Committee Members

Dr. Tanja Planinšek Ručigaj is Head of the Dermatovenereological Clinic and leads the Centre for Lymphology, Phlebology, and Chronic Wounds at the University Medical Centre Ljubljana, Slovenia. She holds multiple specializations, including Dermatovenerology, Phlebology, and European subspecializations in Lymphology and Chronic Wounds, with a PhD in Clinical and Genetic Research of Patients with Swelling Legs and Syndactyly of the Toes. A global leader in her field, she presides over several professional societies and serves on key European medical boards. With over 1,300 publications, Dr. Tanja Planinšek Ručigaj is renowned for advancing innovative diagnostics and treatments in dermatooncology, phlebology, lymphology, and chronic wound care.

Dr. Ahmed Idris, Completed his MBBS in El-Razi university Sudan, Khartoum and internship in HMC Qatar. He is currently a General practitioner in Gardenia medical centre in Qatar, Doha

Dr Niraj Ghanwate is a Professor in the post graduate teaching department of Microbiology at Sant Gadge  Baba Amravati University, Amravati, Maharashtra, India, a public university in central India. Dr Niraj completed her PhD in Microbiology in 2004. She has a teaching and research experience of more than 27 years with research domain in micobial biofilms and AMR and its rapid diagnostics.She is one of the pioneers in the establishment of COVID-19 Molecular Diagnostic Laboratory and Centre for Molecular Diagnosis and Research, in the university campus and looking after as technical officer.  She has published more than 30 papers in reputed journals, has been awarded with two Indian patents (3 more are published), has delivered TED talk on AMR and has presented many papers in International conferences.

I am Professor A. Roja Rani, Post-Doc, USA Fellow Telangana Academy of Science, Member, American association for advancement in science, Active Member-American Association for Cancer Research, Member-European society for medical oncology. I did my graduation and Master’s Degree is from Osmania university, I completed my Ph. D from Hyderabad Central University. I worked as visiting faculty for my post-doctoral Research in University of south Alabama, USA on worked on alylisothiocyanides and their effect on small cell lung cancer cell lines. My areas of research interest include cancer biology, qualitative and quantitative assessment of biochemical compounds extracted from medicinal plants and to test their medicinal properties against  microbes, Cancer, Epilepsy cardiomyopathy and diabetes.  We (research team) investigated on new quantum dot technique for identifying cancer cells in the bloodstream for which we have been granted with two patents recently and published the same in the Nature group of Journals, one more patent pending with ICMR for presentation, and two more in pipeline.  Five patents are published. Sixteen (16)students have been awarded with PhD degree under my guidance. To my credit I published 89 publications in international journals. Attended  many international conferences and conducted  national conferences

Sumeyra Gurkok is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biology at Atatürk University, Turkey. She received her Ph.D. in Biotechnology from Middle East Technical University (2003–2012). With a solid academic foundation, she has established herself as a prominent scholar in the fields of Biology and Biotechnology.

Throughout her career, Dr. Gurkok has contributed extensively to the scientific literature, authoring numerous research articles and reviews in national and international journals. She has participated in various scientific projects and conferences, supervised graduate students, and contributed to the training of young researchers. In addition, she has served as an editor of several journals and books, as well as an organizing committee member for international conferences. Her research interests include Microbial and Industrial Biotechnology, Fungal Biology and Genetics, Bacteriology, and the Production, Purification, and Characterization of Enzymes.

Prof. Dr. Ir. Siti Subandiyah, M.Agr.Sc. is a leading plant pathologist at Universitas Gadjah Mada, Indonesia. She holds an M.Agr.Sc. in Plant Pathology from the University of Queensland, Australia, and a Ph.D. from Gifu University, Japan. Her work focuses on molecular diagnostics, bacterial diseases (including blood disease of banana), disease management, and biotechnology in plant protection. Over the past decade, she has published around 40-60 journal articles and conference papers in her fields of expertise. She has supervised numerous postgraduate students, holds leadership roles in research centres, and is recognized nationally and internationally for her contributions to agricultural science.

Francesco Giuliani graduated in Pharmacy from the University of Florence in 1998 and obtained a PhD in Biochemical and Microbiological Sciences from the University of Siena in 2005. He currently serves as Medical Device Clinical Development Specialist and Business Development Support at L. MOLTENI & C. DEI F.LLI ALITTI SOCIETÀ DI ESERCIZIO S.P.A., located in SS67 Loc. Granatieri 50018 – Scandicci (Florence), Italy. Francesco Giuliani is an author of articles published in prominent scientific journals. Since 2007, he has been primarily focused on photodynamic therapy for the topical treatment of infected wounds.

Prof. Sangeeta Sharma, MD (Pharmacology), MBA (HCA), is Professor of Neuropsychopharmacology at IHBAS and President (Honorary) of DSPRUD. She specializes in clinical pharmacology, antimicrobial resistance, stewardship, and healthcare quality. With extensive leadership experience—including roles with the India-WHO Essential Drugs Programme, IHBAS, and the Medical Council of India—she has conducted 350+ workshops on AMR and medication safety. Author of 20 books and 70+ papers, she is lead contributor to the Standard Treatment Guidelines (7th edition, 2024). Prof. Sharma has served on WHO and national expert committees, advancing rational drug use and AMR containment globally.

