COMMITTEES

Prof. Azzedine El Midaoui is the Minister of Higher Education, Scientific Research and Innovation in Morocco. Before taking on this role, he was the President of Ibn Tofail University in Kenitra from 2014, where he worked to improve the university's programs and research.

In 2018, he became President of the Conference of Presidents of Moroccan Universities, helping to guide cooperation and planning among the country's universities. Since 2015, he has also served as a member of the High Council for Education, Training and Scientific Research, contributing to national education policies.

Professor Pandol leads the American Consortium on Chronic Pancreatitis, Diabetes, and Pancreatic Cancer, driving national efforts to advance understanding and treatment of pancreatic diseases. A former President of the American Pancreas Association, he also serves as Editor of Frontiers in Gastrointestinal Sciences and Associate Editor for several leading journals.

Professor Stephen J. Pandol is an internationally recognized leader in pancreatic physiology and disease. He serves as Director of Basic and Translational Pancreas Research at Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre. He is Professor of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), the Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre, and the Charles R. Drew University College of Medicine in Los Angeles.

He has authored over 450 peer-reviewed publications in top-tier journals and holds more than 20 patents related to cancer therapeutics. His groundbreaking work has earned him multiple honours, including two Lifetime Achievement Awards and the Research Mentor Award from the AGA.

Professor Paul Moss is a world leader in human immunology and immunotherapy. He is Deputy Head of the College of Medical and Dental Sciences and Professor of Haematology at the University of Birmingham. In recognition of his contributions to biomedical research, Professor Moss was awarded an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to immunotherapy and COVID-19 research. His research focuses on immune responses to cancer, viral infection, and transplantation, with major contributions to understanding T-cell immunity.

Professor Moss has held several prominent national leadership roles, including Chair of the Medical Research Council Infection and Immunity Board and Chair of the Cancer Research UK Clinical and Translational Research Committee. He also led the UK Coronavirus Immunology Consortium (UK-CIC), coordinating national efforts to study immune protection against COVID-19.

He has authored over 400 scientific publications in leading journals and is a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences.

Professor John P. Neoptolemos is Professor of Surgery and Senior Research Group Leader at the University of Heidelberg, Germany, and one of the world's leading specialists in pancreatic cancer, with more than 500 peer-reviewed publications and 85,000 scientific citations. He is an internationally recognised surgeon-scientist whose work has significantly advanced translational cancer research.

Professor Neoptolemos is the founder of European Study for Pancreas Cancer Research (ESPAC) that has led the way for internationally collaborative pancreas cancer trials and now also includes the National Cancer Institutes (NCIs) of Canada and Japan and Australia. In 1997, he established the European Registry of Hereditary Pancreatitis and Pancreatic Cancer (EUROPAC), a major resource and focus for the study of genetic pancreas diseases. He also established key UK research infrastructures and received major honors, including the European Pancreatic Club Lifetime Achievement Award and the Henry Lynch Award.