Having in mind heterogeneity of the participants at this meeting and in order to facilitate informal contacts between students and faculty, we provide full addresses, picture and short biosketches of the invited speakers.  More information including references may be found on the Conference Website www.eji-efis.com as well as at the institutional or personal websites of the speakers.

 

 

                   Dr Mario Abinun

Honorary Clinical Senior Lecturer and Consultant in Paediatric Immunology, Institute of Cellular Medicine
Children's BMT Unit Ward 23
Newcastle General Hospital Westgate Road
Newcastle upon Tyne NE4 6BE
Phone:+44-191-2563735, Fax: +44-191-2730183
E-mail: mario.abinun@ncl.ac.uk

Dr Abinun obtained his MD from University of Sarajevo, PhD from University of Belgrade and postgraduate training from University of London.  His research interests include Primary Immunodeficiencies (PID), Haematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation (HSCT) and Paediatric Rheumatology/Autoimmune Disorders

                   Professor Nebojsa Arsenijevic

Professor and Chair, Department of Microbiology & Immunology
Faculty of Medicine, University of Kragujevac, Belgrade
E-mail: nebojsa_arsenijevic@yahoo.com

Professor Arsenijevic obtained his M.D and PhD degrees from University of Belgrade and moved back to is native Kragujevac where he was appointed through ranks of Assistant Professor to Associate and Full Professor. His research interest is in cancer immunology. In 2002 he obtained an MS degree from International Center for Health Management at the “Sapience” University in Rome. He is Dean of the Medical School from year 2005.

                  Dr Vladimir P. Badovinac

Department of Microbiology
University of Iowa
Iowa City, IA 52242, USA
Phone: 001-319-384 2930
E-mail: badovinacv@healthcare.uiowa.edu

Dr Badovinac received his Ph.D. degree working in the laboratory of Marija Mostarica Stojkovic (University of Belgrade, Serbia), and did postdoctoral work with John T. Harty (University of Iowa, USA). He is currently an assistant professor of pathology at the University of Iowa. His research focuses on antigen-specific CD8+ T-cell homeostasis after infections and/or vaccinations.

                  Prof. Miodrag Colic

Corresponding Member, Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts
Head, Experimental Medicine
Medical Military Academy, Belgrade
E-mail: vmaimi@EUnet.yu

Professor Colic obtained his MD and PhD degree from University of Belgrade.  In the last decade he established a highly active research group at the Medical Military Academy.  His main research interests are in physiology and Pathophysiology of dendritic cells and more recently in the immunopathogenesis of Periapical lesions.

                  Professor Ratko Djukanovic

Professor in Medicine and Head of the Inflammatory Cell Biology Group
Division of Respiratory Cell & Molecular Biology
University of Southampton School of Medicine
Mailpoint 810, Level F, South Block
Southampton General Hospital
Southampton SO16 6YD,United Kingdom
Tel: +44 2380 794195/Fax: +44 2380 777996
E-mail: rd1@soton.ac.uk

Ratko Djukanovic is Professor of Respiratory Medicine and Honorary Consultant Physician, Director of the Division of Infection Inflammation and Repair and Director of the Southampton Respiratory Biomedical Research Unit.(NIHR BRU). His own translational research is conducted within the Inflammatory Cell Biology Group of which he is the head. The basic research studies in Professor Djukanovic's group have led to a better understanding of mechanisms of T cell recruitment (requirement of co-stimulatory molecules and NFkappaB), chemotaxis and survival of eosinophils and neutrophils and the close communication between epithelial cells and inflammatory cells.

                  Dr Aleksander Djukic

Associate Professor of Pathophysiology
University of Kragujevac Medical School
Consultant Endocrinologist

Dr Djukic obtained his MD and PhD degree at the University of Kragujevac. He is Associate Professor of the Pathological Physiology at University of Kragujevac Medical School and Consultant Endocrinologist, University Clinical Center. His research interest includes immune disregulation in diabetes and endocrinopathies.

