EBMT

• EBMT Treasurer
• Chairperson – Immunobiology WP

• Chairperson Inborn Errors WP
• Chairperson Paediatric Diseases WP

INBORN ERRORS WORKING PARTY CHAIRPERSON

NAME: Bobby Gaspar CENTRE: Great Ormond Street Hospital CIC: - CITY: London COUNTRY: United Kingdom

I graduated in medicine from King's College, London in 1986. Following a clinical post in Immunology at Great Ormond Street Hospital in 1992, I became fascinated by severe congenital immunodeficiencies and their treatment by HSCT and the emerging discipline of gene therapy. I undertook a PhD in the Institute of Child Health and continued clinical and academic training at the same Institution. I was appointed as Senior Lecturer/Consultant in 2002 and as Professor of Paediatrics and Immunology in October 2007.

My clinical and academic interests are very intertwined and I am very involved in 1) the outcome of reduced intensity HSCT 2) the overall long term outcome including neuropsychological function 3) cellular therapies to improve transplant outcome and 4) the development of clinical trials of gene therapy for SCID.

I am a regular referee for a number of journals including: Blood, Lancet, European Journal of Immunology, Gene Therapy, Archives of Disease in Childhood amongst others.

I have been an active member of the Inborn Errors WP over the past decade and have served for the last 3yrs as Chair of the European Severe Combined Immunodeficiency (ESID) Clinical WP during which time I have directed a study on the outcome of HSCT for ADA-SCID.

If elected I would try to achieve the following objectives:

1. To establish HSCT outcome data for each specific molecular diagnosis as this may influence overall outcome. This will also determine not only where newer therapies such as gene therapy can offer improved alternatives and but also how transplant protocols can be improved

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INBORN ERRORS WORKING PARTY CHAIRPERSON

NAME: Mario Abinun CENTRE: Newcastle General Hospital CIC: 276 CITY: Newcastle COUNTRY: United Kingdom

I graduated in Medicine in 1976 (MD, University of Sarajevo, former Yugoslavia), completed training in Paediatrics in 1983 (Board Exam, University of Belgrade) and did a postgraduate course in Medical Genetics/Immunology (MSc 1988, University of Belgrade). I did a Fellowship in 1986 in Great Ormond Street/Institute of Child Health, London (Bone marrow transplantation in Primary Immuno-deficiencies). I was appointed in 1987 as Consultant in Clinical Paediatric Immunology at the Mother and Child Health Institute, Belgrade, and as Head of Department in 1989 to become Assistant Professor in Paediatrics in 1991. I set up a Team and the unit for BMT in Primary Immunodeficiencies, and performed the 1st T-cell depleted BMT in a patient with Severe Combined Immunodeficiency (SCID) in 1990.

In 1992 I was appointed a Consultant in Paediatric Immunology in the newly formed Supra-regional National Unit for haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) in Primary Immunodeficiencies (PID) in Newcastle, and I played a role in developing the team and the Unit in one of the leading hospitals in Europe in its field. I am currently leading the UK National programme for HSCT in children with severe rheumatic disorders, as part of the European multi-centre study.

I am member of the European Society for Immunodeficiency (ESID), and since 2000 have been chairing the ESID BMT Working Party (until end of autumn 2008) and I am as such a member of ESID Board, European Society for Paediatric Infectious Diseases (ESPID) and Paediatric Rheumatology European Society (PRES). After 20 years of experience in the field of BMT/HSCT in some inborn errors (primary immunodeficiency disorders and osteopetrosis), as well as autoimmune/rheumatic conditions, my views for the future are as follows:

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PAEDIATRIC DISEASES WORKING PARTY

NAME: Christina Peters CENTRE: St. Anna Kinderspital CIC: 528 CITY: Vienna COUNTRY: Austria

Following graduation, I realised that in order to pursue what was then my ultimate goal of a career in Psychiatry, it was appropriate that I first gained experience in Paediatrics. However, my professional life, as so often happens, followed a different path. I joined the St. Anna Children’s Hospital, one of the leading institutions for the treatment of paediatric haemato-oncological diseases, in 1980, and became involved from that time in their haematopoietic stem cell transplant programme.  In 1990 I attained full accreditation in  Paediatrics, and since 1992 I have been the lead doctor responsible for the HSCT programme at St. Anna Children’s Hospital. In 2000 I was appointed Associate Professor of Paediatrics. My thesis focused on the role of granulocyte transfusions in immunocompromised patients, the improvement of allogeneic HSCT from non-sibling donors for children and the development of common strategies of GVHD-prophylaxis in children and adolescents.
 
