Jan Traeger-Synodinos is a Professor of Genetics and Director of the Laboratory of Medical Genetics at Athens University. Originally from the UK, following the completion of a Doctorate (DPhil) at Oxford University, in 1982, she moved to Greece and subsequently worked in the university clinics (pediatrics/genetics) of the St. Sophia’s Children’s Hospital in Athens. From 2005, she held a faculty position in Athens University Medical School. She has a demonstrated history of working with genetics in public health care, applied research, and university-level teaching. While specializing in molecular genetics and related translational research, she is also internationally recognized for contributions to the field of haemoglobinopathies and preimplantation genetic testing for inherited diseases. Her research activities, several of which were supported by EU grants, have produced >185 peer-reviewed publications and chapters in several books, with >8000 citations and a H-index of 50 (Google Scholar). Jan is a long-term member of the ESHG and ESHRE, serving on the Steering Committee (SC) of the ESHRE PGD Consortium between 2004 and 2016, (and as the Chair in 2012–2014). She is a member of the EQA Special Advisory Group for PGT (GenQA, UK), the ClinGen Haemoglobinopathy Expert Panel, (NHGRI, USA), on the Supervisory Board of the Greek National Authority for Medically Assisted Reproduction, and Associate Editor or Editorial Board Member of several journals.
Dr. Christalena Sofocleous is a molecular biologist with a PhD in Medical Genetics (National & Kapodistrian University of Athens, NKUA, School of Medicine ). Since 2000, she has been teaching students of postgraduate programs in fields including Clinical and Laboratory Medical Genetics, the Application of Biology in Medicine and Molecular Diagnostics. Christalena focuses on the study of genetic rare diseases, such as neurodevelopmental disorders, imprinting disorders, aplastic anemias,
and others, for more than 25 years and was appointed as an Assistant Professor of Medical Genetics at the Laboratory of Medical Genetics, NKUA, in 2022. She is the author of more than 65 peer-reviewed article publications and a member of the Treat-NMD Organization, the Clinical Genome Resource, Epilepsy Gene Curation Expert Panel, and the Hellenic Association of Medical Geneticists.
Dr. Matteo Zurlo is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Istituto Scientifico Romagnolo per lo Studio e la Cura dei Tumori, Laboratorio di Bioscienze, Meldola, Italy. He completed his PhD studies in Biomedical and Biotechnological Sciences at the University of Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy. He has published 34 papers in various journals. His research interests mainly include β-thalassemia, fetal hemoglobin, γ-globin, HbF induction, K562 cells, Cinchona alkaloids, cinchonidine, quinidine, cinchonine, and combined treatments.
Alessia Finotti is an Assistant Professor (RTD-B) at the Life Sciences and Biotechnology Department of Ferrara University (Italy). She has worked at Ferrara University since 2005 (from 2005 to 2012 in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and, currently, in the Department of Life Sciences and Biotechnology). She is also Professor of Cellular and Molecular Therapies (with a degree in Biotechnologies and Pharmacy) at Ferrara University. She is the author of more than 130 papers published in peer-reviewed international journals. As Vice Director of the Center "Chiara Gemmo and Elio Zago" for research on thalassemia, her research activites are focused on the molecular basis of human cancer and hereditary diseases, gene therapy, pharmaceutical biology, and pharmacogenomics.
Roberto Gambari has been a full Professor of Biochemistry (with a degree in Chemical and Pharmaceutical Technologies, CTF, Ferrara University, Faculty of Pharmacy) since 2001. He is Chairman of the PhD course in Biotechnology and is the Director of the Biotechnology Center of Ferrara University. In September 1991, he was elected as a member of the Council of European Tissue Culture Society (ETCS). Prof. Gambari is a member of the Scientific Committee of the Interuniversity Consortium for Biotechnologies (C.I.B.) and the Chief Editor of the journal Minerva Biotecnologica. Roberto Gambari is a member of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. He is a member of the Editorial Boards of the American Journal of Pharmacogenomics, Technology in Cancer Research and Treatment, International Journal of Oncology, and Drugs Design Reviews. He is a referee of the following kournals: FASEB J., Biochemical Pharmacoloy, Human Gene Therapy, BioTechniques, Biological Chemistry, J. of Clinical Investigations, Nucleic Acids Research, J. Agricultural, and Food Chemistry. More than 450 papers, published by Roberto Gambari, are present in MedLine. He has authored more than 12 patents.
