Bledar Kraja, MD, PhD Professor of Physiology | Gastrohepatologist Faculty of Medicine, University of Tirana | University Hospital Center “Mother Teresa,” Tirana, Albania I am Professor Bledar Kraja, a senior academic and clinician with over 20 years of experience in the diagnosis, treatment, and management of gastrointestinal, hepatic, biliary, and pancreatic disorders. I currently serve as a Professor of Physiology in the Department of Biomedical Sciences at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Tirana, and as a gastrohepatologist at the University Clinic of Gastrohepatology, University Hospital Center “Mother Teresa” (QSUT), Tirana. I graduated with a degree in General Medicine from the University of Tirana in 1997 and completed my specialization in Gastrohepatology in 2002. In 2009, I earned my PhD with a dissertation on the nutritional profile of the Albanian population and its correlation with health indicators. Between 2012 and 2015, I pursued postdoctoral studies at Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam, Netherlands. My clinical expertise includes advanced training in endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) and endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP), completed at the University Hospital Center of Zagreb and other leading European institutions. I was instrumental in establishing the first EUS and ERCP unit at QSUT, where I currently perform diagnostic and therapeutic procedures, including EUS-guided fine-needle aspiration (EUS-FNA) for staging and diagnosis of gastrointestinal and related conditions. In academia, I have played a significant role in developing the medical physiology curriculum and authoring educational materials. I also serve as the Coordinator for Medical Physiology within the Faculty of Medicine’s residency program. My research focuses on gastroenterology, with specific interests in viral hepatitis B, Helicobacter pylori eradication, gastroesophageal reflux disease, and digestive cancer screening and prevention. My work often explores the impact of lifestyle and behavioral risk factors, such as diet, physical inactivity, smoking, and alcohol use, on gastrointestinal health. I have contributed to numerous international research projects and have published extensively in peer-reviewed journals, including World Journal of Gastroenterology, Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, European Journal of Gastroenterology & Hepatology, Seminars in Cancer Biology, and BMC Gastroenterology. My Scopus h-index is 13. I actively peer-review for journals such as World Journal of Gastroenterology, AJMHS, and Frontiers in Public Health. I serve on the Executive Editorial Board of the Albanian Journal of Medical and Health Sciences and the Editorial Board of the World Journal of Gastroenterology. Since 2018, I have been Albania’s National Contact Point for the European Commission’s Initiative on Colorectal Cancer (ECICC). Additionally, I am certified by the Ministry of Health as a Clinical Auditor under the National Clinical Audit Program. I am also a participant in several COST Action networks, including TRANSPAN (translational research in pancreatic cancer), Precision-BTC-Network (precision medicine in biliary tract cancer), and EURO-VALDI-NET (European vascular liver disease network). I am a recognized member of the global consensus on the redefinition of fatty liver disease.