Advisory Board
UNION has two advisory boards; one for dermatology and one for respiratory diseases.
Dermatology
Professor Thomas Bieber
Professor Thomas Bieber
Thomas Bieber, MD., Ph.D., MDRA., began his studies in medicine and biology at the University Louis Pasteur in Strasbourg, France and earned his doctorate degree in Human Medicine in 1982. Dr. Bieber has been serving as a professor in Dermatology and Allergology since 1994, starting at the Ludwig-Maximilian’s University in Munich, and later at the University of Bonn in Germany where he also received a master’s degree in Drug Regulatory Affairs in 2011.
Dr. Bieber has since 2008 been the president of the Dermatological Society of Nord-Rhein Westfalia and the Chief Editor of Allergy, in the official Journal of the European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (EAACI) since 2010.
His scientific focus is on the ontogeny and immunobiology of dendritic cells, their role in atopic dermatitis, and in tolerance mechanisms. His main clinical interest is the management of chronic skin diseases such as atopic dermatitis and psoriasis. He has received several awards, including the Karl-Hansen Award of the DGAI and the Gold Medal of the Foundation for Allergy Research in Europe.
Professor Bruce Strober
Professor Bruce Strober
Bruce Strober, MD., Ph.D., is Clinical Professor of Dermatology at Yale University School of Medicine and is currently the Editor in Chief of the Journal of Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis. Dr. Strober has earned both his medical and doctorate degrees from Columbia University in New York. He is board certified by the American Board of Dermatology and a fellow in the American Academy of Dermatology.
His research interests include the study of therapeutics for inflammatory skin diseases, specifically interventions that help patients with difficult-to-treat psoriasis, atopic dermatitis, and hidradenitis suppurativa. Prior to co-founding Central Connecticut Dermatology, Dr. Strober was Professor and Chair in the Department of Dermatology at University of Connecticut School of Medicine in Farmington, Connecticut.
Dr. Strober has served as a Section Editor for the British Journal of Dermatology, and an ad hoc reviewer for Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, JAMA Dermatology, British Journal of Dermatology, and the New England Journal of Medicine. He has published more than 190 book chapters and articles in peer-reviewed journals, such as JAMA Dermatology.
Professor Gregor Jemec
Professor Gregor Jemec
Gregor Jemec, MD, DMSci, Is Chairman of the Department of Dermatology, Roskilde Hospital, and Professor of Dermatology at the health Sciences faculty, University of Copenhagen, Denmark.
He has a broad academic interest in dermatology and is currently leading two research groups: one within hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) and one dedicated to outcome measures. Along with reviewing manuscripts for major dermatological journals and doctoral theses at Karolinska Institute in Sweden, he is an Executive Committee member of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology (EADV).
He is also Past Chairman of the Continuing Medical Education Committee of the EADV and Past Chairman of the Danish Dermatological Society. He is the author or co-author of 10 books/monographs, 700+ scientific papers and other publications, 130 presentations at scientific meetings.
Professor Richard Warren
Professor Richard Warren
Richard Warren is Professor of Dermatology and Therapeutics and Honorary Consultant Dermatologist. He graduated from Liverpool University with a first class honours degree in Pharmacology and gained his Medical degree, with honours, one year later.
He was awarded The J Hill Abram prize – highest mark in Medicine and the Reginald Dora Goodrick prize – highest mark in Surgery. He is widely published in the field of dermatology with numerous abstracts, papers and book contributions including The Lancet, Nature Genetics and The Journal of Investigative Dermatology.
He is currently the EU Editor in Chief for the journal Dermatology and Therapy and is a member of The International Psoriasis Council.
Professor Emma Guttman-Yassky
Professor Emma Guttman-Yassky
Emma Guttman-Yassky, M.D. & Ph.D. is the Sol and Clara Kest Professor of Dermatology and Immunology, Vice Chair of the Department of Dermatology, and Director of the Center for Excellence in Eczema and Laboratory of Inflammatory Skin Diseases at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, USA.
Dr. Guttman’s major research focus is atopic dermatitis (AD), a disease in which she has made paradigm-shifting discoveries on pathogenesis, opening the door to new therapeutics. Her past work in AD includes comprehensive molecular mapping, defining skin differentiation and immune-circuits, establishing differences between disease endotype, molecular reversal of disease, and identification of biomarkers. She is now focusing on testing therapeutics for AD that target Th2, Th22, and Th17/IL-23 axis, and identifying possible novel therapeutic targets in alopecia areata.
Dr. Guttman co-founded the International Eczema Council, the largest organization for key opinion leaders in eczema/atopic dermatitis, and was elected its President in June 2018. Her other society work includes the American Society for Clinical Investigation, the American Dermatological Society, and was recently elected to the American Skin Association board.
Professor Dr. Lars E. French
Professor Dr. Lars E. French
MD, is a clinician-scientist and the current professor and chairman of the Department of Dermatology at the Ludwig Maximilian University (LMU) in Munich, Germany. Prof. French graduated from the University of Geneva and trained in internal medicine, basic research, and dermatology at the University of Geneva. In 2006 he was nominated as Louis-Jeantet Professor of Medicine at the University of Geneva, in 1999 he spent a year at the Department of Dermatology of the University of Pennsylvania, and between 2006 and 2018 he was professor and chairman of the Department of Dermatology of the Zurich University Hospital, Switzerland.
