The IHU Strasbourg announces the launch of its new Fellowship program in translational medicine, AI, and medical innovation.

This unique program is designed for clinicians from all disciplines who want to immerse themselves in the future of medicine. Each year, the IHU recruits fellows with diverse medical backgrounds and at different stages of their careers. The goal is clear: to offer participation in translational research projects and build an international and interdisciplinary community.

Total immersion in innovation

Joining this Fellowship program means benefiting from an exceptional environment combining clinical excellence and technological research.
The program offers:

• Direct access to disruptive technologies.
• A comprehensive, cross-disciplinary experience of innovation.
• Daily, stimulating collaboration with all the expert teams.
• Integration into a powerful interdisciplinary professional network.

Cutting-edge areas of expertise

Fellows have the opportunity to participate in projects involving all surgical and medical disciplines that perform image-guided minimally invasive procedures: laparoscopic surgery, therapeutic endoscopy, and interventional radiology. The program is multidisciplinary (including digestive, ENT, gynecological, and thoracic surgery) and incorporates cutting-edge fields such as advanced digital pathology.

Learning and teaching

At the IHU, innovation goes hand in hand with teaching. Fellows will benefit from dual training as learners and mentors. They will be enrolled in the IHU’s flagship educational programs and will have tremendous opportunities to serve as teaching assistants, mentors, or co-teachers, depending on their level of experience.

How to apply?

Led by Dr. Leonardo Sosa Valencia, this program offers successful candidates financial support tailored to their level of training and experience. Applications are accepted throughout the year.

To apply, please visit this page and complete the online form:
www.ihu-strasbourg.eu/recherche/fellowship

Please have the following documents ready:

• A resume.
• A cover letter.
• Three letters of recommendation

Learn more about the Fellowship program:
www.ihu-strasbourg.eu/recherche/fellowship

Echoendoscopy (EUS) is no longer used solely for diagnostic purposes. Today, it can be used to treat complex conditions, offering an alternative to surgery. However, the learning curve for these interventional procedures is steep. To meet this specific training need, the IHU has rolled out an intensive three-day program, including theory and, above all, intensive practical workshops. Launched in 2019, the therapeutic echoendoscopy courses have now reached their 20th edition.

A unique teaching method: high-fidelity simulation

ITEC course is unique in its teaching approach. Far from traditional theoretical training, participants benefited from more than 14 hours of practical training on the Institute’s experimental platform. Using live models simulating real pathologies (HiFiSAM models), doctors were able to practice in conditions close to real life. Cysts, lymphadenopathy, biliary dilation: each model was designed to faithfully reproduce the pathology and enable treatment by EUS under advanced radiological guidance.

The international excellence of experts

To lead these workshops, Dr. Sosa Valencia surrounded himself with a faculty of experts from France, Belgium, Italy, Romania, the United States, and Ecuador. Together, they guided participants in performing advanced technical procedures:

• Drainage of the gallbladder and bile ducts under echoendoscopy.
• Radiofrequency ablation of lesions.
• Performing gastrojejunal anastomoses.
• Tissue acquisition by fine needle biopsy (FNB).

This 20th edition confirms the role of the IHU Strasbourg as a global center of excellence for learning new image-guided therapies. By enabling participants to move from “theory” to “practice,” the ITEC course in 2026 continues to pave the way for increasingly less invasive and more targeted patient care.

If you would like to learn more about the ITEC course, click here.

IHU Strasbourg has recently hosted two intensive sessions of the Master M2 in Surgical Science & Innovation Technology, dedicated to two options within the curriculum:

• Surgical and bariatric endoscopy (January 12–13),
• Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) and endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) (January 19–21).

Aimed at international doctors and surgeons, these immersive and practical training courses at the IHU Strasbourg are part of an educational program combining theoretical teaching, real clinical cases, and practical hands-on.

Two specialties, one philosophy: learning by doing

Whether it’s bariatric endoscopy or ERCP, the teaching principle remains the same: exposing participants to real-life clinical situations while allowing them to refine their technical skills in a safe environment.

The surgical and bariatric endoscopy option explores endoscopic bariatric procedures, their indications, techniques, and results, with a particular focus on endoscopic sleeve gastroplasty.

The second option delves into the heart of biliary and pancreatic anatomy, covering ERCP and diagnostic and interventional echoendoscopy.

A training model centered on hands-on workshops

One of the key features of these sessions is the time devoted to practical hands-on on the experimental platform at the Strasbourg IHU. Organized into small groups, participants alternate between different workshops, which serve as training grounds before moving on to the operating room:

• simulators and learning devices,
• ex vivo models,
• ERCP techniques,
• fundamentals of endoscopic ultrasound,
• lumen-apposing metal stents,
• percutaneous single-operator cholangioscopy.

This progression allows participants to acquire skills that can be directly transferred to everyday clinical practice.

Excellent supervision

The sessions are led by Prof. Silvana Perretta, Director of Education Programs at the IHU, supported by renowned international experts. The program includes lectures, live real-life cases from the operating room, clinical case analyses, and discussions with participants.

Training tomorrow’s experts in minimally invasive surgery

Through this Master’s program and all of its educational programs, the IHU Strasbourg affirms its role in advanced training in surgical and interventional endoscopy, within a demanding and innovation-oriented international environment.

