Speakers at EBSA Conference 2023 and Preconference courses

Aysen Gargili Keles is a parasitologist and Professor at the Marmara University, Health Sciences Faculty, Istanbul, Turkey. She is affiliated with Basic Health Sciences Department and Biosafety & Biosecurity Graduate Program.

Professor Gargili Keles received her veterinary medicine degree, at the Istanbul University, Veterinary Faculty and her PhD degree from Istanbul University Institute of Health Sciences, Istanbul, Turkey.

She worked at the Veterinary Faculty and Cerrahpaşa School of Medicine prior to join in Marmara University. In her academic life, she conducted diverse studies of parasitology and vector-borne diseases at Gifu University Faculty of Medicine in Japan, ICGEB in India, Ludwig Maximillien Universitat-Tropical Diseases Institute in Germany and University of Texas Medical Branch-Galveston National Laboratory in the USA as postdoc scholar and visiting scientist. She conducted national and international research projects supported by The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey and EU 7th Framework Programme, CRDF and HSP. Gargılı Keleş authored many papers, book chapters and papers presented at international/national congresses. She also serves on the national and international advisory boards especially on vector-borne diseases, which is her primary field of study. She is a member of the Lyme Disease Advisory Group of the Ministry of Health of Turkey. She served in the international CCHF epidemic monitoring group of the World Health Organization and one of the authors and editors of the report "The effects of climate change on health in Turkey" prepared by WHO. She is a member of TUBITAK Councellor Board. She has duties in the editorial and referee boards of eminent journals and she is a member of the Turkish Microbiology Society, Turkish Parasitology Society and EBSA. Currently she continues her duty as the Head of the Basic Health Sciences Department and Vice Dean at the Faculty of Health Sciences, and she is the founder and director of Biosafety and Biosecurity Graduate Program of Marmara University.

Dr. Dimiter Prodanov, MD, Ph.D., obtained an MD degree from the Medical University – Sofia in 1999 and a Ph.D. degree from the Twente University, Enschede, the Netherlands in 2006.

He was awarded a postdoctoral fellowship from the International Brain Research Organization to continue his research in neuroprosthetics at the Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium, in 2006 and later at the University of Liege, Belgium. Since 2008 Dimiter Prodanov joined Imec, Belgium in the role of a Senior Scientist in neurotechnology. Since 2013 Dimiter Prodanov also became an affiliated researcher in Neuroscience Research Flanders and a member of the safety team in Imec. From 2016 to 2018 Dr. Prodanov successfully coordinated the H2020 project NanoStreeM. He is a biosafety coordinator, and a nanosafety specialist and he supports actively Imec’s research programs in life sciences, health care, and nanoelectronics. Dr. Prodanov has extensive experience in the risk assessment of viral vectors and related induced genetic modifications. Dr. Prodanov is an EBSA council member since 2021 and a member of the EBSA biocide task force.

Gijsbert van Willigen is the biosrisk management professional of the Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands. After his study Biology at the Catholic University of Nijmegen (1987), he did his PhD at the Academic Hospital Utrecht in the field of thrombosis and hemostasis (1992). After several post-doc positions at the University Medical Center Utrecht and a sabbatical at the University of Helsinki (2000) he started as a biosafety Officer at the UMC Utrecht. In 2002 he switched to the Leiden University Medical Center and since then has a position as biosrisk management professional. Since 2020 he is also the biorisk manager at the Netherlands Center for the Clinical advancement of Stem Cell and Gene Therapies (NecstGen).

As a biosafety officer he has been admitted by the Dutch authorities for several containment levels up to (A)BSL3. His field of expertise include biosafety and biosecurity in diagnostic and research laboratories and animal experiments in high containment facilities ((A)BLS3). He is a renowed expert in the use of genetically modified organism in a clinical setting (gene therapy). He has been involved the construction of several BSL3 facilities in the Netherlands and is now involved in the construction of a new GMP-facility for NecstGen.

Over the years he was part of many national and international committees on biosafety and biosecurity, dual-use research and gene therapy. Since 2017 he is a representative of the Dutch Federation of University Medical Centers in committees for the modernization of the regulatory framework for biotechnology in the Netherlands and the EU especially for the use of biotechnology in humans. Furthermore he was a speaker at several national and international conferences and a trainer in biosafety courses.

Between 2014-2018 he was member of the council of the European Biosafety Association; President of EBSA in 2016-2017.

Further details see: http://nl.linkedin.com/in/gvanwilligen

Full professor
Ghent University
Faculty of Veterinary Medicine
Department of Internal medicine, Reproduction and population medicine.

