Dr. Firas Abu Akar is a thoracic surgeon based in Jerusalem, currently serving as the Head of the Thoracic Surgery Unit at “University Hospital of Edith Wolfson Medical Center in Holon, Tel Aviv, Israel. He is a recognised leader in minimally invasive thoracic surgery, with a clinical focus on thoracic oncology, trauma surgery, paediatric thoracic procedures, and chest wall deformities.

Following his specialisation in thoracic surgery in Jerusalem, Dr. Abu Akar trained at the internationally acclaimed Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital, one of the largest thoracic centers in the world. There, he refined his skills in Uniportal VATS under the mentorship of global pioneers including Diego Gonzalez Rivas, Yumming Zhu, and Jiang Lie.

Upon returning to his region, he introduced both intercostal and Subxiphoid Uniportal VATS techniques to hospitals across Palestine and Israel, significantly advancing thoracic surgical practice in the area. He also adapted Uniportal VATS techniques for paediatric cases, setting new standards in minimally invasive care for children.

Dr. Abu Akar is also known for his expertise in minimally invasive correction of chest wall deformities (Nuss and Abramson procedures), having been trained by Professor Mustafa Yuksel and now performing dozens of such procedures annually.

In addition to his clinical and academic work, Dr. Abu Akar has previously served as the General Secretary and Treasurer of the Israeli Society of Thoracic Surgery, contributing to professional development and policy initiatives.

He is the author of dozens of peer-reviewed publications in minimally invasive thoracic surgery and continues to lead in surgical innovation and cross-border collaboration.

Guy’s & St Thomas’ Hospitals, and King’s College London

David Jackson is Professor of Respiratory Medicine at King’s College London and Head of the regional Severe Asthma and Eosinophilic Lung Disease Service based at Guy’s Hospital in London. This unit is one of the largest of its kind in the world with over 1000 patients on biologic therapies for severe asthma and EGPA.

Professor Jackson has an MSc in Allergy and PhD in the pathophysiology of virus-induced asthma exacerbations from Imperial College London. He has published widely in the field of type 2 immunity, asthma and eosinophil associated diseases including in NEJM, Lancet and Nature Medicine. He co-edited the European Respiratory Society Monograph on Eosinophilic Lung Diseases and is the Associate Editor at the journals THORAX and ALLERGY.

He has been the Chief Investigator on multiple phase 3 and 4 clinical trials in asthma and is chair of the Specialist Advisory Group on asthma for the British Thoracic Society.

Professor Janet Davies leads the multi-disciplinary Allergy Research Group at Queensland University of Technology, encompassing molecular allergology and environmental health.

Janet assembled aerobiologist nationally for the NHMRC AusPollen Partnership (2016-2020), to establish Australia’s standardised pollen monitoring network, including design of quality control processes applied in world’s first thunderstorm asthma forecast system, recognised as an Impact Case Study by NHRMC in 2023.

Professor Davies is the foremost author in Asia Pacific in the discipline of pollen allergy and climate change and her research has been supported by 10 national competitive grants from MRFF, NHMRC and ARC grants, as well as government and global industry contracts. As Associate Dean of Research, Faculty of Health at QUT (2021-2023), and Assistant Director of Research in Metro North Health, Australia’s largest hospital network in (2015-2023), she has contributed to research strategy, policy, education, systems, and knowledge transfer. She now leads the Discovery and Biorepository Pillar and is co-chair of the Respiratory Research Stream for the National Allergy Centre of Excellence (2022-2026).