Director, Transplant Immunology Facility Director, Cell Processing Laboratory Baylor University Medical Center TX, USA

Medhat Askar is a Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at Texas A&M College of Medicine and the Director of Transplant Immunology and Assistant Hematopoietic Cell Processing Facility Laboratory at Baylor University Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA. After completing his MD and PhD (Cairo, Egypt) he was trained in transplant immunology at Thomas Starzl Transplantation Institute (Pittsburgh, PA). He is board certified by the American Board of the Histocompatibility & Immunogenetics, the American Board of Medical Laboratory Immunology and the American Board of Bioanalysis. He is also a fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists (London, UK). Dr. Askar is the President of The American Board of Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics (ABHI), President-Elect of The American Society for Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics (ASHI) and a member of the National Boards of Directors of United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) and Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN). He is also a Councilor to The Transplantation Society (TTS) representing North America, the Co-Chair of TTS Education Committee and a project leader for the Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) in the 18th International HLA and Immunogenetics Workshop which was held in Amsterdam, Netherlands in 2021. Dr. Askar is a member of the Laboratory Practice Committee of the International Society of Cell and Gene Therapy and a principal Investigator on a number of study protocols through the Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research (CIBMTR).

Professor and Chairman, Institute of Transfusion Medicine and Transplant Engineering, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany

Rainer Blasczyk is a Professor of Transfusion Medicine and Head of the Institute of Transfusion Medicine and Transplant Engineering at Hannover Medical School (MHH), Hannover, Germany since 1998 as well as board member of the Transplantation Center at Hannover Medical School since 2019. He studied medicine at the Universities Bochum and Essen before completing postgraduate training at the Universities of Marburg, Essen, Duesseldorf and Berlin, where he started to work on Molecular Immunogenetics in 1993. After being appointed to his current position, he initiated research on transplant engineering. Professor Blasczyk has a long-term research interest in solid organ transplantation and transplantation immunology with a main focus on transplant tolerance and transplant engineering. His work centers around the alloimmune response in organ transplantation and therapeutic interventions to combat rejection and infection. This includes cellular and humoral immunotherapy as well as genetic and transplant engineering approaches to achieve transplantation tolerance. Professor Blasczyk is the founder and chairman of the Immunotherapy Foundation. He has been a member of the Advisory Board on Blood Products of the German Ministry of Health, President of the German Society of Immunogenetics (DGI) and the German Society of Transfusion Medicine and Immunohematology (DGTI) as well as a Board Member of the European Society of Immunogenetics (EFI).

Director, Eurotransplant Reference Laboratory, Leiden, The Netherlands

Frans Claas is director of the Eurotransplant Reference Laboratory and professor of “Immunogenetics of transplantation” at the Leiden University Medical Center in Leiden, the Netherlands. The main topics of his current research are the differential immunogenicity of HLA mismatches in clinical transplantation and the immunology of pregnancy as a model for transplantation tolerance. The studies of his research group have generated more than 500 papers in peer-reviewed journals. He was the initiator of a special program within Eurotransplant to enhance transplantation of highly sensitized renal transplant patients on basis of acceptable HLA mismatches. He is an active member of different professional societies as reflected amongst others by his past-presidency of the European Federation for Immunogenetics (EFI) and past-membership of the Board of the American Society for Histocompatibilty and Immunogenetics (ASHI). He is an editor-in chief of Transplant Immunology.

Associate Professor in Nephrology, School of Medicine, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece

Pantelis Sarafidis is an Associate Professor in Nephrology in Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, and Consultant in Nephrology in Hippokration Hospital, Thessaloniki Greece. He is the Head of the ESH Hypertension Excellence Center in this hospital. His research activities are focused on hypertension, CVD in patients with CKD, diabetic nephropathy, AKI, and polycystic kidney disease. He has authored more than 240 articles in peer-reviewed international medical journals and book chapters in international textbooks and performed more than 200 lectures in national and international meetings in the areas of Nephrology, Hypertension and related fields. He is currently a reviewer for more than 60 international medical journals. Dr. Sarafidis has received several awards and grants from national and international Medical Societies for his research activities.

