Speakers

Vera Adam-Vizi

Dr. Vera Adam (V. Adam-Vizi) is Director of the Department of Medical Biochemistry at the Semmelweis University and member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. Dr. Adam started her carrier at the Semmelweis University of Medicine, Department of Biochemistry. Later on she worked for different periods at the Department of Biochemistry, Institute of Psychiatry in London; Albert Einstein College of Medicine Department of Anaesthesiology in New York; Department of Physiology, King’s College London, where she was a fellow of The Wellcome Trust; and Center for Neurochemistry in New York. Since 1990 she has been the Director of the Department of Medical Biochemistry at the Semmelweis University. She served as Vice-rector responsible for scientific affairs at Semmelweis University in 1996-2000 and 2003-2009.

Her fields of interest are neurodegeneration, oxidative stress, mitochondria, ischemia, Ca²⁺ homeostasis in neurons, free radical-induced damage of neurons. The research technique are fluorescence analysis of intracellular ions (Na⁺, Ca²⁺, pH) and membrane potential; tissue culture; preparation of subcellular particles; single cell fluorescent techniques, mitochondrial membrane potential, respiration, reactive oxygen species generation, mitochondrial enzyme assays, ATP assay.

At present she is a member of a number of international and Hungarian organizations and societies (European Society for Neurochemistry – functions held earlier: council member, secretary; International Society for Neurochemistry – function held earlier: council member; International Brain Research Oganization; Hungarian Biochemiscal Society – function held earlier: member of presidium, Hungarian Physiological Society, Hungarian Pharmacological Society). She was, and at present is the member of the editorial board at several scientific journals (Journal of Neurochemistry, Neurochemistry International, Developmental Neuroscience, Brain Research Bulletin, Frontier in Neurotrauma, Frontier in Neuroenergetics).

She has received several awards: János Szentágothai Award (1998), László Batthyány-Strattmann Award (2000), Gold Cross of Merit of the Hungarian Republic (2000), Medicina Award (2003), Ipolyi Arnold Award (2005), Genersich Award (2005), Széchenyi Award (2010).

Gyorgy Bagdy

Dr. Gyorgy Bagdy is a Professor of Pharmacology and Chair of the Department of Pharmacodynamics at Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary

Dr. Bagdy obtained his Pharmacy degree and PhD degree at Semmelweis University, Budapest. He worked as a Visiting Fellow and Research Consultant at the NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA for 5 years. He was the Scientific Director of the National Institute of Psychiatry and Neurology in Budapest before he obtained the Full Professorship at Semmelweis University. His main research interests are physiology and pathophysiology, genomics and pharmacology of anxiety, depression and sleep disorders including molecular, in vivo animal and human studies which include neuropsychopharmacology and pharmacogenomics. The Laboratory of Neurochemistry and Experimental Medicine in Budapest, achieved international reputation in the above fields including the role of serotonin in neuropsychiatry and its pharmacology under his leadership.

Dr. Bagdy works in national and EU funded research consortia like the “New molecules in mood disorders: a genomic, neurobiological and systems approach in animal models and human disorder”.

He has published more than 150 scientific papers in reputed journals with a cumulative impact factor of 400 and has over 3500 citations on his works.

He is the member of several national and international professional scientific societies, and the Scientific Board of the Semmelweis University. He serves on the editorial boards of journals in the field of neuro- and psychopharmacology, including e.g. European Neuropsychopharmacology.

Daniel Bereczki

Daniel Bereczki is a professor of neurology and the chairman of the Department of Neurology, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary. Dr. Bereczki is a board certified neurologist and psychiatrist, with major interest in clinical neurology, especially cerebrovascular diseases. He has gained his clinical and research experience at the Department of Neurology, University of Debrecen, Hungary; State University of New York at Stony Brook, USA; and CYRIC Center, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan. Dr. Bereczki joined the Cochrane Collaboration in 1993, and since 2001 he has been on the Editorial Board of the Cochrane Stroke Review Group. He also serves on the Editorial Board of the journals Stroke (American Heart Association), Stroke Research and Treatment, Neuropsychopharmacologia Hungarica, and Frontiers in Stroke, and he is a section editor for BMC Neurology. Dr. Bereczki is a consultant for the Medical Research Council, and for the National Health Service, Centre for Reviews and Dissemination (UK), and is the head of the Szentágothai Neuroscience Doctoral School of Semmelweis Universtiy.