                  Professor Charles A. Dinarello

Professor of Medicine, Department of Medicine
Division of Infectious Diseases,
University of Colorado Health Sciences Center
Member, National Academy of Sciences, USA
Denver, Colorado 80262, U.S.A.
Phone: 001-303-315-3589,
E-mail: cdinare333@aol.com

Charles A. Dinarello is Professor of Medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine in Denver. Until 1996, he was Professor of Medicine and Pediatrics at Tufts University School of Medicine and a staff physician at the New England Medical Center Hospital in Boston. Dr. Dinarello received his medical degree from Yale University and his clinical training at the Massachusetts General Hospital. From 1971 to 1974, he was a clinical associate and from 1975 to 1977 a senior investigator at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda. Dr. Dinarello serves on the editorial board of several scientific journals and has published over 450 original research articles on cytokines, particularly interleukin-1. The Institute for Scientific Information lists him as the world's third most cited life scientist (1981-1994). He was elected into the National Academy of Sciences in 1998 and has received several international awards for his contributions to medicine.

                  Professor Peter Doherty, FRS

Laureate Professor, Department of Microbiology and Immunology,
University of Melbourne, Melbourne
Victoria 3010, Australia.
Phone: +61 3 8344 7968/Fax: +61-3 8344 7990
E-mail: pcd@unimelb.edu.au

Professor Peter Doherty, AC is an Australian-born immunologist who works in the general area of immunity to viruses. He shared the 1996 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine with his Swiss Colleague, Rolf Zinkernagel, for discovering "the nature of the cellular immune defense". He was Australian of the Year in 1997, and has (since 1998) been commuting between St Jude Children's Research Hospital (SJCRH) in Memphis, Tennessee, and the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Melbourne. He recently returned to spend the majority of his year in Australia, holding appointments as Laureate Professor in this university and as a Burnet Fellow of the National Health and Medical Research Council. Over the subsequent 25+ years he has led substantial research efforts in viral immunology at the Wistar Institute, Philadelphia, SJCRH, and is now developing a new program in Melbourne.

                  Professor Anna Erdei

Treasurer, EFIS
Professor and Chair, Department of Immunology
University Eötvös Lorand
Pazmany s. 1/C, H-1117 Budapest, Hungary
Phone: (36)1381-2175, Fax.: (36)1381-2176
E-mail: anna.erdei@freemail.hu

Professor Erdei obtained her PhD and DSc from Hungarian Academy of Sciences and postdoctoral training at major laboratories in Europe and Israel.  Her research is on interaction of innate and specific mechanisms in immunopathology with particular emphasize in complement functions

                  Professor Olivera J Finn.

Professor and Chair, Department of Immunology
University of Pittsburg School of Medicine E1040, PA 15262,
Phone: 412-648-8916/Fax:412-648-7042
E-mail: ojfinn@pitt.edu

Olivera J. Finn, Ph.D., is Founding Chair and Professor in the Department of Immunology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, and director of the immunology program at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute (UPCI). Dr Finn obtained her PhD degree from Stanford University. Dr. Finn’s research interests and expertise are in the areas of tumor immunology, transplant immunology and T-cell biology. In particular, her group has identified a novel immune response to a tumor-associated antigen, MUC1. This work has led to the development of a potential cancer vaccine currently being tested in clinical trials. Dr Finn is 2007/2008 President of American Association of Immunologists.

                  Professor Alexander Gabibov

Associate Member Russian Academy of Sciences
Professor, Lomonosov Moscow State University
Head, Laboratory of Biocatalysis Shemyakin & Ovchinnikov
Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences
117984, Miklukho-Maklaya Street, 16/10
Phone: (Mobile) - +7-9166835307/ Office: +7(495)-7273860
Phone (Lab): +7095 429-8269/Fax: +7095 3307329
E-mail: gabibov@ibch.ru

Professor Gabibov is Head of the Department of Shemyakin and Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry and Professor at the Moscow State University. His major research interest is in biological consequences of catalytical activities of antibodies, in particular its importance in monitoring and therapy of clinical autoimmunity syndrome.

