Speakers
Course director
Robert Bechara, MD
Dr. Robert Bechara is an Associate Professor at Queens University. After receiving an honours bachelor’s degree in Cell and Molecular Biology (2004), he graduated from the University of Toronto Medical School. Dr. Bechara completed his internal medicine and gastroenterology residency training at Queens University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. He completed his fellowship training in advanced therapeutic endoscopy at St. Michael's Hospital, University of Toronto (2014) which included EMR, ERCP, EUS, double balloon enteroscopy, luminal stenting and zenkers septoplasty. Dr Bechara was the first Canadian to complete the 1 year advanced therapeutic fellowship under Dr. Haruhiro Inoue at the Showa University Digestive Disease Center Koto-Toyosu Hospital in Tokyo, Japan. His training included POEM (Peroral Endoscopic Myotomy), POET (Peroral Endoscopic Tumor resection), ESD (Endoscopic Submucosal Dissection), ARMs (Anti-Reflux MucoSectomy) and magnifying endoscopy. He has experienced over 300 POEM procedures during his training. In 2025, Dr. Bechara became the first North American to complete training to perform pharyngreal ESD's at the prestigious Cancer Institute Hospital of JFCR in Tokyo, Japan. His current clinical interests include POEM, ESD and ARMs.
Guest Faculty
Yusuke Fujiyoshi, MD
Dr. Yusuke Fujiyoshi is a gastroenterologist and therapeutic endoscopist who currently serves as an Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Ottawa. He earned his medical degree from Showa University School of Medicine in Tokyo, Japan, completed his training in internal medicine, gastroenterology, and therapeutic endoscopy in Japan, and later served as an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Showa University.Dr. Fujiyoshi further honed his skills in therapeutic endoscopy at St. Michael's Hospital, University of Toronto, where he completed an advanced therapeutic endoscopy fellowship. His expertise includes endoscopic diagnosis of early GI neoplasm, third-space endoscopy, such as ESD (endoscopic submucosal dissection) for early GI neoplasms and POEM (peroral endoscopicmyotomy) for esophageal achalasia, as well as ERCP and interventional EUS for pancreatobiliary diseases.Dr. Fujiyoshi is deeply involved in research, focusing on the diagnosis of early GI neoplasms, third- space endoscopy, and other therapeutic endoscopy procedures.