Speaker

Mark Brönstrup heads the department “Chemical Biology” at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) in Braunschweig, Germany and holds a professorship at the Leibniz University Hannover. He is also a scientist in the Novel Antibiotics research area of the German Center for Infection Research (DZIF) and speaker of its Hannover–Braunschweig partner site. Before joining HZI, he gained 14 years of industry experience at a large pharma company, taking on leadership in drug discovery and translational research.

His research focuses on discovering and optimizing new anti-infective agents, with particular emphasis on addressing antimicrobial resistance. His team combines medicinal chemistry, natural products and innovative drug modalities to develop compounds and diagnostic tools with novel modes of action. This includes “Trojan Horses” that exploit bacterial uptake pathways and so-called virulence blockers that target disease-causing mechanisms rather than bacterial growth itself.

Claudia Denkinger is a full, tenured professor and medical director of the Department of Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine at the Heidelberg University Hospital since 2019. She is an infectious disease specialist with extensive expertise in diagnostics for Global Health. She trained in Würzburg (Germany), Harvard (USA), McGill (Canada) in medicine, immunology, infectious disease, public health, epidemiology and modelling. Until 2019, she led the tuberculosis and hepatitis program at the international non-governmental organization FIND in Geneva. She contributed to advancing the field through diagnostics development and clinical trials, enabling policy development on the national and international level, incl. for TB, hepatitis, SARS-CoV-2. Her research team features here: www.denkglobaldx.org.

David Eyre is a Professor of Infectious Diseases at the University of Oxford and a Consultant in Infection at Oxford University Hospitals. His research uses routinely collected data to understand who gets different infections and why, and how best to prevent, treat and monitor these infections. He also focuses on developing artificial intelligence tools to help diagnose and treat hospital patients, and to help operational delivery of healthcare. His other research interests include the use of whole-genome sequencing as a tool for understanding the epidemiology and transmission of pathogens and how it can best be used in infection prevention and control.

Prof. Gerhard (*1968) erforscht die Interaktion von Erregern mit dem Wirt bei gastrointestinalen Infektionen. Dabei untersucht er Mechanismen der Immunsuppression und der entzündungsbedingten Krebsentstehung. Von 1988 bis 1996 studierte er Humanmedizin in Heidelberg und Hamburg und promovierte mit summa cum laude. Anschließend absolvierte er seine Facharztausbildung an der TUM und erhielt 2004 die Anerkennung für Innere Medizin. Von 2004 bis 2006 forschte er als Postdoc in den Niederlanden. 2009 habilitierte er sich an der TUM. Seit Dezember 2010 ist er Professor für Medizinische Mikrobiologie und Immunologie an der TUM. Zudem ist er Academic Director der TUM Venture Labs Healthcare.

Dr. Jacob Gerstenberg ist Arzt in Weiterbildung für Innere Medizin am DIAKOVERE Friederikenstift in Hannover sowie Gastwissenschaftler und Postdoc am Institut für Infektionsmedizin und Krankenhaushygiene des Universitätsklinikums Jena. Dort forscht er in der Arbeitsgruppe HIV und Schistosomiasis zu maternalen Infektionen und deren Auswirkungen auf Schwangerschaft und Neugeborene. Sein wissenschaftlicher Schwerpunkt liegt hierbei auf der Schistosomiasis. Seine Promotion zur Sicherheit und Wirksamkeit von Praziquantel in der Schwangerschaft führte er an der Universität Tübingen durch, in Zusammenarbeit mit dem Centre de Recherches Médicales de Lambaréné (CERMEL) in Gabun und mit Unterstützung eines Forschungsstipendium der Meta-Alexander-Stiftung und der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Infektiologie (DGI). Seine Promotionsarbeit wurde mit dem DZIF-Doktorandenpreis der DGI 2025 ausgezeichnet. Seit 2026 nimmt er zudem am Mentoringprogramm der DGI teil.

Prof. Dr. med. Norma Jung ist Diplomchemikerin sowie Fachärztin für Innere Medizin, Infektiologie, Hämatologie, Onkologie und Palliativmedizin. Seit 2013 leitet sie als Oberärztin den Infektiologischen Konsilservice und seit 2021 das ABS-Team an der Uniklinik Köln. Klinisch liegen ihre Schwerpunkte insbesondere auf S. aureus-Blutstrominfektionen, endovaskulären Infektionen und Knocheninfektionen; zudem ist sie gewählte Sprecherin der 2026 neu gegründeten DGI-Sektion Knochen- und Gelenkinfektionen. Seit 2017 ist sie gewähltes Beirats- und Vorstandsmitglied der DGI und richtete gemeinsam mit Prof. Dr. Siegbert Rieg den KIT 2026 aus. Zur Stärkung der Kooperation mit der DGIM bringt sie sich unter anderem als Mentorin, Gründungsmitglied der Initiative „Klug entscheiden“ sowie der Kommission Gender, Beiratsmitglied und CME-Mitherausgeberin ein. Seit drei Jahren ist sie zudem freiberuflich als DGSv-zertifizierte Supervisorin tätig – gefördert von der DGIM sowie ab 2027 mit zwei Plätzen für die DGI. Ihre Arbeit fokussiert auf kompetente Infektionsmedizin, Vermeidung von Überversorgung, individuelle Karriereförderung und Diversität.

