Core group members of ELI, 2019–2020

The core group of the European TB Laboratory Initiative (ELI) functions as an independent technical advisory and support group for WHO and its partners. It is hosted by the WHO Regional Office for Europe. Following a call for applications, members of the core group are selected on the basis of their technical expertise, work experience, constituency background and geographical location. The selection process is led by a committee comprising representatives of the Global Laboratory Initiative/WHO headquarters, the Stop TB Partnership and the WHO TB and M/XDR-TB Programme of the WHO Regional Office for Europe. The following members (listed in alphabetical order) have been selected for the period of 2019-2020.

Ana AVELLON, PhD
Viral Hepatitis Reference and Research Laboratory
National Center of Microbiology
Carlos III Health Institute
Madrid, Spain

Zamira BAYDULLOEVA, MD
Master in Laboratory doctor
TB Laboratory consultant Project HOPE USAID TB control program
Dushanbe, Tajikistan

Vladimir CHULANOV, MD, PhD, DSc
Head, Reference Center for Viral Hepatitis,
Central Research Institute of Epidemiology,
Moscow, Russia

Daniela Maria CIIRILLO, MD PhD
Head of Emerging Bacterial Pathogens Unit
WHO collaborating Centre
TB Supranational Reference laboratory
San Raffaele Scientific Institute
Milano, Italy

Francis DROBNIEWSKI, MA, MB, BS, MSc, DTM&H, FRSB, FRCPath, PhD
Professor of Global Health and Tuberculosis, Imperial College London
Professor of International Health and Mycobacterial Diseases (Hon), Queen Mary and King's College London, Consultant in Clinical Tuberculosis, Barts NHS Trust
London, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

Irina FELKER, MD, PhD
Executive director of NTRI- CC (123-RUS)
Novosibirsk TB Research Institute (NTRI) - WHO Collaborative Centre (CC)
Novosibirsk, Russian Federation

Sven HOFFNER, PhD
Director, WHO Supranational TB Reference Laboratory
Department of Microbiology, The Public Health Agency of Sweden
Senior Researcher, Medical Treatment Centre, Karolinska Institute, Sweden
Adjunct Professor at San Diego State University, California, USA
Stockholm, Sweden

Gulmira I. KALMAMBETOVA, MD, PhD
Laboratory Head , National Reference Laboratory, under the Ministry of Health
Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan

Claudio U. KOSER, BA MA PhD (Cantab)
Consultant, World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe, Copenhagen (Denmark)
Consultant, QuantuMDx Group Ldt, Newcastle (UK)
Consultant, Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND), Geneva (Switzerland)
Visiting Scientist, Lecturer in Natural Sciences Tripos, Part II Genetics, Department of Genetics, University of Cambridge
Research Associate, Wolfson College, University of Cambridge
Cambridge, United Kingdom

Florian MAURER, PD Dr. med.
Group Leader Diagnostic Mycobacteriology, National and Supranational Reference Center for Mycobacteria, Research Center Borstel, Leibniz Lung Center
Borstel, Germany

Matthias MERKER, Dr. rer. nat.
Assistant Professor in the group of
Molecular and Experimental Mycobacteriology
Research Center Borstel, Leibniz Lung Center
Borstel, Germany

Stefan NIEMANN, Dipl. Biol., Dr. rer. nat.
Head Molecular and Experimental Mycobacteriology and Acting Head National Reference Center for Mycobacteria, Research Center Borstel, Leibniz Lung Center
Prof. for Molecular and Experimental Mycobacteriology, University zu Lübeck, Lübeck
Schleswig-Holstein Excellence Chair, University zu Lübeck, Lübeck
Visiting Professor, University of Namibia, Windhoek
Borstel, Germany

Ecaterina NOROC, MD, PhD student
Laboratory Coordinator for HIV and STI, National AIDS and STI Programme
Dermatology and Communicable Diseases Hospital
Chisinau, Republic of Moldova

Rob SCHUURMAN, PhD, MMM
Senior Clinical Microbiologist
Head of Molecular Diagnostics in Microbiology
University Medical Centre Utrecht
Utrecht, The Netherlands

Elina Viktorovna SEVASTYANOVA, D.Sc., PhD
Leading researcher,  National Center of Excellence as part of the WHO TB Supranational Reference Laboratory Network, Central TB Research Institute
Moscow, Russian Federation

Natalia SHUBLADZE, MSc, PhD
Consultant, National Center of Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases and the National Reference Mycobacteriology Laboratory
Tbilisi, Georgia

Daniel SIMOES, MD
Policy officer, EPI Unit - Institute of Public Health of the University of Porto, Member of the Board of Directors, GAT
Porto, Portugal

Alena SKRAHINA, MD, PhD
Deputy Director, Republican Research and Practical Centre for Pulmonology and Tuberculosis
Minsk, Belarus

Rasim TAHRILI, MD
Laboratory Head, WHO Collaborating Centre on Prevention and Control of Tuberculosis in the Penitentiary System
Baku, Azerbaijan