Board of Directors

Chair:

Dr. Ineke Slaper-Cortenbach, PhD

 The Netherlands

Dr. Ineke Slaper-Cortenbach is currently working at ZonMW (the Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development) in the Hague, the Netherlands. ZonMw is a funding organization, where she is part of the team ‘Science and Innovation’. She is the programme manager responsible for ‘Translational research and international programmes’.  Her main activities are focused on translational research, funding excellent and innovative projects in the field of regenerative medicine, personalized medicine, systems medicine, rare disease and ATMPs. At the start of 2009, she became a member of the Committee on Advanced Therapy Medicinal products (ATMPs) of the Medicines Evaluation Board in the Netherlands. She became a Board Member for ICCBBA in 2006 and served until 2013. She returned to the ICCBBA Board in 2015. She chaired the ICCBBA Cellular Therapy Coding and Labeling Technical Advisory Group (CTCLAG) from 2008 – 2013 and currently chairs the Regenerative Medicine Technical Advisory Group (RMTAG). Dr. Slaper-Cortenbach is also a member of the Standards Committee of ICCBBA.

From 2000 – 2016, she was the head of the Cell Therapy Facility in the UMC Utrecht with more than 30 years' experience as a laboratory director of cell therapy. She is an internationally well-known leading authority in regulatory affairs of cellular products. Her expertise is also reflected by taking lead in multiple national and international organizations: i.e. (past) presidency for JACIE, several positions within ISCT (i.e. for 7 years she was the chair of the European LRA Committee), working with EDQM in the CTP and representing ICCBBA in the drafting group for the 3^rd edition of the Council of Europe Guide to the Quality and Safety of tissues and Cells for Human application. She also chaired the working group on ATMP (Netherlands and Belgium,) and was a member of the Cell Therapy & Immunobiology Working Party (CTIWP) of the EBMT.

Vice-Chair:

Diane Wilson, BSN, MSN/MHA

 USA

Diane Wilson is the Chief Operating Officer of Community Tissue Services. Diane has more than 30 years of experience in Tissue Banking. She has held numerous positions in the American Association of Tissue Banks “AATB” (Board of Governors, Chair of the Standards Committee, Accreditation Inspector, Chair of the Membership Committee, and Chair of the Tissue Bank Council). She served as President for AATB. She also served as a Member of the Committee for the Coalition on Donation of AATB and as a Member of AABB. She was an educator for the AATB Certified Tissue Bank Specialist Training Course for 25 years. She is a Member of AATB, the National Association of Orthopedic Nurses, and the Association of peri-Operating Room Nurses.

Diane Wilson is currently a board member of ICCBBA, a member and former Chair of the North American Tissue Banking Technical Advisory Group (NATTAG), a member of the Tissue Engineered Products Technical Advisory Group (TEPTAG), a Medical Advisory and Policy Board Member of the Gift of Life Donor Program, and is the Chairman of the Board for Joint Restoration Foundation, Inc. She is a Registered Nurse and holds an Associate of Science in Nursing degree from Everett Community College, a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree from the University of Phoenix, and a Master’s Degree in Nursing and Health Administration from the University of Phoenix.

Secretary:

Mahrukh Getshen

Bhutan

Mahrukh Getshen graduated from Grant Medical College, Bombay University, India in 1987 with a MBBS degree. She obtained a diploma in Blood Banking and Transfusion Medicine from Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand in 2002; and a Master of Public Health from Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia in 2012.

She has been heading the National Blood Bank at JDW, National Referral Hospital located in Thimphu, Bhutan since 2002. Being the first and only specialist in the field of Transfusion Medicine, her responsibilities include providing technical expertise and policy guidance to the National Blood Safety Program under the Ministry of Health, Royal Government of Bhutan.

She has been actively involved in the promotion of Voluntary Non-remunerated Blood Donation activities in the capital and nationwide, and her efforts have helped increase the percentage of VNRBD from 30% in 2002, to 90% in 2014 at the National Blood Bank. Her contribution includes creation of the National Blood Policy, Bhutan; Standards and National Guidelines and National Assessment Schemes in Immuno-hematology.

Mahrukh Getshen has been a member of the World Health Organization Expert Advisory Panel for Blood Transfusion since 2010, and is one of the current Vice-Presidents of the Asian Association of Transfusion Medicine (AATM). She is the recipient of the ISBT Runner-Up Award (Individual Category) for Developing Countries, July 2012. She is also an advocate of the rights and dignity of persons with diverse abilities, and dedicates her free time and services as the Vice-Chairperson on the Board of Trustees of Ability Bhutan Society, a civil society organization under the Patronage of Her Majesty, the Queen of Bhutan. She has also been made the chairperson of Bhutan Australia Alumni Association, a voluntary organization comprising of Bhutanese alumni who have studied in Australia through various Australia Awards and scholarships. 