Prof. Dr. Christoph Lübbert is a Full Professor of Clinical Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine at Leipzig University and serves as the Head of the Department for Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine at both the University Hospital Leipzig and the Municipal Hospital St. Georg Leipzig. He completed his medical studies across Germany, Switzerland, and South Africa, earning his doctorate in 1999 for his research on cytomegalovirus infection. Following extensive clinical training in internal medicine, gastroenterology, and tropical medicine - including earning a DTM&H from the Liverpool School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine - he held senior clinical roles at the University Hospital Halle (Saale). A recognized leader in his field, Prof. Lübbert was elected to the scientific advisory board of the German Society of Infectious Diseases (DGI) in 2015 and joined its board in 2017. In 2024, he was appointed by the Federal Ministry of Health (BMG) to the Federal Commission for Hospital Hygiene and Infection Prevention at the Robert Koch Institute (KRINKO). His extensive academic contributions include over 250 peer-reviewed papers focusing on gastrointestinal infections, multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria, emerging infections, high-consequence infectious diseases (HCID), and antibiotic stewardship (ABS).

Ulrich Matt ist Oberarzt mit Leitung des Antibiotic-Stewardship-Programms und Konsildienstes, sowie Forschungsgruppenleiter in der Medizin V, Schwerpunkt Infektiologie und Krankenhaushygiene des Universitätsklinikums Gießen. Nach dem Medizinstudium, sowie einem PhD in Immunologie, in Österreich, absolvierte er seine internistische und infektiologische Facharztausbildung in der Schweiz. Er ist Principal Investigator am Deutschen Zentrum für Infektionsforschung (DZIF) und am Deutschen Zentrum für Lungenforschung (DZL) sowie Mitglied des Exzellenzclusters Cardio-Pulmonary Institute (CPI).

Jane McKeating holds the chair of Molecular Virology in the Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford. She has made seminal contributions to our understanding of early infection events that define the tropism of clinically important human viruses that have informed model systems for the evaluation of anti-viral therapies. Her laboratory discovered key receptors that regulate pathogen entry and the role of environmental oxygen in defining cell susceptibility to infection by a range of viruses. More recently, her team has developed spatial transcriptomic and proteomic methods to study hepatitis B virus infected liver tissue at single cell resolution. This work has enabled quantitative characterisation of tissue organisation across histology and spatial transcriptomics, revealing spatial immune patterns that associate with viral persistence (McKeating lab website). 

PD Dr. Sibylle C. Mellinghoff ist Fachärztin für Innere Medizin und Oberärztin an der Klinik I für Innere Medizin der Uniklinik Köln. Ihr klinischer und wissenschaftlicher Schwerpunkt liegt auf Infektionen bei immunsupprimierten Patient:innen, insbesondere im Kontext hämatologischer und onkologischer Erkrankungen. Im Rahmen eines DZIF Clinical Leave Fellowships forschte sie am Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf zur Infektionsimmunologie und zu Impfantworten bei immunkompromittierten Patient:innen. Anschließend setzte sie ihre Forschung im DZIF Advanced Clinician Scientist Programm fort und untersuchte insbesondere die Immunantwort auf Influenzaimpfungen unter Immunsuppression. Heute beschäftigt sie sich mit der Frage, wie Erkrankungen und moderne antineoplastische Therapien die Immunabwehr beeinflussen und wie sich daraus individuelle Infektionsrisiken und gezielte Präventionsstrategien ableiten lassen. Ein besonderer Fokus ihrer translationalen Forschung liegt auf Impfantworten und der longitudinalen Charakterisierung der Immunrekonstitution bei immunkompromittierten Patient:innen. Sie ist in nationalen und internationalen Forschungsnetzwerken im Bereich Infektiologie und Hämatologie/Onkologie aktiv und engagiert sich darüber hinaus für medizinethische Fragestellungen an der Schnittstelle von klinischer Medizin, Forschung und technologischer Innovation.

Michaela Müller-Trutwin is Professor at Institut Pasteur and Head of the “HIV, Inflammation and Viral Persistences” Unit. She studied at the universities of Bonn and Frankfurt and obtained her PhD from the University of Paris, France. She has worked at research institutes in West- and Central-Africa. As Dean, she designed and directed the Pasteur–Paris University International PhD Program. She currently chairs the national coordinated action on HIV basic and translational research at ANRS EID and serves as Deputy Director of the Scientific Evaluation Department at Institut Pasteur. She also played a key role in establishing the Center for Innovative Therapies for Infectious Disease Models (IDMIT). She is a founding member of the ANRS RHIVIERA consortium on HIV remission, a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the International AIDS Society’s (IAS) “Towards an HIV Cure” initiative and elected member of the Academia Europaea. Her research has contributed to the discovery of distinct HIV and SIV groups and subtypes and has provided key insights into the role of HIV-induced chronic inflammation in AIDS pathogenesis. More recently, her team has contributed to unravel a role of natural killer (NK) cells in people in remission of HIV. Some of her discoveries have paved the way for preclinical and clinical trials. Her work has been awarded, among others, through the French Medical Research Foundation and the Heinz Ansmann price.

