STEERING

COMMITTEE

Congress President: Rudolf Valenta

Rudolf Valenta has studied Medicine at the University of Vienna. Since 2004, he is Professor for Allergology at the Medical University of Vienna. His major research interest is the molecular and immunological characterization of antigens related to important human diseases. He is well known for his work regarding the molecular cloning of allergens and the development as well as implementation of molecular allergy diagnostics and of molecular allergy vaccines into clinical use. More recently, he has also contributed to the development of molecular diagnostics and vaccines for infectious diseases. Rudolf Valenta is a highly cited scientist in the field of Immunology. Rudolf Valenta is a former president of the Austrian Society of Allergology and Immunology and served several international organizations such as IUIS, the European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (EAACI) and the World Allergy Organization (WAO) in leading positions. For his scientific achievements, Rudolf Valenta received numerous prestigious awards, among them the Award of the International Pharmacia Allergy Research Foundation, the Paul Ehrlich Award of EAACI and the International Sarstedt Award. Furthermore he is member of Academies of Sciences in several countries. In accordance with his profession as a physician and his motto “Immunology without borders”, Rudolf Valenta conducts immunological research with the aim of improving the lives of all people in the world.

Congress Vice President: Barbara Bohle

Barbara Bohle has studied “Food- and Biotechnology” in Vienna and finished her PhD in 2000. In 2002 she received the Venia docendi in Immunology. Since then she leads the research group “Allergy Research” at the Institute of Pathophysiology and Allergy Research (IPA) at the Medical University of Vienna. In 2010 she was appointed a full professor for Cellular Allergology and leads IPA since 2011.

A major focus of her scientific work are allergen-specific T-lymphocytes and their interaction with various types of antigen-processing cells. She is also highly interested in the pathophysiology of secondary food allergy. Her work has markedly contributed to a better understanding of the immune mechanisms of pollen-related food allergy and received national and international awards, e.g. of the Pharmacia Allergy Research Foundation (PhARF) and of the world allergy organization (WAO). She is also developing new diagnostic and therapeutic concepts for clinical use.

IUIS President & Scientific Program Committee Co-Chair: Miriam Merad

Miriam Merad, M.D.; Ph.D. is the Director of the Precision Immunology Institute at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York (prism) and the Director of the Mount Sinai Human Immune Monitoring Center.

Dr. Merad is an internationally acclaimed physician-scientist and a leader in the fields of dendritic cell and macrophage biology with a focus on their contribution to human diseases. Dr. Merad identified the tissue resident macrophage lineage and revealed its distinct role in organ physiology and pathophysiology. She established the contribution of this macrophage lineage to cancer progression and inflammatory diseases and is now working on the development of novel macrophage-targeted therapies for these conditions. In addition to her work on macrophages.

Scientific Program Committee Chair: Wilfried Ellmeier

Wilfried Ellmeier is Professor of Immunobiology and head of the Institute of Immunology at the Medical University of Vienna, Austria. He studied biochemistry at the University of Vienna, carried out his doctoral thesis at the Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP Vienna) and performed postdoctoral studies at the Skirball Institute (NYU Medical Center) in New York. His research interests focus on epigenetic and transcriptional control mechanisms that regulate T cell development and function. Since 2019, he also coordinates a special research program funded by the Austrian Science Fund on “Histone deacetylases as regulators of T cell-mediated immunity”. He received several prizes including the START program award for highly-qualified young scientists from the Austrian Science Fund. He is a corresponding member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences and a scientific board member of the Austrian Science Fund. He also has a strong interest in science policy and was President of the Biomedical Alliance in Europe in 2020-2021. He will serve as the President of the Austrian Society of Allergology and Immunology (ÖGAI) for the period 2025-2026.

IUIS Vice President: Rita Carsetti

Rita Carsetti is the Head of the Diagnostic Immunology Unit and of the B cell pathophysiology Research Unit of the Bambino Gesù Children Hospital IRCCS in Rome. She has spent a large part of her scientific career in Germany, at the Max-Planck for Immunobiology in Freiburg. Thanks to the long experience in basic research combined with the clinical involvement, she has contributed to the understanding of important basic mechanisms of human B cell biology and function in health and disease. In the last years, she has been involved in several projects related to the development of the immune system in children and adults and the changes due to different types of immunodeficiency. She is also involved in increasing the knowledge and public awareness on vaccines and vaccination and collaborates with patient associations.

IUIS Past President: Faith Osier

Faith Osier is the Past President of the International Union of Immunological Societies (IUIS). She has won multiple international prizes for her research in understanding the mechanisms of immunity against Plasmodium falciparum in man. She aims to translate this knowledge into highly effective vaccines against malaria. She is Visiting Professor of Malaria Immunology in the Nuffield Dept of Medicine, Oxford University, holds the prestigious Sofja Kovalevskaja Award from the Alexander Humboldt Foundation and an EDCTP Senior Fellowship. In 2014, she won the Royal Society Pfizer Prize, UK. She holds major research grants from the Wellcome Trust and is an MRC/DfID African Research Leader. She is passionate about capacity building and the training of African scientists to deliver the interventions needed on the continent.