Foreword

A horse and its rider, sculpted by Guillame COUSTOU (1677-1746), belonging to the group called "Horses of Marly"on the Champs Elysées in Paris, are the Symbol of OESO. They were chosen as a dynamic image of an impetus, that of an entire multi-disciplinary organization, and its efforts to master the essential problems still existing in esophageal disease.

 

Since its founding in 1978 by Robert GIULI, M.D., FACS, Professor of Surgery at the University of Paris, the structure of OESO has been that of an international network, created to set up multi-disciplinary multicenter studies on esophageal disease.

From the start, the unique goal of this endeavor has been to bring together specialists from all disciplines involved in the then new science of esophagology, in order to carry out research in the diverse fields contributing to better care of patients suffering from a disease of the esophagus.

The first President of Honor of OESO was Professor Jean-Louis LORTAT-JACOB (Paris). Then, and up until 2000, Professor Guido N.J. TYTGAT (Amsterdam), world renowned gastroenterologist, and Professor Tom R. DeMEESTER (Los Angeles), equally renowned in the field of esophageal surgery, shared this role.

Professor Robert Giuli has acted as Scientific Director of the network since its creation.

Since 2012, he has been sitting on the Board as Founder – Deputy Director.

In 2011, OESO counts 14,000 corresponding members in 85 countries of the world.


Since its creation, OESO has represented a unique joint endeavor, and its multi-disciplinary approach has given to this network a particular place in the international community. By its original, multi-disciplinary nature, by its international assembly of leading specialists from 19 disciplines, all interested in a single organ, the esophagus, OESO has gained a particular place as a body for clinical and fundamental research, and this Organization has progressively attained the status of a world reference in the domain of esophagology.

This unique, joint endeavor henceforth renders tangible, and directly useful in daily practice, the very specific achievement of a network of excellence bringing together, in each discipline, many of the most prominent representatives of gastroenterology in the world.