Early Confirmed Speakers

Holy Akwar is a dedicated Science Advisor specializing in Veterinary Medicine and Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) at the International Centre for Antimicrobial Resistance Solutions (ICARS). With a strong background in veterinary science and a passion for combating AMR, Holy plays a crucial role in...

Maria Elena Bottazzi, PhD is an internationally recognized vaccinologist and global health leader advancing scalable vaccine innovations for neglected tropical diseases and emerging infections. She serves as Senior Associate Dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of...

Dr. Luigi Buonaguro is the Director of the Innovative Immunological Models at the National Cancer Institute - IRCCS “Pascale ”, Naples – Italy. He is an expert in identification and characterization of tumor antigens for preventive/therapeutic cancer vaccine development. His focus is mostly on...

Michael C Caldwell MD MPH | Assoc VP Vaccine ResearchMeharry Medical College Michael C Caldwell, Assoc VP Vaccine Research, Meharry Medical CollegeDr. Caldwell is the Associate Vice President, Vaccine Research & Education at Meharry Medical College in Nashville TN. He is Professor of Global...

Dr. Cooke has over thirty years of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry with a focus on vaccines. He was previously CEO of NovaDigm Therapeutics, CEO of Mojave Therapeutics, COO at AVANT Immunotherapeutics, and SVP at Ology Bioservices. Prior to his leadership roles in the biotechnology...

Dr Karelle De Luca has been the Head of Research & Development at GALVmed since September 2023. GALVmed aims to make a significant contribution towards transformational change in the small-scale livestock health landscape by developing a portfolio of high impact  products and initiating a...

Paul-Henri Derrien is Industrial Director at France BioLead, the French biomanufacturing industry network. With 35+ years of experience in Pharma and Biotech, including senior leadership positions at Sanofi Vaccines and Eli Lilly, he brings extensive experience in drugs as well vaccine...

Maria Dutarte is the Executive Director of the European Patients’ Academy on Therapeutic Innovation (EUPATI) since 2020. Maria has previously worked for the European AIDS Treatment Group (EATG) coordinating patient involvement in a number of training initiatives and scientific projects. She has...

Rebecca Fish has over 30 years of senior leadership experience in the health sector, with a particular focus on vaccines and biodefense. She served as Senior Vaccine Policy Advisor to the U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, where she...

Daniel Fullen has over 20 years' experience leading the translational development of academic and commercial research, with deep expertise in technology assessment, translational strategy, and delivery across vaccines, cell and gene therapies, and medical devices. As Lead R&D Innovations...

Dr Bassam Hallis OBE is the Deputy Director and the lead for the Vaccine Development and Evaluation Centre. Bassam has over 35 years’ experience working with public sector, industry and academia in the development and evaluation of vaccines and therapeutics. He provides scientific and operational...

Jonathan Heeney is an international leader and a renowned expert in the field of immunology and vaccine development. With over three decades of experience in academia and industry, he currently serves as the Chief Scientific Officer at DIOSynVax, a cutting-edge biotechnology company focused on...

Teresa Lambe is the Calleva Head of Vaccine Immunology and a Professor of Vaccinology & Immunology at the University of Oxford. She is leading a research group which improves human health by controlling disease through vaccination – stopping epidemics before they become pandemics. Prof Lambe is ...

Dr. Ofer Levy was born to and raised by the artist Benjamin Levy and music composer Hannah Levy in New York City, where he graduated from the Bronx High School of Science. After graduating from Yale College (B.S., Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry), Dr. Levy entered the Medical Scientist...

Peter Marks received his graduate degree in cell and molecular biology and his medical degree at New York University and completed Internal Medicine residency and Hematology/Medical Oncology training at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. He has worked in academic settings teaching and caring...

Dr. Rolando Pajon is a Cuban-born scientist and biophamaceutical executive. Dr. Rolando started as a scientist in vaccine research but soon moved into development, clinical evaluation and licensing of vaccines and immunotherapies. He has led diverse teams, some as big as 80 members, across...

Puck is an epidemiologist with experience in TB Epidemiology, with a special focus on TB vaccine research. Puck is Associate Director, Epidemiology at IAVI. In this role, her primary focus is on epidemiological research to support IAVI’s TB pillar, including the late-stage development of...

Meta Roestenberg is an infectious diseases clinician, professor in Human Models for Vaccine Development at Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands. She is head of the Leiden University Center for Infectious Diseases (LUCID), a large department with 400+ employees tasked with the...

Anna Saernefaelt is a seasoned professional in the field of vaccine development and manufacturing, currently serving as Global Chemistry, Manufacturing, and Controls (CMC) Lead at the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI). With over 25 years of experience in the pharmaceutical and...

Dr. Sushant Sahastrabuddhe (MD, MPH, MBA) is the Associate Director General for the Innovation, Initiatives and Enterprise Development unit at the International Vaccine Institute in Seoul, South Korea. Sushant is working at IVI since 15 years and has led multiple vaccine development programs...

Melanie Saville, MBBS, is PATH’s Chief Scientific Officer. She leads PATH’s product development division, which includes a global team dedicated to the development, introduction, and scale of vaccines, medical devices, and diagnostics. Dr. Saville is a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences...

Cornelius Schmaltz is currently the Strategic Science Adviser at the European Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (DG HERA, European Commission). Since 2006 he has held various positions at the European Commission in the area of health research and innovation and from 2019-2024 as...

Dr. Saranya Sridhar serves as Head of Global Clinical Development for Vaccines at Sanofi, leading end-to-end clinical research from translational medicine through life cycle management. He leads a multidisciplinary team with expertise in clinical research, biostatistics, data sciences, medical...

As Professor in molecular virology my R&D focus is on the design, development and deployment of viral pseudotype based neutralisation assays for influenza, coronavirus and other emerging viruses, and I have received funding from the MRC, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Innovate UK, the ...

Nico Vandaele obtained a PhD in Business Engineering, Operations Management and Operations Research in 1996. Being a professor at KU Leuven since then, his research focus was on (bio-pharma) supply chains. In the last decade, the focus was on embedding the supply chain in broader health...

Dr. Veterinary Medicine, virologist, active in global networking in human and animal health, vaccines and diagnostics, global disease control, one health, public affairs with EU, WHO, Asian and African authorities and experienced in vaccine translational development. CV in brief: Research...

Charlotte Vernhes is a bioengineer with 15 years of experience in vaccine research and development, spanning immunogenicity assessment, translational science, innovation management and public-private partnerships. Charlotte has played a pivotal role in European initiatives on RSV, where she focused ...

Saul Walker is the Director of Public Partnerships at CEPI, leading collaboration with international and regional partners to advance shared objectives on rapid vaccine development and equitable access for emerging epidemic and pandemic pathogens. He also works to ensure CEPI’s develops respectful...

Dr. Eric A. Weaver is a Professor in the School of Biological Sciences and serves as Director of the Nebraska Center for Virology at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. He earned both his B.S. and M.S. degrees from Texas State University and completed his Ph.D. in Genetics at Texas A&M...

Richard White is a Prof in Infectious Disease Epidemiology in the TB Modelling Group, TB Centre, Vaccine Center and Math Modelling Centre at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. He was awarded a PhD in infectious disease modelling in 2006, led the establishment of the LSHTM’s Centre...

Eleanor Wilson, MD MHS is an Executive Director of Clinical Development and Head of the Influenza programs at Moderna Therapeutics. In this role, she applies her experience in clinical trials, translational medicine, and infectious diseases to improving options for protection from seasonal and...