Scientific committee

Guido Antonelli has been a Full Professor of Microbiology and Clinical Microbiology at the Department of Molecular Medicine, Sapienza University of Rome, since 2002. He also currently serves as Chief of the Microbiology and Virology Unit (since 2004) at the University Hospital “Policlinico Umberto I” in Rome.

He began his academic career at the Institute of Virology, Sapienza University of Rome, in 1989, and subsequently held a position at the Department of Biomedicine, University of Pisa, in 1992. He also gained experience through research appointments at the Department of Microbiology, University of Texas Medical Branch (Galveston, Texas, USA) in 1984, and at the Clinical Research Centre, Division of Immunological Medicine (Harrow, London, UK) in 1987.

Currently, his research group investigates the role of interferons as well as the pathogenesis, diagnosis, and control of several viral infections, including HIV, HCV, major respiratory viruses (such as SARS-CoV-2, RSV, and influenza viruses), HPV and, more recently, microbiological issues such as nosocomial infections and antimicrobial resistance.

Stéphane Blanc is a Research Director of the Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture et l’Environnement (INRAE). He moved on the Campus of Baillarguet in 2004 where he heads a research group in the Plant Health Institute of Montpellier (PHIM). As a specialist of plant viruses, Stéphane Blanc and his group investigated the interaction between viruses and insect vectors during transmission and virus evolution. More recently, S. Blanc initiated a research program focused on the mysterious biology of multipartite viruses. This program rapidly took off and is now extended to a more general investigation of viral genome segmentation and on the unforeseen properties of multicomponent viral systems.

Sandra Blome is Professor at the University of Copenhagen and Researcher at Statens Serum Institut, Denmark. A veterinarian specialising in virology, she has extensive experience in classical and African swine fever research, diagnostics and control. Before moving to Denmark in 2026, she headed the German National Reference Laboratories for both diseases at the Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, where she also served as Deputy Head of the Institute of Diagnostic Virology. Her research focuses on viral pathogenesis, protective immunity and vaccine development, with particular emphasis on vaccine safety and practical disease control. She coordinates the European ASFaVIP project and contributes to international scientific networks and expert advisory activities. From 2022 to 2025, she served as President of the European Society for Veterinary Virology (ESVV), promoting scientific exchange and collaboration across veterinary virology.

Prof. Angela Corona is Associate Professor of Microbiology at the University of Cagliari since 2023. She is a molecular virologist whose research career focuses on antiviral drug discovery, viral enzymology, host–virus interactions, and emerging viral infections, with previous work on HIV, Ebola virus, SARS-CoV-2, flaviviruses, and broad-spectrum antivirals, whit a focus on viral helicases and viral ribonucleases. She has coordinated or participated in several national and international funded projects, including PRIN, PNRR, Horizon Europe, and Sardinian regional initiatives. She served as Principal Investigator or Research Unit Leader for several of them. Her international network includes collaborations with leading institutions in France, Belgium, Germany, China, the USA, and the Czech Republic. Her teaching and PhD supervision experience includes biosafety and high-risk worker training. Her professional activities also include editorial and peer-review roles, scientific-society leadership, conference organization, and technology transfer through two invention patents.

Dimitrios Chatzidimitriou, MD, PhD, is Professor of Biopathology–Microbiology/Virology at the Medical School of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece, and Head of the National Reference Center for HIV/AIDS in Northern Greece. He currently serves as President of the Hellenic Society of Virology, Vice President of the Hellenic Society for Microbiology, and Secretary General of the Hellenic Society of Medical Biopathology of Northern Greece. His scientific work focuses on laboratory diagnosis and the development and implementation of innovative diagnostic technologies, epidemiology and molecular epidemiology, antimicrobial and antiviral resistance, and, particularly, HIV infection. His research has contributed to the advancement of laboratory-based surveillance and molecular approaches to infectious diseases in Greece. He has authored more than 180 publications and scientific abstracts in international journals and has contributed extensively to the national scientific literature. He has received more than 25 honors and awards for his scientific contributions and has served on numerous national committees for infectious disease surveillance. He is also the founder of LabNet, a national laboratory network established to strengthen and coordinate laboratory diagnosis in Greece. Beyond his academic and scientific activities, he is passionate about basketball and has founded two basketball teams, combining his interest in sport with a strong commitment to teamwork, leadership and collective achievement.