                  Professor Steffen Gay

University Hospital, Clinic of Rheumatology
Professor and Head, Center for Experimental Rheumatology,
Gloriastrasse 25, CH-8091 Zurich, Switzerland
Phone:+41-44-255-5737/Fax:+41-44-255-4170
E-mail: Steffen.Gay@usz.ch

Professor Steffen Gay graduated from Medical School at the University in Leipzig. Holding office from 1976-1996 at the Department of Medicine at the University of Alabama in Birmingham AL, he served there as Professor of Medicine from 1984-1996. At present he is Director of the WHO Collaborating Center for Molecular Biology and Novel Therapeutic Strategies for Rheumatic Diseases and Professor of Experimental Rheumatology at the University Hospital of Zurich, Switzerland.

                  Dr Dragana Jankovic

Senior Staff Scientist
Immunobiology Section and Immunopathogenesis Section,
Laboratory of Parasitic Diseases,
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases,
National Institutes of Health,
Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
E-mail: Jankovic@niaid.nih.gov

Dr Jankovic obtained her MD and PhD degree from University of Belgrade. She moved to NIH where she developed a distinguished scientific career in laboratory for Parasitic Diseases, NIAID. Her main research interest is host resistance and immune regulation in parasitic infections.

                  Professor Stipan Jonjić

Professor and Chairman of the Department of Histology and Embryology
Medical Faculty, University of Rijeka
B. Branchetta 20, 51000 Rijeka, Croatia
Phone: +385-51 651 206/651 170, Fax: +385 51 651 176
E-mail: Stipan.Jonjic@medri.hr

Professor Jonjic obtained his MD and PhD degree from University of Rijeka (Croatia). For many years he leads one of the most distinguished research groups in Croatia. He also developed long standing a highly productive collaboration with research groups in Germany. His main research interests are immunology and immunopathology of viral infections.

                  Professor Foo (Eddy) Y Liew

Gardiner Professor of Immunology
Head of Division of Immunology, Infection and Inflammation,
Glasgow Biomedical Research Centre
University of Glasgow, Western Infirmary
120 University Place, Glasgow, G12 8TA
Fax: 00 44 141 337 3217, Tel: 00 44 141 211 2695
E-mail:fyl1h@clinmed.gla.ac.uk

Professor Liew obtained his PhD from University of Canberra and postgraduate training at the University of Cologne. Prior to joining University of Glasgow he was Head of Department of Experimental Immunology at Welcome Foundation. His main research interest is immunoregulation in infection and autoimmunity. His works include major contributions to these fields. He is past President of EFIS. As one of the most distinguished and productive European immunologist he was recently appointed Editor in Chief of the Journal of Immunology.

                  Professor Foo (Eddy) Y Liew

Gardiner Professor of Immunology
Head of Division of Immunology, Infection and Inflammation,
Glasgow Biomedical Research Centre
University of Glasgow, Western Infirmary
120 University Place, Glasgow, G12 8TA
Fax: 00 44 141 337 3217, Tel: 00 44 141 211 2695
E-mail:fyl1h@clinmed.gla.ac.uk

Professor Liew obtained his PhD from University of Canberra and postgraduate training at the University of Cologne. Prior to joining University of Glasgow he was Head of Department of Experimental Immunology at Welcome Foundation. His main research interest is immunoregulation in infection and autoimmunity. His works include major contributions to these fields. He is past President of EFIS. As one of the most distinguished and productive European immunologist he was recently appointed Editor in Chief of the Journal of Immunology.

                 Dr Desa Lilic

University of Newcastle upon Tyne
Institute for Cellular Medicine, Musculoskeletal Research Group
4th Floor Catherine Cookson Building
Faculty of Medical Sciences
Framlington Place, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE2 4HH
Telephone: +44 (0)191 222 7244/Fax: +44 (0)191 222 5455
Email: desa.lilic@ncl.ac.uk

Dr Desa Lilic obtained her MD and PhD degree from the University of Belgrade. She is Consultant Clinical Immunologist at the University Hospital of North Durham and Senior Clinical Lecturer at Newcastle University, U.K. Her research interest focuses on immune deficiency associated with autoimmunity coined Chronic Mucocutaneous Candidiasis (CMC).

