2022 European Virtual Magic Wand Participants
2022 European Virtual Magic Wand® (EVMW) Participants
Anamaria Balić, MD
Dr. Anamaria Balić is a certified dermatolovenereologist and physician-scientists who specializes in immunodermatology, dermoscopy and cosmeticdermatology. She graduated from the School of Medicine, University of Zagreb, Croatia, and then finished the dermatovenereology residency at the University Hospital Centre Zagreb where she still works today. She has published numerous articles in peer-reviewed journals and is continuously working on new research projects. She is currently working on her Ph.D. thesis on the influence of bone morphogenetic proteins on wound healing at the Laboratory for Mineralized Tissue, Center for Translational and Clinical Research, Zagreb School of Medicine, Croatia. She is a member of several Croatian and European dermatological societies (European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology, International Dermoscopy Society, European Hidradenitis Suppurativa Foundation e.V., Croatian Medical Association, Croatian Society for Facial Aesthetics).
Christine C. Dierickx, MD
Christine C. Dierickx finished her dermatology residency in Belgium. Subsequently, she completed a fellowship in phlebology in the Netherlands, a clinical laser fellowship with Dr. R. Fitzpatrick in San Diego, CA and a Mohs fellowship with Dr. F. Mohs in Madison, Wi.
During a 2 year laser fellowship with Dr. Rox Anderson at Massachusetts General Hospital of Harvard University, she developed research laser expertise in various fields. For her work on the thermal relaxation time of ectatic blood vessels, she received the Best Basic Science Award of the American Society for Laser Medicine and Surgery. Subsequently, she became a full-time staff member of the Wellman Laboratories at Harvard. During this time, she conducted the research projects with long pulsed ruby and diode lasers for hair removal that led to approval for permanent hair reduction.
She returned to Europe in 2000 where she is currently the director of a private laser clinic in Luxembourg.
In 2006, Dr. Dierickx was vice-president of the “American Society of Laser Medicine and Surgery, Inc” and afterwards a board member of the International Committee. In 2013 she was the recipient of the Vasant Orwal Oration van de British Medical Laser Society. In April 2016 she was granted the Leon Goldman memoriam award. This award recognizes a practicing physician whose career demonstrates excellence in clinical research, patient care, or education, related to medical lasers.
Dr. Dierickx remains actively involved in research on various energy based devices and its applications. She has published and lectured nationally and internationally in the field of laser surgery, energy based devices and photodynamic therapy.
Giovanni Damiani, MD
As a Dermatologist, I strongly believe in the idea of "Physician Scientist" that combines clinical evidence and research to solve challenging cases. My main research interests are psoriasis, atopic dermatitis, artificial intelligence, teledermatology and special populations.
In July 2020, I obtained the Italian National Scientific Qualification as Associate Professor in Dermatology (MED-35) in the ASN 2018 fourth quarter.
From April 2020, Postdoctoral Research Fellow type A at University of Milan, working on the Research Line "Analysis of the main systemic inflammatory dermatoses and their dental implications assessed with new statistical approaches to characterize new endotypes" under the supervision of Profs. Paolo Pigatto and Carlo Maiorana.
From June 2018 to June 2020, I was Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Case Western Reserve University and I worked on the project "Multi-omics integration to define endotypes in psoriatic patients" under the supervision of Prof Kevin D Cooper.
Specialized in Dermatology and Venereology at the University of Milan in 2019 (Mark: 70/70) with a thesis titled "The metabolomic signature of non-lesional psoriatic skin: and advanced approach with artificial neural networks".
During my residency in Dec 2016, I founded and actually direct the Young Dermatologists Italian Network (YDIN) in the context of Italian Group for Epidemiologic Research in Dermatology (GISED) under the supervision of Prof Luigi Naldi. This group was born with the idea to connect young researchers with senior ones, in order to promote the scientific method and the evidence base medicine.
Graduated in Medicine and Surgery at the University of Brescia in 2013 (Mark: 110/110 with honor) with a thesis titled "Physio-pathological and clinical relevance of fraction of exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) in psoriatic patients."
Liora Bik, MD
Liora Bik, MD, is a PhD candidate in the Department of Dermatology at Erasmus MC, University Medical Center Rotterdam, The Netherlands. She is passionate about conducting and leading (pre-) clinical research, and to drive innovation in dermatological practice. Her research focuses on innovative and energy-based treatments for excessive keloid scars.
