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Dr Roberta RIZZO
Italy
Full Professor in Microbiology and Clinical Microbiology Section of microbiology, Department of Chemical, Pharmaceutical and Agricultural Sciences, University of Ferrara (Italy)
Principal activities: Research in viral infection associated to human diseases
Dr. Rizzo graduated in Biology and then got a Specialization in Medical Genetics and a PhD in Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Biotechnology at the University of Ferrara. She is currently leading research groups at the University of Ferrara, focusing on the pathogenetic association between viral infection and several human diseases, investigating the role of HLA-G and other HLA-Ib molecules. She is author of several publications on international peer-reviewed journals.
Dr Daria BORTOLOTTI
Italy
Associated Professor in Microbiology and Clinical Microbiology
Section of microbiology, Department of Chemical, Pharmaceutical and Agricultural Sciences, University of Ferrara (Italy)
Principal activities: Research in viral infection associated to human diseases
Dr. Bortolotti graduated in Medical-Pharmaceutical Biotechnology and then got a PhD in Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Biotechnology at the University of Ferrara. She is currently performing her research at the University of Ferrara, focusing on the role of viral infection in immune-associated disease and investigating several possible immune-escape mechanisms, including HLA-G and other HLA-Ib molecules. She is author of several publications on international peer-reviewed journals.
Dr Valentina GENTILI
Italy
Assistant Professor in Microbiology and Clinical Microbiology, Department of Environmental and Prevention Sciences, University of Ferrara (Italy)
Principal activities: Research in viral infection associated to human diseases.
Dr. Gentili graduated in Pharmacy and then got a PhD in Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Biotechnology at the University of Ferrara. She is currently conducting her research at the University of Ferrara, with a specialized focus on the immune response to viral infections. Her research primarily investigates the mechanisms of immune modulation and immune evasion by
viruses, focusing the role of HLA-G and other HLA class I molecules. In recent years, she has expanded her research to explore the impact of viral infections on tissue-specific immune
responses and how these responses may relate to diseases. Her work is published in several international peer-reviewed journals, contributing to the understanding of how immune modulation
by viruses can influence disease progression and outcome.
Pr Edgardo D. CAROSELLA
France
Strategic Advisor on science policy of the Institut de Biologie François Jacob (CEA)
Member of the Academy of Sciences (Institut de France)
Vice-President of the Board of Directors and Founding Member of C.E.P.H. (Centre d'Etude du Polymorphisme Humain - Fondation Jean DAUSSET)
Pr Anatolij HORUZSKO
USA
Anatolij Horuzsko earned a degree in medicine from the Pediatric Medical School of St. Petersburg and from Semmelweis University of Medicine, Budapest. He received his PhD in Cancer Biology from the Russian Academy of Sciences and in Transplantation Immunology from the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. He continued his clinical training in pediatrics and hematology-oncology, completing postdoctoral fellowship at the National Institute of Hematology and Blood Transfusion of Budapest, Hungary and the National Institute for Medical Research, Mill Hill, London, UK. In 1995, he joined the faculty at the Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, GA, USA where he remains to this day as Professor of Medicine, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and Graduate Studies at the Georgia Cancer Center. He is an immunologist and cancer biologist with a longstanding interest and expertise in molecular and cellular mechanisms of cancer initiation, progression and cancer immunotherapy. He is also recognized expert in the role of HLA-G in transplantation tolerance, mechanisms of control allograft survival in recipients with organ/tissue transplants. His basic and translational research has been supported by multiple NIH and Foundation grants of which he is Principal Investigator and Co-Investigator. He has authored more than 100 scientific publications on the transplantation tolerance, cancer immunology, immunotherapy and inflammation. He has received several awards, including The Wellcome Trust International Fellowship Award (UK), Shine Award (USA).
Pr Enrico FAINARDI
Italy
Born in Parma on 09/09/1961, is a neurologist and neuroradiologist who works as Head of Neuroradiology Unit in Careggi University Hospital, Florence (Italy) and as Associate Professor in Department of Experimental and Clinical Biomedical Sciences, University of Florence (Italy). His current research fields of interest include the identification of biological and radiological markers for diagnosis and prognosis in several neurological disorders such as multiple sclerosis and related diseases, stroke, intracerebral hemorrhage, brain tumors and traumatic brain injury.
