Prof. Nicola De Stefano (University of Siena, Italy)
Nicola De Stefano is full Professor of Neurology at the Department of Medicine, Surgery and Neuroscience, University of Siena, Italy. He is also Head of the NeuroImaging Laboratory in the same Department; and Honorary Visiting Professor, Imperial College London, UK.
Prof. De Stefano graduated with his MD degree from the University of Siena, Italy, and went on to undertake his internship. After successfully completing his residency in neurology, he went on to pursue postgraduate training overseas in Canada (Montreal Neurological Institure, Montreal) before returning to his alma mater where he obtained his PhD. Subsequently, he covered the position of Adjunct Professor at Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Canada for 12 years, until 2012.
Prof. De Stefano’s current research interests lie in multiple sclerosis and other neurological diseases involving the brain white matter. In particular, he is a renowned expert on the clinical application of new neuroimaging techniques in brain and muscle of patients with neurological disease.
Prof. De Stefano is a member of several prestigious professional societies and organisations. He co-chaired the MAGNIMS European network for 6 years (2009-2016). He has delivered numerous invited lectures worldwide, and to date, he has published numerous books and book chapters as well as more than 330 papers in prestigious international peer-review publications in the area of multiple sclerosis, neurometabolic disorders and neuroimaging.
Prof. Celia Oreja-Guevara (University Hospital San Carlos, Madrid, Spain)
Professor
Celia Oreja-Guevara is appointed Vice-Chair of Neurology and Head of Multiple Sclerosis
Center of the University Hospital San Carlos, Madrid (Spain), where she also
serves as Senior Consultant and Associate Professor of Neurology.
After
receiving her MD from the University of Madrid, Madrid, Professor Oreja-
Guevara completed a PhD in neuroimmunology at the Max-Planck-Institute for
Neurobiology, University of Munich, Munich (Germany). She then went on to
complete a residency in the Department of Neurology at the University of
Bochum, Bochum (Germany) and a postdoctoral fellowship in neuroimaging at the
University Hospital San Raffaele, Milan (Italy). She has also held posts at the
University of Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf (Germany), Hospital de Fuenlabrada and at
the University Hospital La Paz, both in Madrid.
Professor Oreja-Guevara’s research interests centre on clinical and
neuroimaging correlations in MS and the use of optical coherence tomography.
Neuromyelitis optica (NMO) is among her other therapy areas of interest, and
Professor Oreja-Guevara is actively involved in the evaluation of new drugs for
the treatment of MS and NMO. As an investigator, she has participated in a
number of MS clinical trials and currently heads the Neuroimaging Group of the
Spanish Neurological Society, and she is a member of the Scientific Committee
of the European Academy of Neurology. Currently, Professor Oreja-Guevara is an
expert for the Spanish Medicines Agency and for the Scientific Advisory Group
on Neurology of the European Medicines Agency.
Dr Pierrette Seeldrayers (Head Department Neurology, CHU Charleroi and President of BSGMS)
Pierrette Seeldrayers graduated in Medicine from the Free University Brussels in July 1977. She started her training in Neurology in Brussels and completed her residency at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Hospital (Cornell University) in New York in 1982. After a first staff post at Erasmus Hospital in Brussels, she did a year of research at the Laboratory for Molecular Biology (Professor Jacques Urbain) in St Genesius Rhode, followed by a 3 years fellowship in neuroimmunology in the laboratory of Professor Howard Weiner (Center for Neurological Diseases, MS Unit, Harvard Medical School).
Back in Europe, she worked 3 years as Oberärtztin in the Neurologishe Klinik der Universitat Wurzburg (RFA) where she did both clinical work in the MS clinic and basic research, then integrated the Department of Neurology at the CHU de Charleroi, where she created the MS unit.
She has served as Head of Department of Neurology and has been in charge of the residency program since October 2005. She has been the chairperson of the French Speaking Commission for Licensing in Neurology since 2006.
She has been a member of the Medical Council of the Belgian MS Society and of the Board of the Belgian Multiple Sclerosis Study Group, where she has served as chairperson since 2015. She has served on the Board of the Charcot Foundation since 2015. She has participated in numerous national and international clinical trials in multiple sclerosis and co-authored several articles on multiple sclerosis.
