Legal Organs
Scientific Committees
Head of Division : March 2017 - April 2028
Prof. Daniel Scherman - France
UNIVERSITÉ PARIS DESCARTES CHIMIE PARISTECH
Prof. Daniel Scherman is a leading expert in bioenergetics, neuropharmacology, gene therapy, and bioimaging, with a distinguished career spanning fundamental research and translational innovation. His work has contributed to the development of novel bio-imaging agents and the understanding of the natural history of early Parkinson’s disease. He is internationally recognised for pioneering contributions in gene therapy and genetic vaccination, including the development of physical gene delivery methods, and the concepts of biosafe mini-plasmids and minicircles.
Prof. Scherman founded the Paris Centre of Pharmaceutical Research at the Paris Faculty of Pharmacy and the Laboratory of Chemical and Biological Tools for Health (UTCBS). He has served as Committee President of the European Society of Cell and Gene Therapy, and as President of the Pharmacology and Bioimaging Section at the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS). He was also Scientific Director of the Genethon Laboratory (Telethon/AFM – French Myopathy Association), and acts as an expert for Horizon 2020 European Committees.
Prof. Daniel Scherman has served as Officer of the Medicine and Life Sciences Division since March 2017, across three consecutive mandates: March 2017 – February 2020; March 2020 – February 2023, extended until April 2024 due to the COVID-19 pandemic; May 2025 – April 2028 (current and final consecutive term, in accordance with the EurASc Bylaws).
Officer : March 2018 - April 2028
Prof. Ernst Wagner - Germany
LUDWIG-MAXIMILIANS-UNIVERSITÄT MUNICH
Prof. Ernst Wagner is Chair of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology at the Department of Pharmacy and the Center for Nanoscience at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität (LMU) Munich, Germany, a position he has held since 2001. He earned his PhD in Chemistry from TU Vienna in 1985, followed by postdoctoral research at ETH Zurich (1985–1987), and subsequently served as Group Leader at the Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP) and the Vienna Biocenter (1987–1995). From 1992 to 2001, he was Director of Cancer Vaccines at Boehringer Ingelheim, where he led the world’s first polymer-based gene therapy clinical trial in 1994.
Prof. Wagner is internationally recognised for his pioneering work in gene delivery systems, nanomedicine, and cancer immunotherapy, with a strong focus on non-viral vectors and nucleic acid-based therapeutics. His research combines pharmaceutical biotechnology with innovative translational approaches.
He is an Academician of the European Academy of Sciences, Member of the College of Fellows of the Controlled Release Society (CRS), Board Member of the German Society for Gene Therapy, and Member of the Nonviral Therapeutic Delivery Committee of the American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy (ASGCT).
Prof. Ernst Wagner has served as Officer of the Medicine and Life Sciences Division across two mandates: March 2018 – February 2021, extended until April 2024 due to the COVID-19 pandemic; May 2025 – April 2028 (current and second consecutive term, in accordance with the EurASc Bylaws).
Officer : March 2018 - April 2028
Prof. Isabelle Mansuy - Switzerland
ETH ZÜRICH
Prof. Isabelle Mansuy is Professor of Neuroepigenetics at the University of Zurich and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH Zurich). She is internationally recognised for her pioneering research on the epigenetic mechanisms of inheritance, particularly how life experiences, such as trauma or stress, can influence brain function and behaviour across generations.
Her work combines molecular biology, neuroscience, and behavioural studies, and has had major impact in the fields of neurodevelopment, memory, and transgenerational inheritance. Prof. Mansuy’s research has helped uncover how environmental factors can induce stable epigenetic changes in the germline that affect offspring brain development and mental health.
She is a member of the European Academy of Sciences, the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, and the Academia Europaea, among others. She has received numerous awards for her research, and she regularly contributes to science outreach, ethics debates, and international advisory panels in neuroscience and mental health.
Prof. Isabelle Mansuy has served as Officer of the Medicine and Life Sciences Division across two mandates: March 2018 – February 2021, extended until April 2024 due to the COVID-19 pandemic; May 2025 – April 2028 (current and second consecutive term, in accordance with the EurASc Bylaws).
Officer : December 2023 - November 2026
Prof. Nektarios Tavernarakis - Greece
University of Crete
Prof. Nektarios Tavernarakis is Professor of Molecular Systems Biology at the Medical School of the University of Crete and Chairman of the Board of Directors at the Foundation for Research and Technology – Hellas (FORTH). He is also Research Director at the Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology (IMBB-FORTH), where he leads the Neurogenetics and Ageing Laboratory, and he founded the Graduate Program in Bioinformatics at the University of Crete.
His research focuses on the molecular mechanisms of neurodegeneration, cell death, ageing and metabolism, and the development of genetic tools for biomedical research. His work is highly cited, widely published, and supported by competitive European and international funding.
Prof. Tavernarakis is a Member of several major academies, including EMBO, Leopoldina, Academia Europaea, the European Academy of Sciences (EurASc), and the Academy of Athens. He has served as Vice President of the ERC Scientific Council, and currently chairs the EIT Governing Board. He is the recipient of multiple prestigious awards, including two ERC Advanced Grants, an ERC Proof of Concept Grant, and the Galien Scientific Research Award, among many others.
Prof. Nektarios Tavernarakis has served as Officer of the Medicine and Life Sciences Division since December 2023, for the mandate December 2023 – November 2026 (current and first term, in accordance with the EurASc Bylaws).
Officer : May 2025 - April 2028
Prof. Kexuan Tang - China
Shanghai Jiao Tong University
Prof. Kexuan Tang is Distinguished Professor at Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU), where he directs both the Plant Biotechnology Research Center and the Fudan-SJTU-Nottingham Plant Biotechnology R&D Center. He received his PhD from the University of Nottingham (UK, 1996), supported by a Rockefeller Foundation Fellowship, following BSc and MSc degrees in China. He previously held academic and leadership roles at Fudan University, including Assistant Dean and Group Leader at the State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering.
His research focuses on plant biotechnology for medicine and agriculture, including metabolic engineering, RNAi-based pest control, and genome-guided improvement of medicinal plants. He co-led the first sequencing of the Artemisia annua genome, contributing to enhanced artemisinin production for malaria treatment, and engineered Catharanthus roseus to boost vinblastine yield, used in cancer therapy.
Prof. Tang has published over 300 peer-reviewed articles (H-index 66, >16,000 citations), holds over 100 patents, and has received funding from the Gates Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, and major national programmes in China. He is recipient of multiple prestigious awards, including the Natural Science Award (Ministry of Education of China), the Shanghai Technology Invention Award, and the Chang Jiang Scholar Award. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology (FRSB), the Royal Society for Arts (FRSA), the European Academy of Sciences (EURASC), and the European Academy of Sciences and Arts (EASA).
Prof. Kexuan Tang has served as Officer of the Medicine and Life Sciences Division since May 2025, for the mandate May 2025 – April 2028 (current and first term, in accordance with the EurASc Bylaws).