The EoE and esophagology communities recently received the sad news that Dr. Ikuo Hirano passed away on July 22 at the age of 60, after a long battle with pancreatic cancer. All of us who knew and treated Ikuo personally are dismayed. Dr. Ikuo Hirano emerged as one of the most outstanding clinicians and researchers in EoE over the past two decades, and an essential reference for understanding the rapid advances in the diagnosis and treatment of this disease in recent years. Dr. Ikuo Hirano's research in the field of EoE covered all relevant aspects of the disease, including its pathophysiology, motor disorders and esophageal functionality, quality of life and emotional and psychological impact of EoE, definition of therapeutic goals and the best standards for characterizing patient severity, to the investigation of different therapies, including dietary interventions, new formulations of swallowed corticosteroids and advanced biological therapies. When we apply the EREFS score to describe the endoscopic features of EoE, we will be paying tribute to Ikuo as an essential reference for current practice around this disorder.

Apart from all his professional merits, those of us who had the privilege of knowing Ikuo will miss a kind and calm man, always willing to listen and to collaborate on any new project. I first met Ikuo in 2009, during an symposium held at Northwestern University Memorial Hospital in parallel with Digestive Disease WeekÒ (DDW). I remember our long conversation at the end of the symposium on motor disorders in EoE, where Ikuo was extremely amiable with a young colleague making first contributions to the disease, and modest in sharing his insight. At our last meeting in May during DDW 2024, an emaciated Dr. Hirano enthusiastically presented his insightful view on the future of tools for the diagnosis and treatment of EoE, in a session during which he was named the Research Mentor of the Year for the Esophageal, Gastric and Duodenal Council Section.

Over the past decade, Dr. Hirano has maintained an intense and close collaboration with EUREOS. He was one of the authors of the first position statement promoted by EUREOS in 2013 to consider PPI-responsive esophageal eosinophilia as true EoE, as well as the Position Statement on Monitoring EoE in Clinical Practice, released last year. Dr. Hirano also collaborated as an external reviewer of the Evidence Guidelines on EoE released in 2017, and has been a speaker at the EUREOS-TIGERS Webinars promoted by both societies over the years.

With Dr. Ikuo Hirano, the EoE community loses one of its pioneers and leading researchers in this disease. The thoughts of EUREOS members are with his family and colleagues. However, the legacy that Ikuo leaves behind is solid, and will endure in his closest collaborators and in all of us.

May he rest in peace,

Alfredo J Lucendo

EUREOS President