motility in 2004, the IFFGD Clinical Researcher prize in 2013, with the Research Prize of United European Gastroenterology in 2015 and with the International Falk Foundation Gastroenterology Research prize as well as the UEG lifetime achievement award in 2023.

Professor Tack is currently president of the Rome Foundation and a council member and president of the European Association for Gastroenterology, Endoscopy and Nutrition. He was the founding Editor-in-Chief of the United European Gastroenterology Journal. He has served as President of the European Society of Esophagology, President of the International Society for Diseases of the Esophagus and member of the Steering Committee of the European Society for Neurogastroenterology and Motility and has served as (co-)editor for Neurogastroenterology and Motility, Gastroenterology, Gut and Digestion. He serves or has served as a member of the Editorial Board of Gastroenterology, the American Journal of Gastroenterology, Alimentary Pharmacology and Therapeutics, the Journal of Internal Medicine, Bailliere’s Best Practice and Research in Clinical Gastroenterology, Annals of Gastroenterology, and the Journal of Gastroenterology.