Rare Diseases and Orphan Drugs

Dr. Zulaikah binti Mohamed is a Senior Science Officer (Microbiology) at the Johor Bahru Public Health Laboratory, Ministry of Health Malaysia. She has more than 35 years of experience with the Ministry of Health Malaysia, including over 19 years specializing in tuberculosis (TB) laboratory diagnosis and mycobacteriology. Her interest in TB diagnostics began during her assignment at the Kota Kinabalu Public Health Laboratory in Sabah, where she gained extensive experience working in one of Malaysia's highest TB-burden regions.

Dr. Zulaikah earned her Bachelor's degree in Biomedical Sciences from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) in 1998, followed by a Master's degree in Microbiology in 2003, where her research focused on antimicrobial agents against Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). She later completed a PhD in Vaccinology at Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) in 2017, conducting research on the identification of novel tuberculosis vaccine candidates. As part of her doctoral training, she completed a six-month technology transfer program in in vivo vaccine studies at the Institute of Medical Sciences and Nutrition Salvador Zubirán, Mexico City, Mexico.

Prof. Dr. med. Katrin Ivens is a distinguished Professor of Internal Medicine and Nephrology and Senior Consultant (Leitende Oberärztin) in the Department of Nephrology at University Hospital Düsseldorf (Universitätsklinikum Düsseldorf), affiliated with Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Germany. She has over 30 years of clinical and academic experience in nephrology, with recognized expertise in kidney transplantation, chronic kidney disease, dialysis, hypertension, and glomerular diseases.

Prof. Ivens plays a leading role in the Kidney Transplantation Center at University Hospital Düsseldorf, one of Germany's largest and most experienced renal transplant centers. Her clinical practice focuses on kidney transplantation, hemodialysis, peritoneal dialysis, renal biopsy, and the management of complex renal disorders. She is actively involved in multidisciplinary transplant care and long-term management of kidney transplant recipients

Dr. Melissa Y. Yeung, MD is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, Medical Director of the Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) HLA Tissue Typing Laboratory, and an Associate Physician in the Division of Renal Medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, USA. She is a leading physician-scientist specializing in transplant nephrology, histocompatibility and immunogenetics, kidney transplantation, and transplant immunology.

Dr. Yeung received her Doctor of Medicine (MD) from the University of Ottawa Faculty of Medicine in 2003. She completed her residency in Internal Medicine at Maine Medical Center and subsequently undertook a fellowship in Nephrology at Brigham and Women's Hospital, where she developed expertise in kidney transplantation and transplant immunology. She is board-certified in both Internal Medicine and Nephrology

Dr. Jorge Moises Sandrus is a physician specializing in Nephrology and is affiliated with the Faculty of Medicine, Universidad Nacional de Tucumán (National University of Tucumán). His professional interests focus on clinical nephrology, chronic kidney disease, renal replacement therapies, hypertension, and kidney health. He has participated as an invited speaker at international medical conferences, contributing to scientific discussions on advances in nephrology and renal medicine.

Dr. Sandrus has been involved in academic and clinical activities that promote medical education, research, and the dissemination of evidence-based practices in nephrology. His work reflects a commitment to improving the diagnosis, management, and prevention of kidney diseases through collaborative clinical practice and continuing medical education.

Dr. Amit Sharma, MBBS, MD (Pulmonary Medicine), is a Specialist Grade-I (Tuberculosis & Chest Diseases) in the Department of Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases at the National Institute of Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases (NITRD), New Delhi, India. NITRD is an autonomous institute under the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India, and serves as one of the country's premier centers for the diagnosis, treatment, research, and training in tuberculosis and respiratory medicine.

Dr. Sharma has extensive clinical experience in the diagnosis and management of tuberculosis, multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB), pulmonary infections, chronic respiratory diseases, bronchoscopy, and respiratory critical care. He is actively involved in undergraduate and postgraduate teaching, clinical research, and national tuberculosis control initiatives. His research interests include drug-resistant tuberculosis, infectious lung diseases, bronchoscopy, pulmonary medicine, and evidence-based management of respiratory disorders. He has authored numerous peer-reviewed scientific publications in the fields of tuberculosis and respiratory medicine

Prof. Dr. Lia Monica Junie, MD, PhD is a Professor and Head of the Department of Microbiology at the "Iuliu Hațieganu" University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Cluj-Napoca, Romania. She is an accomplished physician, microbiologist, educator, and researcher with extensive experience in clinical microbiology, infectious diseases, antimicrobial resistance, laboratory medicine, and medical education. She also coordinates the training of Laboratory Medicine residents and supervises doctoral (PhD) research in medicine.