                 Professor M L Lukic

Professor of Immunology, Faculty of Medicine
University of Kragujevac and
Professor & Chair, Department of Microbiology & Immunology
Faculty of Medicine, United Arab Emirates University
Phone: +971-3-7137516, Fax: +971-3-7671966
E-mail: m.lukic@uaeu.ac.ae

Professor Lukic obtained his MD and PhD degree from the University of Belgrade (U.B). Prior to his present appointments, he was Fulbright Scholar at Tufts University and EMBO Visiting Professor, University College London and was Professor and Chair of Microbiology/Immunology, University of Belgrade, School of Medicine, His research interest is immunoregulation and pathogenesis of organ specific autoimmune diseases.

                 Professor N A Mitchison, FRS

Member National Academy of Sciences, USA
Institute of Ophthalmology
University College London Medical School
46 Cleveland Street, London W1P 6DB
United Kingdom
E-mail: n.mitchison@ucl.ac.uk

Professor Mitchison received his PhD degree from New College Oxford with Sir Peter Medawar and hold professorial and leadership positions at University of Edinburgh, National Institute of Medical Research, London, University College London and German Institute for Research in Rheumatology. His contributions, now textbooks matter now include requirement of antigen presentation by cell, cell mediated graft rejection, low zone tolerance and ‘hapten’ – carrier effect. His influence in the development of immunology is hard to overestimate. His present interest is in immunoregulation and genetics.

                 Professor Marija Mostarica Stojkovic

Professor and Head of Immunology
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, School of Medicine,
University of Belgrade
Dr Subbotica 1, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia
E-mail: mostarica@med.bg.ac.yu

Professor Mostarica Stojkovic obtained her MD and PhD degree from University of Belgrade and postdoctoral training at the University of Wurzburg and University of Pennsylvania. Her main research interest is neuro-immunology with particular emphasize on EAE model in rats.

                 Professor Sergei A. Nedospasov

Member Russian Academy of Sciences
Head of Department, Engelhardt Institute of Molecular Biology,
Russian Academy of Sciences
32 Vavilov Street, 119991 Moscow, Russia.
Phone: +7-905-135-9964, Fax: +7-905 135-1405
Email: sergei.nedospasov@googlemail.com

Dr. Nedospasov is Professor and Head of the Laboratory of Molecular Immunology at both, Engelhardt Institute of Molecular Biology, Russian Academy of Sciences, in Moscow and A.N. Belozersky Institute of Physico-Chemical Biology, Moscow State University. He has secondary appointment at the German Institute for Research in Rheumatology (Berlin). He received his Ph.D. and his D.Sc. from the Institute of Molecular Biology, Moscow. He has been a visiting scientist in the Department of Virology of the Swiss Institute for Experimental Cancer Research in Lausanne and at the NCI-Frederick Cancer Research and Development Center in Frederick, Maryland. Dr. Nedospasov was first named an HHMI International Research Scholar in 1995 for his project entitled "Distinct Role of TNF Produced by Different Cell Types in Infectious Disease and Experimental Hepatitis." He is a member of Russian Academy of Sciences.

                 Professor Janko Nikolich-Zugich

Chairman, Department of Immunobiology
Co-Director, Arizona Center on Aging
Elizabeth Bowman Professor in Medical Research College of Medicine,
University of Arizona, 1501 N Campbell Ave.
Tucson, AZ 85724, USA
Phone 520-626-6065, Fax : 520-626-2100
E-mail: nikolich@email.arizona.edu

Janko-Nikolich-Zugich is Professor and Chairman of the Department of Immunobiology and Co-Director of the Arizona Center on Aging at the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona, USA. He obtained his M.D. and Ph.D. in immunology from the University of Belgrade, and postdoctoral training at the Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, California, USA. Before the University of Arizona, he held positions at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and Cornell University in New York, USA, and at the Oregon Health and Science University in Portland, Oregon, USA. His main interest is in understanding CD8+ T-cell biology, homeostasis and senescence, and the relationship between immunosenescence and aging.

