Zhu Chen, China
Zhu Chen
Senior Physician in the Hematology and Blood/Marrow Transplant (BMT) Unit of the IRCCS San Raffaele Hospital in Milano, Italy. Hematologist involved in hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) and cellular therapies in all spectrum of haematological cancers and non-malignant indications, including autoimmune diseases.Her expertise in this field encompasses allogeneic and autologous stem cell transplantation (malignant and non-malignant diseases), cellular therapies (i.e. CART cells, Treg-based cell therapies), immune reconstitution, biomarkers, transplant complications (i.e graft versus host disease, infections). Her career has been focused on several clinical research projects on HSCT and cellular therapies. She has (co-)authored many research articles in peer reviewed journal as well as reviews, book chapters and best-practice guidelines in the field.She has been significantly involved with the European Group for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (EBMT), as Autoimmune Diseases Working Party (ADWP) Chair (2020-24), EBMT Scientific Council Representative with the Education Portfolio (2022-24), co-chair of the EBMT Harmonization Committee (2022-24), EBMT secretary (2024-ongoing), active member of the ADWP and Cellular Therapy & Immunobiology Working Party (CTIWP).
Raffaella Greco, Italy
Raffaella Greco
Senior Physician in the Hematology and Blood/Marrow Transplant (BMT) Unit of the IRCCS San Raffaele Hospital in Milano, Italy. Hematologist involved in hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) and cellular therapies in all spectrum of haematological cancers and non-malignant indications, including autoimmune diseases.Her expertise in this field encompasses allogeneic and autologous stem cell transplantation (malignant and non-malignant diseases), cellular therapies (i.e. CART cells, Treg-based cell therapies), immune reconstitution, biomarkers, transplant complications (i.e graft versus host disease, infections). Her career has been focused on several clinical research projects on HSCT and cellular therapies. She has (co-)authored many research articles in peer reviewed journal as well as reviews, book chapters and best-practice guidelines in the field.She has been significantly involved with the European Group for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (EBMT), as Autoimmune Diseases Working Party (ADWP) Chair (2020-24), EBMT Scientific Council Representative with the Education Portfolio (2022-24), co-chair of the EBMT Harmonization Committee (2022-24), EBMT secretary (2024-ongoing), active member of the ADWP and Cellular Therapy & Immunobiology Working Party (CTIWP).
Melanie Hagen, Germany
Melanie Hagen
2018 Medical degree at the Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany
2018-2024 trainee Department of Rheumatology and Immunology, University Hospital Erlangen, Prof. Dr. med. Schett
Since 2024 consultant in Internal Medicine and Rheumatology
Since 2024 Head of Clinical trial department
Focus: New cellular therapies in Autoimmune Diseases
Merav Lidar, Israel
Merav Lidar
Dr. Merav Lidar is a rheumatologist and professor at Sheba Medical Center, Israel’s largest hospital. She serves as the Director of the Rheumatology Unit, where she specializes in the diagnosis and management of autoimmune and inflammatory diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, familial Mediterranean fever (FMF), and spondyloarthropathies.
In addition to her clinical role, Dr. Lidar is the Director of the Internal Review Board (IRB / Helsinki Committee) at Sheba, overseeing ethical aspects of clinical research. She also serves as the President of the Israeli Society of Rheumatology, contributing to national guidelines and advancements in rheumatology care.
As a Professor of Medicine at Tel Aviv University, she teaches and mentors medical students and residents, combining clinical practice with academic research. Under her supervision, the first patients in Israel with autoimmune diseases received CAR-T cell therapy, representing a significant milestone in introducing advanced cellular treatments into the field of rheumatology. Her work integrates patient care, teaching, and research, with an emphasis on improving understanding and management of complex rheumatic conditions.
Dror Mevorach, Israel
Dror Mevorach
Dr. Dror Mevorach is a Full Professor and Director of the Rheumatology-Immunology-Allergology Institute at Hadassah Medical Center, affiliated with the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Israel. He obtained his medical degree cum laude from the Technion Institute, Haifa, Israel, in 1988. His expertise spans autoimmune and autoinflammatory diseases, particularly through the study of innate immunity and apoptotic cell clearance. Throughout his career, Dr. Mevorach has held various prestigious positions, including Senior Physician and Chairman of Medicine at Hadassah University Hospital. He has led innovative research in autoimmune diseases, contributing to breakthroughs in the understanding and treatment of conditions like lupus and graft-versus-host disease. Dr. Mevorach’s research has also resulted in therapeutic applications, such as the development of advanced cellular therapies with apoptotic cells, now commercialized by Enlivex Therapeutics. He has published extensively in renowned journals and has received numerous awards for his contributions to medicine, including recognition from the Hebrew University Medical Faculty and the Arthritis Foundation.