Prof. Junie has built a distinguished academic career, serving on the boards of several scientific societies and acting as a reviewer for numerous peer-reviewed international journals. She is recognized as an expert evaluator for the Romanian Ministry of Education and Research and has coordinated multiple national and international research projects. Her scholarly contributions include more than 200 scientific publications, several academic books, and invited presentations at international congresses as a keynote speaker, chairperson, and organizing committee member. Her research interests include infectious diseases, antimicrobial resistance, hospital-acquired infections, parasitology, HIV, molecular microbiology, and clinical laboratory diagnostics.

Prof. Dr. Moro O. Salifu, MD, MPH, MBA, MACP is the Chair of the Department of Medicine, Chief of the Division of Nephrology, and a Tenured Professor of Medicine at SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University (formerly SUNY Downstate Medical Center) in Brooklyn, New York, USA. He also holds the prestigious Edwin C. and Anne K. Weiskopf Endowed Chair in Nephrology and Transplantation. He is internationally recognized for his leadership in nephrology, kidney transplantation, interventional nephrology, vascular biology, and chronic kidney disease research.

Originally from Ghana, Dr. Salifu earned his Doctor of Medicine (MD) from Dokuz Eylül University Medical School, Turkey, before completing his residency in Internal Medicine, Nephrology Fellowship, and advanced training in Kidney Transplantation at SUNY Downstate. He also completed a fellowship in Interventional Nephrology at Emory University and later earned both a Master of Public Health (MPH) from SUNY Downstate and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from George Washington University

Prof. Luigi Masoni, MD is a distinguished General, Colorectal, and Minimally Invasive Surgeon and serves as the Director of the Department of General Surgery at Ospedale San Carlo di Nancy, Rome, Italy, a leading hospital within the GVM Care & Research network. With more than 30 years of clinical and academic experience, he is internationally recognized for his expertise in laparoscopic surgery, robotic surgery, colorectal surgery, digestive endoscopy, proctology, and pelvic floor surgery.

Prof. Masoni graduated summa cum laude in Medicine and Surgery from the Sapienza University of Rome, where he also completed his specialization in General Surgery. He subsequently undertook advanced research and a Clinical Fellowship in Colorectal Surgery at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia, USA. Throughout his career, he has performed more than 10,000 surgical procedures, the majority using minimally invasive laparoscopic and robotic techniques, and has extensive experience in complex abdominal, hepatobiliary, colorectal, and gastrointestinal surgery.

Dr. Poornimaa S.R. is a medical academic affiliated with The Tamil Nadu Dr. M.G.R. Medical University, India, one of the country's leading health sciences universities. She is actively involved in medical education, clinical practice, and academic research, with a focus on advancing evidence-based healthcare and promoting excellence in medical training. She has contributed to undergraduate and postgraduate medical education while participating in institutional research initiatives and scientific conferences.

Dr. Poornimaa's professional interests include clinical medicine, public health, preventive healthcare, medical education, and translational research. She is committed to integrating innovative teaching methodologies with patient-centered care and has been involved in collaborative academic activities aimed at improving healthcare delivery and clinical outcomes.

Assoc. Prof. Vassilios (Vasileios) Liakopoulos, MD, PhD is an Associate Professor of Nephrology in the School of Medicine, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece, and a senior nephrologist in the Division of Nephrology and Hypertension, AHEPA University Hospital. He is an internationally recognized expert in clinical nephrology, chronic kidney disease (CKD), dialysis, diabetic kidney disease, mineral and bone disorders, and cardiovascular complications in kidney disease.

Dr. Liakopoulos earned his MD from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and his PhD in Medicine from the Democritus University of Thrace. He completed specialty training in Internal Medicine and Nephrology in Greece and further advanced his expertise through international fellowships at Toronto Western Hospital, University of Toronto, Canada, specializing in peritoneal dialysis, and at the Glomerular Center, Columbia University, New York, USA, focusing on glomerular diseases.