Meet the Faculty 9th WoCoVA

Claudia Luz

Victoria Amentaros Yeguas

Registered Nurse since 1998 and absolutely committed with the profession. In 2005, I became an oncology nurse and in 2012, simultaneously, I took part in the establishment and development of the Intravenous Therapy Team in Araba University Hospital in the Basque Country, Spain. Currently, I am the nurse supervisor of the Intravenous Therapy Team and the nursing coordinator for the development of cancer management strategy of the Basque Health Service. In the education field, I teach at both undergraduate and master levels related to vascular access care in different Universities in Spain. In the research area, as a research coordinator at Bioaraba Research Institute, I am in charge of the health prevention and promotion area.

Evan Alexandrou

Evan Alexandrou is a Clinical Associate Professor with the School of Nursing at the University of Wollongong Australia, as well as a Clinical Nurse Consultant in the Intensive Care Unit at Liverpool Hospital where he coordinates the Central Venous Access Service which is renowned for its clinical expertise in vascular access procedures and research. Evan is involved in clinical education at an undergraduate and postgraduate level for Nursing and Medical training programs and is a conjoint Senior Lecturer with the Faculty of Medicine at the University of New South Wales. Evan is also an Adjunct Associate Professor with the Alliance for Vascular Access Teaching and Research (AVATAR) at Griffith University and a foundation member of the Australian Vascular Access Society.

Maria Guiseppina Annetta

From the 1996 she worked in the emergency department of the Fondazione Universitaria Policlinico A. Gemelli, Roma, with particular interest in metabolism and nutrition in critically ill patients. Coordinator of the vascular access team since March 2020. Member of the American Society of Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition and collaborator with the ASPEN society for the international ethical aspects of artificially administred nutrition and hydration. She is a teacher in several university master such as medium and long term vascular access, intensive cardiology, neurology, nursing in intensive care.

Amit Bahl

Dr. Amit Bahl has over 15 years of experience as a board-certified Emergency Medicine physician with subspecialty expertise in emergency ultrasound. He is the Division Head of Emergency Ultrasound, Program Director of the Emergency Ultrasound Fellowship program, and serves as Medical Director for the Operation STICK vascular access program at William Beaumont University Hospital Emergency Department in Southeastern Michigan. His academic appointment is Professor of Emergency Medicine at Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine.

Dr. Bahl is well regarded for his expertise, clinical care, and research contributions in the fields of point-of-care ultrasound and vascular access. He is the recipient of several foundation and industry grants for research and has authored nearly 75 peer-reviewed manuscripts in high impact medical journals. Dr. Bahl is a passionate speaker who presents internationally on the complications of vascular access devices and strategies to improve patient outcomes.

Amy Bardin

Dr. Amy Bardin-Spencer, Ed.D, RRT, FAARC, VA-BCTM
Amy is a vascular access specialist with over 25 years of critical care and device insertion experience. She is a past winner of the 2016 Suzanne Levere Herbst award for excellence in Vascular Access. Amy completed her doctoral research that evidenced that vascular access specialists should be available in all hospitals. Amy believes that all patients deserve safe and effective vascular access options which include ultrasound for every patient assessment and device insertion. Her current research efforts are focused on arterial access. Amy is the current President for the AVA Foundation for Patient Safety.

Fabrizio Brescia

Fabrizio Brescia, MD Unit of Anesthesia and Intensive Care Medicine, Vascular Access Team, Centro di Riferimento Oncologico (CRO) – IRCCS – National Cancer Institute in Aviano, Italy.
MD graduated at Campus Bio Medico of Rome University School of Medicine, where he received Anesthesiology and Intensive Care board certification in 2009.
2nd Level Master Degree in Pain Management University of Parma in 2016
2nd Level Master Degree in Vascular Access Catholic University of the Sacred Heart Rome in 2017
2nd Level Master Degree in Vascular Access in children and newborns Catholic University of the Sacred Heart Rome in 2021
Certification as PICC Training Courses Instructor, GAVeCeLT Didactic Center Rome in 2017.
Areas of proven performances and expertise: anesthesiology, patient care intensive/critical care, vascular access management, pain management, medical research.
Author of publications and peer reviewer activities for International Journals.
Participation in national and international courses and congresses as participant and speaker.

