Ahmed Abu El-Asrar, MD, Prof. (Riyad, SA)

Ahmed M. Abu El-Asrar, MD, PhD is a Professor and Consultant Ophthalmologist in the Department of Ophthalmology, College of Medicine, King Saud University. He is the supervisor of Dr. Nasser Al Rashid Research Chair in Ophthalmology at King Saud University. His main research interest is diabetic retinopathy and uveitis.

Pia Allegri, MD (Rapallo, IT)

Director of the Eye Inflammatory Diseases and Uveitis Referral Centre, North Western of Italy, Rapallo Hospital (Genova, Italy)
EDUCATION: 1984 Medical degree cum Laude at the University of Genova (Faculty of Medicine and Surgery); 1988 Specialization in Ophthalmology cum Laude at the University Eye Clinic of Genova; 1991 Specialization in Ophthalmic Surgery cum Laude at the University Eye Clinic of Genova; 1991-1995 Retina and Uveitis Fellowship at the University Eye Clinic of Genova, New York Manhattan Eye Ear and Throat Hospital (prof. Larry Yannuzzi) and at La Sapienza University Eye Clinic in Rome, Uveitis Dep. (prof. Paola Pivetti Pezzi).
WORKING ACTIVITY: 1995-2009 1st Professional Level in Ophthalmology at Lavagna (Genova) Hospital; 2009-2024 Director of the Eye Inflammatory Diseases and Uveitis North Western of Italy Referral Center at Rapallo (Genova) Hospital and Director of Allergic Conjunctivitis Tertiary Referral Center Rapallo-Lavagna (Genova) Hospital
Board member of Italian, European and International Ophthalmological Societies.
Scientific Organizer of local, national and international meetings on Uveitis and Allergic Conjunctivitis. Invited speaker at national and international meetings. Many publications in Italian and International Journals & reviewer for International Ophthalmic Journals.

Nadia Bouchenaki, MD (Geneva, CH)

After having completed her residency in ophthalmology in Geneva, she performed uveitis fellowships at Pitié-Salpétrière in Paris (Professor P. LeHoang) and in the department of ophthalmology of Monastir University, Tunisia (Professor M. Khairallah). She realised her MD thesis on the contribution of indocyanine green angiography in the appraisal of Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada disease under the supervision of Dr. Carl P. Herbort, with whom she collaborated in the Centre for Ophthalmic Specialised care (COS)during many years. She is now working in her own practice in Geneva.
Christian de Courten, MD (Switzerland)
Senior refractive surgeon trained in
Lausanne University eye clinic
Jerusalem Hadassah University eye clinic
London vision clinic
Founding member of IOIS

Colin J Chu, MD (London, UK)

Wellcome Clinical Research Career Development Fellow
Principal Investigator, UCL Institute of Ophthalmology
Honorary Consultant Ophthalmologist, Moorfields Eye Hospital

Colin is an academic ophthalmologist at UCL Institute of Ophthalmology funded by the Wellcome Trust as a Clinical Research Career Development Fellow and is an Honorary Consultant at Moorfields Eye Hospital with his clinical practice in Uveitis. His ongoing research spans gene therapy, histology and in vivo imaging of immune cells using adaptive optics, OCT and fluorescent dye labelling to better understand ocular inflammation.He was an undergraduate at the University of Cambridge prior to medical school at Oxford University and undertook his PhD at UCL with Prof Robin Ali. Subsequently he moved to the University of Bristol as a NIHR Academic Clinical Lecturer working with Prof Andrew Dick. He has spent time in the US at the University of Rochester hosted by Dr Jesse Schallek and as a Fulbright scholar at the National Institutes of Health working with Dr Ron Germain on advanced tissue imaging approaches.”