She is the recipient of the National Order of Merit Award Silver given by His Majesty of the Kingdom of Bhutan during the National Day celebrations on 17 December 2017. The award recognizes the dedicated and quality services rendered to the throne, people, and the nation. Mahrukh was one of six specialists honored with the National Order of Merit Award.

Treasurer:

Timothy L. Pruett, MD

 USA

Dr. Pruett received his medical degree from the Baylor College of Medicine, General Surgery and Transplantation training at the University of Minnesota and Internal Medicine residency at the University of Michigan. He has his Boards from the ABS in General Surgery and Critical Care and from the ABIM in Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases.

Dr. Pruett began his clinical career at the University of Virginia rising from Assistant Professor of Surgery (1987) to Professor of Surgery and Division Chief of Transplantation Surgery by 1996. He was appointed the Strickler Family Professor of Transplantation in 1997. He was the Program Director of the transplantation training program at University of Virginia. As an intensivist, he was co-director of the surgical ICU and established and was Program Director of the Critical Care Training program. In 2009, he moved to the University of Minnesota as Professor of Surgery and Internal Medicine, Chief of Transplantation and the John S. Najarian Surgical Chair in Clinical Transplantation.

Dr. Pruett currently serves as President of American Society of Transplant Surgeons (2016-2017) and previously served as Treasurer of American Society of Transplant Surgeons’ Council (2012-2015). He chairs the ASTS/AST joint committee for Biovigilance and has spoken broadly on legal and system issues that impact to organ transplantation within global healthcare systems.  Dr. Pruett was President of United Network for Organ Sharing (2008-2009); Chair of the Membership and Professional Standards Committee (2007-2008) and has represented UNOS in multiple international initiatives.

Dr. Pruett’s research interests have included organ transplantation in patients with chronic viral diseases, the ethics and practice of live kidney donation and allocation, transmissible diseases through organs and infections after organ transplantation. He also has education and infection interests as they pertain to the care of the critically ill.

W John Armitage, BSc, PhD

 UK

After graduating in Physiology and Zoology from London University and completing a PhD in cryobiology, John Armitage continued research into the preservation of cells, tissues and organs for transplantation. Research posts in Cambridge, UK, and in the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, USA, were followed by a move to Bristol in 1984 to set up the Bristol Eye Bank and to carry out research into the cryopreservation of cornea. The eye bank was a collaboration between the University of Bristol and the former UK Transplant and the resulting national service transformed corneal transplantation in the UK. Professor Armitage was Director of Tissue Banking and chaired the University’s Human Tissue Group, which oversaw regulatory compliance for the storage and use of human tissue for transplantation, research, and teaching. Bristol Eye Bank transferred to NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) in April 2015.

Apart from cell and tissue preservation, other principal research interests include corneal transplant outcome in the UK and Sweden, and corneal transplant immunology. Professor Armitage is a founding member and current President of the European Eye Bank Association, a founding member and former President of the British Association for Tissue Banking, a member of the Swedish Corneal Transplant Registry Steering Group, a member of the NHSBT Ocular Tissue Advisory Group, Chair of the NHSBT Eye Bank Subgroup, a member of the Royal College of Ophthalmologists Ocular Tissue Transplant Standards Group, an Associate Editor of the journal Cryobiology, Chair of the ICCBBA Eye Bank Technical Advisory Group (EBTAG), a member of the ICCBBA Standards Committee, a former Secretary of the Society for Cryobiology, and he co-chairs the drafting group for the 3rd edition of the Council of Europe Guide to the Quality and Safety of Tissues and Cells for Human Application.

Celso Bianco, MD

 USA

Dr. Bianco grew up in São Paulo, Brazil and received his medical degree from the Medical School of São Paulo. He was assistant professor of pathology at the New York University School of Medicine and at Rockefeller University in New York. He then joined the State University of New York in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he became Professor of Pathology. He joined the New York Blood Center as Director of Science and Technology in 1982 and in 1992 became the Vice President, Medical Affairs. In 2000, he became America’s Blood Centers Executive Vice President from where he retired in September 2012.

He published many papers in immunology and on diseases transmissible by transfusion. He was a member of the U.S. Advisory Committee on Blood Safety and Availability, the New York State Council on Blood and Transfusion Services and the Industry Representative of the U.S. FDA Blood Products Advisory Committee. He is a member of AABB and its Transfusion Transmitted Diseases Committee, the American Society of Hematology and the International Society of Blood Transfusion (ISBT) Working Party on Transfusion Transmitted Infectious Diseases. He became president-elect of ISBT in July 2012 and will assume the presidency in June 2014.  

