Mr Paolo De Coppi is a Consultant Paediatric Surgeon at Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH), and Reader and Head of Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine at the UCL Institute of Child Health in London.

He has been an Honorary Professor at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium, since 2013, an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine, Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, since 2009 and an Honorary Assistant Professor in Paediatric Surgery at the University of Padua, Italy, since 2005.

• Pediatric Emergency Medicine Consultant , Clinical Pharmacologist and Toxicologist in Amiri Hospital ( Kuwait )
• Canadian and Anerican Board Certification In Pediatrics and Pediatric Energency Medicine
• Clinical Fellowshio of Teaching and Medical Education from University Of Toronto
• Clinical tutor in Kuwait Institute Of Medical Specialities ( KIMS)
• Clinical Tutor in Faculty Of Medicine -Kuwait University
• PALS Instructor In Amiri Training Centre

Dr. Munaa Dashti is a Board-Certified Emergency Medicine Senior Specialist with the Kuwait Board of Emergency Medicine (KBEM), under the Kuwait Institute for Medical Specialization (KIMS). She earned her MB, BCh, BAO, LRCP & SI degrees from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI), Dublin.

Dr. Dashti completed fellowships in Clinical Simulation at the STRATUS Center, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and in Emergency Ultrasound at Mass General Brigham — both affiliated with Harvard Medical School.

She currently serves as Head of the Competence Committee, Site Coordinator, and Clinical Tutor at KBEM, in addition to being a Medical Simulation educator and POCUS leader. As an attending physician at Amiri Hospital, she continues to advance emergency medicine education and patient care across Kuwait.

• Senior pediatric hematology & oncology -NBK hospital.
• Certified in PICC line insertion-KCC

• Mohammad Hammoud currently serves as Regional Products Manager & Technical Support, Middle East and Africa for Fresenius Kabi. 

Dr. Ahmad Jaafar is Kuwait’s first and only specialist in Pediatric Complex Care, and a leading figure in Pediatric Palliative Care. As Head of both the Pediatric Complex Care Unit and the Pediatric Palliative Care Unit at Jahra Hospital, he is shaping the national landscape of care for children with medical complexity and with palliative care needs. Dr. Ahmad’s work integrates clinical excellence, family-centered practice, and system-level innovation—bridging hospital, home-care, and hospice services to build a compassionate and sustainable model of care that empowers children and their families across Kuwait.

Dr. Al Shahrani serves as a Consultant Pediatric Hematology/Oncology & Bone-Marrow Transplant (BMT) specialist at Prince Sultan Military Medical City in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

• He is the President of both the Saudi Society of Hemophilia and the Saudi Society for Thalassemia and Sickle Cell Disease.
• His expertise emphasizes bone-marrow transplantation, pediatric hematology, thalassemia, sickle cell disease and hemophilia.

Key Achievements & Contributions:

• As President of the societies above, he plays a leadership role in shaping care, protocols and advocacy for hemophilia, thalassemia and sickle cell disease in Saudi Arabia.
• Through his consultant role in BMT, he contributes to advanced therapies in pediatric hematology/oncology, involving high-complexity interventions.
• He has published research (as indicated in author profiles) in areas such as stem-cell transplant, infectious risk post-transplant, etc.

Academic & Professional:

• Although full details of his medical education and training aren’t publicly available in the sources found, his senior roles and society presidencies reflect a significant level of expertise, likely including pediatric hematology fellowship and BMT specialization.
• His consultant appointment in a major Riyadh medical centre indicates recognised clinical leadership and specialist qualification.

