Adrian Covic
Institution: “Grigore T. Popa” University of Medicine and Pharmacy
Location: Iași, Romania
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Adrian Covic is a Professor of Nephrology and Internal Medicine at the “Grigore T. Popa” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, the Director of the Nephrology Clinic and the Dialysis and Transplantation Center in Iasi, Romania. In the past he served as President of the Romanian Society of Nephrology and Secretary Treasurer of ERA-EDTA.
Prof. Covic started his clinical and research activity as a fellow in Nephrology in Manchester and Amiens. Later he performed clinical research at the Case Western University in Cleveland, Ohio. He received a Ph.D. on: “Cardiovascular abnormalities and its determinant factors in chronic renal failure” in 1997. Since 2007, he is a FRCP (London) and became in 2009 a member of the Romanian Academy of Medical Sciences. From 2011 he is also a Fellow of the ERA EDTA (FERA).
Prof. Covic published more than 410 original and review papers in peer-reviewed journals, 14 books and 22 chapters. The current Hirsch Index is 48.
He is an Associate Editor for NDT, and Editor in Chief (Nephrology) for the International Journal of Urology and Nephrology, and editor / reviewer for several prestigious journals.
His main areas of interest are: cardiovascular complications in renal disease, CKD-MBD, renal anaemia, peritoneal dialysis, and acute renal failure.
Prof. Covic is the Vice-Rector (Research) of the University of Medicine “Gr. T. POPA” Iasi, Romania and a board member of KDIGO, ERBP, and ERA-EDTA working groups – EURECAM and CKD-MBD.
Prof Covic has organized several regional European educational courses under the auspices of ERA EDTA and ISN. For a mandate he has been chair of the ISN/COMGAN Eastern Europe.
An De Vriese
Institution: St. John’s Hospital
Location: Bruges, Belgium
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An De Vriese is head of the Department of Internal Medicine and of the Division of Nephrology and Infectious Disease in St. John’s Hospital, Bruges.
She is author of over 140 publications in peer-reviewed medical journals. Her interest is focussed on clinical studies in hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis.
An De Vriese received her degree in Medicine summa cum laude from the Ghent University in 1992. She also studied at the University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, RSA and performed research at the Institute for Anatomy and Cell Biology, Ruprecht-Karls-University, Heidelberg, and at the Institute de Recherches Servier, Paris. She was Research Assistant of the Belgian National Fund for Scientific Research and obtained a Ph.D. in Medical Science in 2001.
Kai-Uwe Eckardt
Institution: Charité
Location: Berlin, Germany
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Kai-Uwe Eckardt is Head of the Department of Nephrology and Medical Intensive Care at the Charité in Berlin, Germany. He attained an MD from the University of Münster in 1985 and obtained residency and fellowship training in pathology, physiology, internal medicine and nephrology at the Universities of Münster, Hannover, Zurich, Oxford and Berlin. From 2004 to 2017 he was Chair of Nephrology and Hypertension at the University of Erlangen-Nürnberg, where he also served as Vice Dean for Research and International Afffairs from 2009-2016.
Dr. Eckardt´s major scientific interests lie in the molecular mechanisms and relevance of oxygen sensing and the development of acute and chronic renal injury. He was chairman of a collaborative research centre on kidney injury, founded by the German Research Foundation and is principal investigator of the German Chronic Kidney Disease (GCKD) study. Dr. Eckardt is a past council member of the ERA-EDTA and current member of the Executive Council of the ISN. He has served as program chair for the World Congress of Nephrology in 2009 and 2017. He was also a founding Executive Committee member and co-chair of Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO).
Maria Guedes Marques
Institution: Centro Hospitalar e Universitário de Coimbra
Location: Coimbra, Portugal
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Maria Guedes Marques (M.D.) born in 12th January 1983 in Oporto, Portugal; mother of two baby boys, finished her Ph.D. degree in Nephrology at Centro Hospitalar e Universitário de Coimbra, Portugal in 2016.
Her previous experience involved internal medicine, clinical nephrology, hemodialysis and intensive care training in Hospital dos Covões; renal transplantation training in Hospitais Universidade Coimbra; vascular access ultrasound training in Parc Tauli Hospital, Barcelona; peritoneal dialysis training in Hospital Sto. António, Porto; renal pathology training in Hospital Curry Cabral, Lisbon; interventional nephrology in Nephrocare Lumiar, and glomerular diseases training in Glomerular Center of Columbia University Medical Center, New York, all with approval in good standing.
She is currently a nephrology assistant in the Renal Transplantation Unit of the Centro Hospitalar e Universitário de Coimbra; and interventional nephrologist in Vascular Access Center of Nephrocare Coimbra, responsible of vascular access Doppler ultrasound evaluation since 2016.
She is member of the Portuguese group of vascular study; Vascular Access Committee of the National Committee of Dialysis Attendance and council member of the Board of the Vascular Access Society.
She has published several papers as first author in international peer-reviewed journals. She has also presented several oral communications in national and international meetings, many as guest speaker and practical guide.