Servicio de Nefrología e Hipertensión, Hospital Universitario Fundación Jiménez Díaz, Madrid, SPAIN

Alberto Ortiz is the Chief of Nephrology at IIS-Fundacion Jimenez Diaz, a Professor of Medicine at Universidad Autonoma de Madrid, the Secretary of the EURECA-m working group of the ERA-EDTA, a member of EUTOX and of the Spanish renal research network (REDINREN) and the editorial board member at the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology. He studied Medicine at Universidad Autonoma de Madrid, specialized in Nephrology at Fundacion Jimenez Diaz and was a post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Pennsylvania (1992-1994) before returning to Fundacion Jimenez Diaz as a senior researcher and later as a staff nephrologist. Currently, he has an h-index of 36. His research interests include the pathogenesis and treatment of acute kidney injury, diabetic nephropathy, proteinuric chronic kidney disease, vascular injury in kidney disease and Fabry disease.

Dr. Joannis Mytilineos was born in Athens/Greece. He graduated from Heidelberg Medical School in 1986 where he has also received his PhD and Adjunct Professor’s degree in Immunology (1986-2004). After 15 years as head of the HLA Laboratory at the Heidelberg University Hospital he took the lead in the Department of Transplantation Immunology at the Ulm University where he was employed until recently. Since July 2020 he has been appointed as the Chief Medical Officer of the ZKRD, the German National Bone Marrow Donor Registry. In 2004 Dr. Mytilineos became Councillor of the International Histocompatibility Working Group (IHWG). Furthermore, Dr. Mytilineos was elected to the Board of Directors of several scientific societies and organisations, such as the European Federation of Immunogenetics (EFI), the American Society for Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics (ASHI), the German Society for Immunogenetics (DGI), the Eurotransplant Foundation, and the German Registry for Stem Cell Transplantation (DRST). From May 2018 to April 2021 Dr. Mytilineos served as EFI president. Dr. Mytilineos organised and chaired several national and international conferences, most recently the EFI conferences in Ulm/DE 2009 and in Kos/GR 2016. After 15 years working in the field of solid organ transplantation, Dr. Mytilineos has focused his clinical interest on the field of haematopoietic stem cell transplantation since 2004. His list of publications currently includes over 100 peer-reviewed articles on which he has authored/co-authored.

Ahmet Gurakar is the Medical Director of Johns Hopkins Liver Transplant Program and currently Associated Professor of Medicine, within the Division of Gastroenterology & Hepatology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore. The main topic of his research has been on various aspects of Clinical Liver Transplantation. His work on the usage of HCV positive donors to HCV negative recipients, has been an important contribution to reduce the current organ shortage problem. His multidisciplinary work, regarding the selection and outcomes of patients undergoing liver transplantation with the diagnosis of acute alcoholic hepatitis, has been important in the management of this group of patients. He is also involved in drug trials in the medical treatment of alcoholic hepatitis. He has been an active fellow member of prominent Liver Societies such as American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases and American Gastroenterology Association. Also, he is a member of European Association of Liver Diseases. He has served as the 2021-2022 Chair of the Membership and Communication Committee of International Liver Transplant Society. He currently serves as the Academic Editor for Journal of Clinical and Translational Hepatology and reviews for a number of journals regarding liver transplantation.