                 Dr Vera Pravica

Research Associate Professor
University of Southern California
School of Pharmacy
1965 Zonal Avenue, CA 90033
E-mail: pravica@usa.edu

Dr Pravica obtained her MD and PhD degree from the University of Belgrade and was appointed Lecturer and Senior Lecturer in the Department of Microbiology/Immunology. Before moving to USA she held position of Senior Research and Teaching Fellow at the Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Manchester, UK. Her research interest is immunogenetic and immunopharmacogenomics of transplantation reactions and chronic inflammation.

                 Professor Sergio Romagnani

Professor and Head of Clinical Immunology
Department of Internal Medicine, University of Florence,
Viale Morgagni, 85 Firenze 50134, Italy.
Tel 055-413663055-4296404, Fax 055-412867
E-mail: s.romagnani@dfc.unifi.it

Sergio Romagnani is Professor of Internal Medicine and Head of the Section of Clinical Immunology, Allergy and respiratory Diseases of the Department of Internal Medicine at the University of Florence (Italy). In 1995, he was identified among the first 25 authors (the only European) in Immunology over the period 1990-94 (Science Watch 6: 1-2 May, 1995; Current Contents 38: 3-6, 1995), the first in the field of Human Immunology. He has been the most quoted Italian scientist between 1995 and 1998 and has recently been included by the Institute of Scientific Information among the “Highly Cited Researchers” in the field of Immunology for the last twenty years. Professor Romagnani is Past President of EFIS.

                 Professor Hannes Stockinger

Chairman, Department of Molecular Immunology
Medical University of Vienna
Treasurer of the European Federation of Immunological Societies
Lazarettgasse 19, A-1090 Vienna, Austria.
Phone:+43-1-40160-33001/Fax: +43-1-40160-933002
Email: hannes.stockinger@meduniwien.ac.at

Johannes Stockinger, studied biotechnology at the Vienna University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences. Following his doctorate at the Institute for Immunology (then still Vienna University) and at the Vienna University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences, Stockinger started work at the Institute for Immunology in 1985, where he habilitated in 1991. He has headed the Department for Molecular Immunology there since 1989. His research contributes to the understanding of signal transmission mechanisms of specific receptor proteins and the connected discovery of the so-called “lipid rafts”.

                 Professor Miodrag Stojkovic

Professor of Genetics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Kragujevac
Deputy Director and Head of Regenerative Medicine,
Prince Felipe Research Centre,
Valencia, Spain
E-mail: mstojkovic@cipf.es

Miodrag Stojkovic completed studying Veterinary Medicine in 1990 at the University of Belgrade, In 1993, he received his doctorate degrees from the Ludwig-Maximilians University of Munich, Germany. In 2002, he moved to UK and joined the team at the Medical School of University of Newcastle where he was appointed as a Chair in Embryology and Stem Cell Biology and Deputy Director of the Centre for Stem Cell Biology & Developmental Genetics. In 2006, he joined Prince Felipe Research Centre in Valencia, Spain where he is working as a Deputy Director and Head of Cellular Reprogramming. He is Editor in Chief of the journal “Stem Cells”.

                Professor Chavdar Vassilev

Head, Department of Immunology
Stefan Angelov Institute of Microbiology,
Bulgarian Academy of Sciences
26, Acad. G.Bonchev St., 1113 Sofia, Bulgaria
Phone:+359 2 979 6348; Fax: +359 2 870 0109
e-mail: vassilev@microbio.bas.bg

Dr Vassilev is working on the immunopathology and immunotherapy of autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. Dr Vassilev has received his M.D. degree from Sofia Medical School and his Ph.D. degree in Immunology from the Medical Academy in Sofia. He has held previously research positions in the Max Planck-Institute of Immunobiology in Freiburg, Germany, The French National Institute for Medical Research and in Princeton University, USA.

                Professor Matthias von Herrath

Member/Professor, La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology
9420 Athena Circle, La Jolla, CA 92037
E-mail: Matthias@liai.org

Dr. von Herrath is a full Member in the Division of Developmental Immunology. Dr. von Herrath's research focuses on strategies to prevent type 1 diabetes through the induction of regulatory T cells. Dr. von Herrath wrote his thesis in the field of Biochemistry and then received his M.D. in Medicine from the Freiburg Medical School in Freiburg, Germany. He went to The Scripps Research Institute for postdoctoral training. Dr. von Herrath is a member of the American Society of Clinical Investigation and in addition an Adjunct Professor of Pediatrics at the University of California, San Diego. He is the recipient of the 2006 Grotzky Award from the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation International and the 2007-2012 Scholar Award from the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation.