Dr Fabio MORANDI
Italy
Senior Researcher/Quality Control Operator
UOSD Cell Factory – IRCCS Istituto Giannina Gaslini, Genova, Italy
Principal activities: Research in Tumor immunology and Development of Advanced Therapeutic Medicinal Products (ATMP)
Dr. Morandi graduated in Biology and then he get a Specialization in Clinical Pathology at the University of Genoa. He competed a research fellowship at IST/S.Martino Hospital and then at IRCCS Istituto Giannina Gaslini, in Genoa, Italy. He is currently a Senior Researcher at IRCCS Giannina Gaslini and operates in the Quality Control area of the Cell Factory “G.Gaslini”. He is author of several publications in the field of i) tumor immunology and ii) mechanisms of regulation of immune response in physiological and pathological conditions. In the last years, he focused his research on HLA-G and other HLA-Ib molecules, adenosinergic ectoenzymes, immune checkpoint inhibitors and extracellular vesicles.
Pr Antonio ARNAIZ-VILLENA
Spain
Founder and Full Professor of Dept Iimmunology at University Complutense,Madrid,Spain.
MD.PhD-9 years research in Immunology,Genetics,Anthropology at London Hospital Medical College,Middlesex Hospital Medical School.
FOUNDER:
1) Immunology Dept.Hospital Ramon y Cajal,Madrid.
2) and Head Immunology Dpt.Hospital 12 Octubre,Madrid.
3)and Head of Immunology Dpt. at University Complutense Madrid.
INVITED LECTURER:The Royal Society,London,Academie de France.
PUBLISHED PAPERS:428.
DIRECTED THESIS AND DEGREES.65
PRESENT:Prof at Complutense University.Madrid.
CITES AT YEAR 2023:9,671
Supervisors: Prof Ivan Roitt-The Middlesex Hospital Medical School-London and Prof Hilliard Festenstein-The London Hospital Medical College
Dr Nathalie ROUAS-FREISS
France
PharmD., Ph.D., CEA Research Director, Head of the Hemato-Immunology Research Department at the CEA, Saint-Louis Hospital, Paris, France. She received her doctorate in immunology from the University of Paris. Her research focuses on tolerance mechanisms, particularly those mediated by the non-classical HLA-G molecule in transplantation and oncology, as well as their clinical applications.
Ph.D Joël Le MAOULT
France
Ph.D., CEA Research Director, Head of the Laboratory for Basic and Applied Immunobiology in the Hemato-Immunology Research Department of CEA, Saint- Louis Hospital, Paris France.He holds a M.Sc of Biochemistry from AgroParisTech, and a M.Sc and a Ph.D. in Biology of Aging from the University of Paris.His research focuses on immune escape mechanisms mediated by the immune checkpoint HLA-G, and on the immune effector populations that express its receptor, ILT2. He conducts his research in the context of oncology, particularly inurologic cancers.
Pr Inés ZIDI
Tunisia
Full Professor in Immunology, Head of research team in Cellular and Molecular Immunology, Laboratory of Microorganismes
and Active Biomolecules, Sciences Faculty of Tunis, University of Tunis El Manar, Tunisia.
Prof. Inès ZIDI is an enthusiastic and Innovator researcher. She has been awarded two international prizes for his exceptional
scientific career: AUF Laureate in Science and Technology (2019) and Besrour Prize of Excellence in Health Applied Research from University of Montreal, Canada (2017). Prof. Inès ZIDI has leading research in cellular and Molecular
Immunology with a focus on non-classical HLA-I molecules genetics and their implication in pathophysiology. She studied different immunopathologies to shed light on immunoregulation
mechanisms to understand disease etiology and progression/complications.
Her current applied research focuses on developing new theranostics to offer new rapid advanced technologies of diagnosis/prognosis for immunopathologies. The expertise of Prof. Inès ZIDI is in Scientific editing and in Technology transfer.
Actually, she is working as a scientific expert for the CREES- Maghreb AUF.
Pr Antonio D. LÁZARO-SÁNCHEZ
Spain
Dr. Antonio Lázaro is a Consultant Medical Oncologist (MD, PhD) practising at the Hospital General Universitario Morales Meseguer (Murcia, Spain), with expertise in immuno-oncology and clinical research. In addition, he has contributed to academic publications, highlighting his involvement in academic research.
In addition to his clinical work, Dr. Lázaro Sánchez is president of the Fundación para la Investigación contra el Cáncer de la Región de Murcia (FICAM), an organisation committed to advancing innovative cancer treatments and improving the quality of patient care.