Accomplished senior leader with extensive hands-on experience in developing, characterizing, qualifying, and tech transferring autologous, allogeneic, gene-edited, and PSC-based cell therapy processes. Held leadership roles at industry-leading companies, including Kite Pharma and Takeda Pharma. Ph.D. holder and former faculty member at the University of Chicago, with a strong background in immunology and cancer biology. Demonstrated success in overseeing product manufacturing in cGMP regulated environments. Proven track record in building and managing large, high-performing teams, fostering cross-functional collaborations across research, development, and technical operations, and leading regulatory filings and communications

Dr. Leslie Lehmann is the Director of the Stem Cell Transplantation Program at Dana-Farber/Boston Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorders Center and the Medical Director of the International Hematology/Oncology/Bone Marrow Transplant at Boston Children’s Hospital. Dr. Lehmann is also an Associate Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School. She specializes in bone marrow and stem cell transplantation and the long-term effects of stem cell transplantation. She attended Harvard College and received her medical degree from Duke University Medical School, where she finished pediatric residency and then spent a year as chief resident. She completed a pediatric hematology-oncology fellowship at Boston Children's Hospital/Dana Farber Cancer Institute and subseq…

Dr. Dayana Farhat is a GMP and Cell & Gene Therapy Specialist at Bio-Techne, focusing on supporting collaborators across the EMEA region in developing robust GMP workflows and advanced manufacturing solutions for cell therapy.

Dayana combines expertise in cell and gene therapy process development, GMP compliance, and regulatory readiness with a strong focus on closed-system technologies and analytics, working closely with research and clinical teams to translate innovative therapies from bench to bedside.

Dr. Farhat holds a PhD in Molecular and Cell Biology, two Master’s degrees in Cancer Biology & Epigenetics and Biotechnology & Health Management, and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Pasteur Institute specializing in epigenetics and cellular reprogramming.

Based in France, she collaborates with academic institutions, biotech companies, and hospital-based manufacturing centers to advance safe and effective advanced therapies across Europe and the Middle East."

Dr. Iman AlDiri is a leading pain and Palliative Care Consultant at the Kuwait Cancer Control Center (KCCC), NBK children’s hospital. She started the first pain service in Kuwait in 1989 in KCCC for adult and pediatric patients. In her role, she spearheads key initiatives, including serving as the Head of the Scientific Committee for the "Train the Trainer" workshops, organized in Kuwait with the support of WHO EMRO. Her efforts focus on building capacity and enhancing pain and palliative care standards in the region.

Dr. Iman is actively engaged with the global pain and palliative care community as a member of the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP), the American Academy of Pain Medicine (AAPM), and the European Association of Palliative Care (EAPC). Her dedication to advancing pain management and palliative care is reflected in her research contributions and numerous published works.

Dr. Shakeel Modak is a pediatric hematologist/oncologist in New York, NY and is affiliated with multiple hospitals in the area, including Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York-Presbyterian Hospital, New York-Presbyterian Hospital, and New York-Presbyterian Hospital. He received his medical degree from Topiwala National Medical College and has been in practice 29 years. He is one of 110 doctors at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and one of 135 doctors at New York-Presbyterian Hospital who specialize in Pediatric Hematology & Oncology. He has more than 100 publications and over 500 citings.

Dr. Robert Chiesa is Consultant in Bone Marrow Transplants and CAR-T cell therapy, and serves as the BMT Specialty Lead at Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH)

He graduated in Medicine from the University of Milan and subsequently trained in paediatric haemato-oncology and stem-cell transplant in Monza, Italy.  He then worked at the San Raffaele Institute in Milan on stem-cell transplantation for thalassaemia and stem-cell gene therapy in primary immunodeficiencies.

In 2009 he joined Great Ormond Street Hospital’s Bone Marrow Transplant Department where he has led several clinical studies in malignant (for instance B-ALL, T-ALL, AML) and non-malignant (such as chronic granulomatous disease, infantile osteopetrosis, X-linked adrenoleukodystrophy) diseases. He also oversees the radio-immunotherapy (RIT) service using Yttrium-90 and leads programmes in allogeneic CAR-T cell therapy and stem-cell gene therapy trials.

Dr. Susana Rives is a Senior Consultant in Pediatric Hematology and Head of the Leukemia, Lymphoma, and CAR T-Cell Unit at the Pediatric Cancer Center Barcelona. She is an expert in pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and immunotherapy in childhood leukemia.

