Ling Lu, MD, PhD

Prof. Lu is the Vice President of Xuzhou Medical University and the Party Secretary of the Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University. He conducts basic and translational research on liver transplantation and transplant immunology. Prof. Lu was the first to apply regulatory T cells to induce immune tolerance in patients after liver transplantation internationally.

Prof. Lu has published over one hundred papers in journals such as Nat Rev Immunol, Cancer Discov, Gut, J Hepatol, and Hepatology. He has achieved an H-index of 45, and four of his original articles have been selected as ESI Highly Cited Papers. He has been continuously recognized as one of the Most Cited Chinese Researchers from 2014 to 2023.

Mark J. Lambrechts, MD

Research Interests: Spine trauma and degenerative spine surgery

Dr. Lambrechts is an assistant professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at Washington University in St. Louis. He earned his medical degree from Tulane University, in New Orleans, LA and he completed his residency training in orthopaedic surgery at the University of Missouri, in Columbia, MO. Dr. Lambrechts completed a 2-year fellowship in orthopaedic spine surgery at the Rothman Orthopaedic Institute, in Philadelphia, PA, the only fellowship in the country that offers the dual fellowship. 

Dr. Lambrechts has more than 100 peer-reviewed publications, most of which are related to optimizing outcomes in degenerative spine surgery or spinal trauma surgery. He has received multiple awards, including the Best Resident/Fellow Research award at the North American Spine Society and the Cervical Spine Research Society (CSRS). He has also received additional awards for his basic science research and clinical research at CSRS and the Global Spine Congress.

Christos Tolias, MBBS, PhD, FRCS (Engl), FRCS (SN)

Clinical and research interests: Adult hydrocephalus, Adult spinal surgery, AVMs/cavernomas/AV fistulas, Cerebral aneurysms, Head injury, Spinal degenerative disease (neck pain, arm pain, back pain, sciatica), Subarachnoid haemorrhage

Dr. Tolias has been a Consultant Neurosurgeon at King’s College Hospital since 2005. He has a PhD in Biological Sciences from the University of Warwick, and extensive research experience in traumatic brain injury and the mechanisms of brain cell death. He undertook specialist training in Neurosurgery in Liverpool and Birmingham followed by a Clinical Fellowship in Richmond, Virginia, USA. He is the Lead Neurovascular Surgeon at King’s College Hospital, Clinical Lead in Neurosurgery and Chair of the British Neurovascular Group (BNVG).

He was the first surgeon in the UK to perform the non-occlusive cerebral vascular bypass technique. In addition to his expertise in degenerative spine disease, which includes the management of back and neck pain, arm pain and sciatica, he has specialist expertise in the management of neurovascular conditions (cerebral aneurysms, AVMs, cavernomas, AV fistulas), the surgical treatment of stroke (decompressive craniectomy and revascularization for Moyamoya disease, sickle cell anaemia) and trauma. His expertise extends to the use of radiosurgery (CyberKnife and GammaKnife) for the treating these conditions.