Giovanni Barone

Consultant Neonatologist with expertise in neonatal vascular access. Member of the Italian oraganizations GAVeCeLT and GaVePed. Teacher in the Postgraduate course of Pediatric and Neonatal Vascular Access held in Italy. Author of several papers in the field of neonatal vascular access.

Mohammad Bayoumi

Dr Mohammad Bayoumi is a neonatologist and the Director of the Neonatal Simulation Program at Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) in Qatar since 2016. He has Bachelor, Master, and Doctorate of Medicine Degrees from Al–Azhar University in Egypt, Egyptian Board in Pediatrics from the Ministry of Health and Population in Egypt, Membership of the Royal College and Child Health (MRCPCH) and a Fellowship of the Royal College and Child Health (FRCPCH) from the United Kingdom (UK).
Regarding his training, Dr Bayoumi completed the Pediatric Residency Program at Al–Azhar University in Egypt, the Neonatal-Perinatal Fellowship Program at Hamad Medical Corporation in Qatar, the Pediatric Leadership Program at Harvard Medical School in the USA and the International Pediatric Simulation Society (IPSS) – International Network for Simulation-based Pediatric Innovation, Research, & Education (INSPIRE) Pediatric Simulation Fellowship Program.
Dr Bayoumi was given the trust to found and lead the Neonatal Simulation Program at HMC in 2016. Central Line Simulation Course is one of the full-day courses directed by Dr Bayoumi. He has a total of 23 years of experience in the vascular access field.
His research interests and publications focus on neonatal vascular access, neonatal resuscitation simulation, vascular access team training and debriefing methodologies, interprofessional simulation-based education, and strategies to improve neonatal procedural success rates.
Dr Bayoumi has 24 publications, 112 local presentations and 42 international presentations. Besides, he moderated 35 sessions and reviewed 191 abstracts and manuscripts in peer-reviewed international journals and conferences.

Sergio Bertoglio

• Professor of Surgery at the Genoa University School of Medicine 1983- 2020
• Chief Medical Officer and Member of the Board of Plan1Health-Polymed group company 2022 -today
• Vascular Access Specialist in the past 30 years
• Faculty member of at GAVeCeLT, WoCoVA and AVA conferences
• Member of the Review Board of the Journal of Vascular Access since 2021

Christian Breschan

Personal data

Name: Christian Breschan; M.D.; Associate Professor; DEAA

Date of birth: 7th April 1959

Place of birth: Feldkirchen/Kaernten, Austria

Nationality: Austria

Education and positions

1993 to date: Consultant in Paediatric Anaesthesia, General Hospital of Klagenfurt, Austria

2016„Habilitation“ at Medical University of Graz: Associate Professor

2012 DEGUM: German Basic Certificate in Ultrasound in Anaesthesia

2011 DGAI (German Society of Anaesthesia) Certificate: „Special
Paediatric Anaesthesia“

2009 1 month visiting Professor at Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin, Milwaukee

1998-1999 1 year fellowship in Paediatric Anaesthesia: KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital; Singapore

1993-1994 1 year fellowship in Paediatric Anaesthesia, Red Cross War Memorial
Children’s Hospital; University of Cape Town

1993 European Diploma in Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care (DEAA)

1993 Specialist Degree in Anaesthesia and Intensive Care Medicine, Austria

1989-1993 Specialist training in Anaesthesia and Intensive Care Medicine; General Hospital
of Klagenfurt, Austria

1992 1 month visiting doctor; University Hospital Steglitz, Berlin

1989Medical Practitioner, Austria

1986-1989 Internship training: Hospital St. Veit; General Hospital of Klagenfurt, Austria

1985 Doctoral Degree in General Medicine: Karl-Franzens University of Graz,
Austria

1977-1985 Medical School: Karl-Franzens University of Graz

Christian Dupont

Since 2001, Christian Dupont has been a nurse coordinator in the pulmonary department in Paris at Cochin University Hospital (Assistance Publique Hôpitaux de Paris). Previously, he worked in oncology, hematology and infectious diseases, over a ten years period.
He has been involved in the daily management of peripheral catheters, Mid/PICC lines and Ports for patients suffering from cystic fibrosis, bronchiectasis and lung cancer who are treated at home and in hospital. His activity also includes clinical research and training hospital nurses, homecare nurses and nursing students.
He has supervised the production of two guidebooks about Implanted Port and he has collaborated to another one about the rheological bases in the I.V. therapy.
He is the president of the French society for vascular Access (GIFAV group).

