Marta Tejedor– Dr. Tejedor completed her residency in Digestive Diseases at the Ramón y Cajal Hospital in Madrid. For two years she worked, first as a fellow, and then as a consultant in advanced hepatology and liver transplantation at Saint James’s Hospital, Leeds, England. In 2023 she obtained her PhD in Medicine from the Complutense University of Madrid, on brain effects of hyponatremia. She is currently the Head of the Digestive System Service at the Hospital Infanta Elena, where she has been working first as a consultant (2014-2019), then as Head of the Liver Unit (2019-2021). She has extensive experience in the field of Clinical Hepatology, with a special interest in advanced cirrhosis and its complications. She combines this work with research projects (clinical and basic) and innovation, being the President of the Innovation Team and member of the Talent Group. She has published in national and international journals and has multiple communications to conferences. She has teaching experience, both to undergraduate and postgraduate students.

Paolo Magistri– Born and raised in Rome, Paolo Magistri had his surgical education in Rome and Modena, and started his academical career in Modena. He started the experience with research in medical school (Sapienza – University of Rome) and worked on HCC-HSC crosstalk and in-vivo bioluminescence-based tumor detection at University of California San Diego, with Prof. Jason K. Sicklick, then on plasticity and invasiveness modulation of colon cancer cells metastatic to the liver in Rome, and finally on clinical research with Prof. Fabrizio Di Benedetto at University of Modena, implementing the application of robotic technology to advanced liver procedures and describing the first cases of full robotic ALPPS for HCC and for intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma. He also joined Prof. Karim Halazun for short a clinical observership at the Liver Transplantation and Hepatobiliary Surgery at New-York Presbyterian Hospital – Weill Cornell Medical Center. His current fields of research are robotic liver surgery, liver grafts machine perfusion, living donor liver transplantation, LT for non resectable liver metastases from colorectal cancer,, role of non-coding RNA and extracellular vescicles for recurrence prediction in liver and pancreatic tumors. In 2022 he became assistant Professor of Surgery at University of Modena, received the Young Investigator Award during the ILTS Congress in Istanbul, and became Fellow of the American College of Surgeons. He is currently secretary of the Italian Chapter of the American College of Surgeons. In 2023 he received national funds for a research project to study metabolipiodomic and extracellular vescicles in liver transplantation for HCC with or without hypothermic machine perfusion.

Antonio Galante– Dr. Antonio Galante graduated from the University of Messina, Italy, in 2008. He completed his Internal Medicine residency at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE) in 2016. During the training, he focused his clinical and scientific activities on liver diseases. He continued working as a consultant at UKE in the Department of Gastroenterology with the Sections Infectiology and Tropical Medicine, mainly at the Outpatient Clinic for Hepatology and Liver Transplantation until 2019. In the meantime, he completed a one-year Transplant Hepatology Fellowship at Toronto General Hospital in Canada in 2018. From 2020 to 2024 he worked as a consultant at the Gastroenterology and Hepatology Department in Lugano, Switzerland. In 2024 he was appointed as Chief of the Hepatology Unit at ISMETT Mediterranean Institute for Transplantation and Advanced Specialized Therapies in Palermo, Italy. He is a clinical lecturer at the Faculty of Biomedicine of the University of the Italian Switzerland (USI) in Lugano, Switzerland and Assistant Professor at the University of Pittsburgh, United States. His main clinical and scientific fields of interest are liver transplantation, complications of cirrhosis, and application of artificial intelligence systems in hepatology. Dr. Galante is the author of several scientific publications, and he regularly takes part in national and international conferences, being a member of EASL (European Association for the Study of the Liver), AASLD (American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases), ILTS (International Liver Transplant Society) and AISF (Associazione Italiana Studio del Fegato). He is a reviewer for several journals, including Digestive and Liver Disease, Journal of Hepatology Reports (JHEP Reports), and United European Gastroenterology (UEG) Journal.

Tommaso DeMaira– Dr. Tommaso Di Maira is a committed Attending Hepatologist and Research Associate at University Hospital La Fe in Valencia, Spain. He began his academic career at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia in Italy, where he completed his residency in Gastroenterology in 2014. He then continued his training as a liver transplant hepatologist at University Hospital La Fe in Valencia, advancing his expertise by earning a Doctorate in Medicine from the Universitat de Valencia in 2018.

Dr. Di Maira is committed to continuous learning, as demonstrated by his training at prestigious institutions such as Toronto General Hospital in Canada and Columbia University Irving Medical Center in New York. These experiences have enriched his understanding of liver transplantation.

As an active member of ILTS, AASLD, AEEH, and SETH, Dr. Di Maira makes substantial contributions to the liver transplantation field, merging clinical practice with academic research. His engagement in international congresses highlights his role as an informed participant in the global dialogue on liver transplantation. Moreover, his commitment to research initiatives, scholarly article reviews, and leadership in research projects aimed at improving post-transplant hepatic care underlines his dedication to advancing the understanding and treatment of liver diseases.

Manikandan Kathirvel-Dr. Manikandan Kathirvel is a Consultant General, HPB, and Transplant Surgeon at the Whittington Trust and Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust, London, United Kingdom. He graduated and completed his general surgical training at PSG Institute of Medical Sciences, India. He then pursued a three-year super-specialty GI/HPB and liver transplant training at the Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences, Kochi, India, from 2015 to 2018. He received a gold medal for the best postgraduate dissertation thesis and passed his super-specialty exit exams with distinction, earning another gold medal as the top trainee.