Dr. Bik enjoys research collaborations in The Netherlands and throughout Europe. In the Netherlands she conducts translational and clinical research with Amsterdam University Medical Centers, Centre for Human Drug Research (CHDR), and the Technical University of Twente. Abroad, she received a visiting researcher affiliation at the University of Copenhagen after completing a fellowship in the research team of Prof. dr. Haedersdal at Bispebjerg Hospital, Denmark.
Following residency in general dermatology, she currently specializes in laser dermatology at the Laser Dermatology Clinic of Erasmus MC Medical Center. Her main focus is to treat patients with (keloid) scars, vascular lesions, tattoos, benign tumors of the skin, pigmented lesions, and permanent hair removal.
Lloyd Steele, MRCP
Lloyd Steele, MRCP is a second-year academic-clinical dermatology resident at Barts Health NHS Trust and Queen Mary University of London. His research interests are in machine learning applied to genomics and clinical applications in dermatology. He is currently conducting an Academic Clinical Fellowship with research time allocated to predicting filaggrin gene status from palmar photos using machine learning, as well as a UK DCTN fellowship looking at the diversity of skin cancer datasets used for training AI models. During the Magic Wand Initiative program, he aims to learn more about bringing innovative ideas to clinical practice and collaborating with other disciplines.
Martin Shahid, MD, PhD, BSc
After graduating from Sofia Mathematics School (Bulgaria), I have earned a BSc (Hons) degree in the field of Genes, Genetics and Biotechnology at University of Toronto. It was there where I was introduced to the beauty of genetics. During my MD training at Medical University of Sofia (MU – Sofia), I developed my passion for dermatology and recognized my future career goals. At MU – Sofia I completed the dermatology residency program, obtained a PhD degree and was appointed as Assistant Professor at the Department of Dermatology and Venereology. I have developed an affection for autoimmune bullous dermatoses (AIBD) and in particular for dermatitis herpetiformis (DH). Knowing the values and opportunities that the VMW Program offers, I believe that the program is a life changing opportunity. Nowadays, It is not enough to be a researcher or a clinician alone. Real innovations not only need inventions but also real life applications. I really like the values of the VMW Program. I look forward to learning a lot of new things about scientific brainstorming, problems identification, product development and associated regulations. I also believe that every new collaboration hides unknown opportunities.
Meelad Habib, MD, PhD
Meelad Habib, MD, PhD, is a board-certified dermatologist in The Netherlands (Europe). Born in Kabul and raised in Rotterdam, he graduated from the Erasmus University (EUR) in the Netherlands where he completed his medical school and his PhD degree. He also holds a Master of Science (MSc) degree in Health Sciences (EUR) and broadened his educational horizons by spending part of his MSc training at the Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA, during the Summer Program in 2012.
Dr Habib completed his residency in dermatology at Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC), where he served as chief resident (2020). His clinical interests lie in auto-immune (rheum-derm) skin diseases and cosmetic dermatology.
During his residency, he was awarded a mentorship program by the Dutch Society of Dermatology. He started a clinic at the academic hospital (LUMC) focusing on patients with connective tissue (auto-immune) skin diseases. In summer 2019, he finished a clinical observership at the Connective Tissue Disease Clinics at the Brigham and Women’s hospital in Boston. He completed his subspecialization in cosmetic dermatology at the Erasmus Medical Center, where he focused on (medical) cosmetic procedures in healthy individuals and in patients with auto-immune diseases. He received the prestigious Young dermatologist Award at the world IMCAS conference in Paris in 2020 after presenting his work on lipofilling and lupus-panniculitis.
Dr Habib dedicates his career to patient care, clinical innovation and teaching in the field of auto-immune skin (rheum-derm) diseases and cosmetic dermatology.
