Speaker Profiles
Prof. Umberto Cillo, MD, FEBS
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Director, Hepatobiliary Surgery and Liver Transplantation Unit Department of Surgical, Oncologic and Gastroenterologic Sciences “P.G. Cevese” University Hospital of Padua, Padua, Italy
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President-elect, European Society for Organ Transplantation (ESOT) 2025–2027
Prof. Umberto Cillo is an internationally recognised expert in hepatobiliary surgery and liver transplantation. He serves as Director of the Hepatobiliary Surgery and Liver Transplantation Unit at the University Hospital of Padua, where he also holds a full professorship in General Surgery.
With a clinical and academic career spanning several decades, Prof. Cillo has led one of Italy’s highest-volume liver transplant centres since 2004. His clinical expertise includes complex hepatobiliary and pancreatic surgery, and he has performed or supervised a very large number of liver transplants in adult and paediatric patients.
An accomplished researcher and author, he has contributed extensively to peer-reviewed literature in transplantation medicine, surgical oncology and hepatobiliary surgery. He has played a central role in shaping clinical practice and organ allocation models in Italy and participates in national and international consortia advancing surgical science.
Prof. Cillo’s leadership is recognised internationally: he is President-elect of the European Society for Organ Transplantation (ESOT) for the 2025–2027 term, reflecting his standing in the global transplant community.
Dr. Francesco Giovinazzo, MD, PhD, FEBS
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Director of General Surgery, San Camillo Hospital, Treviso, Italy
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Senior Research Fellow, University of Hertfordshire (UK)
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Adjunct Professor of General Surgery, UniCamillus University, Rome
Dr. Francesco Giovinazzo is a senior surgeon and academic with extensive international experience in hepatobiliary, pancreatic and transplant surgery. He currently serves as Director of the General Surgery Unit at San Camillo Hospital in Treviso and holds academic appointments in Italy and the United Kingdom.
He has developed his clinical and scientific career across leading European centres, including King’s College Hospital (London), Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, University Hospitals Southampton and University Hospitals Birmingham, where he was actively involved in adult and paediatric liver transplantation, complex hepatobiliary-pancreatic surgery and multi-organ retrieval.
Dr. Giovinazzo is the author of more than 120 peer-reviewed scientific publications and is actively engaged in research, teaching and international scientific collaboration in the fields of surgical oncology, hepatobiliary-pancreatic surgery and organ transplantation.
Giancarlo Leporatti
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Founder & Ceo – Eureka MICE International
Giancarlo Leporatti is a strategic advisor and independent observer of the European congress and scientific meetings market. He has been active in the congress sector since 1981, combining operational experience with continuous monitoring and analysis of the evolution of scientific meetings.
Through Eureka MICE International, he has worked for decades on the design of high-level B2B platforms, market intelligence and strategic initiatives connecting scientific societies, professional organisers and destinations across Europe. Since the early stages of his career, his work has been characterised by an early adoption of technology and data-driven approaches applied to congress organisation and promotion.
His activity focuses on the structural transformation of scientific congresses, with particular attention to governance models, participation dynamics, technology integration and the evolving decision-making processes of associations and scientific societies. From the early 1990s onward, he has carried out uninterrupted market observation and analysis in support of strategic reflection within the sector.
He is the author of Congress 4.0 – Rethinking Work, Solutions, Economic Dynamics and Strategies, a framework developed to support associations and scientific societies in navigating the profound changes affecting the organisation and role of scientific congresses in the contemporary European context.
Fardad Zabetian
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Founder & Ceo– KUDO
Fardad Zabetian is the Founder and CEO of KUDO, a technology company specialising in multilingual communication solutions for conferences, institutional meetings and complex international events. His professional activity focuses on enabling real-time language accessibility in high-level, multi-stakeholder environments.
He has worked extensively with international institutions and organisations on the design and implementation of multilingual meeting infrastructures, including major global forums and intergovernmental settings. His experience includes supporting complex meeting environments where accessibility, inclusion and operational reliability are critical requirements.
Through KUDO, Fardad Zabetian contributes to the evolution of scientific and institutional meetings by expanding participation beyond linguistic and geographical barriers. His work addresses the role of technology as an enabler of inclusive participation, supporting new models of interaction and collaboration in international congresses.
At the seminar, he will present how advanced multilingual communication technologies can support accessibility, inclusion and global participation within scientific and institutional meetings.
Prof. Roberto Verna, MD
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Professor of Clinical Pathology
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President, World Association of Societies of
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Pathology and Laboratory Medicine (WASPaLM)
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President, World Pathology Foundation
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President, Academy for Health and Clinical Research
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Past President, Società Italiana di Patologia Clinica e Medicina di Laboratorio (SIPMeL)
Professor Roberto Verna is a leading international figure in clinical pathology and laboratory medicine, with a long-standing academic, scientific and institutional career. He has served in top leadership roles within major national and international scientific organisations, contributing to the advancement of laboratory medicine, diagnostics and clinical research worldwide.
Throughout his career, Prof. Verna has played a central role in scientific governance and knowledge dissemination, acting as President, Scientific Secretary and organiser of numerous international congresses and high-level scientific meetings. His work has consistently focused on strengthening the role of scientific communities, professional societies and congresses as strategic instruments for healthcare development.
In recognition of his contribution to international scientific cooperation and the promotion of Italian excellence in healthcare and research, Prof. Verna has received several awards, including the Leone d’Oro – Ambassador of Italy, promoted by Eureka MICE International.
