Keynote Speakers

Judith Aberle, MD, is Professor of Virus Immunology at the Medical University of Vienna. She heads the Medical Division of the Austrian Reference Center for Arbovirus Infections and the National Reference Center for HIV. Her research has focused on molecular mechanisms of protective immunity against emerging and re-emerging viruses, such as Zika, West Nile and tick-borne encephalitis viruses, with a special emphasis on antibodies and T cell responses. She serves as an expert for the Austrian Federal Ministry of Social Affairs, Health, Care and Consumer Protection. Since 2021, she is the deputy head of the Center for Virology, Medical University of Vienna.

Dr. Giovanna Barba Spaeth is a group leader at the Institut Pasteur, Paris. She holds a degree in Biology from the University of Palermo, Italy and a PhD in Immunogenetics from the University of Mainz, Germany.  She became interested in virology as a postdoctoral fellow studying HCV at the Necker Hospital, Paris and at Washington University, St. Louis. In 2001 she moved with Charlie Rice to Rockefeller University, New York as a research associate to work on yellow fever virus. In 2005 she joined the Institut Pasteur, Paris and got tenure in 2007.

Her group, FlavImmunity, studies virus immunogenicity from a structural perspective. She uses the yellow fever 17D vaccine as a model to study Flavivirus entry, maturation and antigenicity using both cryo-electron microscopy and functional assays to analyze the general paradigms that govern Flavivirus antigenicity and maturation in order to learn about optimal vaccine design for Flavivirus in general.

With a PhD in Biology (Molecular Genetics) by NOVA University of Lisbon (2015), Vítor Borges is a Researcher of the Genomics and Bioinformatics Unit of the Department of Infectious Diseases of the National Institute of Health Doutor Ricardo Jorge (INSA).

VB focuses on using genomics and bioinformatics to detect and investigate outbreaks, study the evolutionary history of human pathogens and their adaptive traits during infection and transmission, advance the application of clinical metagenomics to support complex diagnosis, etc. He has been actively involved in INSA’s capacity building for nationwide genomic surveillance of several human pathogens. For instance, VB is the scientific coordinator and co-developer of INSaFLU-TELEVIR (https://insaflu.insa.pt), an open, user-oriented and web-based bioinformatics platform for viral metagenomics detection and routine genomic surveillance.

His output record (http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3767-2209) includes >80 scientific publications and the participation in multiple international projects, e.g. the OneHealth EJP TELE-Vir (https://onehealthejp.eu/jrp-tele-vir/) and BeONE  https://onehealthejp.eu/jrp-beone  (as WP leader); or the recent EU-funded DURABLE (https://durableproject.org/) (as coordinator at INSA) .

Dr Victor Max Corman is a physician and German virologist who, after working at the University of Bonn, has led a research group at the Institute of Virology, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin since 2017. His research focuses on clinical virology and the diversity and evolution of RNA viruses, especially zoonotic viruses that can be transmitted from animals to humans, such as hepatitis E. He has made significant contributions to the study of MERS-CoV, including assay development and characterisation of transmission routes. In January 2020, Dr Corman developed one of the first PCR tests to detect SARS-CoV-2, which has become a global diagnostic standard. For his outstanding research, he was awarded the Loeffler Frosch Prize by the German Society of Virology in 2022. Since 2024, Dr Corman has also been Head of the Department of Virology at the Labor Berlin - Charité Vivantes GmbH, which serves the Charité and the Vivantes network of municipal hospitals in Berlin with a total of >20,000 hospital beds.

Prof. Dr. Adrian Egli is the Director of the Institute of Medical Microbiology at the University of Zurich. His research focuses on microbial genomics, antimicrobial resistance, and translational microbiology, with a strong emphasis on personalized infectious disease diagnostics. He leads multiple national and international research consortia, including the Swiss Pathogen Surveillance Platform and Personalized Swiss Sepsis Study. His work integrates genomics, machine learning, and mass spectrometry to improve pathogen detection and treatment strategies. A recipient of multiple awards, including ESCMID Fellow, he has a strong track record in clinical microbiology, biobanking, and public health initiatives. He is actively engaged in scientific advisory boards, conference organization, and mentoring young researchers. His contributions bridge fundamental research and clinical application, shaping the future of infectious disease diagnostics.