Ewout Hoorn
Institution: Erasmus Medical Center
Location: Rotterdam, Netherlands
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Ewout Hoorn is Professor of Nephrology at the Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. His research interests include basic and clinical aspects of renal tubular transport and the link with human disease, including electrolyte disorders, hypertension, and chronic kidney disease. He coordinates a tertiary referral clinical for renal tubular disorders and the Academic Center of Excellence “Kidney & Hypertension”. He also is the coordinating PI of a national research consortium that studies the potential renoprotective role of potassium in chronic kidney disease. His research is supported by the Dutch Kidney Foundation, the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research, and the Novo Nordisk Foundation.
David Jayne
Institution:University of Cambridge & Addenbrookes Hospital Cambridge
Location: Cambridge, UK
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David Jayne is Professor of Clinical Autoimmunity at the University of Cambridge, UK, and Director of the Vasculitis and Lupus service at Addenbrookes Hospital Cambridge. He trained at the Universities of Cambridge and London, and in nephrology at Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA. He was a research fellow at Imperial College London and the University of Cambridge and was appointed Senior Lecturer in Nephrology at St George’s Hospital, London in 1995. He is a co-founder and the current President of the European Vasculitis Society and his research focus has been ANCA vasculitis and lupus nephritis, having led a sequence of International randomised controlled trials over the last 25 years. His research group conducts first into disease trials of newer immunosuppressives and biologics in vasculitis and lupus. He has published over 500 peer reviewed papers and has contributed to numerous guideline statements. His work with industry has contributed to the approval of avacopan for ANCA associated vasculitis and voclosporin for lupus nephritis. The clinical service in Cambridge cares for over 2000 patients with complex multi-system autoimmunity and receives tertiary referrals from throughout the UK and beyond. In 2021 he was awarded the ERA-EDTA prize for outstanding contributions to nephrology. He was elected to the Académie Nationale de Médicine in 2025.
Nine Knoers
Institution: University Medical Center Groningen
Location: Groningen, Netherlands
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Nine Knoers is currently the chair of the Department of Genetics at the University Medical Centre Groningen, The Netherlands. She received her M.D. (1986) and Ph.D. (cum laude, 1990) from the Catholic University Nijmegen, The Netherlands. She was trained and certified as Clinical Geneticist at the Radboud University Medical Centre Nijmegen. From 2011 until 2018, she was chair of the Department of Genetics at the University Medical Centre Utrecht, The Netherlands. She was chair of the Dutch Society of Clinical Genetics (2007-2015) and Member of the Dutch Health Council (2008-2018). In 2017, she became Honorary member of the Dutch Society of Clinical Genetics, as recognition of a major contribution to Clinical Genetics and to professionalization of the Society. Her major research effort focuses on the identification of genes for inherited renal disorders and on their pathophysiology. The ultimate aim of her studies is to find clues for treatments for these disorders. Over the past years, her team has substantially contributed to the elucidation and further characterization of genes involved in hereditary kidney diseases, among which the V2R and AQP2 genes for congenital nephrogenic diabetes insipidus, and genes involved in renal hypomagnesemia, in syndromic nephronophthisis, and in congenital abnormalities of the kidney and urinary tract (CAKUT). Nine Knoers has an extensive national and international network, is member of several European Consortia on genetic renal disorders (EUNEFRON, EURenOmics, ERKNet) and coordinated the Dutch Scientific Consortium on renal ciliopathies “Kouncil”. She was awarded the Donald Seldin Lectureship of the International Society of Nephrology (2013), as a recognition of a major contribution in basic science related to nephrology and the Catharijne oeuvre award 2016 (Catharijne foundation) for groundbraking contributions to nephrogenetics, both scientifically as well as clinically. She has published over 280 scientific papers, including papers in Nature Genetics, Science, Lancet and the New England Journal of Medicine and 28 Chapters in books. In the last 10 years, she delivered >250 invited lectures. H-index 67 (source Scopus February 2022). She has successfully supervised over 25 PhD students.
Hiddo Lambers Heerspink
Institution: University Medical Center Groningen
Location: Groningen, Netherlands
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Hiddo Lambers Heerspink is affiliated with the Department of Clinical Pharmacy and Pharmacology of the University Medical Center Groningen, the Netherlands. He received his PhD degree from the medical faculty of the University Medical Center Groningen in 2008. He then worked as a post-doctoral fellow at The George Institute in Sydney, Australia where he investigated the effects of blood pressure lowering regimens on renal and cardiovascular outcomes in patients with renal impairment. Based on this work, he was awarded a young investigator grant and subsequently in 2015 a consolidator investigator grant from the Dutch organisation of scientific research.
Since 2010, Doctor Lambers Heerspink has held a position as a Clinical Pharmacologist at the University Medical Center Groningen. He is currently Professor Clinical Trials and Personalized Medicine. His main research interests include optimising treatment strategies and finding new therapeutic approaches to halt the progression of renal and cardiovascular disease. His particular clinical research interest is to identify determinants of individual treatment responses and ways to optimize drug response in individual patients. To achieve these goals he is involved in various international clinical trials and uses biomarkers and imaging techniques to unravel pathways and determinants of therapy response.
