Committees

Ivan is a paediatric pulmonologist working at the Department of Paediatrics, Universiy Hospital Centre Zagreb (Zagreb, Croatia). His special fields of interest are cystic fibrosis, primary ciliary dyskinesia, post bone marrow transplantation pulmonary complications and respiratory support in neuromuscular diseases. He is also assistant director of the Referral Centre for Cystic Fibrosis of the Ministry of Health — Republic of Croatia. Currently, Ivan is working on his PhD thesis in cystic fibrosis. For years, he has been active in the European Academy of Paediatrics (EAP), before as Chair of Young EAP and currently as Vice-Chair of Secondary-Tertiary Care Council. In his free time, he likes to dabble in herbology while hiking or to try new cooking recipes.

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Julia Brandenberger is a Swiss pediatrician working at the Children’s University Hospital Bern, specialized in pediatric emergency medicine. Her research focuses on pediatric migrant health and how linkage of routine data can help identify health disparities for migrant children. She cofounded and chairs the REACH (Refugees and Migrants in Europe – Adolescent and Child Health) strategic advisory group of the European Academy of Pediatrics, which synergizes efforts in education, research and advocacy in the field of pediatric migrant health across Europe. She is also steering committee member of the European Pediatric Emergency Research Network (REPEM) and the Swiss network for research in pediatric emergency medicine (PEMS-R).

Willem-Pieter de Boode (born in Arnhem in 1966) earned his doctor’s degree with honours from VU University Amsterdam. He specialized in Paediatrics at Radboudumc and Sint Joseph Hospital, now known as Maxima Medical Center, Veldhoven. Additionally, he focused on Neonatology at Radboudumc and became a registered Neonatologist in 1999. In 2010, he successfully completed his PhD at Radboud University, conducting research on advanced techniques for investigating and monitoring the neonatal cardiovascular system.

Dr. de Boode currently serves as a paediatrician-neonatologist and a staff member at the Neonatology department in Radboudumc Amalia Children's Hospital, Nijmegen, the Netherlands. His primary areas of expertise include neonatal haemodynamics, cardiovascular physiology, neonatologist-performed echocardiography (NPE), advanced haemodynamic monitoring, patent ductus arteriosus (PDA), neonatal shock, and Extracorporeal Life Support (ECLS).

He has held several roles within the European Society for Paediatric Research (ESPR), serving as the secretary of the ESPR Section "Circulation, Oxygen Transport and Haematology" and as chairman of the ESPR special interest group "Neonatologist Performed Echocardiography (NPE)." In this capacity, he has been instrumental in formulating European clinical, technical, and training guidelines for the use of echocardiography in Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICUs).

Dr. de Boode is also the project leader of the BeNeDuctus Trial, an international multi-center, randomized non-inferiority trial that explores early treatment versus expectative management of patent ductus arteriosus in preterm infants. This groundbreaking research is funded by The Netherlands Organization for Health Research and Development (ZonMw).

Since October 1, 2019, Willem-Pieter de Boode holds the position of Professor of Neonatology at Radboud University/Radboud university medical center (Radboudumc). As of September 2023, he assumed the role of President of the European Society for Paediatric Research (ESPR).

Outside his professional life, Willem de Boode enjoys a fulfilling personal life. He is happily married and the proud father of four children. His hobbies encompass music, boat building, and theatre.

Dr. Hadjipanayis is a Professor of Paediatrics. His primary teaching areas include paediatrics, communication skills, and information technology.

His research has focused on environmental hazards, human biomonitoring, the use and misuse of antibiotics, and vaccination. Dr. Hadjipanayis has authored more than 150 peer-reviewed articles in paediatric journals. He is also the author and co-editor of the book European Mastercourse in Paediatrics and has published several books for parents.

He is the immediate past President of the European Academy of Paediatrics, the Deputy Executive Director of the International Paediatric Association, the Director of the Paediatric Department at Larnaca General Hospital, and the hospital’s Medical Director.

I am a clinician-scientist, working as a neonatologist at Karolinska University Hospital in Stockholm, Sweden and conducting research both at Karolinska Institute and at the University Children´s Hospital Basel in Switzerland. My research interest is broad, from utility of vital sign time-series analysis to predict clinical outcome, to individualised caffeine dosing regimens and how parents can actively support NICU staff in infection prevention and control and healthy microbiome acquisition of their infant. All with the aim to improve health of infants and children.

I am the first chair of the Early Career Investigator Section of the ESPR. Within a society and during a conference, I am not only looking forward to exciting scientific presentations, but also to meeting the people conducting interesting research, to networking, to meeting friends and have fruitful and inspiring discussions.

