This book reviews recent knowledge of the role of stem cells in the gastrointestinal system. It covers extensive topics for each organ, including the pancreas, esophagus, liver, and colon, while also discussing the contributions of stem cells to therapeutic approaches toward gastrointestinal diseases, including inflammatory bowel diseases. Comprehensive and cutting-edge, Digestive System Diseases: Stem Cell Mechanisms and Therapies deepens a reader's theoretical expertise in gastrointestinal stem cell biology. It furthers scientists' understanding of gastrointestinal stem cells and, most importantly, the development of novel therapeutic targets.

Graduate and postdoctoral students, medical doctors (including gastroenterologists and surgeons), and principal investigators in both academia and industry will benefit from this book. In particular, it is a valuable resource for professionals within the fields of gastrointestinal research, pharmaceutical science, molecular biology, regenerative medicine, and genetics.

Maria Gazouli, PhD, Biologist, is Associate Professor of the Department of Biology at the National & Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA) School of Medicine. She performed her 1st PhD training at the Department of Biology, School of Science of NKUA in partnership with the Hellenic Pasteur Institute, her 2nd PhD training at the Department of Microbiology, School of Medicine of NKUA, and her postdoctoral work in the USA (1997-2000) in the Cell Biology and Pharmacology Department, Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, DC. In 2007, she joined the NKUA Medical School as Lecturer of Biology, in 2012 she was promoted to Assistant Professor of Molecular Biology and, in late 2016, she was promoted to Associate Professor of Molecular Biology. Dr M. Gazouli's work refers mainly to the molecular basis of diseases (mainly autoimmune diseases and cancer), to molecular detection of pathogens, and to the investigation of the pathogenesis of the diseases they cause to humans. She worked on stem cells implication in mucosal healing, and she is responsible for the e-learning program of the NKUA Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine. Recently, Dr Gazouli was involved in the incorporation of nanotechnology into targeted cancer detection, imaging and drug delivery. She was honored with a Fulbright Scholarship for the Development of Nanotechnology-based Biosensor Arrays for the Detection of Circulating Colorectal Cancer Cells at University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA. Dr Gazouli's work is reflected in more than 230 publications that have received more than 8900 citations and an h-index of48 (Google scholar, 1/10/2018). She owns one granted international patent and three European patents. She has given more than 50 invited lectures at international and national conferences and universities and has trained several junior scientists. She has served as ad hoc reviewer for various high-impact scientific journals, and she is regularly invited to serve on review panels as an expert evaluator by prestigious organizations, such as the National Research Grant Funding Agencies of Greece, Broad Medical Research Program Inflammatory Bowel Disease Grants, the National Science Centre (Narodowe Centrum Nauki), Krakow, the PISCOPIA Fellowship Programme on behalf of the University of Padova, Italy, the Czech-Norwegian Research Programme, the Qatar National Research Fund, the Danish Council for Independent Research for DFF - YDUN Research Project, the Italian Ministry of Education (MIUR), University and Research and the Evaluation of research products.

George E. Theodoropoulos was born in Greece in 1969 and graduated Athens Medical School in 1992. His PhD research in Tumor Markers of Gastrointestinal Malignancies was completed in 1994. He completed a 6-year residency program in General Surgery and a fellowship in Colon and Rectal Surgery in the U.S.A. Following a four-year course as a private surgeon in Athens Medical Center, he was elected as a Lecturer of Surgery in Athens Medical School in 2007. He is currently holding an academic post as an Associate Professor of Surgery at the same University. He is a Diplomat of the American Board of Surgery and of the American Board of Colon & Rectal Surgery, a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons (FACS) and a Fellow of the American Society of Colon & Rectal Surgeons. Twenty PhD theses have been completed under his supervision. He has also completed a 6-month research fellowship in the Department of Colorectal Surgery, Cleveland Clinic Florida, Weston, FL, USA. He has set up and guided the function of a clinic of surveillance of Health-Related Quality of Life and oncologic process of postoperative colorectal cancer patients, he has been supervising the Colorectal Unit of the First Department of Propaedeutic Surgery of Athens Medical School at Hippocration Hospital, Athens, Greece and he has recently established and has been coordinating, along with the Radiology and the Academic Gastroenterology Department of the hospital, a "Lower Digestive Tract Study Unit," aiming at the multidisciplinary approach of large bowel diseases. He has presented at more than 200 national and international meetings and invited talks at 90 meetings. He is the author/co-author of 120 internationally cited, peer-reviewed journals publications. His research work has international recognition, and there are more than 4,000 citations of his publications related to his research (h-index 34).