Vladimir Brusic

Dr. Vladimir Brusic is a Serbian born professor of Immunoinformatics, a special field of Bioinformatics. Currently he is a professor at Boston University and the director of Bioinformatics and Cancer Vaccine Center at Harvard Medical School (Dana-Farber Cancer Institute). Earlier he was a professor at the University of Queensland in Brisbane (Australia), and a colleague of Singapore University.

Dr Brusic has pioneered the fields of immunoinformatics and immunomics and is the founding Vice-president of the International Immunomics Society. His research interests include biological databases, artificial intelligence, and bioinformatics with applications to immunology, and vaccine research. Prof. Brusic has developed novel computational solutions for immunology, published more than 130 scientific articles and several biological databases. He has given more than 20 keynote or plenary talks at national and international conferences. His main contributions include the design and publication of first database of MHC-binding peptides, the first application of machine learning techniques to the prediction of MHC-binding peptides, and the first application of genetic algorithms in the field of molecular immunology. V. Brusic defined several new biological concepts including the definition of TAP-efficient vs TAP-inefficient HLA class I molecules, of supertype-specific HLA T-cell epitope hot-spots, and of allergen networks.

Together with Prof. András Falus, he is the organizer and co-president of the first World Conference on Immunoinformatics (Immunomics) (2006, Budapest). He received a PhD from LaTrobe University, Australia. He holds BEng (Mech.), MEng (Biomed.), MAppSci(InfoTech), and MBA degrees. He is doctor honoris causa of Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary.

Olga Golubnistchaja

Olga Golubnitschaja has studied music, journalism, biotechnology and medicine – all diplomas with excellent marks and gold medals; later she was awarded with fellowships for biomedical research in Paediatrics and Neurosciences (Medical Centres in Austria, Russia, UK, Germany, The Netherlands, and Switzerland). She is one of the best cited pioneers in scientific fields of “gene hunting” and “subtractive hybridisation” applied to predictive prenatal & postnatal diagnostics published as O.Labudova in years 1990-2000. She is the molecular diagnostics expert actively publishing in the fields of perinatal diagnostics, Down Syndrome, Diabetes mellitus, Hyperhomocysteinemia, CVD, glaucoma, TAU-pathologies as well as caner of brain, breast and liver. She is the co-founder of the theory of multi-pathway organ-related blood fingerprinting later confirmed for plasma and circulating leukocytes as the carrier of predisposition/pre-stage and pathology specific molecular profiles at genomic, epigenomic, transcriptional and (post)translational levels. She is the author of fundamental works in integrative medicine. Currently Olga Golubnitschaja is an active Professor at several European Universities and in International Programmes for Personalised Medicine.

Author of more than 300 international publications in the field; she won several national and international awards. She is the acting Secretary-General of the “European Association for Predictive, Preventive & Personalised Medicine” (EPMA in Brussels, www.epmanet.eu ), Editor-in-Chief of “The EPMA-Journal”, book Editor of “Predictive Diagnostics & Personalised Treatment”, NSP, New York 2009, book Co-editor “Personalisierte Medizin”, Health Academy, Dresden 2010, and the book-series Editor “Advances in Predictive, Preventive & Personalised Medicine”, Springer 2012-. She is the European Representative at the EDR-Network at the NIH / NCI in Washington D.C., evaluator of the projects dedicated to personalised medicine at the EU-Commission in Brussels and NIH/NCI, Washington D.C., USA; she is the acting Advisor and Evaluator at several European funding bodies such as Ministries of Health /Science and Foundations.

Balázs Gulyás

Dr. Gulyás is a Hungarian born neurobiologist now working at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden as the professor of neuroscience. Dr. Gulyás received his university degrees from Semmelweis University from which he graduated as Doctor of Medicine (MD) and from the Catholic University of Leuven where he obtained a BA and an MA in Philosophy and a PhD in neurobiology. He is a member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (since 1995), the Academia Europaea (where he is also a member of the Council) and the Royal Belgian Academy of Medicine. He is the founding director of the World Science Forum series.

Dr, Gulyás was a guest professor, among others, of the Collège de France, and is a faculty member of the Collegium Budapest – Institute of Advanced Study and the Parmenides Foundation. He is a member, among others, of the Hungarian Human Rights Foundation, Batthyány Society of Professors, New York-Budapest, Academie Royal de Médine de Belgique, Academia Europaea (board member), International Science, Technology and Innovation Center of UNESCO, Kuala Lumpur (member of the scientific council) and the Parmenides Foundation, München.

