COMMITTEES

Prof. Azzedine El Midaoui is the Minister of Higher Education, Scientific Research and Innovation in Morocco. Before taking on this role, he was the President of Ibn Tofail University in Kenitra from 2014, where he worked to improve the university's programs and research.

In 2018, he became President of the Conference of Presidents of Moroccan Universities, helping to guide cooperation and planning among the country's universities. Since 2015, he has also served as a member of the High Council for Education, Training and Scientific Research, contributing to national education policies.

Professor Pandol leads the American Consortium on Chronic Pancreatitis, Diabetes, and Pancreatic Cancer, driving national efforts to advance understanding and treatment of pancreatic diseases. A former President of the American Pancreas Association, he also serves as Editor of Frontiers in Gastrointestinal Sciences and Associate Editor for several leading journals.

Professor Stephen J. Pandol is an internationally recognized leader in pancreatic physiology and disease. He serves as Director of Basic and Translational Pancreas Research at Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre. He is Professor of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), the Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre, and the Charles R. Drew University College of Medicine in Los Angeles.

He has authored over 450 peer-reviewed publications in top-tier journals and holds more than 20 patents related to cancer therapeutics. His groundbreaking work has earned him multiple honours, including two Lifetime Achievement Awards and the Research Mentor Award from the AGA.

Professor Paul Moss is a world leader in human immunology and immunotherapy. He is Deputy Head of the College of Medical and Dental Sciences and Professor of Haematology at the University of Birmingham. In recognition of his contributions to biomedical research, Professor Moss was awarded an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to immunotherapy and COVID-19 research. His research focuses on immune responses to cancer, viral infection, and transplantation, with major contributions to understanding T-cell immunity.

Professor Moss has held several prominent national leadership roles, including Chair of the Medical Research Council Infection and Immunity Board and Chair of the Cancer Research UK Clinical and Translational Research Committee. He also led the UK Coronavirus Immunology Consortium (UK-CIC), coordinating national efforts to study immune protection against COVID-19.

He has authored over 400 scientific publications in leading journals and is a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences.

Professor John Neoptolemos is Professor of Surgery and Head of the School of Cancer Studies at the University of Liverpool. He founded the European Study for Pancreas Cancer Research (ESPAC), which transformed international collaboration in pancreatic cancer trials and now includes leading centres in Canada, Japan and Australia. He also created EUROPAC, the European registry for hereditary pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer, a key resource for studying genetic pancreatic diseases.

He established the NIHR Pancreas Biomedical Research Unit, directed the Cancer Research UK Liverpool Clinical Trials Unit, and served as Co-Director of the CRUK and NIHR Liverpool Experimental Cancer Centre. His leadership helped position Liverpool as a leading centre for pancreas and clinical cancer research.

He leads one of the UK's most successful surgical oncology programmes and is internationally recognised for major contributions to pancreatic cancer research, clinical trials and translational medicine. Professor Neoptolemos has held several national and international leadership roles and received major honours, including the Lifetime Achievement Award of the European Pancreatic Club, the Ruth Brufsky Award, the Henry Lynch Award and the Freedom of the City of Liverpool.