Dr. Naomi Forrester-Soto recently joined the Pirbright Institute in September 2023 as a Group Leader in RNA virus evolution. following a Readership at Keele University and faculty positions at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston. Research in her lab focuses on understanding the complex interplay of the viral variants with the host cell with traditional virological studies, and starting to work with machine learning experts to enhance our understanding. Her interests are in endemic infections of Alphaviruses, establishing successful experimental transmission cycles in the laboratory to model viral evolution within and between hosts, developing an understanding of the complex interplay between viral diversity and host response at cellular, tissue, host and population levels.

I am a physician by training, with a PhD in immunology of viral infections, and eight years of clinical practice experience in a teaching hospital in Poland in the field of infectious diseases.  Between 1997-2000, I have worked at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as part of the Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) and later as a medical epidemiologist.  Since 2007, I have been working at the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC http://ecdc.europa.eu ) as a Deputy Head of the Unit (first of the Scientific Advice Unit, then the Office of the Chief Scientist and the Disease Programme Unit) and, since 1 June 2024, as the Chief Scientist of the Centre. I have published on topics such as vaccination, influenza, burden of disease, use of electronic medical records for research, epidemiologic methodology in general and others.

Florian Krammer, PhD, graduated from the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna. He received his postdoctoral training in the laboratory of Dr. Peter Palese at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York working on hemagglutinin stalk-based immunity and universal influenza virus vaccines. In 2014, he became an independent principal investigator and is currently the endowed Mount Sinai Professor of Vaccinology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. He is also the co-director of the Center for Vaccine Research and Pandemic Preparedness (C-VaRPP). Furthermore, since 2024, Dr. Krammer is Professor for Infection Medicine at the Medical University of Vienna and since 2025 he is also the director of the Ignaz Semmelweis Institute at the Medical University of Vienna. Dr. Krammer's work focuses on understanding the mechanisms of interactions between antibodies and viral surface glycoproteins and on translating this work into novel, broadly protective vaccines and therapeutics. The main target is influenza virus but he is also working on coronaviruses, flaviviruses, hantaviruses, filoviruses and arenaviruses. He has published more than 400 papers on these topics. Since 2019, Dr. Krammer serves as principal investigator of the Sinai-Emory Multi-Institutional Collaborative Influenza Vaccine Innovation Center (SEM-CIVIC), which develops improved seasonal and universal influenza virus vaccines that induce long-lasting protection against drifted seasonal, zoonotic and future pandemic influenza viruses. Finally, Dr. Krammer is an elected fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology and the Henry Kunkel Society, he is on the Board of Directors of the European Scientific Working Group on Influenza (ESWI) and he serves as one of the chairs of the SAVE group which tracks SARS-CoV-2 variants for the US NIH.

Dr. Oriol Manuel trained in Internal Medicine at the Hospital Universitari de Bellvitge in Barcelona and in Infectious Diseases at the University Hospital of Lausanne (CHUV), where he currently works as a transplant infectious diseases specialist and clinical research scientist.

His main research focuses on interventional studies involving viral infections in transplant recipients. He is particularly interested in the prevention of cytomegalovirus (CMV) disease in the transplant population, with an emphasis on the use of immune monitoring assays for CMV management. Additionally, he has published research on strategies to improve influenza vaccination after transplantation.

Dr. Manuel is an Associate Professor at the University of Lausanne. He is also a member of the Scientific Committee of the Swiss Transplant Cohort Study (STCS) and serves as an Associate Editor of the American Journal of Transplantation.

Dr. Adam Meijer is head of the RIVM location of the WHO National Influenza Centre and the National Reference Laboratory for Respiratory Viruses at the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM). His research focuses on virological surveillance of acute respiratory infections. He is responsible for the public health laboratory activities of the national influenza and broader respiratory viral infections surveillance. He was/is (co)-project lead on EC and ECDC funded projects for European surveillance of acute respiratory infections and laboratory network building since 2003. He was task lead in the IMI-funded project PROMISE focusing on the virological aspects of RSV surveillance, characterization, and laboratory network building. He is a valued contributor on virological aspects in European influenza and COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness projects. Finally, he is an active member of the Expert Working Group on Antiviral Susceptibility for the WHO Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System.

