Speakers, Panelists and Chairs

Dr. Calderon is Associate Professor in Aging Research (background in pharmacy and public health) with more than ten years of experience in the epidemiological study of multimorbidity, frailty and healthy aging. She investigates health in older age shifting from the traditional focus on single diseases towards multidimensional and longitudinal health trajectories. She is particularly interested in the physiological and psychosocial determinants of such trajectories, as well as the interaction of these health pathways with the use of medical and social care services. Dr. Calderon is vice-PI of the population based Swedish National study on Aging and Care in Kungsholmen, and was the main organizer of the International Symposium "Multimorbidity research at the crossroads: developing the scientific evidence for clinical practice and health policy", held in Stockholm on May 2018.

Elisa Fabbri, MD, PhD is a Tenure Track (fixed-term) Assistant Professor at Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences at the University of Bologna in Italy since 2023. She graduated in Medicine and Surgery at the University of Bologna in 2010. She was trained as geriatrician at the same university and she received her degree in Geriatrics in 2017. Moreover, she also did her PhD (graduated in 2019) at the University of Bologna. Her clinical word field is Internal Medicine, with older, frail and complex patients affected by multimorbidity and taking polypharmacy. Her main research activity has been done in collaboration with Dr. Ferrucci, Scientific Director of National Institute on Aging (NIA/NIH), Baltimore, MD, USA (since 2013 to today). Her research focuses are: 1) understanding the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying aging and multimorbidity; 2) identifying hallmarks of multimorbidity burden; 3) describing the association between multimorbidity and inflammation; 4) developing strategies aimed at preventing or delaying the onset of multimorbidity and its consequences; 5) optimizing the management and care of older adults with multimorbidity.

Paul Glasziou is Professor of Evidence-based Medicine at Bond University and the Director of the Institute for Evidence Based Healthcare. Previously, he was the Director of the Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine in Oxford from 2003-2010. He was a part-time General Practitioner for many years. His key research interests include identifying and removing the barriers to using high quality research in everyday clinical practice. Other interests include overdiagnosis and overtreatment, clinical monitoring, general practice, uptake of evidence for non-drug interventions, and automation of systematic review processes. He is a leader within the Reward Alliance, investigating research waste and promoting better prioritisation, design, conduct, regulation, management and reporting of health research. Professor Glasziou has (co-)authored over 700 peer-reviewed journal articles which are highly cited (his h-index is currently 131), seven books related to evidence based practice and numerous book chapters. He is a co-author of the Ariadne principles and he was a member of the Scientific Committee of the first multimorbidity symposium – 2012 held in Frankfurt am Main (‘Evidence-Based Medicine Meets Multimorbidity: A Blind Date?’). He has received (inter-)national awards and was recently appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia.

Dr. Nina Grede is a nurse and health scientist. She works as a researcher at the Institute of General Practice at Goethe University Frankfurt in the working group "Polypharmacy and Health Services Research". Before, she worked as a researcher at the Institute of General Practice at the Philipps University in Marburg. Among other things, she led a multi-centre, randomised controlled study in which the improvement of physical performance through regular accompanied walking in people aged 65 and over was investingated. She completed her doctorate in medical sciences on the topic of "Methodological diversity of drug discontinuation studies" in Marburg in 2023.

Alongside her academic research, she has been a lecturer for special tasks at the Department of Health Sciences at Fulda University of Applied Sciences for many years. Her teaching specialisms are evidence-based medicine and nursing, evidence-informed decision-making in public health, quantitative social research and healthcare structures.

Ana I. González González, MD, PhD, is a senior researcher currently active at the Department of General Practice and Family Medicine, University of Bielefeld, where she is working closely with Marburg University on updating the DEGAM guideline for the primary prevention of cardiovascular disease in primary care. Additionally, she plays a role in driving innovation and overseeing international projects at the Madrid Health Ministry. With a career spanning 20 years in health research leadership and management, Dr. González also contributes significantly to European research initiatives such as the projects COMPAR-EU and ROUTE-HWF. As part of her research journey, she has dedicated seven years at the Institute of General Practice at Goethe University, Frankfurt, Germany. Here, her focus has been on addressing complex health issues such as multimorbidity, polypharmacy, and understanding patient preferences. A member of the Research Network in Chronicity, Primary Care, and Health Prevention and Promotion (RICAPPS) since 2013, Dr. González has led Spanish projects like E-MPODERATE aimed at boosting patient empowerment and engagement in their health management. Dr. González has written over 40 articles and books, using her 20 years of experience in general medical practice and healthcare management. From 2013 to 2015, she helped develop a plan for treating long-term illnesses in Madrid's health system.