Dr. Rives obtained her medical degree and specialization in Hematology and Hemotherapy from the University of Barcelona and Hospital Clínic Barcelona. She completed international training at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital (USA) and the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia in Cancer Immunotherapy.

She currently serves as the Spanish National Chair of the International BFM-SG Pediatric Leukemia and Lymphoma Group and is a member of the European Pediatric CAR T-Cell Task Force. Dr. Rives has authored over 100 peer-reviewed publications and leads multiple clinical trials in CAR T-cell therapy for pediatric ALL

Professor of Gene Therapy and Paediatric Immunology at University College London (UCL) and Consultant Paediatric Immunologist at Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) in London.  She leads the clinical stem‐cell gene therapy programme at GOSH, spearheading Phase I/II trials for patients with primary immune deficiencies, haematological and metabolic disorders.

Her research focuses on innovative gene modification strategies — including conventional lentiviral corrective approaches and novel gene‐editing techniques — aimed at immune system disorders such as X-linked lymphoproliferative disease (XLP-1), XIAP deficiency and haemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH).

Professor Booth also actively engages in translating laboratory science into clinical therapies, overseeing patient care including haematopoietic stem‐cell transplantation and gene therapy trials.

Rupert Handgretinger was trained at the Children's University Hospital Tübingen in General Pediatrics and Hematology/Oncology. In 2000-2005 , he was appointed the director of the Division of Stem Cell Transplantation at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, USA. From 2005-2021, he was Chairman of the Department of General Pediatrics and Hematology/Oncology at the Children's University Hospital Tübingen. He retired in April 2021 and is currently professor emeritus at the University of Tuebingen. Since 2021, he serves as a consultant to the Abu Dhabi Stem Cell Center and Yas Clinic Khalifa City in the United Arab Emirates and in 2024, he was appointed as the George and Jennifer Yeo Endowed Chair in Pediatric Oncology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore. His main research interests are immunotherapeutic approaches and gene therapy for pediatric patients. He is a member of the German Academy of Science Leopoldina and received the Life Achievement Award from the American Pediatric Transplantation and Cellular Therapy Consortium (PTCTC) in 2021.

Head of the Pediatric Hematology Oncology Department and Director of the Pediatric Stem Cell Transplant (SCT) Program in Kuwait. Currently leading the Pediatric SCT Unit at NBK Children’s Specialized Hospital. Chair of the committee for Stem Cell and Tissue Principles and Technical and Administrative Standards, and head of the committee for Central Policies for Secondary and Tertiary Care. Member of the general pediatric council in Kuwait , Vice-President of the Sickle Cell Disease Higher Committee, President of the Kuwait pediatricians Association, and Treasurer of the Kuwait Thalassemia League. Active member of international organizations including EBMT, ISCT, ASTCT, ASHI, and ARSHI.

Graduated from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI), with dual qualifications in pediatrics (Kuwaiti Board and MRCPCH). Completed a fellowship in Pediatric Hematology and SCT in the UK. Established the Pediatric SCT program in 2020 and initiated the treatment of CCP in Kuwait in 2020. Research interests include benign hematology, thrombosis, hemostasis, and stem cell transplantation.

Head of Pediatric Oncology and Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT) at Children’s Cancer Hospital Egypt (CCHE 57357) and Professor of Pediatric Oncology at the National Cancer Institute, Cairo. A pioneer of BMT in Egypt, he established transplant units across leading hospitals and helped transition the Egyptian NCI toward accredited postgraduate education. His research spans hematologic malignancies, HSCT in low- and middle-income countries, cost-effectiveness of childhood cancer care, and outcomes in retinoblastoma, CNS tumors, and leukemia. Prof. Elhaddad has held senior leadership roles including Dean of the National Cancer Institute (2011–2015) and serves with regional and global transplant networks (ABMT, WBMT, EBMT), ASH, ASCO, and SIOP. His work continues to expand access to high-quality cancer care across Egypt, Africa, and the Middle East.

where he served as a member of the Stem Cell Transplant Program staff and as the Director of the Chronic Graft-versus-Host Disease Clinic. He has lectured widely on GvHD/BMT in Europe, Latin America, and the United States. He got his Bachelor of Science from Yale University, his medical degree from Tufts University, and a Masters in Clinical Investigation from Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health.