Peter Carr

Peter Carr is an Associate Professor at the School of Nursing and Midwifery at University of Galway and is an Adjunct Senior Research Fellow with the AVATAR group, at Griffith University, Queensland Australia. He is a vascular access clinician, clinical researcher and educator and has developed and co-ordinated numerous vascular access workshops and courses. Dr. Carr completed his PhD at Griffith University the headquarters of the Alliance for Vascular Access Teaching and Research (AVATAR) group. He led a Cochrane review on vascular access specialist teams for device insertion and prevention of failure and was a principal investigator in the one million global catheter study. He leads the Irish node for the AVAVTAR group. At the University of Galway, he leads an interprofessional vascular access and infusion therapy research group collaborating with industry and European entities to improve vascular access outcomes. He supervises 3 PhD students and has been involved in grant success of over €1,500,000. Dr. Carr is Ireland’s WoCoVA global committee representative.

Jiri Charvat

Jiri Charvat is a professor at the Medical Clinic of the 2nd Faculty of Medicine of Charles University in Prague. He is currently the chairman of the Czech Society for Ports and Permanent Catheters, a national society that cooperates with WoCoVA. He is a member of the WoCoVA global committee. In the university hospital, he is in charge of the vascular team, where all types of vascular devices are introduced. In 2012, he initiated the establishment of the 1st PICC team in the Czech Republic. He is also dedicated to the education of specialists in the field of vascular access.

Alessandro Crocoli

I am the director of the Oncological Surgery unit at the Bambino Gesù Pediatric Hospital in Rome. My name is Alessandro Crocoli. Throughout my career, I have specialized in pediatric vascular access. The pediatric patient, by virtue of his unique characteristics, constitutes an entirely distinct “world” in the realm of vascular access; this is made even more complicated by the age disparities between patients and the variety of pathologies encountered.Pertaining to this, I have devoted considerable attention to the study of haematological oncology patients and their complications, publishing a wide range of publications and guidelines on the subject.

Vito D'Andrea

I am an Italian neonatologist based in Rome, working at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of Gemelli Hospital. My expertise encompasses neonatal vascular access, hemodynamics, and functional echocardiography. Additionally, I hold positions as a founding member of the Gaveped group and serve as the national secretary of the Italian Neonatology Society’s neonatal vascular access study group.
As an author, I have contributed to numerous articles emphasizing the significance of ultrasound-guided tip placement for neonatal vascular and venous access. I am recognized as an expert in neonatal echocardiography, with several publications in international journals. Furthermore, my professional interests extend to neonatal hemodynamics, particularly focusing on pharmacology.
During my leisure time, I indulge in Italian comics, with a special fondness for Dylan Dog. I also have a passion for collecting sneakers and maintaining aquariums, where I enjoy caring for goldfish

Martine Jérôme

Personal information
Date of birth: April 19, 1980
Place of birth: Bilzen, Belgium
E-mail: [email protected]

Educational background
2018: Vascular Access Certification Corporation (VACC) certification (2021 renewal)
2011:Nursing Practitioner specialized in Oncology, Governmental certification
2001-2004:Master’s Degree in Nursing Sciences, KU Leuven
1998-2001:Bachelor Degree in Nursing, Institute of Nursing, Leuven

Professional Experience
2016 – present: Clinical Nurse Specialist Vascular Access Specialty Team, University Hospitals of Leuven, Belgium
2006 – 2016: Nurse specialized in long-term venous access team, University Hospitals of Leuven, Belgium
2004 – 2006: Staff nurse, Pneumology departments, University Hospitals of Leuven, Belgium

Scientific achievements
Scientific presentations at national and international conference meetings
Co-author in international, peer-reviewed journals and abstracts
Co-author book : Goossens L. Intraveneuze katheters. Praktijkgids voor een kwaliteitsvolle en multiprofessionele aanpak. Acco. 2018.
Advisor of master thesis students

Professional membership
2023 – presentMember Association for Vascular Access (AVA)
2010 – presentBelgian Vascular Access Network (BeVANet). Co-founder and secretary.
2017 – presentMember Global Vascular Access Network (GloVANet)
2016 – presentMember Belgian society of Clinical Nurse Specialists (BVVS)

Stefano Elli

hief nurse of Vascular Access Team in IRCCS S. Gerardo dei Tintori Foundation, Monza, Italy. Educational and scientific secretary of the Master in vascular access – University of Milan Bicocca. Since 2018 he has actively collaborated with the Italian group GaVeCeLT and is the author of numerous publications on vascular access.