Ulf Dittmer studied biology in Bremen, Germany. He received his Ph.D. in Virology from the University of Göttingen, Germany. He did his postdoctoral training at the German Primate Center in Göttingen and at the Rocky Mountain Laboratories, NIAID, NIH in Hamilton, Montana, USA. In 2011 he became director of the Institute for Virology at the University Hospital Essen, University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany and of the West German Center for Infectious Diseases. His research is focused on immune responses against chronic virus infections, with a special emphasis on retroviral immunity. His goal is to develop novel immunotherapies to overcome viral persistence. The Dittmer lab defined the role of regulatory T cells in chronic infections and developed methods to manipulate these cells to improve virus immune control. They are also studying the potency of Interferon alpha subtypes in antiviral immunity. From 2023 to 2026 he was the chairman of the Society of Virology (Germany, Austria and Switzerland).

Francesca Esposito is an Associate Professor of Microbiology at the Department of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Cagliari, and conducts her research at the Molecular Virology Laboratory. She got her PhD in Chemotherapy of Viral Infections at the University of Cagliari and has over twenty years of experience in antiviral drug research. Her research focuses on the identification and preclinical characterization of antiviral compounds active against HIV-1 and emerging RNA viruses, including coronaviruses and flaviviruses. Her work has contributed to the discovery of inhibitors targeting key viral enzymes, such as HIV-1 reverse transcriptase and integrase, the Coronavirus M^pro and PL^pro proteases and RNA-dependent RNA polymerase, and Flavivirus proteases and RNA-dependent RNA polymerases. She also investigates their mechanisms of action using biochemical and cell culture assays.

She has coordinated competitive research projects and participated in several national and European collaborative initiatives. She has authored more than 97 peer-reviewed publications and serves on the Executive Boards of the Italian Society for Virology (SIV-ISV) and the Italian Society of General Microbiology and Microbial Biotechnologies (SIMGBM).

Elisa Fanunza is a Researcher Tenure Track (RTT) at the University of Cagliari (UniCa), Italy. Her research focuses on viral innate immune evasion and the identification of novel antiviral strategies. She has conducted research at leading international institutions, including École Normale Supérieure de Cachan-Paris, the University of Cambridge, the Institute of Molecular Biology of Barcelona, the University of Minnesota, and the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, USA. During her PhD in Life, Environmental and Drug Sciences at UniCa, she investigated Ebola and Zika virus mechanisms of innate immune evasion and their potential as therapeutic targets. Her current research involves the study of viral-host interactions during infections of flaviviruses, filoviruses, coronaviruses and herpesviruses, with a focus on antiviral research. She has expertise in viral infections, BSL-2/BSL-3 procedures, molecular cloning, CRISPR-based viral genome manipulation, drug screening, and imaging. She is also actively involved in teaching at UniCa. 