Bert is Else Kröner-Seniorprofessor of Paediatrics at LMU – Ludwig Maximilians Universität Munich, Dept. Paediatrics, Dr. von Hauner Children’s Hospital, LMU University Hospitals, Munich, Germany. He was trained in paediatrics at Baragwanath Hospital, Johannesburg-Soweto, South Africa; Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Center, Moshi, Tanzania; the Dept. of Paediatrics at Detmold County Hospital and the Children’s Hospitals of the Universities of Düsseldorf, Germany and Toronto, Canada. Bert currently serves as President, European Academy of Paediatrics; member of the Strategic Advisory Group on Nutrition, International Pediatric Association and the Committee on Nutrition, German Society Pediatrics. Bert is founder and Chair of the Board of the charitable Stiftung Kindergesundheit (Child Health Foundation, www.kindergesundheit.de) based at the Children’s Hospital, LMU University of Munich.

Bert is author of 1222 scientific journal articles, 252 book chapters, and 46 books/monographies (Web of Science H-index 104 with 42 087 citations; Google Scholar H-index 151; 87,470 citations). Research.com rated him as the highest ranked German researcher in paediatrics in the year 2025, with 63,886 citations and a D-Index of 130. His research funding amounted to ~20 Mio.€ during the last decade provided by the European Union (EU) Framework Research Programmes, EU Research Council, EU Erasmus+ Programmes, EU Joint Programming Initiative, German Research Council, German Center for Child and Adolescent Health Research, German Federal Ministry Education & Research, German Ministry of Health, Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, US National Institutes of Health, German Academic Exchange Service, Else Kröner Fresenius Foundation, Family Larsson Rosenquist Foundation, and other funding bodies. He received numerous honors and awards, including in 2024 the Distinguished Service Award of the European Society for Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition (ESPGHAN), the Honorary Membership with Distinction of the Colombian Society for Neonatology, and the Great Medal of Honor of the University of Rzeszow, Poland. Bert is Editor in Chief of Ann Nutrition & Metabolism and of World Rev Nutrition & Dietetics, and Associate Editor of Curr Opin Clin Nutr Metabol Care.

Berthold Koletzko, Dr. med., Dr. med. habil. (MD PhD), Dres. h.c. mult., Else-Kröner-Seniorprofessor of Paediatrics, Prof. h.c.
LMU - Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Dept. Paediatrics, Dr. von Hauner Children’s Hospital, LMU University Hospitals, Lindwurmstr. 4, 80337 Muenchen, Germany, berthold.koletzko@med.uni-muenchen.de

I am a neonatologist at the II Department of Neonatology at Poznan University of Medical Sciences. I earned my PhD with a focus on heart rate monitoring, including heart rate variability and asymmetry. My academic interests also include evidence synthesis and I conduct systematic reviews in close collaboration with Cochrane Sweden and Cochrane Neonatal. Through both clinical practice and research, my goal is to advance evidence-based neonatal care and improve outcomes for the most vulnerable patients.

I currently serve as Chair of the Early Career Investigators Section of the European Society for Paediatric Research (ESPR) and as a tutor at the European School of Neonatology. Within CEPAS, I look forward to fostering meaningful exchange between neonatologists and paediatricians, both in terms of scientific collaboration and educational networking. I am particularly committed to ensuring that young professionals feel welcomed and empowered at our congress, as together we build the future of neonatal and paediatric care, both at the bedside and in research.

Training
Sylke Steggerda, MD PhD, received her medical degree from the Medical School in Utrecht. Afterwards, she worked as a resident in Pediatric Neurology at the Wilhelmina Children’s Hospital in Utrecht, and completed a Pediatric residency and a Neonatology fellowship at the Leiden University Medical Center, The Netherlands.

Clinical Work
Since 2006, Sylke works at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit in Leiden as an all-round neonatologist and consultant in neonatal neurology. She is the chair of the Dutch-Flemish working group on neonatal neurology and a steering committee member of the European special interest group on advanced neonatal cranial ultrasound (EuroBrainUS). She is involved both as an organizer and tutor in multiple international teaching initiatives in neonatal brain imaging.

Research and QI
Sylke obtained her PhD in 2014. Her research focuses on neonatal neuro-imaging (with a special interest in neonatal cranial ultrasonography), neonatal cerebellar injury, preterm stroke, brain development in monochorionic twins and neuromonitoring in hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy.

Luigi Titomanlio, MD, PhD, is Professor of Pediatrics at the Paris Cité University and Head of the Robert Debré Pediatric Emergency Department, Paris, France. He is the actual Chair of the Secondary and Tertiary Care Council, European Academy of Pediatrics (EAP) and has served as President of the European Society for Emergency pediatrics (EuSEP) and as General Secretary of the French Society for Pediatric Emergencies (GFRUP). He has authored or co-authored 118 articles in peer-reviewed journals and 15 book chapters mainly focused on pediatric emergency care.