Dr. Burkhard Tönshoff is pediatrics and pediatric nephrology professor at the University Children’s Hospital Heidelberg, Germany, Vice-Chairman of the Department of Pediatrics I (General Pediatrics, Neuropediatrics, Metabolism, Gastroenterology, and Nephrology), and Medical Director of the Pediatric Kidney Transplantation Program. He graduated from the Freiburg University School of Medicine and completed a pediatric residency and fellowship at the University Children’s Hospital in Heidelberg, Germany. From 1992 to 1994, he served as a postdoctoral research fellow at the Division of Pediatric Nephrology and Department of Physiology, the State University of New York at Stony Brook, the USA, with a Feodor-Lynen-research grant from the Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung. His current research focuses on various issues in acute and chronic kidney disease and renal transplantation, such as studies on the pharmacokinetics, efficacy, and safety of novel immunosuppressive drugs in pediatric renal transplant recipients, optimization of immunosuppressive therapy by drug and immune monitoring, prevention of infectious and other complications after renal transplantation, biomarker-guided minimization of immunosuppressive therapy, and the impact of donor-specific HLA and non-HLA antibodies on graft histology and function. In 2009, he founded the Cooperative European Paediatric Renal Transplant Initiative as a multicenter research network and platform built on a novel, web-based registry. Other research activities focus on the pathophysiology and therapy of the nephrotic syndrome, biomarker research for acute kidney injury, the role of endothelial progenitor cells and mesenchymal stem cells in various pediatric kidney diseases, and the role of the gut microbiome in solid organ transplantation. He authored or co-authored 352 original and review articles, 109 book chapters, and six books and has been awarded several times in the fields of pediatric nephrology, pediatric endocrinology, renal transplantation, and pediatric transplantation.

Vedat Schwenger, MD, MHBA, is an adjunct professor of Internal Medicine at the University of Heidelberg, Germany. He started his medical training with Professor Ritz in the Department of Nephrology at the University of Heidelberg. After completing his residency, he served as Deputy Medical Director of the Department of Nephrology and Transplant Centre in Heidelberg from 2002 to 2015. His research focused on experimental work on peritoneal dialysis and acute kidney injury, contrast-enhanced ultrasound of the kidney allograft, and cardiorenal medicine. He authored and co-authored more than 200 peer-reviewed articles. He was awarded the Nils Alwall Prize of the German Association for Clinical Nephrology in 2006, the Dr. Fritz Wörwag Science Prize in 2009, and the Bernd Tersteegen Prize of the Association of German Kidney Centers e.V. in 2013. Since 2015 he has been the Medical Director of the Department of Nephrology and Head of the Stuttgart Transplant Centre, Stuttgart, Germany.

Dr. Elissaveta Naumova graduated from Sofia Medical Academy in 1982. She continued her career in immunogenetics/transplantation at the same institution. Currently, she is a professor of immunology, head of the Clinical Immunology Department of Sofia Medical University, chief of the Clinic of Clinical Immunology with Stem Cells Bank and director of the National Expert Center for Primary Immunodeficiency. Dr. Naumova received many prestigious scientific awards and held several leadership positions in clinical immunology, immunogenetics, and transplantation. She has been a valuable member of boards of various national and international societies, including the Union of Scientists in Bulgaria, European Federation for Immunogenetics (EFI), and International Immunogenetics and Tissue Compatibility Network (IHIWS), and journals such as Medical Science, Urology, Cancer Immunology and Immunotherapy, and HLA. She is the founder and president of the Bulgarian Association of Clinical Immunology and served as president of EFI between 2015 and 2018. Dr. Naumova authored/co-authored over 200 pee-reviewed articles and wrote 33 book chapters. She has actively managed and participated in the implementation of 28 national and 14 international research projects and organized several national and international scientific meetings. Her research interests mainly focus on clinical immunology, immunogenetics, transplantation, and application of novelties in clinical practice.

Director Qatar Genome Programme, Qatar Foundation

Dr. Said Ismail is the director of the Qatar Genome Program (QGP), one of the major national programs in the region. QGP is a population-based initiative designed around a comprehensive strategy involving drafting regulations and policies, forging local research partnerships, establishing national genomic data networks, building local human capacity, and facilitating the integration of genomics into the healthcare system. As a result, QGP sheds light on the genetic makeup of Qataris as well as over 400 million Arabs, whose genomes have always been underrepresented in the scientific literature.

Dr. Ismail, a PhD graduate from the University of Oxford, has work experience extending into various fields, including research, education, and consultancy. His research experience is in molecular biology and genetics, with a focus on cancer genetics and the screening and characterization of disease-related mutations in the Arab population. He also holds the positions of an adjunct professor at the Hamad Ben Khalifa University and Qatar University, as well as a professor of molecular biology at the medical school of the University of Jordan.