Jeremy Chapman, MD

 Australia

Professor Jeremy Chapman is a renal physician with a special interest in transplantation. He is Clinical Director of Medicine and Cancer at Westmead Hospital, Chairman of the Australian Bone Marrow Donor Registry, the Australian Cord Blood Bank Network and Editor in Chief of Transplantation. He is a Past President of the Transplantation Society of Australia and New Zealand. He is a member of the Advisory Council of the Australian Organ and Tissue Authority. He is a Past-President of The Transplantation Society, Advisory Member of The World Health Organisation Expert Advisory Panel on Human Cell Tissue and Organ Transplantation, Past President of the World Marrow Donor Association and Inaugural CoChair of the Declaration of Istanbul Custodian Group. He received the Asturias Foundation 2010 Award for International Cooperation on behalf of The Transplantation Society. He was awarded the 2010 David Hume Award of the US National Kidney Foundation. He was made a Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) in 2015.

Professor Chapman's clinical work is in renal medicine, transplantation of kidney and pancreas and diabetic renal disease and islet transplantation.

Professor Chapman is actively involved in the academic field having over 350 publications. He is a Clinical Professor at the University of Sydney, a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians in the United Kingdom and Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians.

Prof. Dr. Martin Hildebrandt, MD

 Germany

Prof. Dr. Martin Hildebrandt is a hematologist and transfusion specialist. He graduated from the Free University Berlin in 1993, and was board certified in Internal Medicine (2002), Hematology and Oncology (2008) and Transfusion Medicine (2016). As coordinator and participant of several EC-funded research projects (ACADEMIC GMP, AGORA, BIOHYBRID, TETRA), he contributed to the definition of an academic position in the development of cell-based and gene therapies in Europe. Prof Hildebrandt has been in charge of Academic GMP facilities in Berlin and Hannover, Germany, before taking over the responsibility for establishing TUMCells, the Interdisciplinary Center for Cellular Therapies at TU Munich School of Medicine, where he serves as Executive Director and Qualified Person. His focus of regulatory expertise lies with GCP/GMP, ATMP development and manufacture. The major area of research of Martin Hildebrandt is T-cell mediated immunomodulation and Transplant optimisation.

Prof. Hildebrandt is member of the working group on blood-associated infections at the German Federal Ministry of Health, Chair of the Ethics Committee of the State of Berlin, advisor to the German Working Group on Chronic Rare Diseases (ACHSE), several academic consortia, and member of the European QP Association, several editorial boards, national and international professional societies.

Salwa Hindawi

 Saudi Arabia

Salwa Hindawi qualified in medicine at the King Abdulaziz University Medical School, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia (1985) and specialised in Haematology at the Hammersmith Hospital, London. She is a Fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists (MRCPath 1999; FRCPath 2007). Dr Hindawi is Medical Director of Blood Transfusion Services and Associate Professor in Haematology and Transfusion Medicine at the King Abdulaziz Hospital, Jeddah. She is President of the Saudi Society of Transfusion Medicine and a Member of the Saudi National Advisory Committee for Transfusion Medicine and Stem Cells. She is a member of the World Health Organization Expert Advisory Panel for Blood Transfusion, the WHO Expert Committee for Biological Standardization, the ISBT Academy Standing Committee, and the ISBT Haemovigilance Working Party.

Dr Hindawi has many publications including co-authorship of “Introduction to Blood Banking and Transfusion Medicine” (2011) and a contributing a chapter to “Haemovigilance: An Effective Tool for Improving Transfusion Safety” (2012, Editors: De Vries and Faber).

Dr. Che-Kit Lin, MBBS, FRCPA, FHKAM(Path)

 Hong Kong SAR, China

After graduating from the University of Hong Kong with an M.B., B.S. degree, Dr Che-Kit LIN was trained in laboratory haematology and has obtained Fellowship of the Royal College of Pathologists, Australasia, the Hong Kong Academy of Medicine (Pathology), the Hong Kong College of Pathologists and the Hong Kong College of Community Medicine, and Master in Business Administration from the University of Birmingham, UK.

Dr LIN joined the Hong Kong Red Cross Blood Transfusion Service (HKRCBTS) in 1990 and was its Chief Executive and Medical Director from 1995 to 2015. He was also the honorary Clinical Associate Professor, Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, Chinese University of Hong Kong. In addition to many local professional bodies and government committees, he had also been actively involved in many international blood transfusion related bodies including the Asia-Pacific Blood Network, the Global Advisory Panel on Corporate Governance and Risk Management for Blood Services in Red Cross Societies, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, the Chinese Society of Blood Transfusion, and the WHO Expert Advisory Panel for Transfusion Medicine.

Dr LIN's interests within Transfusion Medicine are mainly voluntary non-remunerated blood donation, donor and blood safety.