Raffaele De Francesco is a molecular virologist and antiviral expert with over 40 years of experience in academia and industry. He is internationally recognized for pioneering work on the molecular virology of hepatitis C virus (HCV). His work on HCV contributed to the discovery and development of direct-acting antivirals that can cure chronic hepatitis C. He holds a doctoral degree in Biology from the University of Milan and completed postdoctoral training at Emory University and EMBL Heidelberg. From 1991 to 2008, he led drug discovery teams in virology at IRBM/Merck Research Laboratories, contributing to the discovery of several approved drugs. Since 2008, he has directed the Virology Laboratory at INGM, Milan, and was appointed Full Professor of Microbiology at the University of Milan in 2019. He has published over 170 peer-reviewed papers (H-index 72) and is inventor on multiple international patents. His current research focuses on novel antivirals against hepatitis B virus.Raffaele De Francesco is a molecular virologist and antiviral expert with over 40 years of experience in academia and industry. He is internationally recognized for pioneering work on the molecular virology of hepatitis C virus (HCV). His work on HCV contributed to the discovery and development of direct-acting antivirals that can cure chronic hepatitis C. He holds a doctoral degree in Biology from the University of Milan and completed postdoctoral training at Emory University and EMBL Heidelberg. From 1991 to 2008, he led drug discovery teams in virology at IRBM/Merck Research Laboratories, contributing to the discovery of several approved drugs. Since 2008, he has directed the Virology Laboratory at INGM, Milan, and was appointed Full Professor of Microbiology at the University of Milan in 2019. He has published over 170 peer-reviewed papers (H-index 72) and is inventor on multiple international patents. His current research focuses on novel antivirals against hepatitis B virus.

Nicole Grandi obtained her PhD in Life, Environmental and Drug Sciences in 2017 and is currently Associate Professor of Microbiology at the University of Cagliari, where she leads the Bioinformatics Unit of the Laboratory of Molecular Virology. Her research focuses on human endogenous retroviruses (HERVs), including their integration into the human genome, evolutionary dynamics in non-human primates, and residual expression in pathological conditions. She aims to identify modulated HERV elements and investigate their potential contributions to human pathogenesis using in vitro and in vivo (D. melanogaster) models. More recently, she has applied metagenomic and metatranscriptomic approaches to characterize environmental microorganisms and investigate their biodiversity and ecological roles. Her current research examines prokaryotic, eukaryotic, and viral communities in solar salterns, assessing the effects of anthropogenic activities on microbial adaptation and exploring their biotechnological potential.

Meital Gal-Tanamy is an Associate Professor at the Azrieli Faculty of Medicine, Bar-Ilan University, Israel, where she heads the Molecular Virology Laboratory and serves as Associate Dean for Academic Research. She is also President of the Israel Society of Microbiology. She received her Ph.D. in human microbiology from Tel-Aviv University and completed postdoctoral training in virology and immunology at the University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston. With more than 20 years of experience in virology, her research centers on hepatitis C virus–host interactions and on the mechanisms linking chronic infection, inflammation and virus-induced epigenetic reprogramming to hepatocellular carcinoma pre- and post- infection. Her group also investigates the immune signatures underlying successful antibody responses to viral infections, including HCV and SARS-CoV-2, and translates these findings into antibody engineering and rational vaccine design.  

Giorgio Gribaudo is a full professor of Microbiology and Virology in the Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology at the University of Turin, Italy. He holds a PhD in Microbiology from the University of Pisa and has been trained in Virology in Italy and at Yale University. His academic career has developed through roles from researcher to associate professor and currently, as a full professor.

His current research primarily focuses on virus-host cell interactions, investigating the molecular mechanisms by which some proteins of Human Cytomegaloviruses (HCMV) determine the virus’s ability to infect a wide variety of target cell types, dysregulate host cell gene expression to make a cellular environment conducive for replication, and counteract intrinsic and innate antiviral responses. In addition, he is devoted to the discovery and development of antiviral agents against herpesviruses and respiratory viruses. He has authored over 140 peer-reviewed publications and holds several patents.

Heli Harvala is a Professor of Virology at the Institute of Biomedicine, University of Turku in Finland and the current President of the European Society for Clinical Virology (2025-2028). Prof Harvala is widely published in the field of medical, transfusion and public health virology (over 150 publications, h-index 52). 

Prof Harvala graduated in Medicine, obtained a MSc in Organic Chemistry and a PhD in Virology at the University of Turku, Finland. Subsequently she completed her Medical Virology training in Edinburgh, UK, and became a Fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists in 2015. During that time, she joined the European Public Health Microbiology fellowship programme at the Public Health Agency of Sweden for two years before returning back to the UK. Since then, she has combined her work as a Consultant Medical Virologist with clinical, transfusion and public health related virology research.

