Neuroimmunology and Neuroinfectious Diseases

Amina S. woods is a recepient of 2011 NIDA Investigator recipient of Woman Scientist Achievement Award. Amina S. woods is an investigator at integrative neuroscience branch, structural biology unit, NIDA. Woods obtained her B.Sc degree in chemistry at Loyola College. After graduation, she joined Department of Pathology and went to University of Maryland Medical School and obtained her M.S. She received a Ph. D in Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. She has undergone Post-doctoral training in Oncology Immunology, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine (Advisor Elizabeth Jaffee).

Functional proteomics, mapping and imaging of the brain’s and other organs, lipidome and proteome of leucocytes, protein modeling and bioinformatics

Ljudmila Stojanovich received her PhD in Medicine, with the thesis Neuropsychiatric manifestations in patients with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus” in 1999. She is the scientific director in the Bezhanijska Kosa, University Medical Center of Belgrade University, where she is currently a Research Professor. Her research focuses on Systemic Lupus Erythematosus, Antiphospholipid Syndrome, and Vaccination in patients with Autoimmune Rheumatic diseases. She is an author of three monographs and of about 250 articles on various aspects of Rheumatic disorders, published in international and domestic journals and in conference proceedings. She is in Editorial Boards/Reviewer in the Current Contests or Science citation index, like Lupus, Cellular and Molecular Neurobiology, The Journal of Vaccine, The Journal of Rheumatology, Allergologia et Immunopathologia and others. She is a member of number International Project, like of the European Forum on Antiphospholipid Antibodies”, “Multicentre Studies Antiphospholipid Antibodies, Infections and Autoimmune Diseases. She is a mentor/Supervisor of a numbers of post-doc students.Ljudmila Stojanovich received her Ph.D. in Medicine, with the thesis “Neuropsychiatric manifestations in patients with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus” in 1999. She is the scientific director in the Bezhanijska Kosa, University Medical Center of Belgrade University, where she is currently a Research Professor. Dr. Stojanovich’s research focuses on Systemic Lupus Erythematosus, Antiphospholipid Syndrome, and Vaccination in patients with Autoimmune Rheumatic diseases. She is an author of three monographs and of about 250 articles on various aspects of Autoimmune Rheumatic disorders, published in international and domestic journals and in conference proceedings. She is in Editorial Boards (Editorial Boards LUPUS (LONDON). /Reviewer in the “CURRENT CONTENSTS” or “Science citation index”, like LUPUS REWIEWER DATABAS, Cellular and Molecular Neurobiology, The Journal of Vaccine

Systemic Lupus Erythematosus ,Antiphospholipid Syndrome ,Neuropsychiatric Lupus

Sulie Chang, currently the Director of the Institute of NeuroImmune Pharmacology (I-NIP) and Professor of Biological Sciences and Neuroscience at Seton Hall University. Sulie Chang was previously a faculty member at Tulane Medical School and the Louisiana State University Medical Center. She joined Seton Hall University (SHU) in 1994 as an Assistant Professor of Biology rising through the academic ranks to become Professor of Biological Sciences in 2002 and Professor of Neuroscience in 2003. Between 1999 and 2005, I served as the Chairperson of the Department of Biological Sciences. Under her leadership as Department Chairperson, the Ph.D. program of Molecular Bioscience was implemented in 2004. Sulie Chang received her first NIH R01 grant in 1989 and have been funded continuously by NIH since then. She currently havetwo R01s (PI) and one RC2 awards. Sulie Chang is also a recipient of a K02 Independent Scientist Career Award since 2003.

Sulie Chang 's research has focused on the interactions between the nervous and immune systems in health and disease. Particularly, it has been predominantly in the area of neuroimmune modulation of substances of abuse including morphine(suppressant), cocaine, methamphetamine, nicotine (stimulant) and alcohol (depressant).

Maria Grazia De Simoni, Doctoral Degree in Biological Sciences in 1977, University of Milano, Italy, 110/110 summa cum laude. 1981: PhD in Neuropharmacology. 1981-1982: European Community fellowship for "Advanced Professional Training", INSERM U 171, Universitè Claude Bernard, Lyon, France. Presently: Head of the Laboratory of Inflammation and Nervous System Diseases, Mario Negri Institute Milan, Italy. She developed a long lasting expertise in experimental models of CNS diseases.Author of more than 110 scientific papers on peer-reviewed international journals.

The main scientific interests presently include the pathogenesis of cerebral ischemia/reperfusion and of traumatic brain injury; the inflammatory response as target of therapeutic strategies; peripheral inflammatory markers in CNS diseases; the protective mechanisms of stem cells. Member of the Scientific Board of Associazione Italiana per la Ricerca sull’Invecchiamento Cerebrale (AIRIC) and of the Editorial Board of Stroke, a Journal of Cerebral Circulation.

Matevz Leskovsek, PhD, is a founder and managing director of Breathinglabs.com, a company that produces human computer interfaces for breathing exercises, breathing games, and breathing entertainment. Dr. Leskovsek specializes in biofeedback, cardio-respiratory interaction, and neurology/brain research. He has led Society of Young researchers of Slovenia through fund raising and organization of an annual Mentor of the year award, that has been, among others, praised by the leading scientific journal Nature (Slovenian Scientists Reward Mentors, Nature, 09th June 2011).

Dr. Leskovsek specializes in biofeedback, cardio-respiratory interaction, and neuroplasticity. He also led Society of Young researchers of Slovenia through fund raising and organization of an annual Mentor Of The Year Award, that has been, among others, praised by the leading scientific journal Nature (Slovenian Scientists Reward Mentors, Nature, 09th June 2011).

Hervé, JF, Perron has completed his PhD in 1991 (Virology) and HDR (Professor Thesis; Biology) in 2000 from the Faculty of Medicine, Joseph Fourier University, Grenoble-France. He isolated and characterized a novel retroviral element from Multiple Sclerosis (MSRV), itself defining a novel family of human endogenous elements (HERV-W). He reviewed about a hundred manuscripts for more than 40 scientific and medical journals and is author in about 70 peer-reviewed publications. He is presently Chief Scientific Officer of Geneuro SA, Geneva-Switzerland. Geneuro develops innovative humanized antibody treatments for Multiple Sclerosis and for other diseases involving HERV-W as psychoses associating neuroinflammation.

Hervé Perron was Research Director of R&D within bioMérieux for the development of in vitro diagnostics in the domain of Neurological diseases. He was Scientific Director of bioMérieux STELHYS, a spin-off dedicated to the evaluation of developments of upstream research projects. Hervé is a co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer of GeNeuro and the general manager of GeNeuro-Innovation.

Dr. Yumin Zhang, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Anatomy, Physiology and Genetics and the Department of Neuroscience at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland. Dr. Zhang obtained his MD in Binzhou Medical School, China, PhD in Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel, and postdoc study in the Children’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School. The major research interest in Dr. Zhang’s lab is to study how modulation of the arachidonic acid metabolism and the endocannabinoid system can impact the pathogenesis and treatment for neurological diseases, including traumatic brain injury and multiple sclerosis.

neurological diseases, including traumatic brain injury and multiple sclerosis