Marta Kuźmińska-Bajor completed her PhD in veterinary medicine and currently holds a Post‐Doctoral position in the Department of Biotechnology and Food Microbiology at Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences. She works on phage-based solutions to control resistant and pathogenic bacteria in livestock animals, aiming to reduce antimicrobial resistance and improve food safety. Her research focuses on phage therapy, phage–biofilm interactions, and environmentally sustainable strategies for limiting the spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Her work contributes to advancing bacteriophages as effective and safe alternatives to antibiotics within the One Health framework, bridging human, veterinary, and environmental health.

Hans-Uwe Dahms is a professor at the Kaohsiung Medical University in Taiwan and particularly interested in the integrative effects of environmental factors on the health of people. Particularly pollutants and bacterial infectious diseases are studied by his group employing different integration levels from communities, populations, individuals and molecules involving studies in molecular biology, anatomy and physiology. For analysis and synthesis as well as diagnosis and therapies his group involves particularly green chemistry and nanotechnology.

Dr Cavada is an Australian-Brazilian specialist Otolaryngologist (Ear, Nose and Throat surgeon) with an interest in general adult and paediatric ENT conditions. She has completed a Clinical Research Fellowship in Rhinology at St Vincent’s Centre for Applied Medical Research, University of New South Wales. Having published important papers in the field of Ear, Nose and Throat, Dr Cavada underwent further Australian ENT training at Macquarie University Hospital and Sydney Adventist Hospital and obtained the Australian Fellowship certificate in ENT (Otolaryngologist, Head and Neck surgeon). She also completed additional sub-specialised training in advanced nose and sinus disorders (rhinology) which focuses on the management of paediatric and adult disorders including sino-nasal and allergic conditions.

Hector a scientist in Berkeley Lab working on bioengineering cells to produce biofuels and other renewable products for the benefit of society. Hector develops predictive mathematical models of cells, in the intersection of machine learning, synthetic biology and automation, as the founder of Berkeley Lab’s Quantitative Metabolic Modeling group, and Director for JBEI’s Data Science and Modeling at the Biofuels and Bioproducts Division.

Dr. Ioannidis is an Assistant Professor of Surgery. He studied medicine in the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and graduated at 2005. He received his MSC in “Medical Research Methodology†in 2008 from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and in “Surgery of Liver, Biliary Tree and Pancreas† from the Democritus University of Thrace in 2016. He received his PhD degree in 2014 from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki for his thesis “The effect of combined administration of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids in ulcerative colitis. Experimental study in rats.†He is a General Surgeon with special interest in laparoscopic surgery and surgical oncology and also in surgical infections, acute care surgery, nutrition and ERAS. He has received fellowships for EAES, ESSO, EPC, ESCP and ACS and has published more than 130 articles with more than 3000 citations and an H-index of 28

Dr. Iranzo joins the new Computational/Systems Biology and Genomics program at CBGP (UPM-INIA). Dr. Iranzo completed a five-year postdoctoral fellowship at the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) of the National Institute of Health (NIH, United States). His work combines comparative genomics tools and mathematical modeling to study the evolution of viruses and microbes. Dr. Iranzo has a transdisciplinary background with degrees in Biology, Biochemistry, and Physics. For the last 11 years, his research has focused on understanding the major evolutionary and ecological processes that occur in microbial populations from a systems perspective, combining empirical data with tools from statistical mechanics, game theory, and network science.

At the beginning of 2020, Prof. Zhang joined Zhejiang University as a chair professor, and is currently the Director of “The National Health and Disease Human Brain Tissue Resource Center”, the Vice President of Yuhang Region of the First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University and the Director of the Department of Pathology. Before joining Zhejiang University, Zhang was an Endowed Professor and Director of Neuropathology (until 2016) affiliated with the University of Washington School of Medicine and an adjunct professor of Peking University School of Medicine and Tiantan Hospital affiliated with the Capital Medical University.

Amira A. Moawad is an Associate Professor of Bacteriology at the Animal Health Institute, Egypt. She has been a scientific researcher at Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, the Institute of Bacterial Infections and Zoonoses, Jena, Germany since 2017. She received her PhD from Egypt. Since 2017, she has been involved in veterinary medical research, coordinating international projects and the training of veterinary practices at the Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut. Since 2018 she has been involved in a research project with Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Jena, Germany, and the German Federal Foreign Office in the framework of the German Biosecurity Programme. She is also coordinating other projects in Egypt in the framework of Biosafety and Biosecurity.

Dr. Kwon’s research has centered on pharmaceutical biotechnology, focusing on molecular details of drug susceptibility and resistant mechanisms. His research aims to develop a new drug and a novel strategy to treat drug-resistant pathogens. His early studies focused on a gastric pathogen (Helicobacter pylori) causing gastric ulcers/cancers and has expanded to other pathogens (Acinetobacter, Pseudomonas, and Staphylococcus) causing various human diseases. He has published more than 80 research articles in SCI journals. He was educated at Georgia State University (Atlanta, GA, USA) and Baylor College of Medicine (Houston, TX, USA). Before moving to Long Island University (Brooklyn, NY, USA), he was a faculty member of Baylor College of Medicine.