Gulyás’s main research interest is functional neuroimaging and cognitive neuroscience. In recent years, he has also been involved in neuropharmacological drug and biomarker research and development.

Gulyás has published nine books, over 35 book-chapters and over 150 research papers in peer reviewed scientific journals.

He won several Hungarian and international awards.

Vilmos Kertesz

He is a research chemist in the Organic and Biological Mass Spectrometry Group at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, USA. His areas of scientific interest are electrochemical mimicking of small molecule metabolism and developing new ambient surface sampling mass spectrometric technologies for pharmacokinetic studies. His research interests are furthermore the inherent electrochemistry involved in electrospray mass spectrometry, the use of electrochemistry/electrospray mass spectrometry (EC/ES-MS) technique, the use of EC/ES-MS as a tool to solve analytical problems, electrochemically modified electrodes (PANI, PPy, PMB) and the electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance (EQCM) technique.

He holds several patents licensed by corporate entities. He is a public body member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and member of several international scientific associations.

He published several scientific papers in the field of drug discovery.

Gabor G. KOVACS

Gabor G. KOVACSreceived his MD and later PhD in Neuroscience in the Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary. He has specialised in the area of Neurology (1998) and Neuropathology (2003). From 2004 to 2007 he was Head of the·Department of Neuropathology in the National Institute of Psychiatry and Neurology, Budapest, Hungary. Since 2007 he is a consultant and senior researcher, since 2010 Lecturer in Neuropathology, and since 2012 Associate Professor at the Institute of Neurology, Medical University of Vienna, Austria.

He has expertise in brain banking and surveillance for prion diseases; he is the leader of the Austrian and also the Hungarian Surveillance for Human Prion Diseases. His research focuses on neurodegenerative diseases. He is the coordinator of the EU FP7 Project „DEVELAGE“, which aims to examine common pathways in developing and ageing brain.

Currently, there are more than 115 English, 3 German, and 12 Hungarian publications, 7 book chapters linked to his name. He is member of the Editorial Board of Acta Neuropathologica and peer-reviewer for various medical and scientific journals (>30).

He is member of seven scientific Societies and President of the Hungarian Neuropathological Society. He actively participates in the graduate and postgraduate teaching, mentor of Diploma Theses and PhD Dissertations.

Peter Langhorne

Peter Langhorne is Professor of Stroke Care at the University of Glasgow, UK. His research work has focused on the effectiveness of different management strategies for stroke patients, including service delivery and stroke rehabilitation. This work has involved the use of various methodological approaches and collaboration with more than 50 colleagues from around the world.

During the last 15 years he has been a coordinator and grant holder for randomised clinical trials of occupational therapy, specialist nursing, augmented physiotherapy and early mobilisation. He also has been a coordinator and author of systematic reviews and meta-analyses of trials of stroke units, early supported discharge services, outpatient therapy services, intensive physiotherapy input, stroke liaison worker services, and nutritional supplementation. In addition he has served on the steering committees of trials of stroke unit care, stroke service delivery, caregiver training, botulinum toxin therapy, speech and language therapy and nutritional supplementation.

He is the coordinating editor of the Cochrane Stroke Group and has worked within the Cochrane collaboration more broadly to encourage the development of evidence-based practice.

Steven Laureys

Dr. Steven Laureys is a clinical professor of neurology, and the director of the Coma Science Group, Cyclotron Research Center at the University Hospital, University of Liège, Belgium. He got his MD degree at Vrije Universiteit Brussel in 1993, and his PhD degree in Biomedical Sciences, University of Liège, in 2000. He got his qualification in palliative care form the Université Libre de Bruxelles, Université de Liège, and Université Catholique de Louvain. He is a board certified neurologist, and since 2006 he has been the Head of Clinics at the Neurology Department, University Hospital, in Liège. Professor Laureys leads an active research group focusing on neuroimaging of disturbances of consciousness – e.g. on the unresponsive wakefulness syndrome (previously called vegetative state).

