Chair:

Timothy L. Pruett

 United States

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.

Vice-Chair:

Diane Wilson

 United States

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:

Martin Hildebrandt

 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.

Treasurer:

Zbigniew M Szczepiorkowski

 United States

Zbigniew (Ziggy) M. Szczepiorkowski, MD, PhD, FCAP, is currently an associate professor of pathology and of medicine at Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth as well as section chief of laboratory medicine, medical director of the Transfusion Medicine Service, medical director of the Center for Transfusion Medicine Research, and director of the Cellular Therapy Center at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center (DHMC) in Lebanon, N.H, USA. Szczepiorkowski also directs the fellowship program in transfusion medicine at DHMC, which he established in 2007.  He also is an investigator at Norris Cotton Cancer Center (NCI Comprehensive Cancer Center) and a consultant in pathology services at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston as well as a visiting professor in Institute of Hematology and Transfusion Medicine, Warsaw, Poland.

 Szczepiorkowski has served in many leadership capacities with organizations and professional societies. He is past president of AABB; past president of the American Society for Apheresis (ASFA); chair of the Biomedical Excellence for Safer Transfusion Collaborative (BEST), a past treasurer of the World Apheresis Association; a past member of the board of directors of the National Marrow Donor Program (Be The Match); Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplantation Research (CIBMTR); National Blood Foundation (NBF) and NBF Research Education Trust. He also has served on multiple National Institutes of Health review panels as well as various committees of AABB, American Society for Apheresis, College of American Pathologists, International Society of Blood Transfusion, Faculty 1000, International Committee on Transfusion Medicine Guidelines; Foundation for the Accreditation of Cellular Therapy, International Council for Commonality in Blood Bank Automation, Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research and the National Marrow Donor Program. He has been the chair of CTCLAG since 2014.

He has authored or co-authored more than 110 peer-reviewed publications; over 30 book chapters; and edited 3 books in the fields of laboratory medicine, cellular therapy, apheresis and transfusion medicine. He serves as section editor of (Cellular Therapy and Reviews) "Vox Sanguinis." and associate editor of the "Journal of Clinical Apheresis".  He participated in research funded both by government and industry sources. He is currently a consultant for Fresenius Kabi and Grifols, Inc.

His current research includes studies of adaptive immunotherapy in cancer, the clinical use of apheresis and cellular therapy products.

A graduate of the Medical University of Warsaw, Poland, Szczepiorkowski was an intern in Mokotowski Hospital in Warsaw, then completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School. He obtained his doctorate in medicine at the Medical Center for Postgraduate Education in Warsaw. He was a resident and chief resident in clinical pathology at Massachusetts General Hospital. He also was a Grove-Rasmussen transfusion medicine fellow at Massachusetts General Hospital.

W John Armitage

 United Kingdom

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.

Mohammed Farouk

Egypt

Dr. Farouk is a medical doctor graduated in Medicine and Surgery from the Faculty of Medicine of Cairo University, Egypt and received a post graduate Master in Healthcare Business Administration (MBA) from Clarkson University, NY, USA. He further holds certificates in Patient Blood Management from the Society for the Advancement of Patient Blood Management and Injury prevention and Research Methodologies from the University of Maryland, Baltimore, USA.

Post-graduation, Dr. Farouk has continually specialized in blood transfusion, joining the Egyptian National Blood Transfusion Services (ENBTS) from inception, ending up as the head of the laboratory department and board member of the National Blood Transfusion Centre in Cairo for more than 5 years. In parallel, he was a technical advisor for the Egyptian-Swiss project for restructuring the Egyptian Blood Services. This was followed, from 2012 to 2015, by successful implementation of two consecutive EU technical assistance projects to align the Turkish blood transfusion and human tissues and cells systems with EU requirements.

Among other posts during his 22 years of experience in areas of blood transfusion and human tissues and cells, he served as a consultant for many UN and international agencies, including WHO, UNICEF, UNODC, World Bank, EU, USAID, GIZ and SRC, providing technical expertise for blood transfusion projects in Africa, Asia, Middle East, and Balkan regions.

From 2016 to 2019, Dr. Farouk managed the Health Programs and Research unit of the Cairo-based Centre for Development Services (CDS) implementing research and development work in areas of HIV, family planning and child health. As of April 2017, he joined the Africa Society for Blood Transfusion (AfSBT) to manage its Step-Wise Accreditation Program then prompted in 2019 to be the Managing Director of the society. In addition, he is currently providing blood safety related expertise to the EU Project of Supporting the Ukrainian Public Health System..