Bruce Guthrie is Professor of General Practice at the University of Edinburgh and Director of the Advanced Care Research Centre. He is a mixed methods health services researcher with an interest in multimorbidity and polypharmacy, and leads several interdisciplinary research projects using epidemiological and AI methods applied to large routine datasets, examining applicability of evidence, and developing and evaluating complex interventions to improve patient outcomes in later life (e.g. AIM CISC). As well as conducting research, he continues to practice clinically, and has served on number of UK National Health Service advisory bodies, including chairing the guideline development group for the UK National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guideline “Multimorbidity: Clinical Assessment and Management” and being a member of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies Social Care Workgroup during the pandemic.

Maria Hanf, M.Sc. is a researcher affiliated with the Institute of General Practice at the Goethe University Frankfurt am Main. She holds a Master of Science in Health and Nursing Care, as well as a Bachelor of Science in Physiotherapy. Maria is actively involved in the working groups 'Polypharmacy and Health Services Research' and 'Participation (Patient and Public Involvement)'. Her research focuses on health services research, (process) evaluation of digital applications, and research design using patient- and user-centered methods, as well as qualitative research approaches.

Prof Dr Claudia Hornberg is a graduate biologist, ecologist and specialist physician in hygiene and environmental medicine. She had headed the Environment and Health working group at the Faculty of Health Sciences at Bielefeld University since 2002. In 2018, she was appointed founding dean of the Faculty of Medicine at Bielefeld University, where she heads the Dept. on Sustainable Environmental Health Sciences (AG 1). She specialised in public health, toxicology and environmental justice, age and gender-specific research. She works on fundamental issues in the aforementioned subject areas as well as special topics in environmental medicine research and practice, with a focus on population-based/preventive environmental medicine. Claudia Hornberg has been Chair of the German Advisory Council on the Environment since 2016, which advises the Federal Government and regularly assesses the environmental situation in Germany. She is the (co-)author of over 200 peer-reviewed journal articles.

Dr. med. Bettina Leeuw is a specialist in general practice, primary care geriatrics, naturopathy and acupuncture and works as a GP in her own practice in Bielefeld. She is also a research assistant in the Dept. of General Practice and Family Medicine at the Medical School East Westphalia at Bielefeld University. Here she is the medical director of general practice training in the new model degree programme in human medicine and is deputy head of the working group. She is also head of medical training at the Westphalia Lippe Competence Centre for Further Training in General Practice at the partner location in Bielefeld. Other interests include antibiotic stewardship, for which she also completed her doctorate.

Dr. Christine Kersting is a Health Scientist. She currently works as a Research Fellow at the Institute of General Practice and Primary Care (iamag) of Witten/Herdecke University, Germany. Her research predominantly focuses on participatory and stakeholder-oriented approaches, addressing topics relevant to patients and various stakeholders in the primary care setting. She is Co-Speaker for the Working Group on “Participation” of the Initiative of German Practice-Based Research Networks DESAM-ForNet.

Gabriele Meyer is professor for nursing science and director of the Institute of Health and Nursing Sciences at the Medical Faculty of Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg. She started her research career more than 20 years ago and has conducted many studies predominately dealing with nursing in older people either living at home or in the nursing home. Her research priorities are development and evaluation of complex interventions. She and her group have developed intervention programmes for the nursing home setting aimed to reduce accidental falls and their consequences, to decrease the number of physical restraints and antipsychotics, and to improve social participation and functioning in people with joint contracture. Dementia health care service research turned out as core topic of recent years, also through projects dealing with purposeful activities and prevention of abuse.

Victor M. Montori, MD is the Robert H. and Susan M. Rewoldt Professor of Medicine at Mayo Clinic. An endocrinologist, health services researcher, and care activist, Dr. Montori is the author of more than 750 peer-reviewed publications and is among the most cited researchers in clinical medicine and in social science. He is a recognized expert in evidence-based medicine, shared decision making, and minimally disruptive medicine. He works in Rochester, Minnesota, at Mayo Clinic, KER Unit, KER Unit, to advance person-centered care for patients with diabetes and other chronic conditions. He is the author of the book „Why We Revolt“, and is leading a movement, a „Patient Revolution“, for Careful and Kind Care for all.

