Professor Paul Fockens studied medicine at Erasmus University Rotterdam. He followed the specialization Internal Medicine at the St. Elizabeth Hospital Tilburg and the AMC. Since 1989 he has been affiliated with the Academic Medical Center Amsterdam. He registered as a gastroenterologist in 1992. In 1996 he obtained his PhD with the thesis: 'Clinical Impact of Endosonography'.
Professor Fockens is currently head of the Department of Gastrointestinal and Liver Diseases at the Academic Medical Center Amsterdam. He also works at the Clinic for Internal Care of Bergman Clinics in Amsterdam (formerly Procolo). Professor Fockens also works at the Gastro-Intestinal Oncology Center Amsterdam (GIOCA).
His area of interest is advanced therapeutic endoscopy. Here he focuses primarily on colectoral (colon) cancer and imaging and therapy of the bile and pancreas. Research he conducts in this area is both clinical and basic.
Ancillary activities
Professor Fockens is past-president of the European Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ESGE) and board member of the UEG which organizes the major European MDL Congress annually with about 14000 participants. Furthermore, he is president of the EPGS which organizes continuing education in MDL at the AMC. From this position he organizes:
- An annual EUS congress, (18th meeting in June 2015)
- Amsterdam Live Endoscopy (since 2008), a program including live endoscopy and lectures, over 500 participants annually (www.amsterdamendoscopy.com).
Professor Fockens has over 200 scientific publications to his credit.