                Dr Stanislav Vukmanovic

Children's National Medical Center
Center for Cancer and Immunology Research (CCIR)
111 Michigan Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20010-2970
E-mail: svukmano@cnmc.org

Dr. Vukmanovic obtained his MD and PhD from Belgrade University School of Medicine in 1984 and 1991, respectively. Subsequently, Dr. Vukmanovic joined the laboratory of Mike Bevan at University of Washington in Seattle as senior research associate, studying T lymphocyte development in the thymus. In 1993, Dr. Vukmanovic moved to New York to become an independent investigator at the NYU School of Medicine. Dr. Vukmanovic joined CRI in 2003. He is currently associate professor of pediatrics and immunology.. The focus of Dr. Vukmanovic's research is studying development and function of T lymphocytes with the goal to manipulate the immune system in diseases requiring either enhancement (cancer, infectious diseases) or dampening (autoimmune diseases, allergies, transplantation) of the immune functions.

                Professor Nikola L. Vujanovic

Research Associate Professor
Department of Pathology, University of Pittsburg School of Medicine
University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute
Hillman Cancer Center, G. 17d, Research Pavilion
5117 Center Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15213-1863
Phone: 412-623-3211, Fax: 412-623-1119
E-mail: vujanovicnl@upmc.edu

Dr Vujanovic obtained his M.D. and PhD degree from the University of Belgrade and postdoctoral training at the University of Paris, France. His main research interests are related to the mechanisms of cytotoxicity mediated by immune effector cells and their role in anticancer host defense. His studies include the interactions between TNF family ligands of immune effector cells and TNF family receptors of cancer cells, leading to apoptosis or survival of cancer cells.

                Professor Hartmut Wekerle

Department of Neuroimmunology
Director and Head of the Basic Research Section
Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology
Department of Neuroimmunology
Am Klopferspitz 18, D-82152 Martinsried, Germany
Phone: +49 (0)89 - 8578-3551, Fax: +49 (0)89 - 8578-3790
E-mail: hwekerle@neuro.mpg.de

Hartmut Wekerle is Director at the Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology and Head of the Department of Neuroimmunology in Munich. He studied medicine at the University of Freiburg where he also gained his PhD. As a post-doctoral researcher, he worked at the Weizmann Institute of Science (Israel) and the Max Planck Institute for Immunobiology in Freiburg. Afterwards, he led the Research Group for Multiple Sclerosis at the Institute of Clinical Neurobiology at the University Hospital of the University of Wurzburg. In 1988, he was appointed Director at the Max Planck Institute for Neurobiology. Professor Wekerle’s scientific research is focused on the underlying reasons and mechanisms of diseases which arise due to a conflict between the immune system and the nervous system, his main focus being on multiple sclerosis.

                Professor Georg Wick

Head, Division for Experimental Pathology and Immunology
Laboratory for Autoimmunity Biocenter
Innsbruck Medical University
Peter-Mayr-Straße 4a, 6020 Innsbruck
Phone: 0043 (0)512 -9003-70960/FAX: 0043 (0)512 -9003-73960
E-mail: georg.wick@i-med.ac.at

Georg Wick is Professor Emeritus in the Laboratory of Immunopathology at the Medical University of Innsbruck. He is also the former President of the Austrian Science Fund. His scientific fields of interest are centered on the topics of autoimmunity and autoimmune diseases, immunology of aging with special emphasis on immune-inflammatory processes in atherosclerosis, and the interaction of the immune and endocrine systems. In 1975, he was appointed Professor and Chairman for Pathophysiology and Immunology at the University of Innsbruck Medical School, where, from 1991 – 2003, he also was Director of the newly founded Institute for Biomedical Aging Research of the Austrian Academy of Sciences.