Eager to contribute to the field of Pediatric Hematology, Oncology, Stem Cell Transplantation and cellular therapy. Ambitious to lead the region and collaborate with national and international colleagues to cure children with cancer and inherited hematological disorders.

Dr. Donia Al Bastaki is the Head of the Drug Registration Department and the Acting Director of the Pharmaceutical and Herbal Medicines Registration & Control Administration at the Ministry of Health, State of Kuwait. With over 20 years of experience, she has played a key role in shaping national and GCC drug regulatory policies and has led major national and regional initiatives in drug registration and pharmacovigilance. Dr. Al Bastaki has significantly contributed to the development of Kuwait’s regulatory framework across pharmaceuticals, vaccines, health products, veterinary medicine, and medical devices.

She is a senior GMP inspector with over 18 years of inspection experience. She also serves as a member of the Gulf Central Committee for Drug Policies and several other national and regional strategic and technical committees.

Dr. Al Bastaki represents Kuwait in various international forums, including the International Council of Harmonization (ICH) and the International Pharmaceutical Regulators Program (IPRP), and is a frequent speaker at regional and global regulatory conferences.

Josu de la Fuente is a Consultant Haematologist at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust and Professor of Practice (Cellular and Gene Therapies) of Imperial College London. He was appointed Director of the Paediatric Blood & Marrow Transplant Programme in 2006, specialising in transplantation for haemoglobinopathies and bone marrow failure, and being innovative in the use of alternative donors. He is the vice-chair of Paediatric Diseases Working Party of EBMT, a member of the steering committee of the BMT CTN 1507 trial Co-Director of the Vanderbilt Global Consortium for a Cure. He is an investigator and in the steering committee of a several gene therapy trials in sickle cell disease and thalassaemia.

After an initial period in adult medicine, Professor de la Fuente completed his general training in paediatrics in different hospitals in London and following membership of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, he trained in haematology at Imperial College and Great Ormond Street Hospital achieving membership of the Royal College of Pathologists. During this time, he developed an interest in red cell disorders, bone marrow failure and transplantation, including a period of basic research in human developmental haemopoiesis as an MRC Clinical Research Fellow leading to a PhD. He has also developed a unique clinical and research programme for Diamond Blackfan anaemia patients.

My main interests include novel therapies, in particular targeted, cellular and gene therapies and ensuring the needs of rare anaemias and bone marrow failure are represented, with particular attention to Diamond Blackfan anaemia.

Consultant, Pediatric Hematology, Oncology, Stem Cell Transplantation

Professor, College of Medicine, Al Faisal University

Director, Hemoglobinopathies

Graduated from College of Medicine, King Faisal University - Dammam

Pediatric Residency – King Faisal Specialist Hospital, Riyadh

Pediatric Hematology Oncology fellowship- Hospital for Sick Children -University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada

Pediatric Stem cell transplant fellowship – Hospital for Sick Children – University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada

Rabi Hanna is Chair of Pediatric Hematology-Oncology and Blood & Marrow Transplantation at Cleveland Clinic Children’s and Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine. Trained at Duke (pediatrics residency) and the University of Washington/Fred Hutch/Seattle Children’s (pediatric heme-onc & BMT fellowship), Dr. Hanna directs the Pediatric Blood & Marrow Transplant Program and serves as site principal investigator on multicenter trials spanning gene-edited hematopoietic stem cells, cord-blood expansion platforms, GVHD prevention and supportive care. He is an active member of national and international consortia (COG, CIBMTR/BMT CTN, PBMTC) and guideline bodies (e.g., NCCN pediatric aggressive B-cell lymphomas), with a portfolio of invited lectures and peer-reviewed publications focused on transplantation, hemoglobinopathies, immune deficiencies, and pediatric oncology.

Dr. Dalal Alshemmari, has board certificate of pediatric residency in kuwait

She had stem cell transplant course at Dana Farber/ Boston children's Hospital in US.

