Our Guest Speakers
Prof. Josef Neu, MD. (Section 1)
Department of Pediatrics, Division of Neonatology, University of Florida, USA
Dr. Josef Neu is professor in the Department of Pediatrics and Division of Neonatology at the University of Florida. Dr. Neu received his Medical Doctorate Degree 1975 at the University of Wisconsin, accomplished his pediatric residency at John Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, followed by his postdoctoral fellowship in Neonatology at Stanford University Medical Centre from 1978-1980. In 1987, he completed his sabbatical year at the University of Bern, Switzerland. Being a member of several national and international committees, Dr. Neu is also a renowned lecturer in the United States and abroad. His researches and laboratory projects include the exploration of nutrition and gastrointestinal environment effecting neonate and infancy, the effects of Amino Acids e.g. Glutamine and Arginine on low birthweight infants, as well as the development of type 1 and type 2 diabetes. The analysis of the intestinal commensal microflora and probiotics effecting intestinal development, and the reactions of novel nutritional agents on retinal diseases such as retinopathy of prematurity, are also part of Dr. Neu’s research projects.
Prof. Maria Yazdanbakhsh (Section 2)
LUMC- Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, Netherlands
Maria Yazdanbakhsh studied Medical Parasitology at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and thereafter did her PhD at Amsterdam University on Immunobiology of eosinophils, which in part was based on studying parasites. After a post-doctoral fellowship, studying molecular biology of parasitic helminths at Imperial College London, she started her own laboratory at the Department of Parasitology, in Leiden University. She has spent sabbatical time at London School of Hygiene and Tropical medicine taking short courses in epidemiology and statistics. After leading the Leiden Immunoparasitology Group, she became the head of the Department of Parasitology in 2015. Maria Yazdanbakhsh is the president of "Dutch Society for Parasitology". She has served in various national scientific committees including TOP/ZonMW, VICI, ALW and WOTRO. At the LUMC she is a member of the Scientific Advisory Board, the management team of medical profile area Immunity, Infection and Tolerance as well as committee on internationalisation. She has received the Leyton Science Research Award, Marie Curie fellowship in 1987 and MSD Award in Human Parasitology in 1997.
Alongside regular curricular teaching, Maria Yazdanbakhsh put much emphasis into training biomedical and medical students not only from the Netherlands and Europe, but also from developing countries. She has developed and coordinates the half minor/elective program for (bio)medical students at LUMC.
Prof. Dr. Holger Gerhardt (Section 3)
Max-Delbrück-Centrum for Molecular Medicine (MDC), Berlin, Germany
After his PhD in Cell Biology at University of Tübingen, Germany, Dr. Holger Gerhardt continued his scientific education with a post-doctoral fellowship at Goteborg University in Sweden. Until 2014 Dr. Gerhardt was the Head of the Laboratory and Senior Group Leader in Vascular Biology and Cancer Research at the London Research Institute, UK. He is Professor in Experimental Cardiovascular Research at the Charité, Berlin, as well as Head of the Integrative Vascular Biology Laboratory at Max-Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in Berlin. He has a Professorship at the German Center for Cardiovascular Research and the Berlin Institute of Health. Professor Gerhardt is the Vice-spokesperson of the German Center for Cardiovascular Research.
The ultimate goal of his research activities is to advance the understanding of mechanisms and molecules controlling formation and patterning of a hierarchically branched vascular network in order to innovate and implement therapeutic approaches to mitigate cardiovascular complications, and establish or restore tissue homeostasis in compromised patients. His group develops and uses genetic tools to image and manipulate molecules, complexes and cells in spatiotemporal controlled manner in vivo in mouse and zebrafish models. They also use iteration between predictive computational modeling and experimentation to develop hypothesis and systems level understanding of the processes at play.
PD Dr. Jan Medenbach (Section 4)
Faculty for Biology, Preclinical Medicine and Biochemistry, University of Regensburg, Germany
PD Dr. Jan Medenbach studied Biology at Justus Liebig University Gießen and graduated with distinction. He received his doctoral degree in 2006 at the Justus Liebig University Gießen and his research focus was Mechanisms of gene expression, RNA processing and Retinitis Pigmentosa. After his dissertation, he made his postdoctoral fellowship at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg, Germany. Since 2012 PD Dr. Medenbach is an independent group leader in the field of biochemistry at the University of Regensburg. His major research topics are the post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression in eukaryotes, RNA biology and the control of translation by the Unfolded Protein Response (UPR) in cancer.