As a spokesperson for the German-Austrian Working Group for Paediatric Stem Cell Transplantation and  Chair of the IBFM- SCT Study Group  I am coordinating the huge multicentre prospective trial on allogeneic HSCT for children and adolescents with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia (ALL). My current research interests focus on donor/stem cell source selection, prevention of leukaemic relapse and reduction of the side effects of the conditioning regime in children.

Besides my work for the Austrian Ministry of Health, founder member of the Paediatric Diseases Working Party of the EBMT and a Reviewer for Scientific Journals, I spend time enjoy my home life which involves my husband, 3 children, 1 dog and 3 cats. I also have a passion for outdoor pursuits such as skiing and mountain walking, and all the splendid range of cultural and musical events Vienna has to offer.

Since 1982, I have had the priviledge to participate actively in many EBMT projects, and have now been a member of the Board of the Paediatric Working Party for 12 years. As one of the candidates for the next chair of the Paediatric Working Party my main aims are:

	To engage and promote  active co-operation with all EBMT working parties treating children and adolescents, particularly with the Inborn Errors WP,  Aplastic Anaemia, Infectious Diseases, Late Effects and Immunobiology, in an effort  to meet the total needs  of the full spectrum of paediatric HSCT patients.
	To initiate prospective, collaborative, Good Clinical Practice conforming studies for malignant and non malignant paediatric diseases. This has become a time- and cost intensive task since the new EU-regulations and  funding remains a difficult and controversial but critical issue.
	To develop further the close collaboration with experts from the Leukaemia/ Chemotherapy national frontline studies in order to define the optimal timing of HSCT and incorporate transplant recommendations into the disease specific protocols.
	To implement the new regulations on paediatric medicines from the European Medicines Agency (EMEA) aiming to ensure that drugs used to treat children are properly tested and expand the availability of paediatric medicines.
	To offer physicians and nursing staff from small or new centres practical training and fellowships in experienced transplantation units through a European Collaborative Paediatric HSCT network.
	To further develop established Paediatric Standards within the Accreditation Process through JACIE to guarantee and maintain a high quality of patient care and experience.

My activities within the EBMT have given me the opportunity to work with excellent colleagues in an open and friendly atmosphere. As thousands of children and adolescents undergo HSCT it is my fervent duty to offer them the best treatment which bestows the optimal chance of a cure. I am deeply convinced that the platform of the EBMT PDWP is one of the most important vehicles to achieve these aims by task-oriented collaboration.

PAEDIATRIC DISEASES WORKING PARTY

NAME: Franco Locatelli CENTRE: IRCCS Policlinico San Matteo CIC: 557 CITY: Pavia COUNTRY: Italy

I completed my medical studies at the University of Pavia in 1985 and spent a three month placement as an Honorary Clinical visitor at the Leukaemia Unit at Hammersmith Hospital, London. In 1991 I took up the post of Assistant Professor of Paediatrics at the University of Pavia, becoming the Co-ordinator of the Bone Marrow Transplant Unit that same year. In 1997 I joined the paediatrics department of the Policlinico San Matteo and in June 2006 I achieved my full professorship in Paediatrics.

I am pleased to stand for election to the post of the EBMT Paediatric Diseases Working Party (PDWP) Chair in the forthcoming EBMT Elections which will be taking place at the EBMT Annual Meeting in Florence. The replacement of Giorgio Dini as chairman of our Working Party will not be an easy task, considering how relevant and fruitful Giorgio’s contribution to the Working Party has been.  My main objective will be to continue his work first initiated by Dietrich Niethammer.

In my view, the Working Party must represent a valuable resource and provide opportunities for all the paediatricians working in the field of haematopoietic stem cell transplantation to become involved.

Co-operation and collaboration with our friends and colleagues active in other Working Parties of the EBMT and with International Paediatric Groups and Societies will be a fundamental condition to the PDWP’s progress. I will work to promote co-operative, prospective clinical trials and experimental research in several fields of our activity. I will dedicate my efforts to the issues of the accreditation of paediatric centres, data collection and quality and to training, with special attention to young colleagues and to countries where the transplant activity in children is yet to be implemented.

If I am chosen, my first objective will be to ask the other candidate to provide help, support and counsel for these difficult tasks. I really want to be a chairman at the service of all EBMT members.

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