Ryszard Gawda

Ryszard Gawda holds a degree in medicine from the Medical University in Wroclaw, Poland. In 1995, he joined University Hospital in Opole, specializing in anesthesiology and intensive care. He has since involved as an investigator in several international projects in the field of intensive care including InPUT study, APRONET trial, and VIP trial. In 2014, he was appointed as the deputy head of the Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care. His current research interests include application of ultrasonography in intensive care and hemodynamic monitoring in critically ill patients. Ryszard Gawda is the author of over 20 papers published in recognized journals and has presented his research at medical conferences in Poland.

Antonio Gidaro

I was born and live near Milan (Italy). I graduated in medicine and surgery from the University of Milan in 2010, and I became a specialist in internal medicine in 2016. In 2018, I obtained the GAVECELT certification as a PICC and MIDLINE inserter, and in 2020-21 I attended the master’s degree in vascular access at Policlinico Gemelli in Rome, where I became a GAVECELT tutor in 2022 and I attended the advanced training course for PICC-Port and Port implantation. I currently work as the research leader of the vascular access team at ASST Fatebenefratelli Sacco in Milan, where about 2,500 insertions are performed per year.

Lieve Goossens

Lieve Goossens began her journey in vascular access in the early 2000s, co-founding the Vascular Access Specialist Team in the university hospitals in Leuven, Belgium. In 2011 she completed her doctoral research on functional problems in totally implantable venous access devices. As a co-founder of BeVAnet, the Belgian Vascular Access Network, she has contributed significantly to the field. Lieve Goossens has authored scientific publications and served as an editor for a book on vascular access.
In 2016, she played a pivotal role in establishing the Belgian Association of Advanced Practice Nurses. Her career encompasses roles as a staff assistant, primarily focusing on APN implementation in the University Hospitals Leuven, and as an associate professor for the master of nursing and midwifery at Ghent University. Since 2023, she has rejoined the Vascular Access Specialist Team at the University Hospitals in Leuven, prioritizing research, and holds a research fellowship at KU Leuven.

Jonathan Moss

Professor Jon Moss is an Interventional radiologist in Glasgow. He has instigated several large randomised clinical trials over his career the largest and most recent being CAVA. He has always had a major interest in vascular access and in particular expanding the role of other healthcare professionals in providing this service as well as doctors. Recently retired from clinical practice he holds an honorary professor of interventional radiology at Glasgow University

Elias Kehagias

Elias Kehagias, MD, PhD, EBIR-ES, FCIRSE is an Interventional Radiologist at the Interventional Radiology Unit, of Heraklion University Hospital, and an Assistant Professor of Vascular and Interventional Radiology at the University of Crete Medical School, in Heraklion, Crete, Greece. His main areas of expertise are peripheral vascular interventions (diagnostic arterial and venous angiographies PTA and stenting, EVAR, TACE, emergency and elective embolization, central venous access), and non-vascular interventions (PTCD, ureteral stenting, image guided ablation, drainage and biopsies). On the field of Vascular Access he has published two technique modifications, the “L-shaped tunnelling technique” for port placement in 2016, and the “Arm-to-Chest Tunneling technique” for arm placement of implantable ports or central catheters, in 2019.

Evangelos Konstantinou

During my extensive research and clinical field work I have participated in the Advancement of Vascular Access in Greece and the World. I was named Professor of Vascular Access, first in the world, and have worked in setting clinical pathways for the improvement of healthcare for the patients.

Massimo Lamperti

Dr Lamperti is a Clinical Professor of Anesthesiology at Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine and Chair of the Anesthesiology Institute at Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi since 2014.
Before joining Cleveland Clinic, Prof. Lamperti was a consultant anaesthetist and intensivist at the National Neurological Institute Besta, Milan, Italy. His main interest in research is in the fields of neurosciences, point-of-care ultrasound, monitoring, and intensive care medicine.
Dr. Lamperti is a peer reviewer of many internationally indexed journals in anesthesiology, critical care, and neurosurgery.