Patrick Murray
Institution: University College Dublin
Location: Dublin, Ireland
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Patrick Murray is Professor of Clinical Pharmacology in University College Dublin, and a consultant physician (clinical pharmacologist & nephrologist) at the Mater Misericordiae University Hospital, Dublin, Ireland.
He received his medical education at University College Dublin, Ireland.
Following his internship at the Mater Misericordiae University Hospital in Dublin, he completed a residency in internal medicine at Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.
He completed fellowship training programs in nephrology, critical care medicine, and clinical pharmacology at the University Of Chicago Hospitals in Chicago, Illinois, USA.
He is board-certified in nephrology, critical care medicine, and clinical pharmacology.
He practiced as an intensivist, nephrologist, and clinical pharmacologist at the University of Chicago Hospitals from 1996–2008, serving as the fellowship training program director in nephrology, also directing the Acute Dialysis Service.
He has a longstanding interest in research and education to improve the prevention, diagnosis, and therapy of acute kidney injury and nephrotoxicity, and the pharmacotherapy of patients with kidney disease. He is a member of several international consensus groups that have produced guidelines for research and practice in the field of acute kidney injury (ADQI, AKIN, KDOQI).
Since 2008, he has been the Professor of Clinical Pharmacology at University College Dublin, and a Consultant in Nephrology & Clinical Pharmacology at the Mater Misericordiae University Hospital. He is Chair of the Mater Misericordiae University Hospital Drugs & Therapeutics Committee. He is the Clinical Director of the UCD-Mater Clinical Research Centre. In 2011, he was appointed Associate Dean for International Affairs in the UCD School of Medicine and Medical Science. In 2012, he was appointed Director of the Dublin Centre for Clinical Research (DCCR) Consortium Network, and also Clinical Director of the Irish Clinical Research Infrastructure Network (ICRIN). Since December 2012, he has been the Dean and Head of the School of Medicine at UCD.
Ton Rabelink
Institution: Leiden University Medical Center
Location: Leiden, Netherlands
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Ton Rabelink is Professor and Chair of Medicine, and Head of
the Division of Nephrology and the Einthoven Laboratory for
Experimental Vascular Medicine at the Leiden University Medical
Center, Leiden, Netherlands. He received his MD and PhD degrees
from Utrecht University, Netherlands and completed fellowships in
internal medicine and nephrology. His main research interests are vascular
biology and its implications for renal function, organ transplantation
and the development of cardiovascular disease in patients with
renal disease, as well as the use of stem cells to restore kidney function.
Eva Schrezenmeier
Institution: Charité
Location: Berlin, Germany
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Eva Schrezenmeier is an Attending Physician at the Department of Nephrology and Intensive Care Medicine at Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin.
She completed her medical education at Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, with clinical clerkships at Cleveland Clinic, Sheba Medical Center, and McGill University.
Dr. Schrezenmeier earned her Doctorate for her research on (pro)renin receptor signal transduction.
Her postdoctoral research is conducted in Nephrology and the German Rheumatism Research Center Berlin.
Her research interests focus on B cell immunology, particularly the roles of protective and pathological B and plasma cells in autoreactivity as well as alloreactivity.
Siebe Spijker
Institution: Leiden University Medical Center
Location: Leiden, Netherlands
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Siebe Spijker is a clinician-scientist, focusing on transplantation, genetics and regenerative medicine. He obtained his PhD degree at the Leiden University Medical Center studying the differentiation characteristics of human pancreatic beta-cells. He was awarded the NVE-Ipsen prize from the Dutch Society for Endocrinology and the Gerritzen Award for best Thesis in Diabetes Research. During his internal medicine trainings, his (research) interest shifted to the kidney. In 2018, he performed a postdoctoral research year in the group of prof. Melissa Little at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute in Melbourne to engage in renal stem cell research and CRISPR Cas9 gene editing.
After finishing his medical trainings, Siebe started his own research group using organoids to model (genetic) kidney disease and works as a transplant nephrologist in the LUMC. His aim is to link fundamental research using stem cells to daily clinical practice.
Jack Wetzels
Institution: Radboud University Nijmegen
Location: Nijmegen, Netherlands
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Jack Wetzels is a Professor of Nephrology at Radboud University Nijmegen.
Jack F M Wetzels (1954) was born in Heerlen, The Netherlands. He studied Medicine at the Radboud University Nijmegen, and received his MD in 1980. He was trained in Internal Medicine and Nephrology at the Radboud University Nijmegen Medical center. He received his Ph.D. in 1989. From 1990 to 1992 he worked as a postdoctoral fellow under supervision of Robert W Schrier at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center in Denver, CO, USA. Since 1992 he is working as academic nephrologist. In 2002 he was appointed Professor of Nephrology at the Department of Nephrology at Radboud University Nijmegen. His chair is committed to teaching and research with an emphasis on the diagnosis and treatment of patients with glomerular diseases.
