Professor Dr. Vincent Bonhomme, MD, PhD – CHU Liège
Professor Dr. Vincent Bonhomme, MD, PhD, Agrégé, is Head and Professor of Anesthesiology at the University Hospital and University of Liège in Belgium. He leads the Anesthesia and Intensive Care Laboratory within the GIGA-Consciousness unit at GIGA-Neuroscience. Dr. Bonhomme specializes in neurosurgical anesthesiology and pain management, with a research focus on brain mechanisms of altered consciousness during anesthesia and nociception monitoring. He is actively involved in BeSARPP, serves as Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Acta Anaesthesiologica Belgica, and is a Titulary Member of the Belgian Royal Academy of Medicine. He has authored over 180 peer-reviewed publications and multiple book chapters.

Rowan Dankerlui, MD – UZA
Dr. Rowan Dankerlui, MD, is an anesthesiologist at Universitair Ziekenhuis Antwerpen (UZA) and a researcher at the University of Antwerp. His clinical and research interests encompass pain management, perioperative care, and critical care medicine. Dr. Dankerlui has contributed to studies on postoperative pain relief, such as evaluating sublingual sufentanil versus intravenous morphine after back surgery, and assessing pain through pupillary dilation reflex (PDR) and nociception flexion reflex (NFR) in critically ill ICU patients. He is also involved in the PERISCOPE trial, focusing on preoperative screening to prevent persistent postoperative pain. Dr. Dankerlui has co-authored several peer-reviewed publications and is actively engaged in clinical research initiatives.

Luc De Baerdemaeker MD, PhD – UZ Ghent
Luc De Baerdemaeker, MD, PhD, is Head of the Department of Anesthesiology at UZ Gent and Associate Professor at Ghent University. With over 20 years of clinical experience, he specializes in anesthesia for liver transplantation, bariatric surgery, and neuroanesthesia. His research focuses on optimizing anesthesia in obese patients, the topic of his PhD in Medical Sciences. Dr. De Baerdemaeker is a Diplomate of the European Academy of Anaesthesiology and serves as President and founding board member of the European Society for the Perioperative Care of the Obese Patient (ESPCOP). He is a prolific author and sought-after international speaker and educator.

Iuliana-Marinela Lupu – UC Louvain
Iuliana-Marinela Lupu is an anesthesiologist at Cliniques Universitaires Saint-Luc, where she has been part of the team since 2012. She specializes in anesthesia for abdominal and head and neck surgeries, including complex procedures. Dr. Lupu also integrates medical hypnosis into her practice to enhance patient comfort and care. Deeply committed to education, she plays an active role in mentoring and teaching residents as part of her daily clinical work.

Steffen Rex, MD, PhD – UZ Leuven
Steffen Rex, MD, PhD, is Chair of the Department of Anesthesiology at University Hospitals Leuven and Associate Professor in Cardiovascular Sciences at KU Leuven, Belgium. With over 20 years of experience, he is triple board-certified in anesthesiology, intensive care, and prehospital emergency medicine, and specializes in cardiothoracic, vascular, and transplant anesthesia. His research focuses on the effects of anesthesia on the developing brain, sustainability in anesthesia, and perioperative outcomes. Dr. Rex has authored over 300 scientific publications and currently serves as President-Elect of both EACTAIC and BeSARPP.

Denis Schmartz, MD – HUB
Dr. Denis Schmartz, MD, is a consultant anesthesiologist at Hôpital Universitaire de Bruxelles (H.U.B.), affiliated with the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB) in Brussels, Belgium. He serves as the head of the Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care, and is also the clinical director of the cardiothoracic anesthesia division. Dr. Schmartz is a board member of the Belgian Society of Anesthesiology, Resuscitation, Perioperative Medicine, and Pain Management (BeSARPP). His clinical and research interests include neuromuscular monitoring, perioperative medicine, and anesthesia in elderly patients. He has authored numerous publications in peer-reviewed journals and is actively involved in clinical research initiatives.

Marc Van De Velde – MD, PhD – UZ Leuven
Professor Dr. Marc Van de Velde, MD, PhD, EDRA, is a consultant anesthesiologist at UZ Leuven and a full professor at KU Leuven in Belgium. He obtained his medical degree from the Catholic University of Louvain in 1991 and completed his residency in anesthesiology in 1996. In 2000, he received his PhD for research on metabolic support of the stunned myocardium. Since November 2010, he has served as the Head of the Department of Anesthesiology at UZ Leuven. Dr. Van de Velde is internationally recognized for his work in obstetric anesthesia and anesthesia for patients with congenital heart disease undergoing non-cardiac surgery. He has authored over 80 peer-reviewed articles and co-edited books on maternal critical care and obstetric anesthesia. He currently chairs the Scientific Subcommittee on Obstetric Anesthesia of the European Society of Anesthesiology and is the president of the European Society of Regional Anaesthesia and Pain Therapy (ESRA).