Dr. PhD. Regien G. Schoemaker (Section 5)
Department of Molecular Neurobiology, University Medical Centre Groningen, Netherlands
Dr. Schoemaker is the current associate Professor at University Medical Centre Groningen at the Department of Molecular Neurobiology, Faculty of Sciences and Engineering of University Groningen, Netherlands. In 1985, Professor Schoemaker received her post-graduate degree in Biology with distinction at University of Groningen. Schoemaker completed her PhD in 1989 at University of Limburg, Maastricht, The Netherlands specializing in Hemodynamic studies on pathophysiology and therapy. Besides her research’s, the award-winning scientist owns several scientific and professional memberships, such as Dutch Pharmacological Society, Board membership Dutch Physiological Society and Chair national AIO course "Cardiac function and adaptation". Dr. Schoemaker was awarded for her fellowship of the "Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada" and the "Canadian Hypertension Society".
Dr. Diane Rebourcet (Section 6)
School of Environmental and Life Sciences, Newcastle University, Australia
Dr. Diane Rebourcet received her master’s degree with distinction in Biology, Physiology and Pathology at the Paris Saint-Denis Diderot University, France. After her post-graduation, DR. Rebourcet achieved her PhD in Reproductive Biology at Claude-Bernard-Lyon University France followed by her post-doctoral research projects at the Medical Research Council (MRC) Centre for Reproductive Health at the University of Edinburgh and University of Glasgow. After her senior research fellowship in the MRC-Centre, Rebourcet transferred to the faculty of Science of the University of Newcastle, Australia. She is a member of several scientific societies, such as the Society of Endocrinology, the Society for Reproduction and Fertility and the Société Française d’Endocrinologie.
Prof. Dr. Kostas Mathiopoulos (Section 7)
Department of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, University of Thessaly, Greece
After obtaining his Bachelor of Science in Chemistry at the National University of Athens, Greece, Prof. Dr. Mathiopoulus achieved his PhD in Molecular Biology in Tufts University Boston, USA followed by a master degree in Public Health, at the renowned Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, USA. Until 1993 Dr. Mathiopoulus was a visiting fellow in the Laboratory of Parasitic Diseases, National Institutes of Health, USA, and Human Capital and Mobility Fellow at the University „La Sapienza" of Rome, Italy and a research associate at the department of Biology at University of Patras in Rion, Greece, in the following years. Dr. Mathiopoulus was an assistant professor of Molecular Biology and is currently an associate Professor at the Department of Biochemistry and Biotechnology at University of Thessaly. He is designated as a Scientific Consultant for the Thessaly Food Platform.
Prof. Dr. Peter Behrens (Section 8)
Institute for Inorganic Chemistry, Leibniz University Hannover, Germany
Dr. Peter Behrens received his diploma in chemistry at the University of Hamburg, in 1985, followed by a doctoral degree in physical chemistry. After his habilitation in 1994, Dr. Behrens qualified as a professor for inorganic chemistry at University of Konstanz, Germany. Besides his occupation as a lecturer at Leibniz University Hannover, Dr. Behrens is a member of several committee’s scientific boards. Since 2006, he is a member of the “Excellence-Cluster “Rebirth” and since 2013 member of the scientific board and management of the Junior Research Academy of the Excellence-Cluster “Hearing 4 All”. Behrens was a board member for “Graded Implants” and the supervisor of the graduate program. He is currently a member of the Fraunhofer-Institue for Silicat-Research in Würzburg, Germany, and in addition, speaker and board member of the Leibniz-Research-Centre -Laboratory for Nano and Quantum Technology. He is also a council member of the International Mesoporus Materials Association.
Dr. Peter Behrens is renowned for his research in the bio material and sensor material field.
Dr. Frank Hagedorn (Section 9)
WSL- Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research, Birmensdorf, Switzerland
Dr. Frank Hagedorn graduated in Geoecology at University of Bayreuth, Germany in 1995, followed by his PhD at the Institute of Terrestrial Ecology at ETH University Zürich. He then gained a post-doctoral position as a researcher and coordinator for Carbon research at WSL- the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research. Meanwhile, Prof. Hagedorn published as an associate editor in the Springer magazine “Biogeochemistry”. He is the current head of research for Biogeochemistry at WSL and since 2011 a member of the scientific committee “Agreen Skills”, a program for international mobility by the European Commission and the French National Institute for Agricultural Research. In addition to his research positions, the geoecologist is a lecturer on Environmental Sciences at the ETH Zürich and editorial board member of the journal “Frontiers in Forests and Global Change”.