Discover our upcoming courses and educational programs:
www.ihu-strasbourg.eu

Every year, as summer approaches, IHU Strasbourg transforms into a true laboratory of ideas. The corridors fill with accents from around the world, open notebooks, and sketches of prototypes… It is in this vibrant atmosphere that the SDS Summer School will return from June 8 to 12, 2026 — one of the most anticipated international events in Surgical Data Science and digital surgery.

And today, it’s official: pre-registration for the 5th edition is now open.

An immersion at the heart of data-augmented surgery

The SDS Summer School is more than just a training course; it’s an invitation to rethink surgery. For five days, participants dive into the foundations of data science applied to surgery, exploring surgical AI, operative data analysis, computer vision, and operating room workflows.

The goal: to understand how data can become a surgeon’s ally — a guiding thread that illuminates decisions and enhances patient care.

Led by experts from IHU Strasbourg and the CAMMA team of the iCube laboratory at the University of Strasbourg, this summer school brings together students, clinicians, engineers, and researchers from around the globe. Everyone arrives with questions, insights, and aspirations — and leaves with a solid foundation, enriched through hands-on workshops, collaborative projects, and real-world experience.

A hands-on learning experience close to research

The 5th edition will include:

• Core courses on AI, robotics, and surgical data
• Hands-on workshops with real datasets from cutting-edge research
• Interactive sessions led by renowned Surgical Data Science researchers and clinicians
• Team mini-projects to turn concepts into working prototypes

The SDS Summer School is designed for those who want to play an active role in shaping the future of augmented surgery and intelligent interventional technologies.

Key dates to remember

• 12/01/2025 — Official opening of pre-registration
• 03/01/2026 — Application deadline
• 03/18/2026 — Selection committee decision
• 04/01/2026 — Deadline to confirm participation and pay registration fees

Learn more: www.edu4sds.org
Pre-registration: edu4sds.eve-evolving-education.eu
CAMMA research group : camma.u-strasbg.fr

Why is this summer school so appealing?

Because in just five days, it offers a clear vision of what surgery will look like in the decades to come. Because it brings together talents from diverse disciplines who discover a shared language: the language of data.

And because it takes place at IHU Strasbourg, a place where translational research, innovation, and advanced education naturally converge.

The SDS Summer School 2026 is ready to write a new chapter in digital surgery.
Now it’s up to you to decide whether you want to be part of it.

The IHU Strasbourg has unveiled the 2026 schedule for its International Therapeutic Endoscopic Ultrasound Course (ITEC). ITEC will offer three dates to meet growing demand for training.

Dates to remember:

• February 11–13, 2026
• June 3–5, 2026
• December 2–4, 2026

Scientific expertise of excellence

A must-attend event for experienced interventional endoscopists from around the world, ITEC is a high-level training course at the crossroads of theory, practice, and technological innovation. It implements an immersive teaching approach offered by a course director at the cutting edge of therapeutic endoscopic ultrasound (EUS):

• Leonardo Sosa-Valencia, FR/VE,
• Abdenor Badaoui, BE,
• Pierre-Yves Christmann, FR,
• Jérôme Huppertz, FR, and
• Maxime Palazzo, FR.

A unique, practice-focused format

ITEC 2026 will offer:

• interactive conferences led by a panel of international experts;
• discussions of complex clinical cases, comparing participants’ experiences with the latest approaches;
• more than 14 hours of supervised practice on high-fidelity simulated models, reproducing the main clinical situations that may be encountered (abdominal collections, biliary dilations, anastomoses, radiofrequency, embolization, neurolysis, etc.).

This approach enables practitioners to make concrete progress, moving from diagnostic EUS and ERCP to mastery of complicated therapeutic procedures.

A unique technological and academic environment

Thanks to the exceptional infrastructure of the IHU Strasbourg—an experimental platform with state-of-the-art equipment (therapeutic echoendoscopes, C-Arm, CT scanner, Angio-CT)—participants benefit from an experience that is as close as possible to clinical reality.

Personalized support from world-renowned experts facilitates direct and constructive exchanges between participants and trainers.

A program designed to transform practice

The course is primarily intended for gastroenterologists and interventional echoendoscopists with experience in diagnostic EUS and ERCP who wish to expand their skills to include therapeutic echoendoscopy. Two options are available:

• Group A: comprehensive training with intensive practice, limited to 12 experienced participants, with the option of bringing an assistant or nurse.
• Group B: participation as an auditor, with access to lectures, discussions, and observation of practical sessions.

At the end of these three days, participants will have acquired a stronger mastery of EUS techniques and an integrated vision of their place in modern echoendoscopic care.

International academic recognition

The program has been recognized by the United European Gastroenterology (UEG). The program also follows the educational recommendations of the European Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ESGE).

An application for CME accreditation (EACCME©) has been submitted for the 2026 edition.

Join the ITEC 2026 adventure

Join the ITEC 2026 adventure By attending the ITEC course, you will become part of an international community of practitioners committed to the advancement of interventional echoendoscopy. More than just a course, it is an immersive and collaborative learning experience at the heart of medical innovation.

👉 Registration is now open: Go to the ITEC course page

Download the ITEC 2026 program