And also she had oncology/hematology course at king Fahad's Hospital in Saudi Arabia.

She finished fellowship program of hematology, oncology, stem cell transplant in Vancouver, at BC Hospital in Canada.

She is Currently a consultant in pediatric stem cell transplant unit at NBKhospital.

• Pediatric Oncology/Hematology Consultant.
• Stem cell therapy & BMT Specialist.
• MSc. & MD. degree in Pediatric Oncology/Hematology - National Cancer Institute - Cairo University, Egypt.
• Member of EBMT, SIOP, ESPHO & POEM.

Dr. Ruby Khoury is a pediatric hematologist-oncologist in Cincinnati, Ohio and is affiliated with multiple hospitals in the area, including Cincinnati Children's and Enloe Medical Center. She received her medical degree from American University of Beirut Faculty of Medicine and has been in practice between 11-20 years. Dr. Ruby Khoury accepts Aetna, Cigna, Blue Cross, United Healthcare - see other insurance plans accepted.

Specialties
SPECIALTY
Pediatric Hematology-Oncology
Pediatric hematologists/oncologists deal with diseases of the blood, spleen and lymph glands in children. They treat conditions such as anemia, clotting disorders, sickle cell disease, hemophilia, leukemia and lymphoma.

Dr. Michael Keller is the Director of the Translational Research Laboratory in the Cellular Therapy Program and Associate Professor of Pediatrics at Children’s National Hospital and George Washington University. His research interests are in the application of cellular therapies to treat and prevent viral illnesses in immunocompromised patients, including children with inborn errors of immunity and patients undergoing bone marrow transplantation. He has led 10 investigator-initiated trials of virus-specific T cell therapy on which over 180 patients have been treated over the past decade, including national consortium studies. He is also co-lead of the joint NIAID-Children’s National clinical immunology research program (with Dr. Luigi Notarangelo) and has contributed to the descriptions of many new inborn errors of immunity.

Dr. Keller has served on multiple national committees, including as chair of the Primary Immunodeficiency Committee for the American Academy of Asthma, Allergy and Immunology (2018-2022) and vice-chair of the Cellular Therapy Committee for the Pediatric Transplantation and Cellular Therapy Consortium (2022-present). He also serves as an author and section editor for multiple topics on inborn errors of immunity on Uptodate.com

Keller, M.D., Hanley, P.J., Chi, YY. et al. Antiviral cellular therapy for enhancing T-cell reconstitution before or after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (ACES): a two-arm, open label phase II interventional trial of pediatric patients with risk factor assessment. Nat Commun 15, 3258 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-47057-2 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-47057-2

Ruby Khoury, Michael S. Grimley, Adam S. Nelson, Tom Leemhuis, Jose A. Cancelas, Eleanor Cook, YunZu Wang, Daria Heyenbruch, Catherine M. Bollard, Michael D. Keller, Patrick J. Hanley, Carolyn Lutzko, Giang Pham, Stella M. Davies, Jeremy D. Rubinstein,Third-party virus-specific T cells for the treatment of double-stranded DNA viral reactivation and posttransplant lymphoproliferative disease after solid organ transplant, American Journal of Transplantation, Volume 24, Issue 9, 2024, Pages 1634-1643,ISSN 1600-6135, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajt.2024.04.009 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1600613524002806?via%3Dihub

Stephan Kadauke, MD, PhD, is the Associate Director of the Cell-Based Therapy Laboratory and Medical Director of Cell and Gene Therapy Informatics at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). He leads efforts to integrate clinical care, informatics, and manufacturing systems that support advanced cell and gene therapy programs. Dr. Kadauke’s expertise spans CAR T-cell therapy, gene therapy, transfusion medicine, apheresis, pediatric transfusion management, and sickle cell disease. His research focuses on optimizing data-driven workflows and automation in cell therapy manufacturing and clinical delivery. As a physician-scientist, he is committed to bridging laboratory innovation with bedside application to improve outcomes for children receiving cutting-edge cellular and genetic treatments.