Arthur Hammer, MD, PhD, FEBO, CertLRS, PgDip CRS (Lausanne, CH & London, UK)

Jules Gonin Eye Hospital, Unit of Cornea and Refractive Surgery, Lausanne, CH
Moorfields Eye Hospital, Service of Cornea and External Eye Diseases, London, UK
Montchoisi Clinic, Lausanne, CH
Swiss Visio Network, CH

Carl P. Herbort Jr, MD, PD, FEBO (Lausanne, CH)

1973-1979: Medical school: Lausanne University Medical School, Switzerland, graduation in 1979.
1982-1986: Residency, Dpt of Ophthalmology, Lausanne University Hospital; Fellowships, University of Tokyo, Japan in 1987, San Francisco (UCSF), USA in 1988 and National Eye Institute (NEI), Bethesda, USA in 1989. Fellow of the European Board of Ophthalmology EBO since 2005; Founder of the Centre for Ophthalmic Specialized Care (COS), Lausanne, Switzerland in 1994; American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) Achievement Award in 2000. President Society for Ophthalmo-Immunoinfectiology in Europe (SOIE) since 2005. Invited Clinical Professor, Postgraduate Institute, Chandigarh, India in 2007, at Tokyo Medical University, Tokyo, Japan from 2012-2015 and at the First Pavlov State Medical University, Saint Petersburg, Russia since 2017; MEACO distinction award, 14th International Congress of the Middle East Africa Council of Ophthalmology, Dead Sea, Jordan.
Published more than 300 articles of which 284 in PubMed-cited peer-reviewed journals
More than 35 book chapters. Published one textbook: Uveitis: Text and Imaging (2009)

Florence Hoogewoud, MD (Lausanne, CH)

2004-2010: Masters in medicine, University of Bern, Switzerland
2011-2012: Clinical residency in general surgery, Department of General Surgery, Canton Hospital of Fribourg, Switzerland (Prof B. Egger)
2012-2015: Clinical residency in ophthalmology, Department of Ophthalmology, University Hospital of Geneva, Switzerland (Prof G. Thumann)
2015-2016: Clinical residency in ophthalmology, Department of Ophthalmology, Hôpital Cochin, Université Paris Descartes, Paris, France (Prof A. Brézin)
2016: Clinical residency in ophthalmology, Department of Ophthalmology, Lariboisière Hospital, Université Paris VII, Paris, France (Prof R. Tadayoni)
2016-2019: Fellowship in uveitis and cataract surgery (Department of Ophthalmology, Ophthalmopôle de Paris, Hôpital Cochin, Université Paris Descartes, Paris, France (Prof A. Brézin)
2019-2022: Specialty Doctor in the Department of Immune-infectiology of Jules Gonin Eye Hospital, Lausanne (Prof Y. Guex-Crosier)
2023-current: Consultant in the Department of Immune-infectiology of Jules Gonin Eye Hospital, Lausanne (Prof Y. Guex-Crosier)

Philippe Kestelyn, MD, Prof. (Ghent, Belgium)

Professor Philippe Kestelyn received his training in ophthalmology under Professor François from 1975 to 1979. The next decade, he established the department of ophthalmology at the Centre Hospitalier de Kigali in Rwanda, with a sabbatical leave in 1987-1988 to obtain a master in Public Health Ophthalmology at the Johns Hopkins University. He rejoined the department of ophthalmology in the Ghent University as a full staff member under Professor Jean-Jacques Delaey and retired in 2013 as head of the department.

As a board member of several Belgian and European scientific societies, he used his influence to improve the standards of clinical and scientific ophthalmology in Belgium and abroad. His most important contribution however was the vast number of residents he trained according to his high standards.

Professor Philippe Kestelyn, internationnaly recognized as an expert of HIV and the eye, contributed to ophthalmology as an author of more than 100 peer-reviewed articles and several book chapters, as a reviewer/associate editor/editor for national and international journals, and as a lecturer in four continents.