Jean-Paul Pirnay holds a PhD in Medical Sciences from Brussels Free University and an MSc in Industrial Engineering (biotechnology) from State College Ghent.  He has over 30 years of experience in military medical research with a focus on human cell and tissue product (HCTP) transplantation, microbiology, and phage therapy. He performed his military service at the Queen Astrid Military Hospital (QAMH) in 1993 where he subsequently worked as a researcher in various departments (blood bank, skin bank and cell culture laboratory). In 2005, he was appointed as director of the Laboratory for Molecular and Cellular Technology (LabMCT) of the QAMH, which harbours cell and tissue banks, a phage research laboratory, and a cleanroom production facility for HCTPs and phage active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs).

Jean-Paul Pirnay serves as Education Officer of the ESCMID Study Group for Non-Traditional Antibacterial Therapy (ESGNTA) and is member of the Steering Committee of the EUCAST Phage Susceptibility Testing Subcommittee and of the Human Cell, Tissue and Organ working party of the Belgian Superior Health Council.

LinkedIn: Jean-Paul Pirnay

PD Dr. Camilla Rothe,
Institut für Infektions- und Tropenmedizin, LMU_Klinikum München  

PD Dr. Camilla Rothe ist stellvertretende Leiterin des Instituts für Infektions- und Tropenmedizin im LMU-Klinikum München. Sie leitet die Ambulanz für Tropen- und Reisemedizin. Als Vorsitzende des Ständigen Ausschusses Reisemedizin (StAR) der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Tropenmedizin, Reisemedizin und Globale Gesundheit (DTG) ist sie u.a. an der Erarbeitung der nationalen Empfehlungen zur Malariaprophylaxe und zu Reiseimpfungen beteiligt. Dr. Rothe lebte und arbeitete vier Jahre in Blantyre, Malawi. Ihr besonderes Interesse gilt der fallbasierten medizinischen Lehre; sie ist Herausgeberin des Lehrbuchs Clinical Cases in Tropical Medicine (Elsevier). Im Jahr 2020 wurde sie für ihre Rolle bei der erstmaligen Beschreibung der asymptomatischen Übertragung von COVID-19 in die TIME-100-Liste aufgenommen.

Yazdan Yazdanpanah, MD, PhD, is Professor of Infectious Diseases at Université Paris Cité, Director of ANRS Emerging Infectious Diseases (ANRS MIE), and Head of the Department of Infectious Diseases at Bichat-Claude-Bernard Hospital in Paris. Professor Yazdanpanah received his medical degree from the Faculty of Medicine in Lille in 1996. He subsequently completed specialist training in Hepato-Gastroenterology (1996) and Infectious Diseases (2002). In 2000, he earned a Master of Science in Epidemiology from the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, USA, followed in 2002 by a doctoral degree in Public Health Sciences from the Institute of Public Health in Bordeaux. He was appointed Professor of Infectious Diseases in 2006. His research focuses on the clinical epidemiology of HIV, viral hepatitis, and emerging infectious diseases, as well as the pharmacoeconomics of antimicrobial agents. Professor Yazdanpanah was one of the initiators and coordinators of Inserm’s REACTing program (REsearch and ACTion targeting emerging infectious diseases), established to optimize and coordinate existing research capacities in response to emerging and re-emerging infectious disease threats. In February 2017, he was appointed Director of Inserm’s thematic institute for Immunology, Inflammation, Infectious Diseases and Microbiology. He served as President of the international Global Research Collaboration for Infectious Disease Preparedness (2018–2020) and as Chair of the Governing Board of the European & Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP) (2018–2022). From March 2020 to July 2022, he was a member of the COVID-19 Scientific Council advising the President of the French Republic, Emmanuel Macron. Since 2018, he has also been a member of the WHO Global Coordination Mechanism (GCM) for Research and Development (R&D), established to strengthen global preparedness and response to epidemics. Since 2021, he has served as Director of ANRS Emerging Infectious Diseases (ANRS MIE). Professor Yazdanpanah has contributed as an author or investigator to more than 750 publications indexed in PubMed. He was also included in Clarivate’s 2024 list of Highly Cited Researchers.

Since 2026 Holger is CEO of INCATE, the INCubator for Antimicrobial Therapies in Europe supporting early translational projects in the AMR field. In parallel he is also working as independent consultant to biotech companies and VCs and is also supporting the DZIF Start-up Fund. 

After a PhD in Virology at University of Cologne, a PostDoc at the IMCB in Singapore he joined the Virology department of BayerHealthCare and was later part of the spin-out team which formed AiCuris. He is inventor and was the responsible R&D leader of Letermovir - a life-saving drug for the prophylactic treatment of cytomegalovirus infections, currently generating revenues of approx. USD 1 billion - up to clinical phase 2b and successful out-licensing to MSD (largest deal at the time for a research project from the German biotech scene). From 2015 to 2024 he was CEO / Executive Board member of AiCuris.