Angeliki Melidou is a Principal Expert Respiratory Viruses at the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control where she is working since 2016. She is also an Assistant Professor in Molecular Microbiology-Virology affiliated with the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Medical School, Microbiology department since 2005 with a background in the higher academic education and the diagnosis and research with a focus on SARS-CoV-2, influenza and other respiratory viruses. Since 2005, she is in continuous collaboration with national and international agencies for respiratory virus surveillance and involved in ECDC scientific advice around vaccination, preparedness and response - including against zoonotic influenza and pandemic preparedness.

Prof. Em. Anna Papa-Konidari, MD, Ph.D., is leading the National Reference Centre for Arboviruses and haemorrhagic fever viruses. She was the former Director of the Department of Microbiology in the Medical School of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece. Her major interests focus on molecular diagnostics, epidemiology and immune response of emerging viral diseases. She is President of the International Society on Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever and member of the Management Team of EVD-LabNet (European expert laboratory network for emerging viral diseases) supported by ECDC. She participates in several EU projects, mainly on preparedness of emerging viral diseases. She has published 346 scientific articles included in PubMed with h-index 56 and 12,000 citations.

Massimo Puoti, MD is an infectious diseases and Gastroenterology specialist with a particular interest in infections in immunocompromised hosts, antimicrobial stewardship, hepatitis and HIV infection.

Dr. Puoti worked from 1988 to 2010 in the Brescia University Hospital “Spedali Civili” completing the Infectious Diseases residency in 1993 and being in charge from 1994 to 2010 of the Direction of the Liver Unit of the Infectious Diseases department where 6500 outpatients (1500 with HIV) were on follow up. From 2005 to 2010 served as Associate Professor at the University of Brescia.

Dr. Puoti from November 2010 is the Director of the Infectious Diseases Department in the largest hospital of Milano the ASST GOM  Niguarda and from October 2020 is Professor of Infectious Diseases in the School of medicine of the University Milano Bicocca

Dr. Puoti research interests include: management of infections in immunosuppressed patients, HIV disease treatment, antimicrobial stewardship, treatment and management of viral hepatitis with a special mention to management of HIV-Hepatitis co-infection. Dr. Puoti has published 416 papers on peer-reviewed international journals with a cumulative impact factor of 2026,07  and an Hirsch’s index of 71.

Maria Söderlund-Venermo obtained her PhD at the Department of Virology, University of Helsinki, Finland. She was a visiting scientist at the University College London, London, UK, and did her postdoctoral training at the University of Missouri-Columbia, MO, USA in 1996-98. She is adjunct professor of virology and university lecturer, Department of Virology, Faculty of Medicine, Helsinki University, Helsinki, Finland. She is the current president of the World Society for Virology (WSV). She has over 200 publications and has served as ad hoc reviewer for ~60 international scientific journals, as well as expert evaluator in various international calls. She is a member of the Parvoviridae Study Group of the ICTV since 2012 and the chair of the Parvoviridae Expert Group of the WHO Prioritization for Pandemics project in 2022-24. Her research interests include clinical and molecular virology, with the main focus on parvovirus B19, bocaviruses, cutavirus, and emerging human DNA viruses.

Pam Vallely is Professor of Medical Virology at the University of Manchester, UK, and the current President of the European Society for Clinical Virology (ESCV).  She holds a PhD in Medical Virology from the University of Sheffield and worked as a clinical scientist in the NHS before joining the University of Manchester where she leads a research group focused on congenital cytomegalovirus infection and is a board member of the European congenital cytomegalovirus initiative (ECCI). She also has extensive experience in postgraduate education, being a founder member of the Manchester Academy for Healthcare Science Education, was previously on the UK National Council for Healthcare Science in Higher Education and an HEI representative on the Health Education England Healthcare Sciences Education and Training Working Group, participating in development of the virology curriculum for Department of Health training programmes for clinical scientists in the NHS.