2024 conference speakers

Andreia Albuquerque-Wendt (AAW) studied (BSc) Applied Chemistry (Biotechnology) and later Biochemistry in the Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologias, Universidade NOVA de Lisboa (UNL). Obtained her Master´s degree in Biomedical Sciences (Molecular Biology and International Tropical Medicine) in the Instituto de Higiene e Medicina Tropical (IHMT), UNL, specializing in the field of Leishmania parasites. She graduated (PhD) from the Medical School of Hannover in 2018 where she focused on glycan modifications of TSRs in C. elegans and Toxoplasma gondii proteins. As a Marie Curie postdoctoral fellow AAW joined the Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, University of Oxford, where she first started exploring the function of transporter proteins in the biology of Leishmania parasites using CRISPR/Cas9. She then moved to Glasgow, as a postdoctoral Research Associate at the Welcome Centre for Integrative Parasitology at University of Glasgow, continuing the functional dissection of the Leishmania transportome in this parasites' life cycle using BARseq strategies. Currently, AAW is a member of the Vector Borne Diseases group of the Global Health and Tropical Medicine Centre, hosted by IHMT-UNL and an advanced postdoc at the Institute of Cell Biology at the University of Bern.My main interests include Leishmania biology and vector-parasite-host interactions and development of leishmaniasis control measures.

Currently I am a project manager for the European Citizen Science project. Within this project I focus on developing an academy on citizen science. I have previously studied biology, environmental policy and sustainable diplomacy within my bachelor and master degree. Within this I have worked within the field of citizen science as a research tool that can benefit the cooperation between non-scientist and scientist alike.

Ger Hanley has worked with researchers and research universities for more than 20 years in pre and post award including financial management. Ger has extensive experience in EU research project management including programme management, grant administration, digital communication strategies (i.e., research impact and dissemination strategies and web development), coordination and funding body regulations (including financial) of FP7, INTERREG, H2020, Horizon Europe and national Irish funding.\n\nComing from an IT background with qualifications in business, project management and information systems, Ger has predominantly managed and consulted in the area of engineering (biosystems, food, ICT, mechanical and circular economy/bioeconomy) as well as Horizon Europe Twinning and SSH. She has written, reviewed and managed numerous ITN and doctoral network project since 2014 and is currently project managing the SIMPPER_MedDev ITN.

Giulia Malaguarnera is a MCAA General Board Member, expert in Open Science, working for OpenAIRE, a no-profit organisation promoting practices in Open Science. She has been working in a start-up company during her MSCA-individual fellowship in France (Rennes and Paris), and in academia in the UK at the UCL in London, and at the University of Catania. She is also a former President of Eurodoc, the European Council of Doctoral Candidates and Junior Researchers.

Hakim Ferria works as a European Affairs Manager at INSAVALOR, which is the subsidiary for R&D of the engineering school INSA in France. He obtained his doctoral degree in fluid mechanics in 2011 from both ECL, École Centrale de Lyon, France, and KTH, the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden. He worked within the space industries and governmental institutions on fluid-structure interaction in turbines. He is now fully involved in research projects management. He was the project manager of the ITN INFRASTAR. Besides his position at INSAVALOR, he coordinates a network of French European Project Managers of ITN/DN projects coordinated in France. He co-founded the research management working group of which he is now one of the vice-chairs.

Joana believes in science and innovation for the benefit of humankind. This is what led her to become a scientist and a social business innovator. With experience working in the public, private and third sectors, Joana holds a PhD from Imperial College London, is a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellow Alumni, and co-founded two social enterprises. At Native Scientists, she connects children and scientists to promote quality and fair science education. At Chaperone, she gives scientists access to high-quality and personalised career support. She is an author in multiple international peer-reviewed publications, has volunteered for several associations, and founded Native Scientists while doing her PhD. Her entrepreneurial skills, ability to mobilise people, and capacity to generate positive social impact have been distinguished multiple times, including the titles Top 100 Women in Social Enterprise (2021) and MIT Innovator Under 35 (2017) titles.

Jonas Krebs is scientific project manager and coordinator of the projects area in the “Strategy and Funding” office at Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG) in Barcelona. Since his PhD in plant molecular biology, which he received in 2010 from the University of Potsdam, Germany, he worked in different institutions and roles in the field of project development, research management, internationalization and professional networking. In 2014 he specialized in European research funding and received the certificate “EU-Liaison officer” of the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research. Since 2015 Jonas has developed and manages EU projects at CRG, with a major focus on Marie Skłodowska Curie Actions. Jonas is co-founder and current chair of the Marie Curie Alumni Association (MCAA) Research Management Working Group.

She is a recent Marie Curie research fellow, she completed her PhD in Clinical Epidemiology from the Université de Paris (Paris, France) and Applied Health from the University of Liverpool (Liverpool, UK). Her PhD focused on the use of health research to inform policy making, practice and future research by exploring methods to identify research gaps and determine research priorities. She has also worked with the Norwegian Institute of Public Health (NIPH) as a Public Health Advisor on different national and international public health projects. Linda is passionate about public health, global health, promoting mental health, sexual and reproductive health and rights, evidence synthesis, health systems and policy research.