Mehmet Sukru Sever was born in Antalya (1954), graduated from Cerrahpasa School of Medicine (1978), completed his nephrology fellowship at the Istanbul School of Medicine (ISM) (1990), and was trained on kidney transplantation at the Cleveland Clinic, US (1990). He served as the Chair of the Nephrology Department at ISM between 2004 and 2014. Although much of his work was on kidney transplantation, he focused on disaster medicine following the devastating Marmara earthquake-Türkiye in 1999. Dr. Sever prepared the most extensive database ever on crush syndrome-AKI patients, which formed the basis for many papers, almost all of which were the first and only publications on this subject. Karger published his book The Crush Syndrome (2005). In addition, he co-chaired (together with Prof. R. Vanholder-Belgium) The Crush Guidelines workgroup of the International Society of Nephrology (ISN) - Renal Disaster Relief Task Force (RDRTF), which prepared Recommendations for the Management of Crush Victims in Mass Disasters, (2012).

Dr. Sever functioned as a field doctor and disaster relief coordinator of the ISN in many disasters, e.g., the Marmara (1999), Bingol (2003), and Van-Ercis (2011) earthquakes in Türkiye, and Bam earthquake in Iran (2003). In addition, he served as the renal team leader of Médecins sans Frontières (MSF) (Doctors Without Borders) when he went to Pakistan for the Kashmir earthquake (2005) and Haiti for the Haiti earthquake (2010). Thus, in addition to kidney transplantation, most of his academic work is focused on the evaluation, prevention, and treatment of crash-related AKI in the victims of mass disasters.

Dr. Sever took an active part in many positions and activities of ERA-EDTA and served as councilor, Scientific Advisory Board member, DESCARTES Workgroup Board member, Nephrology and Public Policy Committee Board member (Eastern Europe), Ethics Committee Board member, Chair of the Continuous Education, and Professional Development (CEPD) Acute Kidney Injury and transplantation subject editor of NDT. He also served for ISN in several positions, e.g., AKI Commission Board member, RDRTF Board member, and ISN-COMGAN Eastern and Central Europe Committee Board member. Dr. Sever received a FERA degree in 2012 and won ISN Bywaters Award in 2019. In 2020, he was elected as Chair of the Ethics Committee of ERA-EDTA.

He is currently the author of more than 180 peer-reviewed publications in many international journals, including NEJM, Lancet, JASN, CJASN, Transplantation, Kidney Int, Nephrol Dial Transplant, and has written chapters in significant nephrology textbooks and UpToDate.

Dr. Sever retired from his position at ISM, Department of Nephrology in 2021; however, he continues his academic work, mainly in disaster nephrology and kidney transplantation.

Anna Sureda is currently the Head of the Clinical Hematology Department of Institut Català d’Oncologia – Hospitalet, Barcelona. She had previously been a Senior Consultant in Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, Barcelona (from January 1991 to December 2010) and a Senior Consultant focused on lymphomas and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) at Addenbrookes–Cambridge University Hospital, UK (December 2010 – December 2012). Anna Sureda has focused her career on clinical investigations into the treatment of Hodgkin’s lymphoma, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and multiple myeloma patients, evaluating novel therapies such as immunotherapy combined with stem-cell transplantation. She was appointed as Chairperson of the Lymphoma Working Party (LWP) of the European Group for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (EBMT) from March 2004 to March 2010 and as Secretary of the same organization from March 2010 to March 2016. From February 2015 to February 2019, she served as co-chair of the Lymphoma Committee of the Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research (CIBMTR). She was subsequently appointed as a member of a large non-US Transplant Center in the Advisory Committee of the CIBMTR (from February 2019). Anna Sureda is President of the Spanish Society of Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation and Cellular Therapy (GETH-TC) and, since March 2022, President of the EBMT. She is a regular reviewer of scientific journals, such as Blood, Annals of Oncology, Bone Marrow Transplantation, The Hematology Journal, The European Journal of Hematology, and Annals of Hematology, and has co-authored more than 400 manuscripts.