Pär Myrelid is senior consultant colorectal surgeon at the Department of Surgery at Linköping University Hospital where he was head of the Colorectal Unit 2009-15. He was trained in Linköping but was also senior fellow in IBD surgery at Oxford University Hospitals. He wrote his PhD thesis on surgery and immunomodulation in Crohn's disease. He has written guidelines for the Swedish Gastroenterology Society on Perianal Crohn's disease and been expert in guidelines on biological therapy in IBD for the Swedish Medical Products Agency. He has published numerous articles within colorectal surgery and especially on surgery within IBD and a reviewer of numerous journals within gastroenterology and surgery and is also associate editor of Colorectal Diseases. Together with Mattias Block and Jonas Bengtsson he has also arranged an international work shop on Kock pouch surgery and has previously arranged a number of national and international meetings within the field. He is currently the president of the Swedish Society of Colorectal Surgery.Mattias Block is senior consultant colorectal surgeon at the Department of Surgery at Sahlgrenska University Hospital/Östra where he also is head of the Colorectal Unit.

He was trained at the hospitals of Uddevalla/Trollhättan as well as Sahlgrenska and has been working within the trauma unit at Tygerberg Hospital, Cape Town, South Africa. He wrote his PhD thesis on reconstructive surgery and pathophysiological aspects in Ulcerative Colitis. He has published numerous articles within colorectal surgery and especially on surgery within IBD. He is reviewer and member of the editorial board in various scientific papers. He has held several presentations concerning IBD surgery, both in surgical environment and for the general public. Together with Pär Myrelid and Jonas Bengtsson he has also arranged an international work shop on Kock pouch surgery and has previously arranged a number of national and international meetings within the field.