Piergiorgio Neri. MD, Prof. (Abu Dhabi, UAE)

The Eye Institute, Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, USA

Dr. Piergiorgio Neri, a full professor at Case Western Reserve University and a leading ophthalmologist at Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, exemplifies a blend of clinical excellence and academic distinction. He obtained his medical degree from the University of Ancona, Italy, and specialized in ophthalmology, deepening his expertise with a PhD in neuroscience. Dr. Neri’s academic journey is highlighted by his significant role as a former Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology at the Polytechnic University of Marche-Ancona. His extensive research contributions are evident in over 150 scientific publications, and his editorial leadership as the Editor in Chief of International Ophthalmology. Dr. Neri’s pursuit of integrating medical knowledge with business strategy is showcased by his MBA from the Questrom School of Business, Boston University, achieved with high honors. At Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, he leads the Uveitis Service and excels as the Medical Director of Patient Experience, demonstrating a commitment to superior patient care and healthcare innovation.

Ioannis Papasavvas, MD (Lausanne, CH)

Dr Ioannis Papasavvas is an Ophthalmologist working in the Center for Ophthalmic Specialised Care (COS) in Lausanne with special interest in Uveitis-Intraocular inflammation and Retinal diseases. He graduated from Medical School in the University of Ioannina in Greece. Then he started training in General Medicine in the University of Burgundy, Dijon, France. He started his specialty in Ophthalmology at the General Hospital of Patras “St Andreas”, Greece.
Dr Papasavvas finished his training in ophthalmology at the Center C of the Montchoisi clinic in Lausanne, Switzerland. He succeeded in the EBO-FMH exam and obtained his FMH title as Specialist in Ophthalmology from the Swiss Board of Medicine and is a Fellow of European Board of Ophthalmology.
He completed a Fellowship in Retinal diseases, Uveitis and Intraocular inflammation in COS, Lausanne under Prof Herbort and a Fellowship in Uveitis and Intraocular Inflammation in Moorfields Eye Hospital, London, UK under Prof Pavesio. He has authored more than 40 publications in peer-reviewed scientific journals and participated as a speaker in many Congresses. Except from working as an Ophthalmologist in COS, he is an Honorary Fellow in Uveitis in Moorfields Eye Hospital and Assistant editor in Journal of Intraocular Inflammation.

Carlos Pavésio, MD, Prof (London, UK)

Moorfields Eye Hospital, NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK
University College London

Professor of Ocular Inflammation and Infection at UCL in London and Consultant Ophthalmic Surgeon at Moorfields Eye Hospital, London, UK. He is Co-Director of the Uveitis Service at Moorfields, Director of the Fellowship Programme at Moorfields Eye Hospital and Chairman of the Infection Control Committee.
Member of many international ophthalmological societies, including IOIS and IUSG. He is a board member for the SOE and EUPO (European Union of Professors of Ophthalmology).
Organiser of the Uveitis Programme for EURETINA and SOE.
He has given more than 300 lectures both in the UK and Internationally. He was visiting Professor of Ophthalmology in New Zealand in 2009 and HMDP Visiting Expert in Ophthalmology – Uveitis, Intraocular Inflammation, Medical Retina in Singapore in 2014. He has also been a faculty member for the Cole Eye Institute Uveitis Course held in Cleveland, USA.
Professor Pavesio is the Editor-in-Chief for the Journal of Ophthalmic Inflammation and Infection and a member of the editorial board of the BJO, OII, International Ophthalmology, and JOII. He has co-edited 5 books in Ophthalmology and has authored more than 30 book chapters. He has over 250 peer-reviewed publications in the field.

Harry Petrushkin, MD, (London, UK)

Mr Harry Petrushkin is a consultant ophthalmologist at Moorfields and Great Ormond Street Hospital Specialising in the medical and surgical management of uveitis in adults and children.

He studied medicine at Cambridge University and Kings College London. He carried out much of his ophthalmic training in Moorfields Eye Hospital, with Prof Carlos Pavesio and St Thomas’ Hospital with Prof Miles Stanford where he developed his interest in inflammatory eye disease. This led to a PhD, which he carried out at Queen Mary University London, in the Behcet’s Disease Centre of Excellence with Prof Farida Fortune, studying the immunogenetics of Behcet’s Disease. In 2016, Harry travelled to the United States, and spent time at the Francis Proctor Eye Institute, San Francisco, CA with Prof Nisha Acharya; the Casey Eye Institute, Portland, OR with Prof James Rosenbaum and the Massachusetts Eye Research and Surgery Institute, Boston, MA with Prof Steven Foster. Mr Petrushkin has a research interest in ocular tuberculosis, paediatric uveitis and hypotony.

