UEMS Section of Surgery
Executive Committee
The Executive of the UEMS Section and Board of Surgery was elected and effectively took office on 22nd February 2021 for a mandate of four years.
Daniel Casanova
President UEMS Section of Surgery
MD, PhD, FACS, FEBT.
Dr. Daniel Casanova is Professor of Surgery at University Hospital Valdecilla, University of Cantabria in Santander, Spain. He was promoted to Professor of surgery in 1992, and Full Professor of surgery in 2002 at University of Cantabria. He specializes in Transplant Surgery having Doctoral Thesis on Islet Transplantation and training in Transplantation at the University of Minnesota. He worked in the renal transplant program, having developed the liver and pancreas transplant programs of that institution.
His interests have been abdominal transplants, HBP and Endocrine Surgery. In 2005, he started his work in the Transplant Division of the UEMS, as Secretary of Division from 2008 to 2012, and President from 2012 to 2019.
Since then, he is Honorary President of the Division.
In 2013 he was appointed Honorary Professor of the Department of Surgery and Cancer at Hammersmith Hospital, Imperial College, London. He is a National Delegate to the European Section of Surgery of the UEMS, and an Honorary Member of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh and the Spanish Association of Surgeons.
Arthur Felice
President of the European Board of Surgery
MD, MSc, FEBS, FRCS Ed.
Professor Arthur Felice is a senior lecturer in Surgery at the University of Malta as well as a semi-retired consultant in general surgery and urology.
He is experienced and valued member of the UEMS family having been a Representative for the Division of General Surgery and Section and Board of Surgery on UEMS-CESMA since 2008, co-representative for the Surgery Section and Board on UEMS NASCE from 2014 to 2019, and CESMA EBSQ Examinations Appraisal Officer since 2015.
Dr. Felice specializes in General Surgery and was thus the chairperson of the General Surgery Examination Board from 2017 to 2019 and President of the UEMS Division of General Surgery from 2014 to date.
Since March 2021, He is President of the European Board of Surgery.
Ferdinand Köckerling
Vice-President of the UEMS Section of Surgery
Dr Ferdinand Köckerling was nominated Vice-President of the UEMS Section of Surgery in March 2021. He is also Chairman of the Working Group of Abdominal Wall Surgery at the UEMS.
Dr Köckerling lead surgeon at the Academic Teaching Hospital of Charité Medical School and the Vivantes Hospital.
Sebastian Roka
Secretary UEMS Section of Surgery
Dr Sebastian Roka was nominated secretary of the UEMS Section of Surgery in March 2021
Dr Roka is Head of Visceral and Vascular Surgery Department at Hanusch-Krankenhaus Hospital in Vienna, Austria.
Els Nieveen van Dijkum
Treasurer UEMS Section of Surgery
Dr. Els Nieveen van Dijkum is Professor of Surgery at Amsterdam University Medical Centers, University of Amsterdam in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. She specializes in Endocrine and Neuroendocrine Tumor Surgery, with a special focus on pheochromocytoma and neuroendocrine pancreatic tumors. As the chair of the ENETS Center of Excellence for neurendocrine tumors at her hospital, she is dedicated to these rare tumors. She is involved in national programs to improve care for patients with rara tumors. She also works on family participation studies and performs teaching and learning research.
She is director of the residency training program in the Amsterdam Region and also involved in the national residency training program development. She is the national delegate to the European Section of Surgery of the UEMS. She is Fellow of the Board of Endocrine Surgeons.