Fulvio Pinelli

Born in 1974 in Milan, Italy, Fulvio is Anesthesiologist and Intensivist at Careggi University Hospital of Florence, Italy, and Director of the Vascular Access Center at the same Hospital. He’s Professor at the Residency program in Anesthesiology, Intensive Care and Pain at the University of Florence, Italy. Under his responsibility there is a team of Anesthesiologist and Nurses, performing more than 3000 procedures per year, such as PICC, port, tunnelled catheters implantation, management of complex cases and catheter related complications. He is author of several research works, being his main area of interest the reduction of catheter related complications. He frequently gives lecture in national and international congresses.

Nancy Moureau

Nancy Moureau, PHD, RN, CRNI, CPUI, VA-BC is the owner of PICC Excellence, Inc., an education service provider for infusion therapy and vascular access device insertion and care for more than 30 years. Dr. Moureau’s clinical experience spans pediatric, neonatal, ICU PICC/IV Team and home infusion patient care. As the CEO of PICC Excellence, her current responsibilities include education development, research, speaking worldwide, legal case review, manufacturer consulting, and clinical practice with insertion and supervision of peripheral and central vascular access. PICC Excellence has developed more than 80 online educational courses and pathways to promote insertion competency and the application of evidence-based practices. PICC Certification™ CPUI™, Certified PICC Ultrasound Inserter, the new Neonatal PICC CNPI credentialing, IV Therapy and Ultrasound Guided Mastery Learning certificate programs were all established to validate education, knowledge and competency for inserters. As Co-Chair of the 2015 WOCOVA CVC Taskforce, Nancy facilitated the completion and publication of an evidence-based publication on minimal CVC training requirements. Nancy is an author of over 100 publications and a recipient of the Reader’s Choice Award for publications and the Herbst Award for lifetime contributions to the specialty of vascular access.

Nancy most recently released a systematic approach for UGPIV Mastery Learning process, an ultrasound-guided peripheral insertion training toolbox, that has received the very first Seal of Approval from the Infusion Nursing Society INS. Nancy welcomes your questions through her email: [email protected] or through the PICC Excellence website: www.piccexcellence.com.

Matt Ostroff

Matthew Ostroff is an advanced practice nurse working as the vascular access coordinator and lead clinician for the award-winning (2016 New Jersey Biz Healthcare Hero Award for Innovation, and the 2023 ANCC Magnet Award for Innovation) vascular access program at St. Joseph’s Health specializing in patient populations spanning from neonatal to adults. Matthew has had the privilege of being inspired by, and training with Dr. Pittiruti and his team in Italy. Matthew continues to share his vision of a multi-disciplinary vascular access service speaking throughout the US, Canada, Latin America, and Europe, with an emphasis on critical thinking with complex cases. Matthew was the proud recipient of the 2020 Herbst Award in recognition of his outstanding contributions to the art and science of vascular access. Matthew’s book, Ultrasound Guided Vascular Access: Practical Solutions to Bedside Clinical Challenges was published in 2022 by Springer.

Maurizio Pacilli

Maurizio is a paediatric surgeon at Monash Children’s Hospital and Senior Lecturer at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. He has an interest in minimally invasive techniques for paediatric surgery and vascular access in children, with particular focus on peripheral vascular access.
Maurizio has published over 100 articles in peer reviewed scientific journals, 5 chapters in textbooks and is author of more than 150 presentations at international conferences.

Marcia Ryder

Dr. Ryder is a nationally and internationally recognized expert in the use and management of vascular access devices. She is currently an independent collaborative researcher including in vitro, in vivo, and clinical investigations, and a consultant in medical biofilm related infections.
Dr. Ryder has served as President of AVA, Chair of APIC’s Scientific Research Council, President of the AVA Foundation for Patient Safety, and was awarded the AVA 2017 Suzanne Herbst Award for Excellence in Vascular Access. She is currently a distinguished fellow of the National Academies of Practice and serves as a technical expert panelist on the US National Quality Forum’s Hospital Onset Bacteremia and Fungemia project.

