About us

Aura Timen is a Full Professor of Primary and Community Care and Head of the Department of Primary and Community Care, Radboud University Medical Centre, Nijmegen, The Netherlands’.

Her research work focuses on integrated preparedness and response to outbreaks, cross-border emergencies, and threats. Prof Timen led the development of communication activities in the IMI 2 VITAL consortium. She is currently leading, among many other projects, the Horizon EU project RAPIDE, aiming to improve access to regular care during pandemics, and is part of the Co-Operator Consortium, a EU4H project aiming to improve vaccination uptake.

Prof. Antonella Caputo is a full Professor of Microbiology and Virology at the University of Ferrara, Italy

Prof. Antonella Caputo earned her PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Ferrara and completed postdoctoral training at the Wistar Institute and Harvard University. Her research focuses on viral pathogenesis, HIV and Herpes simplex virus vaccine development, and T-cell immune responses. She has authored over 100 publications and has taught Microbiology and Virology to thousands of students across Medicine, Biology, Biotechnology, and Pharmacy programs at the Universities of Ferrara and Padua. She is actively engaged in both basic and applied virology research.

Dr. Freek de Haan is a senior researcher at the National Institute of Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) in the Netherlands.

He obtained his PhD on the formation of markets for antimalarial therapies in a collaboration between Utrecht University and the Mahidol-Oxford Research Unit. His main areas of interest include antimicrobial resistance, pandemic preparedness, and health system resilience.

Full Professor of Infectious Diseases at the University of Saint-Étienne and a senior physician in the Infectious Diseases Department at the University Hospital of Saint-Étienne, France.

Her research activities focus on vaccinology, particularly vaccine acceptance and hesitancy, and the implementation of evidence-based vaccination strategies in clinical practice. She is actively involved in the « Vaccination Prévention » group of Société de Pathologie Infectieuse de Langue Française (SPILF), the French society of Infectious Diseases physicians. She is also a member of the chair PréVacCI (Prévention Vaccination and Infection Control) of the Institute PRESAGE (Prevention and Global Health, Université Jean Monnet, Saint-Etienne, France). She is currently leading a research project for a complex intervention to increase vaccine acceptance during pregnancy entitled Vaccibaby.

Riccardo Gavioli is a Full Professor of Biochemistry at the University of Ferrara.

He teaches Biochemistry in the degree programs of Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Technology (CTF), Pharmacy, and Medical Biotechnology.

His main research lines include:

• the study of viral antigens and their processing and presentation to cytotoxic T lymphocytes;
• the identification of immunostimulatory molecules;
• the aging of the immune system.

He is co-inventor of three patents, co-author of over 130 publications, and has an h-index of 33.

He has served as Vice-Rector for Teaching, Program Coordinator, and Coordinator of an International PhD Program.

Since 2018, he has been the Coordinator of the University of Ferrara’s Quality Assurance Board.

Dr. Jim Janimak is director of Scientific Collaborations and Non-Clinical Publications at GSK, Belgium

Dr. Jim Janimak holds a PhD in Biomedical Sciences from the University of Akron, USA. With over 25 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, he has held roles at Eli Lilly, Baxter Healthcare, and GSK, where he has led projects in vaccine delivery technologies and quality systems. He has represented GSK in major EU initiatives such as IMI-PROMISE and VITAL, collaborating with WHO, PATH, and the Gates Foundation. Dr. Janimak has authored over 30 publications and has extensive experience in multidisciplinary project leadership

Simon Lewin is a Professor at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU); a Senior Researcher at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health; and a Chief Specialist Scientist at the Health Systems Research Unit of the South African Medical Research Council.

His work is largely within the field of health systems research.

Francesco Nicoli is an associate Professor of Microbiology at the University of Ferrara.

He teaches Microbiology and Vaccinology to students enrolled in the Schools of Medicine, Biology, Biotechnology, and Pharmacy.

After obtaining a PhD in Medical Research–International Health from Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (Germany), he pursued a postdoctoral fellowship at CIMI-Paris (France). He later continued his academic career at the University of Padua, and is currently based at the University of Ferrara.

His main research interests focus on immune responses to vaccines and viruses, with a particular emphasis on how these responses change with aging. 

Prof. Zoltán Vokó MD MSc PhD DSc is Director of the Center for Health Technology Assessment at Semmelweis University, Budapest, and lead partner at Syreon Research Institute.

Trained in medicine and epidemiology in Budapest and Rotterdam, he has held senior academic and governmental roles in public health, health policy, and epidemiology. A Doctor of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, his career spans leadership positions in health research, education, and policy development, with extensive contributions to preventive medicine and health technology assessment including studies on vaccine effectiveness.