Uwe Pleyer, Prof. Dr. med., FEBO (Berlin, DE)

Uwe Pleyer is currently Professor of Ophthalmology at the Charité, Humboldt University in Berlin, Germany. He was a resident at the Eberhard-Karls-University, Tübingen, Germany and as postdoctoral fellow at the Jules Stein Eye Institute, UCLA, Los Angeles, USA, where he specialised in immune-mediated eye diseases. He concluded further clinical and research fellowships at ophthalmology centres in USA and Asia/India. He was president of EVER (2007), is a task force member for ESCRS, and a founding member of the International Ocular Inflammation Society (IOIS). He is involved in both research and clinical treatment of infectious and immune mediated ocular diseases. Dr Pleyer has published over 400 peer-reviewed articles, is (co-)editor of 17 books and editor-in-chief of Ophthalmic Research (2002-2014). He has received several honours and awards including the esteemed International Chibret Award (1994), B. Straatsma Award and Lecture (UCLA, 2006), Max Rubner Preis (2015), Meibom-Mooren Award (2022) and Von Szily Medaille of the German Society of Ophthalmology (2023).

Carlo Salvarani, MD, Prof (Reggio Emilia, IT)

Carlo Salvarani is Professor of Rheumatology at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia and Director of the Division of Rheumatology at the Azienda USL-IRCCS di Reggio Emilia.
Dr Salvarani leads a vasculitis care and research team investigating the pathogenesis, epidemiology, treatment and outcomes of various forms of vasculitis, particularly giant cell arteritis, periaortitis, Behçet’s disease and CNS vasculitis. He also has clinical and research interests in polymyalgia rheumatica. Dr Salvarani has generated over 800 full-length publications with H-index of 106 and book chapters relating to the pathogenesis and treatment of vasculitis and other rheumatic diseases. He serves as reviewer for leading medical journals, and has been on the editorial board of notable rheumatology and immunology journals. In 2023 received the Charles H. Slocumb Mayo Clinic Rheumatology Distinguished Alumnus Award.

Pieter-Paul Schauwvlieghe, MD (Leuven, Belgium)

ZNA (Ziekenhuis Netwerk Antwerpen) Antwerp Belgium.
New Vision Eye Clinic Antwerp, Belgium.
University Hospitals, Leuven, Belgium

Dr. Pieter-Paul Schauwvlieghe performed his ophthalmology residency in the University Hospital Ghent from 2007to 2011 Ophthalmology residency University Hospital Ghent under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Ph. Kestelyn. Fellowship of vitreoretinal surgery in the Eye Hospital of Rotterdam under the supervision of Prof. Dr. J. van Meurs in 2012. Fellowship in medical retina in the Eye Hopital Rotterdam, under the supervision of Dr. T. Missotten in 2012.

François Spertini, MD, Prof. (Lausanne, CH)

François Spertini was for 25 years clinical Director of the Division of Allergy and Immunology at CHUV. He was trained first as an internist, then as an immunologist in Geneva and at Boston, Harvard Medical School. As an academic, he was involved in the dissection of mechanisms leading to immune tolerance, and on the clinical research side on the development of novel vaccines in the field of tuberculosis, malaria and Ebola infections. Since his retirement from CHUV end of 2020, he opened a private practice in Immunology/Allergy in Lausanne and is regularly collaborating with ophtalmologists.