Razvigor Darlenski, MD, PhD
Razvigor Darlenski is a dermatologist, associate professor, coming from Bulgaria. In 2010 he has defended a PhD thesis on the role of epidermal barrier for skin irritation and sensitization, and a DrSci thesis on the epidermal skin physiology adaptation in infancy. Currently he is working as dermatologist at Tokuda Hospital Sofia, Bulgaria. Dr. Darlenski has published more than 150 papers in peer-reviewed journal, 22 book chapters, with h-index of 18 and more than 1500 citations. Dr Darlenski is secretary general of the Bulgarian Dermatological Society, member of the Finance committee of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology, World Allergy Organization, European Academy of Allergology and Clinical Immunology, European Epidermal Barrier Research Network, International society of skin biophysics and imaging of the skin (ISBS). He is a winner of several awards among which EADV Alumni Lecturer of the Year (2016), Albert Kligman Young Investigator Award (2016), Global Education Award of the International Society of Dermatology (2013), Inaugural Edward L. Keyes award of the IACD (2012), EER fellow award of the ESDR and ASDV (2013), Michael Hornsetin Memorial Scholarship of the EADV (2009). His research interests are focused on skin barrier, skin allergy, atopic dermatitis, drug reactions of the skin and non-invasive methods in dermatology.
Teofila Caplanusi, MD, PhD
My current areas of clinical and translational research are the atopic dermatitis in adults and the dermato-allergology as a member of Professor Michel Gilliet in CHUV Lausanne Switzerland. Specialist in Dermatology and Venereology, graduated from the ULB Brussels Belgium, with expertise in Dermato-Oncology (VUB) and Allergology / Clinical Immunology. PhD thesis awarded by UCL Belgium/ Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research in basic research in the field of antitumor immunology and immunotherapy, then continuation of the scientific activity in translational research for the identification of biomarkers of response to immunotherapies with a focus particularly on the monitoring of the antitumor response by circulating tumor DNA.
Tanya Maltseva, MD, PhD
Tanya Maltseva has responsibility for the Medical Monitoring of Phase I-IV clinical trials. Covance’s main Therapeutic Area Expert in Dermatology and Aesthetics. Clinical and academic experience 8+ years in Dermatovenereology, Board Certified in Internal Medicine. Clinical residency and PhD in Dermatovenereology.
Tanya Maltseva has over 23 years of clinical research experience in hospital, academic, biopharma, and CRO settings. She has broad international experience across numerous therapeutic areas. She has started her pharmaceutical career with GSK working in sales department with regional responsibility and later gained her marketing experience with TEVA in competitive Pharmaceutical environment. Later, she worked for Global CROs at numerous posts of increasing seniority with both regional and global responsibility. Areas of clinical research expertise: Acne, Rosacea, Melanoma, Psoriasis, Eczema, Atopic Dermatitis, Epidermolysis bullosa, Aesthetics indication, COPD, Asthma, IPF, Allergy, Vaccine, Infectious diseases, Women Health. Member of EADV. Delegate of EADV, AAD Congresses.
Tiago Matos, MD, PhD
Tiago Matos started his medical degree in 2007 in Portugal, but soon after he moved to Czech Republic, UK, and to the USA, always in pursuit of greater career opportunities. While at Harvard Medical School, he led multiple translational studies on immunology, hematology, and dermatology. In 2016 he moved to Amsterdam to start a residency in Dermatology and concluded his Ph.D. being the first to ever receive the distinction cum laude within dermatology in Amsterdam. He focuses on characterizing regulatory and resident memory T cells. His work led to “a critical and groundbreaking redefinition of the cutaneous immune system” as described by The Scientist Magazine. Tiago has received numerous grants and published original articles in the most prominent journals including Nature. He currently holds several teaching, leadership, and management positions. Furthermore, he has a great interest in entrepreneurship, having won the 1st Prize of an Entrepreneurship Pitching contest, being Chief Medical Officer for tech-startups, and a senior consultant for clinical research organizations (CRO) and numerous pharmaceutical and cosmetical companies.
Josko Mise, MD
I am a dermatology and venereology resident at the University Hospital Center Zagreb in Croatia. Upon graduation from Medical School, University of Zagreb, I pursued my passion for global health working alongside civil society organizations in Geneva and New York advocating for the universal health coverage and health equity in the Sustainable Development Agenda of the United Nations. Between 2015 and 2017 I obtained a master's degree in public policy from Harvard Kennedy School of Government. My graduation thesis focused on innovative health care financing, specifically, on the implementation of value-based health care in low-resource health care settings. After returning to Croatia in 2018, I started the residency program in dermatology and venereology in Zagreb where I am currently in the final year of the program. My interests in dermatology include immunodermatology, dermatologic surgery and hidradenitis suppurativa.
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