Research results of his group have been published in the most prestigious forums including the New England Journal of Medicine, The Lancet, and the PNAS. Professor Laureys is an active tutor of young researchers: 7 of his students already obtained their PhD degree, and currently he is the director of 14 PhD students. Professor Laureys got several awards including the ASSC William James Prize for Contributions to the Study of Consciousness, USA (2004), the Tom Slick Research Award in Consciousness, Mind Science Foundation, TX, USA (2005 and 2006) and the 26^th World Cultural Council Award – Special Recognition for Science – Mexico (2009).

Professor Laureys has been supported by several research grants from the European Commission, from the European Science Foundation, the Mind Science Foundation (USA), and the Belgian National Funds for Scientific Research.

He is an author of over 200 journal publications, over 50 book chapters, and edited 7 books.

Pál Maurovich-Horvat

Dr. Pál Maurovich-Horvat MD PhD, director of cardiovascular imagingresearch at the Heart Center, Semmelweis University. His main focus ofresearch is to develop novel approaches for coronary atheroscleroticplaque characterization and quantification with cardiac computedtomography and multimodal imaging techniques. Dr. Maurovich-Horvat hasspent three years at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston as apostdoctoral research fellow. His scientific work was awarded withseveral prestigious prizes, among others he received the LillyResearch Award, Lozsadi Norbert Prize, and the Partners RadiologyResearch Award. His interest in cardiovascular epidemiology originatesfrom his participation in the Framingham Heart Study’s imagingsubstudies. Currently, he is a post-graduate student of the HarvardUniversity, School of Public Health. He is expected to graduate andreceive his Master of Public Health degree this year.Dr. Maurovich-Horvat is responsible for both the clinical cardiac CTimaging program and the cardiovascular imaging training and researchat the Heart Center, Semmelweis University.

Shane McKie

Shane McKie MEng, MSc, PhD is a researcher from the Neuroscience and Psychiatry Unit (NPU), University of Manchester, United Kingdom.

Before joining the NPU in 2002, he obtained a PhD in „The nonlinear dynamics of the black-hole x-ray binary, Cygnus X-3” in the School of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Manchester. His main research interests are utilising functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI), effective connectivity and challenge pharmacological-fMRI (phMRI) to investigate pharmacological aspects of psychiatric disorders such as depression and psychosis. He has also worked closely with the University of Manchester’s Gastroenterology and Dermatology groups investigating the gut- and skin-axis respectively. He has over 40 scientific papers to his name with a cumulative impact factor of over 200 and over 750 citations.

Prof. Béla Péter Merkely

Prof. Béla Merkely is the director and chair of Semmelweis University Heart Center – Cardiology Department.

He received his medical degree with Summa Cum Laude at Semmelweis University’s Faculty of Medicine. In 1996 he acquired a certification in Internal Medicine, in 1998 acquired a certification in Cardiology.

In 1999 Merkely obtained PhD degree and then in 2006 he was named doctor of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and habilitated at Semmelweis University. He has been the consultant of about twelve sponsored research projects since 1994. He participated in several international research projects cooperating with such foreign universities as that of Heidelberg, Aachen, Berlin, Erlangen-Nürnberg, Bonn, Paris, Gdansk, Boston, Oulu.

As for his professional activity, Merkely introduced the use of implantable cardioverter defibrillator and cardiac resynchronization therapy in the treatment of sudden cardiac death and heart failure. Besides, in Hungary he was the first who used the invasive rotablational treatment for inoperable coronary disease. He was one of the organizors of the Infarction Emergency Service in Central-Hungary, and as a professional supervisor, he was responsible for its monitoring and the development of the quality indicators of the treatment of acute myocardial infarction.

He is the co-chairman of the National Societies Committee of European Heart Rhythm Association and the president of the Hungarian Society of Cardiology.

Karoly Mirnics

Karoly Mirnics is aJames G. Blakemore Chair and Vice Chair for Basic Science Research, Department of Psychiatry; Director, Basic Neuroscience Services Core; Associate Director, Vanderbilt Kennedy Center

Dr. Mirnics obtained his MD degree at University of Novi Sad, former Yugoslavia and his PhD degree at Semmelweis University, Hungary. The Mirnics laboratory has a long-time interest in gene expression profiles in schizophrenia, focusing on transcriptome patterns in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Neuroimmune and synaptic changes in schizophrenia are also of particular interest to the laboratory, and the human postmortem findings are modeled in mice by a 2nd trimester intrauterine maternal immune activation. Furthermore, the laboratory is actively involved in Alzheimer’s disease, autism, epilepsy, and multiple sclerosis-related research projects, as well as developing novel DNA microarray technologies. Recently, the laboratory operations are focused on in vitro and in vivo assays that are mechanistically addressing the transcriptome profile changes seen in the human postmortem tissue. ·These efforts include generation of BAC-driven/miRNA-silencer transgenic mice that model the GABA-ergic disturbances in schizophrenia and modeling Smith-Lemli-Opitz Syndrome.

