Confirmed speakers include:

Sofia Baggini. Graduate in Law, with over 25 years of experience in Research Management, she is Head of the “Area Ricerca e Terza Missione” at the University of Pavia, where she coordinates the strategic and administrative activities related to research and technology transfer. In this role, she has developed extensive expertise in managing the full lifecycle of research projects, from planning to reporting, as well as in enhancing research outcomes through IPR protection, spin-offs, contracts, and collaborations with businesses and institutions. She oversees the entire process concerning PhD programs, research contracts, grants, and fellowships, as well as the mechanisms for assessing research quality and third mission activities.

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Claudio Bandi. Prof. Bandi graduated in Biological Sciences at the University of Pavia, and he is Full Professor of Microbiology at the University of Milan and a Member of the Scientific and Technical Committee of the National Anti-Pandemic Center. His main research focuses on: bacterial symbioses and microbiota in parasites (nematodes) and in arthropod vectors of infections (ticks, mosquitoes); the application of typing methodologies, taxonomy, and molecular phylogeny to symbiotic bacteria; comparative genomics and phylogenomics of symbiotic bacteria and pathogens of medical and veterinary interest; and various aspects of host-symbiont interactions.

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Maria Rosaria Capobianchi. Dr. Capobianchi holds a degree in Biological Sciences and a specialization in Microbiology and Virology. Former Director of the Virology Laboratory at the National Institute for Infectious Diseases ‘L. Spallanzani’, she has over twenty years of experience in Virology, with a particular focus on innate and adaptive antiviral defense mechanisms, pathogenesis, molecular characterization, emerging infections. She was awarded the title “Cavaliere dell’Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana”, and is renowned for having isolated the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus in February 2020.

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Annalaura Carducci. Prof. Carducci graduated in Biology and is specialized in Hygiene and Public Health. She is a former Full Professor of General and Applied Hygiene, with ongoing teaching and scientific activity assignments. Formerly head of the Laboratory of Hygiene and Environmental Virology and of the Health Communication Observatory of the Department of Biology, director of the Master in Industrial Hygiene, Prevention and Safety at the University of Pisa. Her research activities are about environmental hygiene, epidemiology and prophylaxis of infectious diseases, wastewater based surveillance, microbiological risk analysis for food, life and working settings, health and risk communication.

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Danilo Cereda. Dr. Cereda is a medical doctor specialized in Hygiene and Preventive Medicine, with a PhD in Public Health. He has worked in the Italian National Health Service since 2010 and currently leads the Prevention Unit of the Lombardy Region, a position he has held since 2022. He coordinates regional programs in cancer screening, vaccination, epidemiological surveillance, infectious disease emergency preparedness, occupational health and safety, food safety, and environmental health. He believes in long-term vision balanced with pragmatic daily management, in the power of data, institutional collaboration, and concrete transformation of services.

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Mario Clerici. Prof. Clerici graduated in Medicine and Surgery at the University of Milano and trained for more than 7 years at the NIH in Bethesda, USA. He is a full professor of Immunology at the University of Milano and the scientific coordinator of the SM Nascente (Don C. Gnocchi) IRCCS. He directed three University Departments and currently heads the PhD School in Translational Medicine. He authored more than 750 papers, has been awarded National and International prizes, is a knight of the Italian Republic, an honorary citizen of New Orleans, and is one of the most cited Italian scientists worldwide.

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Marco De Ambrogi. Dr. De Ambrogi studied veterinary medicine at the University of Parma (Italy), then completed a PhD in endocrinology at the University of Bologna (Italy). After several postdoctoral positions at the Royal Veterinary College in London (UK), he moved to publishing working first as Editorial Assistant at BioMed Central, then as Associate Editor at Future Medicine and after a span as Medical Writer at Imperial College (UK), he joined Elsevier as Senior Editor for The Lancet Infectious Diseases in 2014. His main interests are parasitology, zoonoses, tropical medicine, and global health.

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Federico Gobbi. Prof. Federico Gobbi is a medical doctor with a specialization in Infectious Diseases and a PhD from the University of Brescia. He is the Scientific Director and Head of the Department of Infectious/Tropical Diseases and Microbiology at IRCCS Sacro Cuore Hospital, Negrar (Verona), and Associate Professor of Infectious Diseases at the University of Brescia. He is the director of the Negrar Geosentinel site (The Global Surveillance Network of The International Society of Travel Medicine in partnership with the CDC) and a member of the Steering Committee of TropNet Europe (European Network for Tropical Medicine and Travel Health).

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Valentina Marziano. Dr. Marziano is a senior researcher at the Center for Health Emergencies of the Bruno Kessler Foundation. She develops mathematical models and applies quantitative epidemiology methods to real-world data to support public health decision-making. Her work has improved understanding and guided interventions for diseases such as varicella, measles, H1N1 pandemic flu, COVID-19, mpox, and Sudan Virus disease. She collaborates closely with national and international public health institutes, including the Istituto Superiore di Sanità. Since 2024, she has been a member of a WHO expert group developing mathematical modeling tools for rapid response to emerging epidemic and pandemic threats.

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Anna Odone. Prof. Odone is the coordinator of the national PhD programme “One Health approaches to infectious disease and life science research”, a Full Professor and Director of the School of Public Health at the University of Pavia. She is the president of section III of the Italian Supreme Health Council (CSS). Medical doctor by training, Prof. Odone received an M.Sc. in Epidemiology from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and an M.P.H. in Health Policy and Management as a Fulbright Scholar from the Harvard School of Public Health. Passionate about the value of public health, she is mentor to public health researchers, residents and PhD students. Her research primarily focuses on infectious disease control, particularly vaccines and immunisation programmes and policies.

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Giovanni Rezza. Prof. Rezza graduated in Medicine and Surgery from the University of Rome La Sapienza, specializing in Hygiene and Preventive Medicine and in Infectious Diseases. He has served as Director of the Department of Infectious, Parasitic and Immunomediated Diseases at the Italian National Institute of Health (ISS) and as Director General for Health Prevention at the Italian Ministry of Health. He is an expert in HIV and emerging infectious diseases such as Chikungunya, West Nile virus, influenza, Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever, and Q fever, he has conducted epidemiological investigations both in Italy and abroad, working on behalf of the WHO and the EU.

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