2022 ASM - It's a wrap

By NZ Gastro Office | Posted: Thursday January 26, 2023

The premiere event of every year for the NZSG calendar was another great gathering in 2022.

The 2022 ASM for the Society and NZgNC was a fantastic event. The educational programme gave 522 delegates the opportunity to hear from international, trans -Tasman and local experts across a range of topics. The keynote speakers included:

  • Prof Leon Adams
  • Dr Stephanie Buckton (nurse speaker)
  • Prof Benedict Devereaux
  • Prof Eamonn Quigley
  • Dr Jacqui Richmond (nurse speaker)
  • Dr Yutaka Saito
  • A/Prof Payal Saxena
  • Lisa Younge (nurse speaker).

The events’ 80 plus sponsors filled the grand room presenting workshops, sharing new products and offering support to the gastroenterology community.

Delegates also heard from top abstract submitters, and final abstract winners for NZSG Young Investigator Awards were announced. They included:

  • Eric Zheng - Young Investigator Award Endoscopy sponsored by Insight Medical. Abstract: Improving innovation in healthcare using low-code/no-code development: Waikato hospitals acute electronic endoscopy triage and referral system, a tertiary hospital experience.
  • Crispin Ovenden- Young Investigator Award – Luminal Abstract: Efficacy, safety and therapeutic drug monitoring of thioguanine in patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) in a New Zealand cohort.
  • Akhilesh Swaminathan - Young Investigator Award – Hepatology Abstract: Accuracy of non-invasive liver fibrosis scores in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease stratified by ethnicity – a New Zealand perspective.
  • Stephanie BrownYoung Investigator Award – Nutrition/other Abstract: The low FODMAP diet in children with Crohn disease – a case series report.
  • Sarah MorganYoung Investigator Award -Sustainability Abstract: It is easy being green: implementing sustainable practice in endoscopy to reduce emissions in a rural hospital setting.

All abstracts accepted at the Scientific Meeting will be published in the Gastroenterology and Hepatology From Bed to Bench journal with the issue being available from 31 March. All abstract authors will be sent an email with the link to view.

Social events included a fun run which this year saw participants running in an Auckland downpour. Winners of the run were Rhys Johns and Kirsty MacFarlane. Over 80 delegates attended a Doctors Dinner on Wednesday evening.

The highlight of the social calendar was the ASM dinner, “A Night at the Museum” with fantastic costumes and maximum capacity of people for the venue.

Additional awards from those above were announced at the dinner including:

Nursing Awards:

  • Andrea Dixon Best nurses presentation sponsored by Obex
  • Amaina Basco & Naomilyn Santos First time presenter sponsored by Insight Medical
  • Vanessa Mathieson Best article in the Tube sponsored by Boston Scientific
  • Cara Rowe Best poster award sponsored by NZgNC

The prestigous Janssen-NZSG Research Fellowship was awarded to Safina Gadeock Otago University principal researcher for Development of an IFN signature panel to predict clinical non-response to anti-TNF treated inflammatory bowel disease patients and its role in modulation of the epithelial innate response to commensal metabolites.

The 2022 ASM success was made possible by our Convening Committee from Counties Manakau; Ashok Raj, Alasdair Patrick, Judy Huang, and Ravinder Ogra with the guidance and support of Emma Prattley, Conference Manager from Conference Innovators.

Some of the great pics from the ASM and the dinner are attached; to see all those taken by our photographer at the dinner go to:

https://client.wearesmoke.co.nz/gastroconferencegaladinner2022/