Pierrette Seeldrayers graduated in Medicine from the Free University Brussels in July 1977. She started her training in Neurology in Brussels and completed her residency at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Hospital (Cornell University) in New York in 1982. After a first staff post at Erasmus Hospital in Brussels, she did a year of research at the Laboratory for Molecular Biology (Professor Jacques Urbain) in St Genesius Rhode, followed by a 3 years fellowship in neuroimmunology in the laboratory of Professor Howard Weiner (Center for Neurological Diseases, MS Unit, Harvard Medical School).
Back in Europe, she worked 3 years as Oberärtztin in the Neurologishe Klinik der Universitat Wurzburg (RFA) where she did both clinical work in the MS clinic and basic research, then integrated the Department of Neurology at the CHU de Charleroi, where she created the MS unit.
She has served as Head of Department of Neurology and has been in charge of the residency program since October 2005. She has been the chairperson of the French Speaking Commission for Licensing in Neurology since 2006.
She has been a member of the Medical Council of the Belgian MS Society and of the Board of the Belgian Multiple Sclerosis Study Group, where she has served as chairperson since 2015. She has served on the Board of the Charcot Foundation since 2015. She has participated in numerous national and international clinical trials in multiple sclerosis and co-authored several articles on multiple sclerosis.
Prof. Bart Van Wijmeersch (UHasselt, Rehabilitation & MS-Centre Overpelt, President of ParadigMS)
Bart Van Wijmeersch completed his general medical training in 2001 at the University of Leuven, Belgium, after which he started his specialization in Neurology. During this residency he started a PhD in neuroimmunology at the lab of experimental transplantation and neuroimmunology at the Catholic University Leuven. He was promoted in 2008 with a thesis entitled: ' Graft-versus-autoimmunity after induction of mixed bone marrow chimerism in murine models of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis'.
Bart Van Wijmeersch completed his general medical training in 2001 at the University of Leuven, Belgium, after which he started his specialization in Neurology. During this residency he started a PhD in neuroimmunology at the lab of experimental transplantation and neuroimmunology at the Catholic University Leuven. He was promoted in 2008 with a thesis entitled: ' Graft-versus-autoimmunity after induction of mixed bone marrow chimerism in murine models of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis'.
Since 2008 he is active as neurologist, specialized in Multiple Sclerosis, at the Rehabilitation & MS-Center in Overpelt, were he is medical director and leads a multidisciplinary MS-team.
He is a member of the board of the Belgian Study Group for Multiple Sclerosis and the first president of the ParadigMS Foundation, an international organization dedicated to improve the transfer of scientific knowledge on MS to the daily practice of MS care.
As associate professor of Neurology at the University Hasselt, he is affiliated with the Biomedical Institute of the University, where he is involved in the clinical and fundamental research in Multiple Sclerosis.
Prof. Tjalf Ziemssen (University of Dresden, Germany)
Professor Tjalf Ziemssen is Director of the Center of Clinical
Neuroscience with its Multiple Sclerosis Centre (MSC), neuroimmunological lab
(NIL) and autonomic lab (ANF) at the Carl Gustav Carus University Hospital, in Dresden,
Germany.
He
obtained his medical degree from the University of Bochum, Germany, in 1998 and
completed his doctoral thesis in 1999 at the Institute of Clinical Chemistry, University
of Bochum, Germany. He then underwent training as a Fellow of Neurology at the
Carl Gustav Carus University Hospital in Dresden and as a Research Fellow at the Max-Planck
Institute of Neurobiology in Martinsried, Germany. He became Director of the
MSC Dresden in 2007 and, in 2011 he became Professor of Clinical Neurosciences
and Head of the Centre for Clinical Neuroscience at the Carl Gustav Carus
University Hospital. He is also Head of the Autonomic and Neuroendocrine Function
laboratories (ANF) and the Neuroimmunological Laboratories (NIL).
Professor Ziemssen’s research interests include
the dual role of inflammation in the brain and the mechanisms of autoimmunity
and tolerance. In addition, he is interested in the autonomic nervous system in
health and disease. He is involved in clinical studies and has published over
150 papers and has received several awards, including awards from the European
Charcot foundation and the German Opthalmological Society.
He is an active member of several neurological
societies, including the German Neurological Society, the European Neurological
Society, the American Academy of Neurology and the European Federation of
Autonomic Societies.