Ilaria Testi, MD (London, UK)

Department of Uveitis, Moorfields Eye Hospital, NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.
Rheumatology Department, Uveitis Service, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, London, UK

Ilaria is a Consultant Ophthalmologist at Moorfields Eye Hospital, Uveitis Service, and at Great Ormond St Hospital, Paediatric Uveitis Service. Ilaria graduated from Medical School and was trained in Ophthalmology at University of Padova, Italy. She trained in Uveitis and Ocular Inflammatory Diseases at Advanced Eye Centre, PGIMER, Chandigarh, India and Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Singapore. She completed two fellowships in Uvetis and Ocular Inflammation at Moorfields Eye Hospital, London. She trained in Paediatric Uveitis at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, London, where she completed a fellowship in Paediatric Uveitis. She is currently a MPH degree candidate at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (Master Degree in Public Health). In addition to working as Consultant Ophthalmologist at Moorfields Eye Hospital and Great Ormond St Hospital, managing uveitis and inflammatory eye diseases in adults and children, Ilaria is also the Lead of the Uveitis Virtual Service at Moorfields Eye Hospital. She has a strong interest in medical research, and has authored more than 60 publications in peer-reviewed scientific journals, and more than 10 book chapters. Her primary area of research interest includes uveitis and ocular inflammatory diseases.’

William Tucker, BMBS, BSc, FRCOphth (London, UK)

Deputy Medical Director – Medical Workforce
South West London ICS – Ophthalmology Network Clinical Lead
Consultant Ophthalmologist for Uveitis, Medical Retina & Clinical Research
Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

Will Tucker has worked as a uveitis, medical retina and clinical research ophthalmic consultant at Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation trust for the last 7 years. Previously after training in London at St Thomas’ Hospital and Moorfields under Professors Stanford, Graham, Pavesio & Lightman he was selected for a prestigious international fellowship at the National Eye Institute, NIH, USA. There he spent 14 months gaining new skills and knowledge in MR and uveitis under Nida Sen, Emily Chew and the late Robert Nussenblatt.

His research interests include translational clinical research in uveitis and medical retina, developing better outcomes for uveitis clinical trials and accurate phenotyping of uveitic conditions. In the last 4 years he has taken on clinical leadership roles and current acts as the Deputy Medical Director for Moorfields.

Ilknur Tugal-Tutkun, MD, Prof. (Istanbul, TR)

Bayrampasa Eye Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey
Dept. Of Ophthalmology, Istanbul University Faculty of Medicine, Istanbul, Turkey

Prof. Ilknur Tugal-Tutkun has served as the Director of the Uveitis Service at the Department of Ophthalmology, Istanbul University, Istanbul Faculty of Medicine between 2007 and 2020. She received an MD from Istanbul University, Istanbul Faculty of Medicine in 1984 and completed a residency in ophthalmology at the same institution in 1991. She completed fellowship training at the Ocular Immunology and Uveitis Service, Massachusetts Eye & Ear Infirmary in 1994-1995. She is a member of the International Ocular Inflammation Society, International Uveitis Study Group, American Uveitis Society, the Society for Ophthalmo-Immunoinfectiology in Europe, and the International Society for Behcet’s Disease. She has published more than 200 articles in peer-reviewed journals and she is an Editor-in-Chief of the journal Ocular Immunology and Inflammation.

Jean Vaudaux, MD (Lausanne, CH)

1999-2003 Ophthalmology residency training, Jules Gonin Eye Hospital, Lausanne University, Lausanne, Switzerland
2003-2004 International Uveitis Fellowship (Prof. Gary N. Holland), Jules Stein Eye Institute, UCLA, Los Angeles, USA
2004-2005 Chef de Clinique, Service d’Ophtalmologie, Hôpital de la Ville, La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland
2005-2009 Chef de Clinique then Médecin responsable ad interim de la Policlinique, Jules Gonin Eye Hospital, Lausanne University, Lausanne, Switzerland
2010-present Private practice, Morges, Switzerland and RétinElysée, Lausanne, Switzerland
Activities: general ophthalmology, uveitis clinic, angiography, anterior segment surgery
Focuses of interest: posterior segment/retinal/choroidal infectious diseases, HLA-B27-related eye conditions, drug-induced uveitides