Mauro Pittiruti

Born in 1954, he has been working as a surgeon at the Catholic University Hospital (Rome, Italy) since 1980. He has been interested in the area of venous access for parenteral nutrition since the early 80’s. From 1990 on, he has focused most of his clinical and scientific activity upon central venous access devices, becoming one of the leading national experts in this area. In 1998 he founded the Italian Group for Long Term Venous Access (GAVeCeLT) and since 2000, he organizes and coordinates all the educational and scientific activities of this group. In 2005, he was one of the founding members of the European Vascular Access Network (EVAN). At present, he is Professor of Surgery at the Catholic University, where he is Clinical Coordinator for the Vascular Access Service. He is an active member of several scientific societies, including ESPEN, AVA and the WoCoVA Foundation.

In 2009, he received the Suzanne Herbst Award for Excellence in Vascular Access.

Email [email protected]

GAVeCeLT web site www.gavecelt.info

EVAN web site www.evanetwork.info

Steve Reynolds

Dr. Steve Reynolds is an intensive care physician and associate professor at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, Canada. His lab conducts research on a variety of ICU-related topics which have a strong potential to improve patient outcomes. He is a co-inventor and conducted the foundational research on transvascular phrenic nerve pacing for mechanically ventilated patients. He is also the senior PI on the CLiCK study, which is a large (>1500 patients) study on 4% EDTA as a central line locking solution. He holds the TB Vets Professorship in Critical Care Medicine and is a Michael Smith Health-Professional Investigator. Dr. Reynolds is the founding executive lead of the Advancing Innovations in Medicine which partners with early Health Technology to improve patient outcomes.Maurizio has published over 100 articles in peer reviewed scientific journals, 5 chapters in textbooks and is author of more than 150 presentations at international conferences.

Victor Rosenthal

Dr. Victor D. Rosenthal is a medical doctor with a PhD in epidemiology, specializing in internal medicine and infectious diseases, and certified in infection control. He holds certification in clinical effectiveness programs from Harvard University. Additionally, he completed a postdoctoral program at the University of Wisconsin. Currently, Dr. Rosenthal serves as a Research Associate Professor at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine (UM), specifically in the Department of Public Health Sciences. He is also a valued member of the Florida Department of Health’s Priority Area Workgroup for Transmissible and Emerging Diseases. Dr. Rosenthal is also the driving force behind the International Nosocomial Infection Control Consortium (INICC) Foundation, where he holds the role of Founder and Chief Scientific Officer. INICC, a U.S. 501(c)(3) organization, concentrates on the surveillance, prevention, and control of healthcare-associated infections. Since 2002, Dr. Rosenthal has led trials involving over 2,500 researchers across 50 countries in Asia, Africa, Eastern Europe, and Latin America. Over 35 years, Dr. Rosenthal has been a speaker at conferences and symposiums in 71 countries across six continents. He has published 403 scientific publications and book chapters, with an h-index of 65 and 21,000 total citations. He has earned ten major international awards for research excellence, including those granted by the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology of America (APIC) and the Society for Hospital Epidemiology of America (SHEA), among others.

Paloma Ruiz Hernández (ES)

I have been a nurse for 19 year, working in different services related all of them with VA (Oncology, Hematology, Hemodialisys, Vascular Access unit. . .), training and teaching in the field of US, care and maintenance, midline, Picc and Picc-port insertion and new technologies. I combine my VA work at hospital collaborating with the university too being part of the universty Faculty in two Masters related with Vascular Access. Currently i am involved in some studies and projects in VA and my goal it is to make things easier for my patients with vascular access giving to them training, tools and independency and updated all professional sourrinding their care.

Amanda Ullman

Professor Amanda Ullman is the inaugural Professor and Chair in Paediatric Nursing, conjoint between Children’s Health Queensland and The University of Queensland. Amanda’s research focusses on improving the most common invasive procedure in paediatrics – the insertion of an intravenous (IV) catheter. This research program has received considerable investment by the Australian Government, highly-competitive awards, >140 research articles, two mHealth apps, and ranking as the top global expert in both vascular access and central venous catheters (ExpertScape, May 2023). Amanda is also a Fulbright Scholar and in 2022 she worked with the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and the University of Pennsylvania.

