Medhat Askar is a Clinical Professor, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Texas A&M College of Medicine & Director of Transplant Immunology, Baylor University Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA. After completing his MD and PhD (Cairo, Egypt) he trained in transplant immunology at Thomas Starzl Transplantation Institute (Pittsburgh, PA). He is a passionate educator (with a Masters in Health Education) who has published and given many lectures on various topics of histocompatibility, transplant immunology, laboratory accreditation and medical education to multi-disciplinary healthcare professionals at various stages of their careers. He a Councilor of the Transplantation Society (TTS) and served as co-chair of TTS education Committee (2012-2014). He is a current Board Member of ASHI. He exchanges experiences with laboratories around the world as an invited speaker and laboratory evaluator, including The TTS Global Alliance for Transplantation Workshop (South Africa, 2013). With a global network of collaborators in transplantation network, he is a project leader in the 17th International HLA and Immunogenetics Workshop.

Transplant Immunology and pathology

The generation of immune tolerance is an important goal in autoimmune diseases and organ transplantation. We are trying to find new therapies for autoimmune liver disease, type 1 diabetes and organ transplantation, with new monoclonal antibody-based therapy options and new cell therapies. Through the development of chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) only an immune tolerance in the affected organ should be generated without weakening the general immune competence.

Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Endocrinology

Janez Rozman, Ph. D. was born in Novo mesto, the Republic of Slovenia, in 1956. In 1982 he finished his engineering degree at the Faculty of Natural Science at the University of Ljubljana in the Republic of Slovenia. He received an M.Sc. degree in 1988 from the same institution. He finished his dissertation at Faculty of Electrical Engineering University of Ljubljana in January 1993. He started to work at the Jožef Stefan Institute in 1980 and began as a graduate on his diploma work at the Department for Electron Microscopy. In 1982 he changed his specialist field and entered the Department of Automatics, Biocybernetics, and Robotics. He began to work on human implantation technology as a designer of stimulating multi-electrode systems and encapsulation technology. In January 1994, he his colleagues have established a small reserch company ITIS d. o. o. Ljubljana and formed his own research group Center for Implantable Technologgy and Sensors. His research interests concern investigation of possibilities in selective stimulation of autonomic nerves and ganglia. Current interest is selective stimulation of nerves innervating cardio-vascular system, glands and other organs to improve their function in disease and recording of ENG. He is the author or co-author of 50 scientific articles. His small research company ITIS d. o. o. Ljubljana conducted national projects as well as one project of the FP5 of the European Commission. He is a member of International Functional Electrical Stimulation Society and the supervisor of students and young researchers in different EU countries.

Transplantation surgery

Prof. Walter G. Land, Molecular ImmunoRheumatology, Laboratory of Excellence Transplantex, University of Strasbourg, France Dr. Walter G. Land is a retired transplant surgeon from Germany who was the Head of the Munich Transplant Center. He and his team performed altogether 4000 kidney and pancreas transplants. In 1994, he proposed the 'danger/injury model' in immunology holding that it is the injury that induces immunity. Since that time until today, Dr. Land’s activities focus on publications devoted to the introduction of the new immunological branch of 'Innate Immunity' into the field of organ transplantation.

transplant surgeon

Department of General Surgery and Transplantation, S. Orsola and Malpighi Hospital, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy Completed his the training in hepatobiliary surgery and living-donor liver transplantation at the department of Hepato-biliary Surgery at the Asan Medical Center in Seoul in 2006, Dr. Ravaioli now is a surgeon at the Department of General Surgery and Transplantation of S. Orsola Hospital in Bologna. He is involved in the transplant activity, HPB surgery and general surgery. Since 2015 he has the responsibility of the surgical kidney transplant program. He performed or assisted more than 2000 operations. The most frequent operations were liver resection, liver transplantation, kidney transplantation, organ harvesting and split procedure. He performed also general surgery procedures like laparoscopic appendicectomy, laparoscopic cholecystectomy, colo-rectal surgery, hernia repair and gastric resections. He was autonomous in performing liver resection, split liver procedure, living and cadaveric kidney transplantation, general abdominal surgery and standard liver transplantation. Dr. Ravaioli's h-index is 36, according to Google Scholar and he is author or co-authors of more than 175 papers indexed on Pub-Med with a total impact factors of more than 637. Dr. Ravaioli was the invited speaker at numerous international meetings and also reviewer for many journals, like Journal of the American College of Surgeons, Journal of Gastrointestinal and Liver Diseases, Journal of Clinical Oncology and so on. He had the habilitation for associate professor since 2013. Dr. Ravaioli's main field of research includes liver transplantation and liver resection. He recently developed a machine for the organ perfusion and he had national grant for ongoing study in this topic. He is a coordinator of a study on micro-RNA and hepatocellular carcinoma with regional grant.

General Surgery and Transplantation,

Dr Edyta Skwirczyńska Author of the doctoral work, "Assessment of the Medical Staff's Knowledge of Donor DCD Donations in Poland”. A Psycho-oncologist and Psychologist at the Independent Public Clinical Hospital; working in General Surgery, Transplantation, Gastroenterology, Oncology and Gynecology departments Assistant Professor at the Pomeranian Medical University of Szczecin at the Department of History of Medicine and Medical Ethics. Additional education in other areas include Transplant Coordinator, Sociologist and Psychotherapist. An expert in communication, social relations and ethics. Has a broad knowledge of human-related science which is used in everyday work with patients. Has a holistic approach to her patients' problems with good therapeutic effects and a quick return to emotional stability. Patients have valued her not only for her professionalism and knowledge, but also for her admirable skills in empathizing.

General Surgery, Transplantation, Gastroenterology, Oncology and Gynecology

Fariborz Tavangarian was born in Esfahan, Iran. He received his BS and MS in Materials Engineering from Isfahan University of Technology (Esfahan) in 2007 and 2010, respectively. He joined the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Louisiana State University as a research assistant and started his Ph.D under the supervision of Prof. Guoiqang Li. in 2011. He received his Ph.D from mechanical engineering department in 2014. He has authored 37 scientific articles in internationally peer-reviewed journals and has been widely-recognized by his fellow scientists for his numerous research contributions, as evidenced by the more than 600 citations from scientists all around the world. The h-index of his publications is 15 which shows the quality of his publications. Currently, he is an Assistant Professor in the mechanical Engineering Program at the Pennsylvania State University at Harrisburg. His research interest is in bio-inspired-healing ceramics and nanocomposites, biomaterials and smart materials

Surgery and Organ Transplantation