Dr Erik C. CASTELLI
Brazil
Associated researcher, Immunogenetics and Bioinformatics Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, University of the State of São Paulo (Unesp), Brazil
Principal activities: Research in HLA and KIR genetic diversity, population genetics, forensic genetics, and software design aiming to analyze highly polymorphic and repetitive genes.
Dr. Castelli graduated in Biomedical Sciences (Biomedicine, in Brazil) and then got a master's in Pathology and a Ph.D. in Biomedical Research at the University of the State of São Paulo (Unesp). He is currently the head of the Molecular Genetics and Bioinformatics Laboratory (GeMBio) at the School of Medicine - Unesp. He has authored over 100 scientific publications, mainly on HLA genetics and polymorphisms, forensic genetics, and
computational strategies to evaluate highly polymorphic genes.
Dr Marcela GARCIA
Argentina
Dr. Marcela Nilda Garcia holds a PhD in Veterinary Sciences. She is an accredited researcher at the National University of La Plata (UNLP). She is a Specialist in University Teaching and an
Adjunct Professor of Cytology, Histology, and Embryology at the Faculty of Medical Sciences (FCM) UNLP. She has also taught numerous postgraduate training courses. She is president of
the Bioethics and Research Ethics Committee (COBIMED) of the FCM, UNLP. She has presented multiple papers at national and international conferences, some of which have received awards. She has published numerous scientific papers in indexed scientific journals and has written book chapters. She is the Director of several research projects. She is the supervisor of
several doctoral theses. She started research on HLA-G with Dr. Carosella at CEA Paris, and is currently working on different lines related to the subject. She is co-author of a patent registered with the European Patent Office on the allogeneic use of a human mesenchymal stem cell line for dermal wound regeneration in humans.
Dr Fabio MALAVASI
Italy
Professor Fabio Malavasi graduated from the University of Ferrara Medical School in 1973 and spent a year
as a visiting medical student in 1972 at the University of Chicago.
His early career included roles in the Nuclear Medicine Unit at Ferrara Hospital and service in the Italian
Army Medical Corp. In 1977, he joined the Institute of Medical Genetics at the University of Torino.
Throughout his career, Professor Malavasi has contributed to research at several renowned institutions,
including the Basel Institute for Immunology, Mount Sinai University at the Sloan Kettering Center, and
Harvard Medical School.
In 1974 he was appointed Professor of Biology and Medicine at the University of Ancona, and in 2000, he
became Professor of Medical Genetics at the University of Torino, a position he held until he was named
Professor Emeritus in 2018.
Professor Malavasi has authored over 300 papers in prominent journals and published six books or
chapters. He currently serves as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Biological Regulators and Homeostatic
Agents and is a member of the editorial boards of six other journals.
Dr Olivier BRUGIERE
France
He has been involved in the lung transplant program of Bichat hospital (AP-HP, Paris) and Foch hospital (Suresnes) since 1997. He developed translational research based on the study of the physiopathological mechanisms of bronchiolitis obliterans, the main phenotype of chronic rejection post-lung transplantation. Topics of research involved the bronchial mucosal immunity, and the HLA-G immune checkpoint pathway involved in the post-Tx tolerance mechanism (transversal collaboration with laboratory INSERM U1152, Université Paris Diderot, and the Transplantation immunology laboratory, CEA, Saint-Louis Hospital, Paris France).
Dr Roberto GRAMIGNOLI
Italy
Roberto Gramignoli is working as an Associate Professor at Karolinska Institutet, and was recently appointed as Head of Unit for Cell Therapies at the Gaslini Hospital in Genoa (Italy).
He specialized in Medical Genetics (Univ. of Milan) and Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products (Univ of Granada/ Andalusian Network), and has a PhD in Molecular and Translational Medicine. During his post-graduate studies at Univ. of Pittsburgh (PA-USA) he identified roadblocks limiting clinical Hepatocyte Transplantation and proposed new solutions for. Roberto and his Mentor (Dr Strom) have always been on the front line for the treatment of acute and congenital liver disorders by cell-based therapies, with hepatocyte transplant as a bridge or an alternative to orthotopic liver transplantation. Working together, they became the first facility to be approved by
the FDA to isolate and transplant human hepatocytes and performed clinical transplants both at Pittsburgh and Karolinska. Due to the paucity of human hepatocytes, they investigated
alternative sources, such as pluripotent or multipotent stem cells. Roberto focused his attention on perinatal cells, reporting the greatest results by transplantation of epithelial stem cells (AEC)
isolated from the amnion membrane (human placenta).
