Leonilde Bonfrate, MD, PhD, is Associate Professor of Internal Medicine at San Raffaele Roma University, Italy. She is a board-certified specialist in Internal Medicine with established expertise in obesity and metabolic diseases. Prof. Bonfrate is Expert Consultant at the Obesity and Clinical Nutrition Center of IRCCS Saverio de Bellis (Italy), a national referral institute for gastroenterology and metabolic diseases. Her clinical and research activities focus on obesity, metabolic syndrome, metabolic-associated fatty liver disease, type 2 diabetes, and clinical nutrition, with particular emphasis on the brain–gut–liver axis and gut microbiota in metabolic dysfunction. She is widely recognized as an opinion leader in obesity and metabolic disorders. She is author and co-author of 90 peer-reviewed publications in international high-impact journals, with 4,523 citations. Prof. Bonfrate serves as Councillor of the European Society of Clinical Investigation (ESCI), Section Editor of the European Journal of Clinical Investigation, and President of the ESCI Journal Foundation. She is an active member of numerous national and international scientific societies and working groups in the fields of internal medicine, obesity, metabolic diseases, and clinical investigation. She regularly participates in major European and international congresses and has delivered numerous invited lectures in her areas of expertise.

Cláudia Lima obtained a bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry and a master’s degree in Oncology, both from the University of Porto. She holds a PhD in Translational Medicine from the University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli” (Naples, Italy), in collaboration with the Cancer Biology & Epigenetics group at the Portuguese Oncology Institute of Porto (IPO Porto). Her academic path focused on basic cancer research, particularly on how cytokines within the tumor microenvironment influence bladder cancer cells. She was also involved in the European project “UCIPredict”, strengthening her expertise in cancer immunotherapy. In 2025, she started a position as a research assistant at the Clinical Research Unit of the IPO Porto Research Center, where she became involved in oncology clinical research, particularly in observational studies. Currently, Cláudia is a Junior Researcher under the “CARTmatters” project, which focuses on the development and production of advanced therapies based on modified T cells (CAR T) for cancer treatment. This project is developed by a consortium involving Stemmatters, IPO Porto, and the NOVA School of Science and Technology.

Since 2008, Alexandra R Fernandes has been involved in two main areas: Diagnostics & Therapy. Her research has focused on: i) development of novel diagnostic tools for genetic diseases and cancer, contributing to several national and international collaborations that have enabled the translation of research into clinical and commercial applications. This work led to the creation of two diagnostic companies: HEARTGENETICS SA (2013-2015), where she was co-founder & COO, and Nano4 Global Lda (2015-2024; co-founder & COO); ii) identification of innovative therapeutic strategies for cancer, with emphasis on characterizing biological targets and mechanisms of action in cancer cells. More recently, she has focused on discovering biomarkers of resistance to cancer therapies. To support this work, she uses patient samples and human immortalized cell lines to develop resistant models and advanced 3D systems, including spheroids and patient-derived organoids. She has contributed to over 40 national and international collaborations and research projects.