Magdalini Theodoridou holds a PhD in Science for Conservation (University of Bologna, funded by the Marie Curie Actions) and a diploma in Civil Engineering (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki). From 2010 to 2018, she worked at the University of Cyprus (research + teaching) with significant scientific contributions to the design and development of novel construction materials bridging traditional and modern technologies and the innovative application of non-destructive techniques. In 2018, she moved to the UK to work as a MSCA Individual Fellow at Cardiff School of Engineering focusing on the biological self-healing of geological construction materials and structures. Her MSCA-IF included secondments at the National Research Council of Italy (Intitue for the Conservation and Valorization of Cultural Heritage) and the University of Florence (Department of Biology). Since March 2020, she is a member of the world's first Hub for Biotechnology in the Built Environment as a Newcastle University Academic Track Fellow. During her NUAcT fellowship she leads research on developing and exploring novel biotechnological process and applications for sustainable building and smart heritage conservation. She is a member of the Marie Curie Alumni Association and a founding member of the Working Group - Gender Equality and Diversity for Mobile Researchers in Science (GEMS). Since 2018, she has been the chair of the Genders, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion-GEDI WG (former GEMS). Her experience in leading interdisciplinary research, advocating for EDI, as well as having personally experienced the benefits and challenges of mobility are valuable assets to bringing GEDI closer to its goals of promoting a responsible and ethical research environment.

Marta obtained her MCs at Unizar (Spain) and PhD in Chemistry in Unict (Italy) as a Marie Skłodowska-Curie fellow in the ITN Cyclon-Hit. She is currently a MSCA Career-FIT Plus postdoctoral fellow working on nanomaterials for cancer treatment. Additionally, she is an active member of the MCAA in the Genders, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion and the Sustainability Working Groups.

Mostafa is a research innovation and policy expert with over 15 years of experience in various sectors. He is the Executive Director and Former Chair of the Marie Curie Alumni Association (MCAA). He is a former Co-chair of the EU Science Diplomacy Alliance. He has worked in academia, industry and nonprofit organizations in Austria, the Netherlands and Belgium. He is passionate about supporting researchers and innovators in pursuing sustainable research careers, engaging in science diplomacy and developing entrepreneurial skills.

Murat Gunes earned his Ph.D. in Micro and Nanotechnology at METU. He was awarded the Marie S. Curie Fellowship twice. He worked at different institutes in France, Spain, Ukraine, and Turkey and founded twostartups. He volunteers as the Chair of the Bridging Business and Science Working Group at the Marie Curie Alumni Association (MCAA), where he was formerly Secretary. He is a founder member of the Turkish Chapter and the Science Diplomacy Task Force of the MCAA. He is also the STSM coordinator for the Researchers Mental Health Observatory Cost Action Project.

Pooja is a Community Manager, a Project Officer for the European Citizen Science (ECS) project and an Editorial Board Member at the Marie Curie Alumni Association (MCAA). She is a trained Stem Cell Scientist and Developmental Biologist. She has worked across disciplines in scientifically diverse environments in India, Germany, Hungary and England where she attained her PhD. in Biological Sciences (University of Southampton) and received the prestigious Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Fellowship. Following postdoctoral research at the University of Hawaiʻi (USA) in 2022, she has volunteered for social causes including environmental sustainability at the Global Crisis Response (India) as an Outreach Coordinator; menstrual poverty at The Pad Project (U.S.A) as a Public Health Advisor; and a Founding Member of a virtual peer-support group, Therapy Thursday (U.S.A). Pooja aspires to combine scientific vigour and public outreach skills with a quest to attain true inclusivity, social wellbeing and menstrual equity with a focus on public engagement. 
 

Ruben Riosa is currently the Communications Manager of the Marie Curie Alumni Association and is responsible for all the communications channels of the Association as well as the training initiatives. Ruben is also a Medical Communications Manager for Excerpta Medica, with the tasks of providing scientific and strategic support and guidance to several medical communications projects for a variety of clients, mostly in the pharma industry.

Sean Sapcariu is a programme manager at the Luxembourg National Research Fund (FNR), responsible for strategic programmes and research culture initiatives. He has led the implementation of a narrative CV template across FNR funding programmes, co-produced a video with DORA giving guidance to evaluators on responsible research assessment techniques, and helped organize the 2021 Science Europe High Level Workshop on Research Culture. Internationally, he sits on the DORA Steering Committee, the GRC Working Group on Responsible Research Assessment, and co-chairs the Science Europe Working Group on Research Culture. Before joining the FNR, Sean completed his PhD studies at the University of Luxembourg in Biology and worked as a Liaison Officer in the Strategy and Planning Office of the University of Luxembourg Rectorate.