WEBINARS

IRIDS Webinar Series

Welcome to the Roche IRIDS Webinar Series

What is IRIDS?

IRIDS is a series of scientific and educational events, focusing on current hot topics in the infectious diseases field. The event covers topics of interest for laboratories, as well as for clinicians and healthcare institutions, globally. Since the first IRIDS event, highly renowned speakers have shared their knowledge, and previous events have hosted 4 Nobel prize winners among the faculty. IRIDS provides a platform for participants to actively participate and to share and exchange knowledge with peers from all over the world.

Why to attend IRIDS?

If you are looking to expand your knowledge beyond the borders of your own specific infectious diseases expertise, and you are in search of valuable new exchange experiences, IRIDS is the event to attend.

How you will benefit

  • Stay up-to-date on the latest global trends and most significant developments in infectious diseases
  • Network with a world-class faculty of clinicians, lab experts and key opinion leaders from other countries

Responding to the
COVID-19 pandemic: challenges in diagnostics and patient care
Time: 13:00 to 14:30 CEST
Welcome and introduction
Dr Nam Tran, USA
Lab challenges, tricky cases, co-infections, what tools are needed?
Dr Marc Luetgehetmann, Germany
Future developments & preparedness for new pathogens in the lab, POC approaches (pros & cons)
Professor Dr Sandra Ciesek, Germany
Therapeutic targets for SARS-CoV-2
Q&A session

Monitoring populations at risk: The rise of STDs and opportunities of lab integration
Time: 13:00 to 14:30 CEST
Welcome and introduction
Professor Colm O’Mahony, UK
Monitoring special patient groups at risk, needs and challenges
Dr André Frontzek, Germany
Lab solution approach 1: NAT & serology are handled separately
Dr Germán Bou, Spain
Lab solution approach 2: NAT & serology are integrated
Professor Barbara Van Der Pol, USA
Vision of the future lab and advantages for patient care
Q&A session

Clinical challenges in ID serology assays – focus on HIV, HBV and HCV
Time: 13:00 to 14:30 CEST
Welcome and introduction
Professor Jeffrey Lazarus, Spain
Setting the scene - Key challenges in HIV, HBV and HCV diagnostics
Professor Colm O’Mahony, UK
Case study 1 (HIV – e.g. MSM PrEP community)
Professor Jia-Horng Kao, Taiwan
Case study 2 (HBV – anti-HBc positive only samples, treatments and impact on diagnosis, patients’ perspectives)
Professor Ming-Lung Yu, Taiwan
Case study 3 (HCV - treated HCV patients)
Q&A session

Lorem ipsum 16 July 2020
15:00 - 16:15 CET
Welcome and introduction
Prof. Anna Kajdy
Head of Obstetrics Department, St. Sophie's Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital, Warsaw, Poland
Prof. Liona Poon
Clinical Professor, Obstetrics, CUHK, Hong Kong
Q& session

Meet the Speakers

This section of the site will provide background information
on the panellists, their profiles, and accomplishments.
Nam Tran
Marc Lütgehetmann
Sandra Ciesek
Colm O’Mahony
André Frontzek
Germán Bou
Barbara Van Der Pol
Jeffrey Lazarus
Jia-Horng Kao
Ming-Lung Yu
Nam Tram is Professor and Senior Director of Clinical Pathology, and Director of Clinical Chemistry, Special Chemistry/Toxicology and Point-of-Care Testing at UC Davis Health, California, USA. He completed his PhD in comparative pathology in 2008 and conducted a postdoctoral training fellowship under the National Institute of Bioimaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) sponsored UC Davis Point-of-Care Technologies Center focused on developing novel molecular technologies for bedside infectious disease testing.
Dr Marc Lütgehetmann holds a Doctoral Degree (MD) from the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE). Dr Lütgehetmann has been conducting research there since 2004, his primary research focus is on Molecular Diagnostics of Infectious Diseases. He has published over 80 peer-reviewed articles and presents regularly at different scientific congresses.
Sandra Ciesek is Director at the Institute of Medical Virology and Professor of Medical Virology at the Goethe University Frankfurt, Germany. Her main areas of research include new forms of therapy for hepatitis C and, more recently, the search for drugs to treat COVID-19. Her previous roles include Head of the Viral Hepatitis Research Group at the Hannover Medical School, Germany, where she was appointed Associate Professor of Internal Medicine at the beginning of 2016.
Colm O’Mahony is a consultant in genitourinary medicine at the Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Chester, UK. He has extensive experience in sexual health, championing change through engagement with the UK Government and media work. He has contributed his expertise to several programmes on British national television including the series ’A Girls’ Guide to 21st Century Sex‘. Professor O’Mahony’s major clinical and research interests have focused on the management of STIs and HIV/AIDS.
André Frontzek is Technical Director of the Department of Molecular Diagnostics at MVZ Dr Stein + Kollegen, Mönchengladbach, Germany where he manages routine diagnostics and the development of new assays and technologies for the identification of human diseases. Previously he worked as a scientist at ESPLORA GmbH, Darmstadt, Germany where he was involved in the development of an in vitro cell culture model for the blood-brain barrier and new antibody-based technologies including phage display.
Germán Bou is Associate Professor of Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Santiago de Compostela, and Head of the Microbiology Service at the University Hospital of Coruña, both in Galicia, Spain. Dr Bou’s research interests include antimicrobial resistance mechanisms, the development of vaccines against resistant bacteria, development of diagnostic technology and the study of the human microbiome and its modulating role in human health. He is a member of the Spanish Antibiogram Committee (COESANT) as well as National Coordinator of the Antimicrobial Resistance Program within the Spanish Network for Research in Infectious Diseases (REIPI).
Barbara Van Der Pol is a professor of medicine and public health at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, AL, USA. Professor Van Der Pol is also an associate scientist at the Center for Women’s Reproductive Health and currently serves as President of the American STD Association, Chair of the North America Branch of the International Union Against STIs and President-elect of the International Society for STD Research.
Professor Jeffrey V Lazarus (PI) is an expert on health systems and infectious diseases known for having developed the micro-elimination approach in viral hepatitis C and the “Fourth 90” in HIV/AIDS. He serves as head of the health systems team at the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal) and an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Barcelona, Spain, where he leads two viral hepatitis testing studies. He is Vice-Chairman of the board of the EASL International Liver Foundation and co-chair of the HIV Outcomes Beyond Viral Suppression Coalition.
Jia-Horng Kao is Chair Professor at the National Taiwan University, a distinguished professor at the Graduate Institute of Clinical Medicine, National Taiwan University College of Medicine and Vice Superintendent of the National Taiwan University Hospital, all in Taiwan. Professor Kao’s main research interests include the prevention, natural history, molecular virology, pathogenesis and treatment of chronic hepatitis B and C.
Ming-Lung Yu is a chair professor at the College of Medicine and Senior Vice President of Kaohsiung Medical University, Taiwan. Professor Yu, a board-certified internist and gastroenterologist, currently teaches at the Kaohsiung Medical University and Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital where he holds the leading role in the Hepatitis Research Center and an advisory role at the Center for Cancer Research.

Missed the last one? Watch it again!

Archive of the Previous sessions. Cut downs and highlights of the different segments of the webinars.
This section is activated after the first webinar.
1st Webinar
Responding to the COVID-19 pandemic: challenges in diagnostics and patient care
08/09/2020
2st Webinar
Monitoring populations at risk: The rise of STDs and opportunities of lab integration
15/09/2020
3st Webinar
Clinical challenges in ID serology assays – focus on HIV, HBV and HCV
22/09/2020