Curriculum:

Jeroen Dewulf graduated in 1998 as a veterinarian from the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of the Ghent University, Belgium. In 2002 he finished his Ph.D. in the epidemiology and control of classical swine fever. In that same year, he received a master of science degree in veterinary epidemiology from the University of Utrecht, the Netherlands (Cum Laude). He became a diplomat in the European College of Veterinary Public Health in 2005.

Currently, he is a full professor in Veterinary Epidemiology at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of Ghent University. His main research interests are quantitative epidemiology and control of zoonoses with a specific emphasis on antimicrobial use and resistance in animals as well as the prevention of epidemic and endemic diseases with a focus on the application of biosecurity measures. Since 2021 he is the head of the department of Internal medicine, Reproduction and population medicine and in 2022 he became a member of the board of directors of Ghent University.

He is leading the Veterinary Epidemiology Unit and is supervising over 10 Ph.D. students who are doing research in the field of veterinary epidemiology. He is (co-)author of over 400 A1 publications in the field of veterinary epidemiology with an H-index of 65. Recently he has launched, together with some colleagues, the spin-off company Biocheck.Gent. He is also coordinating the EU research consortium BIOSECURE performing cutting-edge research on Biosecurity in terrestrial animal production.

Since 2009 he is a member of the scientific committee of the Belgian federal food agency and is the founder and chair of the board of the center of expertise on antimicrobial use and resistance in animals (AMCRA) in Belgium. He is also the author of the book “biosecurity in animal production and veterinary medicine” as well as the book “8 myths on antimicrobial resistance disproved, practical guide for reducing antibiotic use in animal husbandry”

 Expertise:

• Veterinary epidemiology
• Preventive veterinary medicine
• Animal disease control
• Veterinary public health
• Antimicrobial resistance
• Biosecurity
• Applied statistics

Kara Held, Ph.D. brings an extensive knowledge of Cell Biology, Pharmacology, and Biosafety to The Baker Company. Prior to her coming on board in 2017, she was a Lab Manager, Safety Officer, and Researcher at the Harvard Stem Cell Institute. She earned her Ph.D. at the University of Vermont Cell and Molecular Biology Program, Department of Pharmacology and then completed her postdoctoral training at Yale University in the Vascular Biology and Therapeutics Program. Her experience in academic research brings a unique perspective, familiarity and hands-on knowledge base with laboratory science and biosafety. As the Science Director for Baker, she has helped provide some much-needed clarity into the nuances of Biosafety through the use of Biosafety Cabinets.

Trained as a biologist, Patrick Rüdelsheim started his career in a Dutch seed company. He then joined Plant Genetic Systems N.V., Ghent, Belgium. After being in charge of Product Development and Registration, he was appointed Director Regulatory Affairs and Member of the Board. 

Following the acquisition of PGS, he became Global Head of Biotechnology Regulatory Affairs for the AgrEvo group and remained in this function during the subsequent creation of Aventis S.A. and the acquisition by Bayer. In this function, he ensured the scientific argumentation for Product Safety and Quality as well as the compliance with all regulatory acquirements related to genetic engineering.

In 2003, he founded and became General Manager of Perseus BV, a service company focused on bio-safety and related regulatory requirements. Mid 2015, he was co-founder and served as Senior Regulatory Advisor for ABS-int, a multi-disciplinary initiative dedicated to Access and Benefit Sharing requirements for genetic resources. Since 2023, Perseus and ABS-int operate together as 3Bio, in which he acts as Director and Chief Regulatory Officer. In this capacity he offers his extensive and global experience in every aspect of biosafety and biotechnology regulation to a range of users and developers. He lectures on biosafety and regulations at the University of Ghent and the University of Antwerp.

Academic Education and Degrees

• MSc Agr, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), Uppsala 1993.
• Speciality: Biotechnology and Animal Sciences

Present Professional Position

• Since 1994 Research scientist, department of virology, SVA
• Head of section of laboratory animal virology, dep of virology, SVA for two years (1998-2000)
• 2001-2021 Technical manager for laboratory animal virology at department of virology, immunobiology and parasitology (VIP), SVA
• Since 2004 Biosafety Officer at SVA.

Special Remarks

As the Biosafety officer at SVA for primarily the high containment facilities (BSL 3), the main activities are biorisk management activities like education and training, risk assessment, PPE evaluation and decision making, internal and external biorisk audits in both laboratories and animal facilities, facility planning, decontamination and contact person towards national authorities concerning biorisk issues. In charge of the implementation of the ISO 35001 at SVA. Involved in the establishment of the Nordic biosafety network (NBN), 2005, and since then member of the steering committee. Member of the International Veterinary Biosafety Workgroup (IVBW) since 1995. Member of the EuFMD Special committee for biorisk management (SCBRM) since 2018. During the Covid-19 pandemic involved in planning and validation of resources like PPE, consumables etc.