Dr. Athanasios Michos is Professor of Pediatrics and Pediatric Infectious Diseases at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens and Aghia Sophia Children’s Hospital. His research focuses on pediatric infectious diseases, including the molecular epidemiology of Streptococcus pyogenes, Streptococcus pneumoniae, enterovirus and parechovirus. His work has also evaluated how cerebrospinal fluid syndromic testing can improve pathogen detection and support more informed antimicrobial use in children with suspected central nervous system infections

Dr. James Hatcher is a Consultant in Medical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases at Great Ormond Street Hospital. He is an Honorary Associate Professor and Co-Director of the Centre for Evaluation and Treatment of Resistant Infection (CENTRI) at University College London. His main interests include complex paediatric infection, diagnosis of resistant Gram negative infections and antimicrobial stewardship. He was made Fellow of both the Royal College of Physicians and Royal College of Pathologists. Currently he is the clinical lead for the department of microbiology and lead for antimicrobial stewardship at Great Ormond Street Hospital. He was a founding member of a national Paediatric antimicrobial stewardship network in the United Kingdom and regularly gives national and international lectures on Paediatric infection and the role of diagnostic microbiology in the treatment of resistant infections.

Dr. Nielsen received her medical degree from China Medical University in 1995. She completed her PhD in Human Genetics at Aarhus University, Denmark, in 2001. In the same year, she entered the field of Clinical Microbiology, and in 2010 she received her certification as a Specialist in Clinical Microbiology.

Her primary professional focus has been molecular diagnostics, with extensive experience in the implementation and evaluation of molecular diagnostic technologies in routine clinical diagnostics. This includes expertise in next generation sequencing (NGS) and its clinical applications.

Dr. Nielsen’s research centers on NGS, with a particular focus on two key areas: the taxonomy and pathogenesis of Streptococcus and related species, and the investigation of interactions between the human microbiome and disease.

She is the author of more than 60 peer reviewed publications and book chapters.

Dr. Nina Dwi Putri is a lecturer at the Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Indonesia, and a Pediatric Infectious Disease Consultant at Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital in Indonesia. She serves as Secretary of the Scientific Board Committee of the Indonesian Pediatric Society and is currently pursuing a PhD in Medicine at the University of Melbourne. Dr. Putri holds a master’s degree in Tropical Pediatrics from the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine and has received several prestigious awards and scholarships, including the APEC, Endeavour and LPDP Scholarships and the  Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine Thomas Mark Award. Her interests include neonatal infections, virology, immunology, antimicrobial stewardship, and infection prevention and control.

Dr. Danilo Buonsenso is a pediatrician at Gemelli University Hospital in Rome and a member of the research committee of the Global Health Research Institute of Catholic University of Rome, Italy. He has a PhD in Public Health and Molecular Sciences, and a post-graduate diploma and MSc in pediatric infectious diseases at Oxford University. He is actively involved in several national and international studies and societies in the field of pediatric infectious diseases.

Dr. Andrea Battola earned his PhD in Biomedicine in Barcelona, following studies that combined microbiology, cellular biology and molecular biology. His professional journey has been dedicated to the field of infectious diseases, working across diagnostics and prevention in the life sciences industry. In recent years, he has also gained experience in biochemical markers and laboratory medicine. Andrea joined QIAGEN in 2026 as Medical and Scientific Affairs Director, driving innovation and scientific excellence in the field of molecular diagnostics.