Subsequently, he moved to the UK and completed senior clinical fellowships in HPB surgery and multi-organ transplant surgery at Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge, and Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust from 2018 to 2023. He began working as a Locum Consultant HPB and Transplant Surgeon in March 2023 at the Whittington and Royal Free London NHS Trusts.

He has been a principal and co-investigator in four RCTs evaluating surgical techniques and immunosuppression regimens in live donor liver transplantation. These trials have been discussed in international forums and published in reputable peer-reviewed journals. He is also a research committee member and contributed to the ERAS4OLT consensus guidelines. His other publications include areas like donor biliary complications, HAT risk factors, and machine perfusion in split liver transplantation. He is an invited peer reviewer for journals like Annals of Transplantation and Journal of Clinical Medicine Research. His other achievements include awards at national and international levels, including a gold medal for best postgraduate dissertation and best research paper awards by the ISG, ILS, and ASGK.

Apart from his role as a clinician, Dr. Kathirvel is a reputed international faculty member for FRCS general surgery mentoring and guidance. He is the founder, COO, and program director for PrepMedico, a reputed health edutech company that offers highly sought-after FRCS courses in the UK. These courses are accredited and endorsed by the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. He also holds an assistant professorship in general surgery, affiliated with Tamil Nadu Dr. MGR Medical University, Chennai. He has received leadership awards for excellence in surgical gastroenterology and remote medical education from the World Tamil Organization at the House of Commons, British Parliament, and has received recognition for his leadership skills as a “doctorpreneur” at the Health 2.0 Conference in Dubai.

Dr. Kathirvel, as a vanguard committee member, aims to enhance his knowledge and hone his surgical and administrative skills through the International Liver Transplant Society (ILTS). He believes that international collaboration and knowledge sharing can effectively address the evolving challenges in transplant medicine, ensuring continual advancements in the field.

Shennen Mao– Shennen Mao is assistant professor of surgery at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida.  She completed medical school at Harvard Medical School and subsequently completed general surgery residency and abdominal transplant surgery fellowship at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.  She is clinically active in liver, kidney, and pancreas transplant and advanced procurement techniques including abdominal normothermic regional perfusion.  She is the Surgical Director of Kidney Transplant and Living Donation at Mayo Clinic Florida. 

She has special clinical interest in broadening access to transplantation through optimal utilization, management, and support of living and deceased kidney and liver donors.  She leads the hypothermic and normothermic machine perfusion efforts for kidney and liver transplant at Mayo Clinic Florida.  In addition, Dr. Mao maintains active translational research applying regenerative therapies to rehabilitate organs for transplantation.        

Trainees:

Daniel Aliseda– Dr. Daniel Aliseda is a young surgeon specializing in Hepatopancreaticobiliary (HPB) Surgery and Liver Transplantation. He completed his medical training at the University of Navarra in 2018, followed by a residency in General Surgery at the Clinica Universidad de Navarra. Under the mentorship of Prof. Fernando Rotellar, Dr. Aliseda developed a deep interest in HPB surgery and Liver Transplantation, which was further consolidated during 3 months at the Hepato-Biliary Center with Prof. Daniel Cherqui.

In January 2024, Dr. Aliseda obtained his PhD in Medicine and Biomedicine from the University of Navarra for his research focused on innovative therapeutic and surgical strategies to improve patient survival in complex HPB neoplasms. In addition to his clinical practice, he is actively involved in academic activities and serves as a reviewer for surgical journals.

Dr. Aliseda has presented his research at more than 65 national and international congresses (including IHPBA, ILTS, EA-HPBA, or ISLS, among others). He has authored more than 15 articles published in surgical journals such as BJS and Annals of Surgery.  His primary interests are transplant oncology, minimally invasive HPB surgery and machine perfusion.

A Mi Mi Kyaw-She trained in General Hepatology and Transplant Hepatology at 1500-Bedded Mandalay General Hospital, Mandalay, Myanmar. She is member of EASL (European Association for Study of the Liver) and ILTS (International Liver Transplantation Society).

She has been an active participant in National and International Conferences with oral and poster presentations. She was awarded the Preceptorship Award of The Liver Transplant Symposium, NUHS in 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2023. She was also awarded the Preceptorship Award of SHC in 2018, 2019 and 2023. She has received Travel Award of APPLE 2018 and APPLE ACADEMY SCHOLARSHIP of APPLE 2019.. Her field of interest are Transplant Hepatology, Transplant Oncology and Liver Transplantation.

Tommy Ivanics– Tommy Ivanics, a native of Stockholm, Sweden, currently holds the position of general surgery resident at Henry Ford Hospital (Detroit, MI, USA) and is an incoming abdominal transplant and hepatopancreatobiliary surgery fellow at the University of Toronto (Toronto, ON, Canada). He completed an MPH degree at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health (Baltimore, MD, USA) and a research fellowship in HPB surgical oncology and transplantation at Toronto General Hospital. Presently, he is undertaking a PhD in hepatobiliary surgical and transplant oncology through Uppsala University (Uppsala, Sweden) and the University of Toronto. He was awarded the ILTS Young Investigator Award in 2020 and the ILTS Vanguard Award in 2022. His interests in transplantation include transplant oncology, translational research with pre-clinical patient-derived models, and multi-institutional and international evaluations of deceased and living donor liver transplantation.

Kenan Morel – Pending