She is a co-founder of the European Non-Polio Enterovirus Network (ENPEN) which evaluates the importance of enterovirus infections and monitors for their emergence together with collaborators from over 30 European countries. During COVID-19 pandemic, she was involved with setting up SARS-CoV-2 testing of convalescent plasma donors in England, and the related international REMAP-CAP trial. She also has wide interests in molecular epidemiology and next generation sequencing. She also chaired the WHO R&D Blueprint group on Picornaviruses and was recently appointed to the WHO European Region Commission for the Certification of Poliomyelitis Eradication.

She also leads the Blood Safety research team within the NIHR funded Blood and Transplant Research Unit at the University of Oxford, and also support NHS Blood and Transplant in part-time basis. This research focuses on transfusion transmitted viral infections aiming to improve our understanding of current risks and preparedness for emerging pathogens. She has been a long-standing member of the Standing Advisory Committee for Transfusion Transmitted Infections in the UK, and more recently was selected to represent Finland at the European Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (ECDC) SOHO committee.

Present:
Professor of Clinical Virology, Gothenburg University, Sweden
Consultant/Chief Physician, Sahlgrenska University Hospitals, Gothenburg, Sweden
Invited professor at the University of Tsukuba, Japan
President of the European Society of Virology (ESV)
Council Member of the World Society for Virology (WSV)

Until 2018:
Director of the Research Unit UMR5234 - Microbiologie Fondamentale et Pathogénicité, CNRS – Université de Bordeaux, France
Physician at the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire (CHU) de Bordeaux
Board Member of the Medical Research Council of the Hospitals in Aquitaine and the French Overseas Territories (DRCI)
Co-director and founder of ”Aquitaine Microbiologie”

Until 2005:
Deputy Director of the Institute of Medical Virology at the Justus Liebig University Giessen, Germany

1995:
Postdoc at Yale University with a Fellowship of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG)

Prof. Massimo Palmarini is Head of the Department of Viroscience at Erasmus MC and Professor of Virology, with over 30 years of experience in emerging infectious diseases, zoonotic viruses, and viral pathogenesis.
His research focuses on virus-host interactions, cross-species transmission, and the determinants of viral emergence, using a comparative approach across retroviruses, arboviruses, influenza viruses, and coronaviruses.
He has made major contributions to understanding zoonotic transmission and pandemic threats, including the identification of host factors that restrict avian influenza virus adaptation to humans and studies on the evolution and emergence of SARS-CoV-2, H5N1 influenza, bluetongue virus, and Schmallenberg virus.
His work integrates virology, genomics, single-cell technologies, and data-driven approaches to investigate emerging pathogens and outbreak preparedness at the human-animal interface.
Prof. Palmarini previously founded and directed the MRC-University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research, the largest UK institute dedicated to human and zoonotic virology, and currently leads the Department of Viroscience at Erasmus MC. Through these leadership positions, he has contributed to national and international research initiatives on emerging infections, pandemic preparedness, pathogen surveillance, and
collaborative data sharing. He has extensive experience coordinating multidisciplinary
research networks and supporting research infrastructures relevant to infectious disease
preparedness.
He is a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences, Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, and was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to public health. Prof. Palmarini is internationally recognized for his contributions to viral emergence, zoonotic transmission, and comparative virology.

Carlo-Federico Perno is currently Director of Microbiology and Diagnostic Immunology and Coordinator of the Laboratory Medicine Area at IRCCS Bambino Gesu’ Pediatric Hospital in Rom. His main research interests involve scientific and clinical research on Clinical microbiology, with particular reference to viral diseases.
Professor Perno gained his MD from the University of Rome in 1980, specializing in oncology in 1983. From 1986–1989, he worked as a research fellow at the Clinical Oncology Program of the American National Cancer Institute, where he participated in the development of the first therapeutic HIV drugs, such as AZT, ddC, d4T and ddI. Professor Perno has authored more than 800 scientific publications and has a global H index of >75.