Giancarlo Scoppettuolo

Giancarlo Scoppettuolo is born in Mirabella Eclano (AV) in 1968 and lives in Rome. Medical Degree in 1992 at Catholic University, Rome. Post Graduation Degree in Infectious Diseases in 1996 at Catholic University, Rome. He is the Head of the Unit for Diagnosis and Treatment of Community-Acquired and Communicable Infectious Diseases of the Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, Rome. He teaches at the University Masters “Nursing of Venous Access” and “Medium and Long Term Central Venous Access Devices”, established at Catholic University, Rome. Since many years, he is the Vice-President of GAVeCeLT (Italian Group for Long Term Venous Access). From 2005, he is member of the Multi-professional Vascular Access Team of Gemelli Hospital. As a part of this team, Dr. Scoppettuolo inserts every year hundreds of VAD and is the main consultant for VAD related infections. Dr. Scoppettuolo is also member of the Hospital Committee for prevention of Healthcare associated infections. He has presented papers and lectures in many National and International Conferences on Infectious Diseases, Vascular Access and Infusional Therapy. He is author and coauthor of more than 150 publications (papers, abstracts and book’s chapters).

Tim Spencer

Tim Spencer is an Intensive Care Nurse and Vascular Access Specialist with over 34+ years of clinical experience and the first nurse to place central venous catheters in the mid-90s. He embodies the VA mission with passion and enthusiasm for vascular access with the commitment to improve patient care and outcomes globally, as an educator, researcher, scientist, and ambassador for the best practices in vascular access care.
Tim’s knowledge and passion for vascular access inspire others to generate evidence and share it. He is currently a Scientific Committee member of the World Congress for Vascular Access (WoCoVA) and was the Australian Vascular Access Society (AVAS) founding President from 2009-15. Tim also served on the Vascular Access Certification Corporation (VACC) Board of Directors from 2012-17. An Editorial Board member of several journals and prolific manuscript reviewer, Tim is also an Associate Editor at the Journal of Vascular Access (JVA).
The 2019 Suzanne LaVere Herbst Award recipient, Tim’s dedication to vascular access continues in his work with current and future mentors and his impact has positively affected countless clinicians.

Marlene Steinheiser

Marlene M. Steinheiser, PhD, RN, CRNI®, is the INS Director of Clinical Education. In her role, Dr. Steinheiser sets the strategic direction and development of all INS continuing education programs, including in-person annual meetings and virtual offerings such as symposiums and webinars. In addition, she develops strategic alliances with other nursing associations, healthcare organizations, colleges of nursing, and other groups interested in the infusion specialty to promote INS and increase our visibility. Dr. Steinheiser has 38 years of nursing experience and has been a CRNI since 1991. She has experience working in acute care, home infusion/home care, and long-term care settings, as faculty in pre-licensure and post-licensure nursing education, and as a nurse practice consultant and scope of practice committee member for a state nursing regulatory board. Her passion for infusion therapy and vascular access has been integrated into each of her varied career roles. Dr. Steinheiser earned her PhD from the University of Arizona, her Master’s degree and Bachelor of Science degree in nursing from the University of Akron, and her nursing diploma from Cleveland Metropolitan General Hospital School of Nursing. While conducting studies in the areas of infusion therapy, vascular access and compassion fatigue in nursing, Dr. Steinheiser enjoys mixed methods research with a passion for qualitative data analysis. She presents nationally and internationally on topics related to infusion therapy and vascular access.

Josie Stone

Originally from Gt. Britain Josie Stone currently resides in the United States. She is a Registered Nurse and Certified Pediatric Nurse Practitioner with over 30 years of practice experience in clinical specialty areas including Neonatal Intensive Care, Adult Critical care, Pediatrics, Education and Hospital Administration. She currently has a Clinical Education and Marketing Consulting business and travels extensively speaking on vascular access topics to both National and International audiences. Her role has also included vascular access product development and training.

Josie has been actively involved with vascular access and Infusion organizations throughout her career and is a Certified Registered Nurse of Infusion by the Infusion Nursing Society and Vascular Access Board Certified by the Association of Vascular Access. She is a past President of AVA and currently serves on the Editorial Review Board.