Mickey Boon Chai Koh

 United Kingdom/Singapore

Dr. Mickey Koh received his medical degree in Singapore followed by subsequent specialist haematology training including his PhD in London.  He holds 2 concurrent positions (UK and Singapore) and has been doing this for more than 12 years. Dr. Koh is the Head of Haematology at St George’s University Hospitals, London, UK and Honorary Senior Lecturer at the Infection and Immunity Clinical Academic Group, St George’s University of London. He is also the Programme and Medical Director of the Academic Cell Therapy Facility at Health Sciences Authority, Singapore which is a governmental and grant funded internationally accredited GMP facility overseeing translational research and clinical trials in all areas of cell based medicine.

 His work combines a healthy mixture of clinical haematology, stem cell transplantation, collaborative research, clinical grade cell manufacturing, and academic teaching with a broad interest encompassing all cellular therapeutics from transfusion and regenerative medicine.

He is active in the international arena and has led capacity building projects in Ethiopia, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Vietnam looking at infrastructures for setting up transplant programmes and safe blood transfusion on behalf of WHO and other governmental bodies. Some of his other current/recent positions are:

-Visiting Professor: Taipei Medical University

-Executive Secretary of the WBMT (Worldwide Network for Blood and Marrow Transplantation) a  WHO affiliated NGO

-Chairperson of the Cellular Therapies Working Party at ISBT

-Vice-Chair, ISCT Presidential Taskforce on Unproven Cell Therapies, International Society of Cell  Therapy

-Chief External Examiner for Haematology Post Graduate Examination, University of West Indies

-Has been invited by World Health Organization (WHO) as an expert advisor for Transfusion  Medicine and Medical Products of Human Origin

Matthew J. Kuehnert

 United States

Dr. Kuehnert is the chief medical officer of MTF Biologics, a nonprofit tissue processor founded in 1987 to save and heal lives, and has been with the organization since 2017. He was appointed Professor of Medicine at Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine at Seton Hall University in 2019, and is a fellow of the American College of Physicians and the Infectious Diseases Society of America.

Before 2017, Dr. Kuehnert coordinated investigations, surveillance, and policy as Director of the Office of Blood, Organ, and Other Tissue Safety at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for the improvement of transfusion and transplant outcomes to ensure patient safety.

He completed his undergraduate education at the University of California at San Diego and received his medical degree from Columbia University's College of Physicians & Surgeons. He trained in Internal Medicine at Stanford University and the University of California at San Francisco, and in Infectious Diseases at Emory University.

Joy Mammen

 India

Dr. Joy Mammen did his undergraduate studies in medicine (MBBS) and subsequently specialized in Pathology (MD) from the Christian Medical College Vellore (cmch-vellore.edu), India, where he currently heads of the department of Transfusion Medicine. He is trained in Laboratory Informatics and his interest areas are in proficiency testing, laboratory automation, voluntary blood donation and public policy in connection with transfusion practice.

Dr. Mammen coordinates two national External Quality Assessment Schemes for Haemostasis and Transfusion Medicine and is a member of the National Blood Transfusion Council of India. He serves on two subcommittees of the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) for medical instruments. He also consults for WHO for issues related to blood safety. His publications are in the areas of quality assurance, haemostasis, laboratory haematology and transfusion medicine

Kelly Tilleman

 Belgium

Dr. Kelly Tilleman's research experience started in the field of proteomics where she obtained a PhD in biomarker research in inflammatory arthritides at the University of Ghent in 2007. At that time she combined her scientific enthusiasm with the responsibility of quality manager at an accredited DNA fingerprinting laboratory.

As a post-doctoral fellow she collaborated with the group of Prof. Petra De Sutter, where they joined forces in several research projects. Because of Dr. Tilleman's experience as a quality manager and her interest in the wonderful world of reproductive medicine, she was able to start a new career at the department of Petra de Sutter in November 2009. She combined her experience as the quality manager of the fertility centre and the bank for reproductive tissues and cells with scientific research experience in the area of fertility preservation to work towards the goal of optimizing the in vitro maturation of oocytes starting from ovarian cortical tissue. Additionally, and more specifically for fertility preservation in transgender persons, her goal was to develop realistic and innovative fertility preservation for female-to-male transgender persons.

From the 1st of July 2018 onwards, Dr. Tilleman has been appointed as the director of the IVF laboratory at Ghent University Hospital. This bank for reproductive tissues and cells was licensed in 2010 and processes and banks gametes, embryos and gonadic tissues. Her fertility centre performs all IVF laboratory processes in medical assisted reproduction, runs a successful fertility preservation program and performs embryo biopsy for pre-implantation genetic testing.

Dr. Tilleman currently serves as coordinator of the Special Interest Group Safety and Quality in Assisted Reproductive Technologies (SQART) of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology. Additionally, she collaborates in drafting the guide for quality and safety of tissues and cells issued by the EDQM as a Belgian representative, and has participated as project leader of an ART specific work package in EUROGTPII project funded by the Health Program of the European Union.