He is an expert in inflammatory skin diseases and author of over 320 original publications with an h-index of 54, over 13000 citations, and is ranked by Stanford University among the top 2% of scientists globally – all disciplines confounded. In 2012 he was awarded the Otto Naegeli Prize for the promotion of medical research, one of Switzerland’s most prestigious scientific awards.
Prof. French is internationally recognized for his activities as a past board-member, secretary-treasurer and president of the European Society of Dermatological Research (ESDR), past-Treasurer and president of the European Dermatology Forum, Member of the German Academy of Science Leopoldina, past vice-president of the Swiss Society for Dermatology and Venereology, and current President of the International League of Dermatological Societies (ILDS).
Respiratory
Professor Dr. Michael S. Niederman
Professor Dr. Michael S. Niederman
Michael S. Niederman, MD, is Clinical Director of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College and former Professor and Vice-Chairman of the Department of Medicine at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, and Chairman of the Department of Medicine at Winthrop-University Hospital in Mineola, New York. He specializes in Pulmonary and Critical Care, focusing on , pneumonia, tuberculosis, complicated chest infections, and chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases, including emphysema.
He has published over 470 peer reviewed or review articles, and has lectured widely, both nationally and internationally. Dr Niederman served as co-chairman of the committees that created the American Thoracic Society 1993 and 2001 guidelines for the treatment of community-acquired pneumonia and the 1996 and 2005 committees that wrote guidelines for the treatment of nosocomial pneumonia. He was a member of the ATS/IDSA committee that published guidelines for community-acquired pneumonia in 2007. He was also the co-lead author of the 2017 European Respiratory Society Guidelines for Nosocomial Pneumonia. He has also served on the editorial boards of The American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Critical Care Medicine, Intensive Care Medicine, the European Respiratory Review, and Chest.
He obtained his medical degree from Boston University School of Medicine and completed his training in internal medicine at Northwestern University School of Medicine before undertaking a pulmonary and critical care fellowship at Yale University School of Medicine.
Professor Christian Sandrock
Professor Christian Sandrock
Christian Sandrock, MD, is director of critical care, professor of medicine, and vice chair for quality and safety at the UC Davis Medical Center. His research interests include emerging infectious diseases at the animal and human interface, particularly respiratory infections such as avian influenza, SARS, and other diseases acquired by humans.
He has clinical interests in respiratory infections, community-acquired and viral pneumonia, and ICU-acquired infections. Dr. Sandrock has an M.P.H. in international public health and an M.D. degree from Lund University and has published more than 50 peer-reviewed publications.
Professor Grant Waterer
Professor Grant Waterer
Grant Waterer, MBBS, Ph.D., MBA, FRACP, FCCP, serves as Professor of Medicine at Royal Perth Hospital Unit and The University of Western Australia, as well as being an adjunct Professor of Medicine at Northwestern University, Chicago and Adjunct Professor of Medicine at Curtin University.
Prof. Waterer is a respiratory specialist seeing general respiratory diseases but with a particular interest in pulmonary infectious diseases. He is currently the acting Director of Clinical Services at Royal Perth Hospital and Chair of the American Thoracic Society and Infectious Diseases Society of America Community Acquired Pneumonia Guidelines and a panel member of the ATS/IDSA HAP/VAP guidelines.
He has over 200 peer-reviewed publications, more than 70 invited international presentations, and is on the editorial board of eight journals, including the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Chest, and the European Respiratory Journal. In addition, he is a board member of the North Metropolitan Area Health Service and has an MBA from Deakin University.
Professor Vibeke Backer
Professor Vibeke Backer
Vibeke Backer, MD, DMSc, is the Chief Respiratory Physician at Department of ENT and Centre for Physical Activity Research (CFAS), Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark.
She has worked in the field of respiratory diseases since 1983 with a focus on obstructive lung diseases, respiratory allergy and lung cancer. Furthermore, she has given scientific talks nationally and internationally on respiratory diseases and has chaired several international congresses. Prof. Backer has published more than 400 articles and is developer and former Editor-in-Chief at the Clinical Respiratory Journal, and currently she is deputy editor at the European Clinical Respiratory Journal, both of which is pubmed index’ed and have impact factor.
Throughout her career, she has developed, chaired, and taught at more than 100 Ph.D. courses and has developed more than 30 specialist courses for health care specialists in asthma and COPD, and worked as an examiner in general medicine, Pulmonary medicine, acute respiratory medicine, OSCE and OSVAL. Currently, she is member of the censor team around foreigners with MD degree and need of Danish authorization.
In 2015, Prof. Backer was part of a team appointed IOC Research Centre Copenhagen by the International Olympic Committee. In 2011, she received the Global Excellence in Health Award for her research in sport and asthma, and in 2008 she was given National Honours in respiratory medicine. Since 2019, she has developed the asthma and physical activity Unit, at center for physical activity research (CFAS), Rigshospitalet, and has been chair of the the Unit of global airways at the department of ENT, also at Rigshospitalet.