As a founding member of WoCoVA and a member of the Strategic Planning Committee Josie currently Chairs the WoCoVA Global Committee comprised at this time of representatives from 40 countries around the world, all dedicated to the promotion and development of global “best practice” patient centered care, using scientific evidence, international engagement and ongoing collaborative education.

Jinghui Zhang

RESEARCH FIELD
Intravenous Therapy Specialist Care, Oncology Nursing
PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS AND ACTIVITIES
Master Supervisor of Xiangya School of Nursing, Central South University
Deputy Director of Clinical Nursing Department, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University
Member of the Global Vascular Access Network
Professional Committee Member of intravenous Infusion Therapy of Chinese Nursing Society
Standing Member of Medical Care Branch of Chinese Geriatrics Society
Chairman of the Cancer Integrated Case Management Specialized Committee of Hunan Provincial Health Management Association

Robin van der Lee

Neonatologist since 2012, trained in various centers in The Netherlands. Ultrasound is central in my interests which include vascular access, hemodynamics, CDH, ECMO and POCUS.

Rick van Loon

With his origin in anesthesia nursing, Rick got interested in patients with a difficult intravenous access. He completed his PhD in decision-based application of ultrasound in patients with a known or predicted difficult intravenous access. He started piloting with the identification of risk factors of failed cannulation on the first attempt. After this, he created the A-DIVA score with the goal to select and classify patients who are difficult to cannulate, to make it possible to apply additional technology and resources in and efficient and effective way. Ultrasound seems to be the most promising and beneficial technology as an aid to intravenous cannulation, but simply placing an ultrasound probe on a patients arm doesn’t automatically result in successful insertion of the catheter. Rick created an educational program in a fixed curriculum to train nurses in ultrasound-guided intravenous cannulation and found the learningcurve to be steep. Moreover, the use of ultrasound in patients with a high-risk profile according to the A-DIVA score resulted in first attempt success rates above 90%. Currently, Rick is bring all results together in the implementation of a vascular access team in his hospital.

Roland-Matheus van Rens

Matheus (‘Roland’) van Rens, an esteemed neonatal nurse practitioner with over thirty years of clinical experience, earned his MA in Advanced Nursing Practice from Erasmus University in 2005. Recognized as the 2023 Janet Pettit Scholar, Roland has excelled as an advanced neonatal nurse practitioner, specializing in vascular access procedures. In his role as Clinical Director of Nursing at Women’s Wellness and Research Center in Qatar, he demonstrated exceptional leadership, steering the NICU towards excellence. Roland is a distinguished researcher with over 25 peer reviewed publications, focusing on vascular access in neonatal care. Pursuing a PhD in the Netherlands, he continues to contribute significantly to global neonatal care practices.

Mark Weber

Mark Weber is a pediatric critical care nurse practitioner in the department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). He has over 20 years of experience in pediatric critical care. He has a strong interest in improving the practice of vascular access and has had an impact on this practice through education and publications. He is the current program manager of vascular access initiatives for the department of critical care medicine at CHOP. He has published extensively in this area through peer-reviewed papers, research and book chapters.The bulk of his publications have focused on procedural innovation to improve the care of critically ill children.

Ton van Boxtel

A.J.H. (Ton) van Boxtel, RN, Msc • >40 years experience in nursing • Background in hematology / BMT • 6 years as CNS in a UMC pain team • In charge of a home infusion team 1992 – 2011 • President of EBMT-NG 1989-1997 • PICC insertion since 1997 • Consultant and trainer for infusion PIV, PICC and Ports and ambulatory pumps • Chairperson of hospital infusion material advisory board (till 2011) • Founder & president Dutch Society Infusion Technology since 2003 • Co-founder and president of WoCoVA (World Congress Vascular Access) Since 2009 • Reviewer Journal Vascular Access (JVA) Since June 2015 • Multiple publications

Marc Stranz

Marc Stranz is a Doctor of Pharmacist who has worked in hospital and home infusion for the last 50 years. He oversaw the clinical programs for US national home infusion providers for over 40 years and has been a home infusion accreditor for 30 years. His interest in avoiding infusion-related complications and access to large population data enabled him to speak and write about drug-induced phlebitis.

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Meet the Faculty of the 9th WoCoVA

Keynote Speakers

Speakers / Session Chairs / Moderators