Confirmed Speakers
Pr. Francis Berenbaum,
Hopital Saint Antoine, Paris, France
Invited speaker on GLP-1R agonists in rheumatology
Dr. Paolo Gallipoli, Barts Cancer Institute,
Queen Mary University of London, England
Invited speaker on BMAT and acute myeloid leukaemia
Dr Alexander Rauch is a Research Assistant Professor at the University of Southern Denmark and the Steno Diabetes Center Odense. He studied Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Jena, where he completed his PhD in 2011, focusing on transcriptional regulation using genetic mouse models. His research explores how transcriptional networks shape cellular behavior, spanning cell differentiation and bioinformatics. After positions in the groups of Susanne Mandrup and Moustapha Kassem, he established his independent research line supported by a Lundbeck Fellowship. His current work focuses on how metabolism and lifestyle influence transcriptional networks in stromal cells.
arauch@health.sdu.dk
Alexander Rauch
Research Assistant Professor
University of Southern Denmark
Dr. Rendina-Ruedy is an Assistant Professor at the University of Oklahoma, specializing in bone biology, nutritional biochemistry, and how metabolic pathways influence bone health. Her research aims to identify novel biological mechanisms that can lead to innovative therapeutic strategies to improve the quality of life for patients with compromised bone health. The Rendina-Ruedy Lab conducts ongoing projects investigating how bone cells and cells within the bone marrow niche store, mobilize, and utilize various metabolic substrates. In addition to studying the cell-autonomous effects of these metabolic pathways on bone health, the lab is particularly interested in understanding how alterations in bone cell bioenergetics influence whole-body metabolism.
Elizabeth Rendina-Ruedy
Assistant Professor
University of Oklahoma Health Campus
Paolo is a clinical academic haematologist specialising in the biology and therapy of myeloid leukaemias. After studying Medicine in Naples and completing his postgraduate and haematology training in the UK, he obtained a PhD in Glasgow studying resistance mechanisms of CML stem cells to BCR-ABL inhibitors. He later worked in Cambridge developing research on metabolic adaptations in AML therapy resistance and now leads an independent research programme at Barts Cancer Institute on non-genetic mechanisms of resistance in AML. His current work focuses on the role of the bone marrow microenvironment, particularly adipocytes, in AML resistance to novel therapies such as FLT3 inhibitors.
p.gallipoli@qmul.ac.uk
Paolo Gallipoli
p.gallipoli@qmul.ac.uk
Group Leader
Barts Cancer Institute, Queen Mary University of London
p.gallipoli@qmul.ac.uk
Michaela Reagan
Faculty Scientist
MaineHealth Institute for Research
Dr. Michaela Reagan is a Faculty Scientist II at the MaineHealth Institute for Research and an Associate Professor at Tufts University School of Medicine. Her lab aims to identify new targets for multiple myeloma and related diseases, with a focus on the roles of adipocytes and obesity. She received her B.S. in Engineering from Harvey Mudd College (2006) and Ph.D. from Tufts University in Biomedical Engineering in the field of breast cancer bone metastasis (2011). She did her post-doctoral research in medical oncology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (2011-2015).
Dr. Scheller is an Associate Professor of Medicine, Cell Biology and Physiology, Developmental Biology, and Biomedical Engineering at Washington University in Saint Louis. She is also the current Executive Director of the WashU Center of Regenerative Medicine and Past President of the International Society of Bone Morphometry. The Scheller Laboratory synthesizes concepts from cell biology, physiology, and bioengineering to study the relationships between the nervous system, the adipose tissues, and the skeleton. The Scheller Lab has a longstanding interest in bone marrow adipose tissue, and has contributed to foundational work pertaining to the regulation, function, and origins of this unique depot.
scheller@wustl.edu
Erica Scheller
Associate Professor
Washington University
Louise Thomas
Professor
University of Westminster
Professor E. Louise Thomas is the Director of Research and Knowledge Exchange for the School of Life Sciences and co‑lead of the Research Centre for Optimal Health at the University of Westminster. With a background in Biochemistry and a PhD focused on adipose tissue composition, she has spent more than three decades developing magnetic resonance (MR) techniques to characterise human body composition. Her work has contributed to the development of MR methods and the application of deep learning for automated image analysis in large‑scale studies, including the UK Biobank imaging project. She has authored over 170 peer‑reviewed publications examining how body composition varies across populations and how these differences relate to health.
L.Thomas3@westminster.ac.uk
Francis Berenbaum
Professor
CRSA-Sorbonne Université-Hôpital Saint Antoine
Francis Berenbaum, MD, PhD is Professor of Rheumatology at Sorbonne University and Head of the Rheumatology Department at Saint-Antoine Hospital (AP-HP), Paris. A past President of OARSI and of the French Society of Rheumatology, he currently serves as Associate Editor of Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases. He founded an INSERM research team dedicated to elucidating the interplay between metabolic disorders, inflammation, and osteoarthritis, with a particular focus on translational pathways from mechanistic discovery to therapeutic innovation. His work has significantly contributed to redefining osteoarthritis as a complex metabolic–inflammatory joint disease. With over 450 peer-reviewed publications, Prof. Berenbaum received the OARSI Clinical Research Award in 2017. In 2020, he founded 4Moving Biotech, a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing GLP-1–based strategies as potential disease-modifying osteoarthritis drugs, bridging fundamental research with regulatory-driven clinical development.
francis.berenbaum@aphp.fr
Morten Frost Nielsen
Professor
University of Southern Denmark
Morten Frost is a physician-scientist at the Molecular Endocrinology Laboratory, University of Southern Denmark, using a human-centric approach to expand understanding of common and rare metabolic bone diseases and to support the identification of treatment targets that improve prevention and care. His work combines clinical investigation with mechanistic methodologies, integrating patient-based studies with experimental models to connect disease biology to therapeutic opportunity. Current research focuses on skeletal health in type 1 and type 2 diabetes, skeletal consequences of mitochondrial dysfunction, and the short- and long-term skeletal effects of incretin hormones (GIP and GLP-1) and incretin-based therapies.
Dr. Kelsey Collins
Assistant Professor
University of California in San Francisco
Dr. Kelsey Collins is an Assistant Professor in the Departments of Orthopaedic Surgery and Anatomy at University of California San Francisco, USA. Her lab is focused on defining novel mechanisms of fat interorgan crosstalk using osteoarthritis, lipedema, obesity, aging and knee pain as model systems in mice, cell models, and human tissues. Most recently they have demonstrated a causative mechanistic role for fat secreted factors in the onset and progression of knee pain. Dr. Collins and her team leveraging state-of-the-art interdisciplinary approaches in bioengineering, endocrinology, stem cell biology, and physiology to understand healthy aging and reimagine treatment options for musculoskeletal pain.
Kelsey.Collins@ucsf.edu