Christiane Muth is the Professor and Head of the Department of General Practice and Family Medicine at Bielefeld University. As a general internist and Master of Public Health, she has a research focus in clinical decision support in chronic diseases with multimorbidity and polypharmacy (MM/PP) and an interest in further development of methods in evidence based medicine to take into consideration MM/PP. She co-authored the Ariadne principles, and as a member of the Scientific Committee, she coordinated both of the former multimorbidity symposia – 2012 held in the German National Library in Frankfurt am Main ‘Evidence-Based Medicine Meets Multimorbidity: A Blind Date?’; and 2018 in the Alfred Nobel Forum in Stockholm ‘Multimorbidity research at the cross-roads: developing the evidence for clinical practice and health policy’.

Rafael Perera, Professor of Medical Statistics, Director of Graduate Studies and of the Medical Statistic Group at the Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences at the University of Oxford. Ex-Fellow of the Alan Turing Institute, UK. Methods Theme Lead or Co-Lead of UK National Institute of Health Research Infrastructure and PI on Research Programmes on Multiple Long-Term Conditions with a particular focus on Primary Health Care. He runs a research group of 25 statisticians, health economists, epidemiologists, and data scientists. (H-index 77; >£24M last 5 years). He is a co-author of the Ariadne principles and has particular interest in the role of biomarker measurements for the management/monitoring of MLTCs/Multimorbidity.

Dr. Svetlana Puzhko is a clinician-researcher with international work experience in fundamental and clinical medical science. Her research interests are in the application of large database (electronic medical records, medical claims data) analysis and advanced modeling for the evaluation of drug safety and effectiveness for patients in primary care, with a focus on multimorbidity and polypharmacy. She is also interested in the implementation of precision medicine and patient involvement in shared decision-making through knowledge translation. Svetlana obtained her MSc (2013-2015) and PhD (2015-2021) degrees at the Department of Family Medicine of McGill University, Montreal, Canada, where she studied advanced epidemiology and biostatistics, pharmacoepidemiology, knowledge translation, knowledge synthesis, and participatory research. The overarching goal of Svetlana’s studies is in the integration of multiple streams of information, including patient characteristics, behaviors, and genetic and nongenetic biomarkers to optimize prescribing in primary care and reduce the drug burden.

Dr. Rijken is Senior Researcher at the Netherlands institute for health services research, Nivel, and Professor of International Health and Social Care at the University of Eastern Finland. She studies the implementation and outcomes of person-centred integrated care for high-need patient populations, including people with multimorbidity, with a specific focus on the identification of needs and patient-reported care experiences and outcomes. She has contributed to many EU funded projects and other actions to improve chronic disease prevention and management (e.g., ICARE4EU, JA-CHRODIS, SUSTAIN, NCD initiative ‘Healthier together’ and the recently started joint action JACARDI). Dr. Rijken is also leading the PaRIS-SUR consortium, which supports the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and 20 countries worldwide in developing and implementing the international Patient-Reported Indicators Survey (PaRIS) for people living with chronic conditions.

Martin Scherer is Professor of General Practice, Director of the Institute and Polyclinic for General Practice at the University Hospital Hamburg-Eppendorf and a GP. He has been President of the German Society for General Practice and Family Medicine (DEGAM) since 2019, having previously been its Vice President since 2010. He has been Co-Chair of the "Multimorbidity" Working Group of the Guidelines International Network (GIN) since 2017 and was also a member of the Executive Board of the European Cardiovascular Society (EPCCS) and the European Council on Cardiovascular Primary Care, European Society of Cardiology (ESC). He is Chairman of the Expert Advisory Board of the Healthcare Foundation, and he is a co-author of the Ariadne principles. His work focuses on health services research and its methods, the development of quality indicators, systematic reviews and meta-analyses, guidelines, cardiovascular diseases, multimorbidity as well as overuse and underuse.