Dr. Mirnics is a member of the Foreign Scientist Council of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, American College of Neuropsychopharmacology and European College of Neuropsychopharmacology, and in 2006 he was a runner-up for the NARSAD Daniel X. Freedman prize. In 2011 he has been elected to the NARSAD Council and to honorary membership in the Hungarian Association of Neuropsychopharmacologists, and the same year he became a standing member of NIH NPAS study section. He serves on the editorial board of Biological Psychiatry, Neurobiology of Disease, Journal of Neural Transmission, International Journal of Developmental Neuroscience, European Neuropsychopharmacology, Frontiers in Neurogenetics, Schizophrenia Research Forum and multiple other journals.

Maria Judit Molnar

Dr. Maria Judit Molnar is the director of the Genomic Medicine and Institute of Rare Disorders, vice-rector of the Semmelweis University, president of the Hungarian Clinical Neurogenetic Society and secretary of the Hungarian Society of Personalized Medicine. Since 1999 she is an adjunct professor at the Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University.

She·received his MD and later PhD in Neurobiology at the University of Debrecen, Hungary. She is specialized in neurology, psychiatry, clinical genetics and neuropathology. She is the Doctor of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences since 2011.

She was the founder of the first neurogenetic laboratory in Debrecen, and Department of Molecular Neurology at the National Institute of Psychiatry and Neurology. She also pioneered with the launch of the neurological and psychiatric biobank (NEPSYBANK) and with the introduction of the concept of personalized medicine into neurology. Her most important scientific achievements: identification of genetic mutations and pathological processes in the background of rare neurologic disorders; genetic epidemiological studies; development of new diagnostical methods (eg. preimplantational genetic diagnostics in mitochondrial disorders), investigation of new predictive genetic biomarkers.

She also carried out promising animal and human gene therapy studies with the insertion of the dystrophin gene aiming to treat the Duchenne type muscular dystrophies. She has been the leader and coordinator of numerous research grants. She conducted the Prevention Modul at the scientific university project „Modern Medical Technologies at Semmelweis University”.

Her research activity yielded 165 publications, more than 300 presentations, 18 book chapters and 1 individual book (Basics and modern approach of neuromuscular disorders). She initiated the Semmelweis University Biobank Network and the Rare Disorders Network.

László Nagy

Dr. László is the leader of Core Receptor Research Center at the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology of Debrecen Universityand the head of Debrecen Clinical Genomics Center. He is a professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Doctor of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (D.Sc.)

His field of interest is molecular biology of hormone receptors in the nucleus and genomics of cronical inflamed diseases. He won several national and international awards and is a member of several professional societies, including e.g. the American Association of Immunologists.

He is ranked as #5 scientist in 1999 based on the number of highly cited, “Hot papers” published in 1997-1998 (Institute for Scientific Information Hot papers Database). The number of his total citations is 8502. his Hirsch index is 32.

György Németh

Dr. György Németh is the Chief Medical Officer at Gedeon Richter Plc. and at the President of the Hungarian Society of Personalized Medicine. He started his carrier at the Medical School of Debrecen University, Department of Neurology and Psychiatry (general neurological, intensive cerebrovascular, and neurosurgical sections, directing different departments). Later on he worked as a fellow of Alexander von Humboldt Foundation at the Department of Pathochemistry and General Neurochemistry, University of Heidelberg, Germany; afterwards having different fellowships at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden and at New York University Medical Center in New York, USA.

He continued his carrier as a clinical researcher at Knoll AG, Department of CNS R&D, where he soon took over the responsibility as Global Strategic Director for world-wide clinical and regulatory activities launching among others two NCEs. His main activities: international team leader in the clinical development of drug candidates for the treatment of stroke, Head and supervisor of teams developing and marketing compounds for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease, epilepsy, stroke, major depression, schizophrenia, and peripheral arterial occlusive disorders.

Owing to his comprehensive science operation he is a member of more than 15 societies including Hungarian, European and American Neurological societies. He published more than hundred publications, 8 book chapters and has 8 patent applications.