Arnon Nagler, Israel
Arnon Nagler
Chaim Sheba Medical Center, Israel
- Director of the Division of Hematology, Chaim Sheba Medical Center, Israel
- Director of Bone Marrow transplantation and Cord Blood Bank, Chaim Sheba Medical Center, Israel
- Professor of Medicine at the Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
- One of the pioneers of the non-myeloablative and reduced intensity/toxicity allogeneic transplantations for both malignant and non-malignant disorders (Blood 1998)
- Established the first public cord blood bank and performed the first cord blood transplanataion in Israel
- Leader of the Alternative donor subcommittee of the ALWP of the EBMT from 2008-2010
- Leader of the RIC subcommittee of the ALWP of the EBMT – since 2010
- Serves on the Editorial Board of several BMT and Hematology Journals and is a Section Editor for Leukemia
- Chair of the Acute Leukemia Working Party (ALWP) of the EBMT
Dr Nagler received his medical training at the Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School, Jerusalem, Israel; he then carried out a Postdoctoral research fellowship in hematology and bone marrow transplantation at “Stanford University Hospital” Palo Alto, CA, in the USA, from 1986 to 1990.
Dr Nagler serves on the Board of Directors of Netcord organization of cord blood banks and was the Netcord Threasurer from 2010-2013.
Dr Nagler has received several awards including the best scientific abstract award of the ASBMT/CIBMR Tandem meeting (2004) and the best clinical abstract award of the NMDP Council Meeting (2004). In addition, Dr Nagler is a popular speaker and has made numerous, invited, international presentations and many Oral presentations on almost annual basis in all international transplantation and hematology meetings – ASH,ASBMT/CIBMTR, EBMT, EHA, Exp Hematology (including a presentation at the presidential symposium) and invited presentation at the Gordon conference (Boston USA).
William Robinson, USA
William Robinson
Dr. Robinson leads a translational immunology laboratory focused on elucidating the role of Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) and other microbial drivers in the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases, including systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and multiple sclerosis (MS). His laboratory pioneered the development of high-density protein arrays and advanced high-throughput sequencing technologies to directly identify EBV-infected B cells, define antibody specificities, and dissect mechanisms of immune dysregulation. Using these platforms, his group demonstrated that EBV directly infects and transcriptionally reprograms autoreactive B cells into pathogenic antigen-presenting cells that initiate and amplify autoreactive T- and B-cell responses driving the pathogenesis of SLE and MS.
Dr. Robinson co-founded the Stanford Human Immune Monitoring Center and has served in numerous national leadership roles in immunology. He currently serves as Treasurer and a member of the Board of Directors of the Federation of Clinical Immunology Societies and sits on the editorial boards of multiple journals. An inventor on 23 patent applications, technologies developed in his Stanford and VA laboratories have been licensed to nine biotechnology companies. He was elected to the American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI), the Henry Kunkel Society, and the Association of American Physicians (AAP). Dr. Robinson received his MD and PhD degrees from Stanford University and completed his residency training in internal medicine at the University of California, San Francisco.
Richard Taubert, Germany
Richard Taubert
He is a Senior Physician and Research Group Leader in the Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, Infectious Diseases and Endocrinology at Hanover Medical School in Hanover, Germany.
He studied medicine at the University of Heidelberg and Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas (2000–2007). He completed his MD thesis in the field of basic immunology at the German Cancer Research Centre in Heidelberg in 2003–2004.
He completed his residency and fellowships in internal medicine, gastroenterology and transplantation medicine at Hannover Medical School in 2017, 2020 and 2024 respectively. He was a research postdoc for more than four years and has been a research PI and group leader on immune-mediated liver diseases before and after liver transplantation at Hannover Medical School since 2013. He has been a consultant in gastroenterology since 2019. He was awarded his Habilitation in Internal Medicine in 2019, and has been an Extraordinary Professor at Hannover Medical School since 2024.
Runci Wang, China
Runci Wang
Attending physician of rheumatology and associate professor of medicine at the Department of Rheumatology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine affiliated Renji Hospital, Shanghai, China.
Dr. Wang’s research focuses on translational immunotherapy and immune checkpoint–related autoimmunity, connecting clinical investigation with the study of immune mechanisms.