Preclinical data suggest that, although not the patient’s own cells, AECs survive long-term and do not require immunosuppression. This is a paradigm shift for allogeneic cell transplantation, where the risk of side effects of immunosuppression is removed. Over the last years, Roberto’s group has accumulated evidence on the potential of AEC in several models of congenital diseases and as supporting therapy in fulminant hepatic failure. In support of the allogenic use of AEC without immunosuppression, Roberto’s group identified and described molecular pathways constitutively expressed by AEC which may lead to a new, unlimited source of allogeneic stem cells for regenerative medicine approaches. Based on safety and efficacy, in addition to AEC immunomodulatory and anti-inflammatory effects, he is in the process of starting phase I/IIa clinical trials for congenital and chronic disorders, not only liver-specific. Such advanced medical treatments will be granted by the first AEC stem cell bank, with the support of Tandem Biotherapeutics, a biotech company he founded.
Pr. Elena ADINOLFI
Italy
Elena Adinolfi began her academic career in pathology as a Teaching Assistant in General Pathology (2003–2011) while concurrently working as a Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Ferrara, with a specialization in general pathology and immunology. Her international research experience includes an EMBO fellowship (2001) and a Postdoctoral Research Associate position at the University of Sheffield, UK, where she focused on molecular physiology and P2X receptors.
In 2011, she was appointed to the position of Assistant Professor of Clinical Pathology at the University of Ferrara, a role she held until 2019. In the same year, she was promoted to the position of Associate Professor in the Department of Medical Sciences at the University of Ferrara.
Her research is centred on purinergic signalling and its implications for cancer and inflammation, and she has spearheaded numerous groundbreaking projects.Her principal activities include: coordination of the TRANSCAN-ERA-NET Pur-Ther Consortium (2023–present), developing novel immunotherapies targeting purinergic checkpoints in the tumour microenvironment; leadership of the PRESTO European network (2022–present), which unites researchers from 31 countries to explore the therapeutic applications of P2X receptors; serve as Principal Investigator for multiple grants from the Italian Association for Cancer Research (AIRC), including studies targeting the P2X7 receptor in colon cancer and melanoma progression; and coordinate a national PRIN project (2023–present) aimed at innovative treatments for inflammatory bowel diseases.In 2021, Dr. Adinolfi was named National Testimonial for the Italian Association for Cancer Research. She holds dual national scientific qualifications as a Full Professor in General and Clinical Pathology and Translational Medicine, awarded by the Italian Ministry of Research through competitive evaluations.Since 2016, she has also served as Secretary and Board Member of the Italian Purine Club.Dr. Adinolfi combines academic excellence, cutting-edge research, and a deep commitment to mentoring emerging scientists. Her research continues to make significant contributions to molecular medicine, advancing the fields of cancer research and immunopathology.
Pr. Alvaro GONZALEZ
Spain
Álvaro González has a PhD in Pharmacy and is a Specialist in Clinical Biochemistry (1991). He is a member of the Cancer Biological Markers Commission of the SEQC-ML.
He is currently head of the Biochemistry Service, coordinator of Laboratories and president of the Teaching Commission of the Clínica Universidad de Navarra. Professor of Biochemistry at the University of Navarra. Advisor to several official teaching and
research agencies. He is the author of more than 125 articles published in scientific journals of impact. Head of the Circulating Biomarkers in Cancer group at the Cancer Center Clínica Universidad de Navarra (CCUN) and principal investigator of funded research projects. The main research line is circulating cancer markers in liquid biopsy.
Editor-in-Chief of Advances In Laboratory Medicine and Contributing Editor of several research journals.
Pr. Thomas Vauvert F. HVIID
Denmark
Centre for Immune Regulation and Reproductive Immunology (CIRRI), The ReproHealth Research Consortium ZUH, Department of Clinical Biochemistry, Zealand University Hospital, and Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Copenhagen, Roskilde, Denmark
Research: Our research activities focus on: (1) regulation of the immune system, especially in relation to immunosuppression and tolerance, (2) reproductive immunology, and (3) cancer immunology. In reproductive medicine, our aims are to further clarify the role of HLA class Ib molecules (HLA-G, HLA-F and
HLA-E) at the feto-maternal interface and their tolerance-inducing function by the interaction with maternal immune cells. Our aim in cancer research is to elucidate the impact of HLA class Ib expression by tumour
cells on the tumour microenvironment and the prognosis of the patient. The research may contribute to an
improved understanding of disease mechanisms and therapeutic targets in infertility, certain pregnancy
complications and cancer.
Pr. Francesca CACCURI
Italy
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