Leadership experiences: chairing global clinical strategy teams,coordinatinginternational neuropsychopharmacological projects, directing research and development groups on the field of neurology and psychiatry, personal and financial managing international clinical-regulatory-marketing working groups. Strategic leading of preparing clinical development plans, conducting and evaluating clinical trials at all stages of clinical development and in different therapeutic areas.

Andreas Römpp

Dr. Andreas Römpp is a group leader at the Institute of Inorganic and Analytical Chemistry of the Justus Liebig University Giessen. He studied environmental sciences with a focus on environmental chemistry at the University of Bayreuth, Germany, and the Colorado State University in Fort Collins, CO, USA (Fulbright grant). His doctoral thesis at the Department of Atmospheric Chemistry of the Max-Planck-Institute (MPI) for Chemistry was focused on the analysis of organic compounds in atmospheric aerosol particles by high resolution mass spectrometry. He received his PhD/Dr. rer. nat. from the faculty of chemistry and pharmacy of the University of Mainz in 2003. In 2004 he worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the FOM Institute for Atomic and Molecular Physics (AMOLF), Amsterdam, The Netherlands, where he focused on method development for bioanalytical applications. His work was always focused on method development in mass spectrometry with a strong emphasis on high resolution mass spectrometry and accurate mass measurements. In recent years Mass spectrometry imaging has become the main area of interest. Dr. Römpp is the coordinator of the common data format for mass spectrometry imaging – imzML. He is co-chair of the interest group ‘MS imaging’ of the German Society for Mass Spectrometry. He is actively involved in the EU COST network ‘Mass Spectrometry Imaging: New Tools for Healthcare Research’ (BM1104) as management committee member and work group co-chair. In 2012 he received the Robert Feulgen Prize of the Society for Histochemistry and the Mattauch Herzog Award of the German Society for Mass Spectrometry.

Jan A. Staessen

Jan A. Staessen is Professor of Medicine at the University of Leuven and Head of Clinic at the University Hospitals Leuven.· He leads the Division of Hypertension and Cardiovascular Rehabilitation, Department of Cardiovascular Diseases, University of Leuven, Belgium.· In addition, Dr Staessen is Professor of Genetic Epidemiology at the Department of Epidemiology, Maastricht University, Maastricht, the Netherlands.

Dr. Staessen was the principal investigator of influential clinical trials, published in top-ranking journals, such as Systolic Hypertension in Europe Trial (Syst-Eur), the Ambulatory blood Pressure monitoring and Treatment of Hypertension trial (APTH) and the Treatment of hypertension based on Home or Office blood Pressure trial (THOP).· He chaired the Data Safety and Monitoring Board of several clinical trials, including the Systolic Hypertension in China trial (Syst-China), the Randomised Olmesartan and Diabetes Microalbuminuria Prevention Study (ROADMAP) and the Hypertension in the very Elderly trial (HYVET).· He was the scientific coordinator of the Ouabain and Adducin for Specific Intervention on Sodium in HyperTension trial (OASIS-HT).· He organised the Newer vs. Older Antihypertensive Agents in African Hypertensive patients (NOAAH) trial, which is currently running at 6 clinical sites in sub-Saharan Africa.

Dr Staessen is a member of several professional societies, including the International Society of Hypertension, the European Society of Hypertension, the European Society of Cardiology, the American Society of Hypertension, and the American Heart Association.· He is past chairperson of the European Hypertension Society Working Group on Blood Pressure Monitoring and is an International Fellow of the Council for High Blood Pressure Research of the American Heart Association.· Dr. Staessen has been awarded the title of Doctor HonorisCausa from the Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland, one of the oldest and most prestigious universities in Europe.· He received several other national and international awards.· He is honorary member of the Polish and Spanish Societies of Hypertension.

Dr Staessen’s current research interests focus on the genetics, epidemiology, and treatment of cardiovascular disease, in particular hypertension.· In 1998, he started the European Network on Genes in Hypertension (EPOGH).· He is on the Steering Committee of the European Network of Excellence InGenious Hypercare (IGHC) and the large-scale European research projects HyperGenes (HGN) and EU-MASCARA.· In IGHC, he was leader of the Joint Research Package on Renal Sodium Handling in Relation to Hypertension and Heart Failure, which involves 14 research groups.· In HGN, Dr Staessen led 7 groups, contributing the population-based phenotypes to the research consortium.· Dr Staessen also set up the International Database on Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring in relation to Cardiovascular Outcomes (IDACO) research consortium that is studying the role of ambulatory blood pressure measurement in the stratification of cardiovascular risk.· Recently, he received a European Research Council Advanced Researcher grant.

