Ralf Clemens has almost 30 years of experience in the vaccine industry. He currently serves as Advisor to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, is member/chair of various scientific and management boards including IVI, GHIT, CEPI, Curevac AG and Valneva SE and served as Head Global Vaccines Development at GSK, Novartis and Takeda Vaccines. During his career he brought over 25 different vaccines to commercialization and he has authored over 180 publications and given more than 250 scientific presentations. Ralf graduated in medicine from the University of Mainz and holds an executive degree in Management from the Wharton Business School.

Geert Leroux-Roels is Professor Emeritus at Ghent University and is active in the field of vaccinology and applied immunology as a study physician and co-investigator at CEVAC. He founded the Center for Vaccinology (CEVAC – Ghent University and University Hospital) and directed this unit for three decades. During this period, more than 275 clinical vaccine trials have been conducted. Numerous candidate vaccines (HAV, HBV, [HAV+HBV], HSV, HPV, HIV, TB, malaria) and a series of new adjuvant systems have been clinically evaluated.

William Ripley Ballou currently serves as a Senior Scientific Advisor to IAVI where he works on monoclonal antibody programs targeting HIV. He held various management positions in vaccine development including Vice President and Head GSK Global Vaccines, Deputy Director for Vaccines, Infectious Diseases Development, Global Health at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Vice President, Clinical Development at MedImmune. William Ripley Ballou is MD from Emory University School of Medicine, trained in Medicine and Infectious Disease at the Walter Reed Army Medical Centre and began his research career in vaccine development at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research where he led a team that, with GSK, co-developed a malaria vaccine that was recently recommended by the WHO for widespread use in subSaharan Africa.

Joe Schmitt is an infectious disease paediatrician and Professor of infectious diseases and vaccine development. He has served a member and chair of the German vaccination advisory board (STIKO), advisor to the Paul Ehrlich Institute (PEI) and different WHO committees, including SAGE and the GACVS-groups. He also served as Global Head, Medical Affairs with Novartis Vaccines and his last industry position was Vice President for Medical-, Developmental-, Scientific- and Clinical-Affairs (MDSCA) and Global Lead Viral Vaccines at Pfizer (to 2021).

Xavier Sáez Llorens is Professor of Pediatrics, Chief of the Infectious Disease Department, and Director of Clinical Research at the Hospital del Niño Dr. José Renán Esquivel. He is a distinguished Investigator of the National Research System (Senacyt) and of the Center for Vaccine Investigation (Cevaxin), as well as a member of the National Ethics Committee on Clinical Research in Panama City. Prof Sáez Llorens has been involved with, and led, multiple large international vaccine trials.

Clement Lewin, is a Principal at CSL Vaccine Consulting with expertise in medical affairs, policy and strategy. Clem has 25 years of experience from vaccine development and commercialization at Merck, Chiron, Acambis, Novartis and Sanofi Pasteur. Clem obtained his BSc and PhD from the University of London, and an MBA with distinction from Cornell University. He served as the Biotechnology Innovation Organization liaison to the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices from 2004 to 2014, and on the National Vaccine Advisory Committee from 2009-2012. He has published over 50 papers in peer reviewed journals.

Jean Smal is a Senior Consultant with global experience in the R&D and Manufacturing Vaccine Industry. He currently supports the vaccine projects of various companies and is a member of the WHO Advisory Panel for the Polio Eradication Program. He is chairman or independent board member of several biotech companies. Previously he served as Vice President, Head of New Product Development at GSK Vaccines and held senior roles at Eurogentec CDMO Division, a company offering development and GMP services. Jean holds a degree in Bio Engineering, a PhD in Biochemistry, a Post-graduate degree in Business Management and has published over 50 peer reviewed scientific papers/communications.

Jean-Paul Prieels has over 30 years of experience in biopharmaceuticals spanning basic research, applied research and product development, with senior roles in industry including as Senior Vice President of R&D GSK. Currently he is on the board of directors at Quantoom Bioscience, NCardia, Nouscom, Leukocare and PDC*Line PharmaLa. He is a member of the scientific advisory board of CureVac, Imcyse, Univercells and Vaximm, and a member of the European Vaccine Initiative Board of Stakeholders. Jean-Paul holds a Ph.D. in biochemistry from Université Libre de Bruxelles in Belgium.

Michael Pfleiderer is a principal consultant at BioPharma-Excellence. He wasHead of the Human Viral Vaccines Section at the Paul-Ehrlich-Institut (PEI), German Federal Institute for Vaccines and Biomedicines which acted as Rapporteur, Co-Rapporteur or Peer Reviewer for Marketing Authorization Applications for vaccines submitted to the European Medicines Agency (EMA). He was Chair CHMP Vaccine Working Party at EMA, member of the Biologics Working Party (BWP) of the CHMP at EMA, Chair of the BWP Influenza ad hoc Working Group; member of the CHMP Coordination Group, Chair and Vice chair of EMA’s Pandemic Task Force and part of WHO’s vaccine pre-qualification teams.

Peter A. Patriarca is the Principal of Immuno-Vax, LLC, and a senior affiliate consultant with the Biologics Consulting Group, Inc providing technical and regulatory consulting services for all phases of vaccine and drug development. Prior to consulting, Peter A. Patriarca was Corporate Head and Vice President, Worldwide Regulatory Affairs and Pharmacovigilance at MedImmune, Inc. and held leading positions at both the U.S. Public Health Service at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). He has authored over 100 peer-reviewed publications and served on multiple scientific advisory bodies for CDC, WHO, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the National Academy of Sciences, and numerous pharmaceutical companies.

Inca C. Kusters has more than 20 years’ experience in vaccine development at Sanofi Pasteur, currently heading the External Research and Development Department for the European region. This Department comprises a group of scientists that evaluates the scientific value of external vaccine projects and technologies. In the past, she has led different vaccine projects including the pandemic H1N1 vaccine development in 2009 and the SARS-CoV1 vaccine development in 2003. She is a guest lecturer at different French universities (Lyon I, Paris IX, Paris XIII).