Susan Smith is Professor of General Practice at Trinity College Dublin and works as a General Practitioner at Inchicore Family Doctors in Dublin. Her research interests include improving outcomes for patients with multimorbidity and related clinical issues such as medicines management. She has been the PI or Co-PI on eight RCTs of interventions for chronic disease management in Irish primary care settings and has just secured funding for a national three arm cluster RCT evaluating two interventions for people with multimorbidity taking ten or more medicines, GP based pharmacists and link workers providing social prescribing. She is an editor and author with the Cochrane Collaboration and is Clinical Lead for the CICER programme, which conducts evidence synthesis for Ireland’s Clinical Guidelines. She also has an interest in health equity and coordinates the Deep End Ireland Group, which advocates for needs-based resource allocation for primary care services for socioeconomically disadvantaged groups.

Dr. Steinman is a Professor of Medicine in the Division of Geriatrics at the University of California, San Francisco and the San Francisco VA Medical Center. A geriatrician-researcher, he cares for older adults in outpatient and inpatient settings and conducts research evaluating how older adults use medications, the problems that arise from medication overuse and misuse, and strategies for improving pharmaceutical care for older adults. He is co-principal investigator of the US Deprescribing Research Network, co-Director of the UCSF Pepper Center for Aging Research, and co-chair of the American Geriatrics Society Beers Criteria of Potentially Inappropriate Medications in Older Adults.

Sharon E. Straus, CM MD MSc FRCPC FRSC is a geriatrician and clinical epidemiologist who trained at the University of Toronto and the University of Oxford. She is the Director of the Knowledge Translation Program and Physician-in-Chief, St. Michael’s Hospital and Professor in the Department of Medicine, University of Toronto. She holds a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Knowledge Translation and Quality of Care and has authored more than 500 peer-reviewed publications and 3 textbooks in evidence-based medicine, knowledge translation and mentorship. Since 2015, she has consistently been in the top 1% of highly cited clinical researchers as per Clavirate and has an H-index of 108. She holds more than $60 million in peer-reviewed research grants as a principal investigator. She has received national awards for mentorship, research and education. She was inducted as a Fellow in the Royal Society of Canada in November 2021 and named as a Member of the Order of Canada in December 2021.

Prof. Dr. Petra A. Thürmann, MD, is Director of the Philipp Klee-Institute of Clinical Pharmacology, Helios University Clinic Wuppertal, Germany. Since 2021 she is Vice-President of the University of Witten/Herdecke. After studies of Medicine at the Johann Wolfgang Goethe-University in Frankfurt/Main she received a board certified specialist’s degree in Clinical Pharmacology in 1992 and PhD (Habilitation) in 1997. In 1997 appointment at the HELIOS University Clinic in Wuppertal and 1998 at the University of Witten/Herdecke. Petra Thürmann was a member of the Executive Committee of IUPHAR between 2004 and 2018. She is member of the Drug Commission of the German Medical Association and from 2011 until 2023 she was member of the Advisory Council on the Assessment of Developments in the Health Care System (German Ministry of Health). Her research interest is focused on geriatric pharmacotherapy (e.g. PRISCUS list), drug therapy safety as well as gender medicine.

José Valderas is a family physician. He is Professor of Medicine and Director of the Centre for Research in Health Systems Performance at the National University of Singapore and Head of the Department of Family Medicine at the National University Health System. He has provided expert advice to WHO and OECD on primary care and patient reported measurement and has led research on multiple aspects of co-morbidity (particularly in relation to cancer diagnosis) and multimorbidity, including theory and empirical studies on its epidemiology, the evaluation of its impact on quality and safety and interventions aimed at people with multimorbidity. He was co-chair of the of the International Symposium "Multimorbidity research at the crossroads: developing the scientific evidence for clinical practice and health policy", held in Stockholm in May 2018.

Marjan van den Akker PhD is professor for Polypharmacy and Health Services Research, appointed at the Institute of General Practice of Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main, Germany since 2019. She is also affiliated to the Department of Family Medicine in Maastricht, the Netherlands and the Academic Center of General Practice in Leuven, Belgium. She was trained as a health scientist and epidemiologist in Maastricht (graduated 1992), where she also did her PhD (defense 1999). Her research focuses on multimorbidity and polypharmacy using both qualitative and quantitative designs, for observational and interventional studies. She co-authored the Ariadne principles and she was a member of the Scientific Committee of the first multimorbidity symposium – 2012 held in Frankfurt am Main Medicine Meets Multimorbidity: A Blind Date?. She was one of the founding members of the International Research Community on Multimorbidity (IRCMo) and is a co-editor of the Journal of Multimorbidity and Comorbidity and a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Clinical Epidemiology.