Dr. Staessen published over 700 papers in peer-reviewed journals.· Currently, his citation index (excluding own citations) is 17,630 and his H-index is 74.· Dr Staessen serves on the editorial board of several top-ranking medical journals.· He is an Associate Editor of Hypertension, Hypertension Research, and Blood Pressure Monitoring.· He is advisor to The Lancet.

Csaba Szalai

Dr. Csaba Szalai is the chief scientific advisor of the Department of Genetics, Cell- and Immunobiology of Semmelweis University and he is the head of the Medical Genomics research group. Since 2005 he is Doctor of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.

His research area is the examination of pathomechanism and genetic backgound of multifactirial diseases. Currently in his focus are the heart diseases and asthma. The Clinical Genomics workgroup investigates the genomic and pharmacogenomic background and pathomechanism of three types of multifactorial diseases: asthma, certain types of childhood tumours and obesity. In collaboration with the Department of Measurement and Information Systems of Budapest University of Technology and Economics funded by the grant GENAGRID, the group participates in developing bioinformatic tools important for their researches.

He won several scientific awards and is the author of 112 articles and 9 book chapters.

Dr. Szalai’s cummulative impact factor is 274, the number of his citaations: 1300. Hirsch index: 18

Ildikó Szatmári

Ildikó Szatmári chemist, deputy laboratory leader of the Metabolic Screening Laboratory at the 1st Department of Pediatrics, Semmelweis University, graduated at the Babes-Bolyai University Faculty of Chemistry in1995. After graduation she fulfilled the International Training Course in Modern Biology organised by the Biological Research Center of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences in Szeged. She was a Ph.D. student of the Szent-Györgyi Albert Medical School in the Neuroendocrine System Functioning PhD programme under the guidance of professor Anna Borsodi. Ildikó attained her Ph.D. degree in medical sciences from Szeged University Szent-Györgyi Albert Medical School in 2000 (Ph.D. thesis: „Novel delta opioid affinity labels”). In 2000 she obtained an International Brain Research Organisation fellowship and she enrolled as postdoctoral fellow at the Institute of Experimental Medicine of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences in the Research Group of Molecular Biology and Genetics, working in the field of second generation transgenic mouse model technologies.

From 2006 she continued working at Semmelweis University CellScreen Applied Research Center as deputy head of Laboratory of Immunogenomics, and participated in the nation-wide type 1 diabetes genetics screening programme HUN-T1D-GENES, supported by the European Association for the Study of Diabetes. Starting form 2011 she is responsible for neonatal metabolic screening in the Metabolic Screening Laboratory at the 1st Department of Pediatrics, Semmelweis University.·

Szelid, Zsolt László

SZELID, Zsolt László is a consultant cardiologist and associate professor at the Semmelweis University Heart Center. He graduated at the Semmelweis Medical School in 1997 and started his scientific research on cardioselective nitric oxide therapy in preclinical models at the University of Leuven in Belgium in the laboratory of Professor Stefan Janssens and Desire Collen and defended his PhD thesis in 2005 with the title: Cardioselective Nitric Oxide Gene Transfer to Target Myocardial Ischaemia. Between 2003 and 2005 he was a resident physician at the National Heart Center in Budapest and starting in 2005 he started to work at the Semmelweis University. He specialized in cardiology in 2008 and next year became associate professor at the Heart Center. His major scientific interest include cardiovascular gene therapy, myocardial cGMP-NO dependent pathways, population screening, and cardiovascular remodeling in athletes. He is medical advisor in a Soccer Premier League Club Ferencváros and in the National Institute of Neurosceinces. Dr. Szelid is married and has 4 children.