'Prof. Reeves completed his doctoral and post-doctoral training at the University of Cambridge (UK), before moving with support of a Presidential Fellowship to Novartis (Cambridge, USA). He then won a prestigious MRC Fellowship to return to the UK and start his own group first at Cambridge (UK) and, from 2013 onwards, at the Institute of Infection, Immunity & Transplantation at UCL (UK). Throughout this time, Matthew's work has focused on human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) making seminal contributions regarding our understanding of epigenetics and cell identity in the control of latency and reactivation, the viral manipulation of the host cell to prevent cell death, and, most recently, the identification of novel targets for a vaccine against HCMV. 

In addition, Matthew has served as a Member and, subsequently, the Chair of Virus Division (UK Microbiology Society) and will Chair the Wellcome Trust Expert Review Group for Discovery Science (Pathogens and Transmission) from November, 2026.'

Thomas Stamminger is Chair of Virology and Director of the Institute for Virology at Ulm University Medical Center (Ulm, Germany).  Previously, he was Associate Professor at the Institute of Clinical and Molecular Virology in Erlangen (Germany). Presently, he serves as head of the National Cytomegalovirus Consultant Laboratory at the Robert Koch Institute and as Secretary General of the European Society for Virology. The Stamminger lab investigates human cytomegalovirus pathogenesis, antiviral treatment and virus-host interactions. Recent studies focus on the interplay between viral infection and intrinsic host immunity to understand epigenetic silencing mechanisms and antagonizing viral factors.

Noël Tordo (PhD, HDR) is a Pasteurian virologist currently Director of the Institut Pasteur of Guinea he created
following the main Ebola outbreak in 2013-16. He is interested in fundamental and translational aspects of emerging
viral diseases, mainly neglected zoonoses in developing countries (rabies, viral haemorrhagic fevers…) analysed
under a “One Health” approach. He has studied molecular and cellular biology of (re)emerging viruses, their evolution
in their vectors, their jump across the species barrier, and the development of prevention or therapeutic tools. He has
directed WHO Collaborative Centre and WOAH Refence Laboratories on Viral Haemorrhagic Fevers.
He is strongly involved in knowledge transmission, Director of several courses at the Institut Pasteur and abroad,
Chair of international conferences (EMVZ, ECV...), President of the « Société Française de Virologie » and expert
in scientific committees. He got academic awards, published more than 200 articles / reviews and participated to
worldwide Meetings and Conferences.

Magdalena Weidner-Glunde PhD is a virologist at the Intercollegiate Faculty of Biotechnology, University of Gdańsk and Medical University of Gdańsk, where she leads research on human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) at the Department of Molecular Biology of Viruses. She earned her PhD from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, followed by postdoctoral and senior postdoctoral positions at the Institute of Virology, Hannover Medical School, working on Kaposi's Sarcoma-Associated Herpesvirus (KSHV). From 2018 to 2024, she led her own research group at the IARFR (now InLife) of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Olsztyn, studying congenital cytomegalovirus infection. Her work focuses on the molecular mechanisms of herpesviral latency and persistence, and she has authored numerous peer-reviewed publications in journals including PNAS, PLoS Pathogens, and the Journal of Virology. She is an active reviewer for national research funding bodies and international scientific journals.

Dana Wolf, MD is a physician-scientist and the Director of Clinical Virology at Hadassah Medical Center, Jerusalem, Israel. She is a Professor at the Hebrew University. She leads research projects focusing on ex vivo viral infection models - revealing correlates of immune protection in native human tissues, and on new diagnostic and antiviral strategies. She has discovered new prognostic prenatal biomarkers measured early during pregnancy, which predict the severity of congenital cytomegalovirus (cCMV) disease in the fetus and the newborn. Her lab has recently developed and implemented a new pooling setup for universal newborn screening of cCMV infection, which could revolutionize the screening of cCMV.

She is a member of several national and international advisory committees, including the national Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices and the European Society for Virology Executive Board, and has been an active partner in several EU research consortia.