Professor Booth is a clinical academic specializing in primary immunodeficiency (PID) and gene therapy. She leads gene therapy clinical trials at Great Ormond Street Hospital, treating patients with immune deficiencies, haematological, and metabolic disorders. Her expertise spans pre-clinical laboratory research, translational studies, phase I/II clinical trials, and the clinical management of patients with PID, including

Her extensive experience in clinical trials includes regulatory frameworks, investigational medicinal product (IMP) manufacturing, clinical pathways, orphan drug designation, industrial partnerships, and commercialization.

Her pre-clinical research focuses on developing gene therapy strategies for X-linked lymphoproliferative diseases (XLP-1 and XIAP deficiency). She is actively investigating both conventional lentiviral-mediated corrective strategies and novel gene editing techniques to enable targeted gene addition in haematopoietic stem cells and T cells.

As a consultant paediatric immunologist at Great Ormond Street Hospital—one of the U.K.'s two commissioned centres for stem cell transplantation for primary immunodeficiency—she is dedicated to advancing treatments for haemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH). Her work aims to improve outcomes for HLH patients through the development of new therapeutic approaches, including gene therapies. Additionally, she holds a visiting lecturer position at Boston Children’s Hospital/Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in paediatric haematology/oncology.

Bora Lim is an esteemed associate professor at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, at the forefront of translational research in oncology. As the Chief of the Translational Research section, Dr. Lim is not just a researcher; she's a visionary, crafting innovative therapeutic strategies to confront and conquer aggressive breast cancers. Her unique approach leverages precise tissue analysis and rigorous bench validation to ensure the highest efficacy in clinical applications.

At the helm of the OPTIMA program, Dr. Lim orchestrates a symphony of collaboration among internal and external investigators. Her mission: to unearth new therapeutic vulnerabilities and decipher the resistance mechanisms of rare and formidable breast cancers. Trust in Dr. Lim's expertise to illuminate the path toward new life-saving treatments in the fight against breast cancer.

Matthias Löhr is Professor of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at Karolinska Institutet and leads the Pancreatic Team at Karolinska University Hospital. He currently serves as president of United European Gastroenterology (UEG). His research focuses on pancreatic diseases, particularly adenocarcinoma and cystic preneoplasias (IPMN), and he has led several early-phase clinical trials on pancreatic cancer.

Löhr earned his medical degree from the University of Hamburg in 1986, followed by a postdoc at Scripps Clinic in California. He completed residencies and held senior roles in Germany before becoming Professor of Molecular Gastroenterology at the University of Heidelberg and DKFZ. In 2007, he joined Karolinska Institutet. His work is supported by national and EU funding, including projects like PRECODE, PancAIM, PANCAID, and GUIDE.MRD.

He leads the “Pancreas 2000” educational program and developed key European guidelines for chronic pancreatitis and IgG4-related diseases. A past secretary-general of the European Pancreatic Club, he received its Lifetime Achievement Award in 2023. Löhr has published over 400 peer-reviewed papers and actively promotes international collaboration and research in neglected cancers

Kevin Mackie has been with Resuscitation Council UK since 1993, first as an ALS Instructor and Course Director, before becoming an Educator in 2003 and a Lead Educator in 2015. As an Educator, Kevin has facilitated many courses and is Educational Adviser to the Advanced Resuscitation of the Newborn Infant (ARNI) course. He is a member of the e-ALS review Working Group and occasional adviser to the Advanced Life Support (ALS) Subcommittee. His particular interest is in debriefing candidates engaged in medical simulation. Now a freelance consultant in medical education and company director, Kevin also spent nearly 25 years in the Royal Air Force.

Giovanni Marchegiani is a pancreas surgeon at the Hepato-biliary-pancreatic (HPB) and Liver transplant surgery service of the Padova University Hospital. As an academic, he is appointed as assistant professor of surgery at the same university.

He holds a PhD at the Verona University in Inflammation, Immunity and Cancer for Pancreas Sciences. He served as a Research Fellow in Pancreas Surgery at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) of Harvard University in Boston, USA. During his surgical training, he did serval clinical and research experiences at the NYU University of New York and Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia during his years as a medical student.

He is currently the secretary of the International Study Group for Pancreas Surgery (ISGPS). He is the Chair of the Membership and Development Committee of the European-African HepatoPancreatoBiliary Association (E-AHPBA). He is the coordinator of the Young Talent group of the European Pancreatic Group (EPC) named Pancreas 2000. He is also in the Quality-of-Care Committee of the United European Gastroenterology (UEG). He is vice-president and faculty of the “Pancreas2000” Education course promoted by the European Pancreas Club.

From the editorial standpoint, he is Editor of the British Journal of Surgery (BJS) open and Associate Editor of the European Digestive Surgery.

He joined the Board of Directors of Pancreatic Cancer Europe (PCE) in 2025.

Professor Maxwell qualified in Medicine with Honours from the University of Birmingham in 1986 and trained in medicine and clinical pharmacology in the West Midlands where he undertook research in cardiovascular medicine to gain both PhD and MD degrees. He was initially appointed as a consultant in 1996 in Leicester and subsequently moved to Edinburgh where he is now Professor of Student Learning (Clinical Pharmacology and Prescribing). He has had a longstanding interest in the assessment and management of people at increased cardiovascular risk because of hypertension and hyperlipidaemia.

He has been a member of the Scottish Medicines Consortium and NICE medicines appraisal committee. He is currently a member of the Medicine and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency’s (MHRA) Pharmacovigilance Expert Advisory Committee and is Medical Director of the Scottish Centre for Adverse Reactions to Drugs (CARDS).

Gerry Melino is a Full Professor of Biochemistry at University of Rome “Tor Vergata” (Italy). He is a Member of Accademia Lincei & Accademia Europaea. Prof Melino is Founder & Editor-in-Chief of 3 journals - Cell Death Differentiation (IF 12.1), Cell Death Disease (IF 9.7), and Cell Death Discovery (IF 7.1), as well as a member of several other Editorial Boards and Scientific Advisor for several Governmental Institutions. His training originated in Rome, Italy, where he obtained his M.D. (1978, University of Rome) followed by clinical specialisations in Paediatrics (1981) and Clinical Oncology (1985); the Ph.D. (1984) was at the University of London, UK, where he became Consultant. His scientific interest with almost 700 papers (H-index 105; Citations 56000) are focused on programmed cell death in epidermal and neural models, and in particular on the p53 family - p63 and p73, in cancer progression.

Pavlos Msaouel is a physician-scientist dedicated to kidney cancer research, with a particular emphasis on rare subtypes such as renal medullary carcinoma. His laboratory identified the serum biomarker currently used to monitor cancer burden in most patients with renal medullary carcinoma, as well as many of the targeted therapies currently used for this disease. These discoveries were accelerated by his introduction of modern data science approaches to research and clinical practice. He serves as the principal investigator of several completed and ongoing clinical trials for rare and common kidney cancers, including the first such trials designed specifically for renal medullary carcinoma