László Szőnyi

László Szonyi, was graduated in Budapest Medical University, 1973. Specialization: pediatrics (Budapest, 1978) and gastroenterology (Budapest, 1995), European Diploma in Transplantation Medicine (2011). PhD. 2005 Alpha-1-antitrypsin deficiency in paediatric liver and immunological diseases. Professional experiences: 1973-1974 Internist in Coronary Care Unit, Budapest, 1974 -1984 John’s Hospital, Budapest Paediatric Department, involved in newborn mass screening for metabolic diseases, 1984-1987 pediatric praxis in Szentendre, 1997-1998 chef adviser in the Ministry of Health, since 1998 member and vice president of the Medical Research Council, Scientific and Research Ethics Committee. He was the president of the Hungarian Transplantation Society, 2002-2006. His present academic position is associate professor at the First Department of Pediatrics, Semmelweis University, Budapest. He is working at the Pediatric Hepatological Unit and he is the leader of the unit since 1987. This Unit is responsible for the evaluation and follow up of children under 18 years of age for liver transplantation (LTx) in Hungary. In the last 20 years more than 110 LTx was performed in Hungary and abroad. This unit is the only Department in Hungary specialized for pediatric liver diseases. Since 2007 he is the head of Metabolic Screening Center in I. St, Department of Pediatrics. This center is performing the newborn screening in Central and Western part of Hungary, about 55·000 newborn/year.

His field of interest: pediatrics, pediatric gastroenterology, hepatology, liver transplantation, newborn screening and metabolic diseases.·

Zoltan Takats

Dr. Zoltan Takats has obtained his M.Sc. degree in Chemistry from the Eotvos Lorand University, Budapest, in 1998. He has carried out his Ph.D. research at the Chemical Research Centre of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and at Purdue University. He has obtained his Ph.D.degree in analytical chemistry in 2003. He has been doing mass spectrometry-related research for more than 15 years, with a primary focus on the development of novel atmospheric pressure ionization methods. He is the primary inventor of electrosonic spray ionization, desorption electrospray ionization, jet desorption ionization and rapid evaporative ionization mass spectrometry methods. Besides pursuing a scientific career, he has been deeply involved in the introduction of mass spectrometry-based neonatal screening programme in Hungary and served as the head of one of the national screening laboratories.

Following a couple of years spent at Justus-Liebig-Universität in Gießen, Germany, he currently works as Reader in medical mass spectrometry at Department of Surgery and Cancer, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College London.

Present research interests include the application of ambient ionization methods in surgical metabonomics and development of mass spectrometric imaging techniques for the rapid phenotyping of cancer patients.

Anu Suomalainen Wartivaara

Anu Suomalainen Wartiovaara is a Finnish expert in the field of mitochondrial disorders.

She is Sigrid Jusélius Professor of Clinical Molecular Medicine, University of Helsinki, the Director of the Research Program of Molecular Neurology, Biomedicum-Helsinki, and a chief physician at the HUSLab, Clinical Chemistry and Molecular Genetics. She is an elected member of Finnish Academy of Science and Letters since 2008. Her research group belongs to FinMIT, Finnish Centre of Excellence in Mitochondrial disease and Aging of the Academy of Finland.

She won several awards both in Finland and internationally in the field of neurogenetics and mitochondrial diseases, for example Anders Jahre Prize for Young Scientist, 2004, and Europe et Medicin, Institute de Sciences de la Sante, Paris, France, 2004. The research is supported by for example European Research Council’s Advanced Scientist grant.

Her group focuses in understanding genetic and physiological basis of mitochondrial disorders of children and adults, utilizing genetically modified disease models and human patient materials. She has published over 120 research articles in international peer-reviewed journals, including Cell, Science, Nature Genetics and Lancet. The aim of the group is to utilize molecular knowledge to develop therapy options for mitochondrial disorders.

Joachim Weis

Joachim Weis was trained as a neuropathologist at RWTH University Hospital Aachen, Germany, and Washington University, St. Louis, MO, USA. He was head of the Division of Neuropathology at the University of Bern, Switzerland, and then became Professor and Director of the Institute of Neuropathology, RWTH Aachen University, Germany. He served in several functions as a member of the council of the European Confederation of Neuropathological Societies (Euro-CNS) and is now Vice-President of Euro-CNS. He is currently president of the German Society of Neuropathology and Neuroanatomy (DGNN) and head of the Reference Center for Neuromuscular Diseases of the DGNN.

He examines nerve and muscle biopsies referred from numerous institutions from Germany and neighboring countries. Neuropathology of neuromuscular diseases has been the major focus of Joachim Weis´s research for many years. These studies combine the analysis of human biopsy and autopsy material with experimental work on cell culture and animal models. For a list of publications see www.neuropathologie.ukaachen.de.