HOPE 2023 Congress Scientific Committee

Michele Capurso is an Associate Professor in Educational Psychology at the University of Perugia, Italy. He started his career as a schoolteacher and then worked as a hospital teacher. He was Head of the Practical Teacher Training programs at the University of Perugia.
Capurso has published several books and articles on children’s fears and coping, understanding of illness, didactics and communication. He has been a member of the Board of HOPE (Hospital Organization of Pedagogues in Europe) for eight years, and President for two. He is the founder and current chief editor of the journal Continuity in Education.

Anastasia Kozitsyna has a BA degree in Special Education and an MA degree in Social Pedagogics and Child Protection. Currently working as hospital teacher in The Psychiatry Clinic of North Estonian Medical Centre. Anastasia’s interests include educational equity for students with special needs and suicidal behavior in children and adolescents.

Adriana Balduzzi works as an Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the Clinica Pediatrica Università degli Studi di Milano Bicocca in Monza, Italy.
Dr. Balduzzi is in charge of the Pediatric Transplantation Unit, where patients undergo allogeneic transplantation, mainly for leukemia; runs CAR-T cell clinical activities, by which an innovative treatment provides chances of cure to some refractory leukemias; is the principal investigator of the FORTEe Project in Monza, which promotes precision exercise in hematologists-oncological patients.
Since 2009 Adriana Balduzzi is a member of the Board of the Pediatric Diseases Working Party of the European Society of Blood and Marrow Transplantation, since 2015 is the Chairman of the Stem Cell Transplant Committee of the International-BFM Study Group, and, since 2020 is a member of the Pediatric Scientific Working Group of the EHA.
Prof. Balduzzi’s activities focus on the wellbeing of children, adolescents and young adults. “Educating them in science and arts, besides treating their leukemia, will make them better people in a better world.”

Tony holds a Master of Science, Evidence-Based Social Intervention, Oxford University and a Master of Social Policy, University of Melbourne. He is a PhD candidate at the School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne and is an honorary fellow at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute in Melbourne, Australia. His interests include developing programs of research and evaluations that build the evidence base about the need for, and effectiveness of, policies and programs at the education and health interface.

Director of the Pediatric Department, Full Professor of Pediatrics and Director of the Pediatric Residency Program at the University of Milano-Bicocca, Monza – Italy.
Scientific Director of the “M.Tettamanti” Research Center for leukemic and hematological diseases of children, and of “S. Verri” Cellular and Gene Therapy Laboratory.
His research focuses on the molecular characterization of pediatric leukemia, either in term of cloning and identification of new genes as well as in the use of molecular tools in clinical studies leading the standardization of molecular technique for the assessment of Minimal residual Disease in childhood ALL. Since 2007 he promotes several innovative pre-clinical and clinical research projects in the field of cellular and gene therapy for childhood ALL. One project specifically resulted in the filing of a new patent for non-viral transduction method of Chimeric-Antigen-Receptor genes in CIK cells.

Simone holds a PhD in Cognitive Psychology, he is currently Assistant Professor of Human Factors and Cognitive Ergonomics at Twente University, at the department of Learning, Data and Technology. Moreover, he is an honorary senior research fellow at Imperial College for the NIHR London IVD diagnostics. He worked several years as specialists for usability, UX and human factors in a range of interdisciplinary projects, both in academia and industry. He has a special interest in mixed reality systems for training and learning, for assistive and health technology to support decision making processes, and for human-AI interaction.

Professor Emeritus of Special Education at the University of Bologna, Andrea Canevaro is an acclaimed scholar in the field of pedagogy. Since the 1970s, Canevaro has carried out pioneering work in the field of inclusion of people with a disability. He is considered one of the founding fathers of special education in Italy. Andrea has authored hundreds of publications about this subject and has tutored thousands of teachers and educators nationwide and abroad.

Enrica Ciucci, Ph.D., is Associate Professor of Educational and Developmental Psychology at Dept. FORLILPSI, University of Florence. Since 2019 she is Responsible of the Joint Laboratory MeTA-Es (methods and techniques of analysis of the experiences of illness, Dept. FORLILPSI, UNIFI, https://www.forlilpsi.unifi.it/CMpro-v-p-268.html), and she has teaching CRISIS AND EVOLUTIONARY TRANSITIONS IN TERMS OF DISEASE at University of Florence. Among her areas of research there are illness narratives; on this topic she wrote several chapter in a book on pediatric narrative medicine (La medicina narrativa in pediatria. Come le storie ci aiutano a capire la malattia. SEID Editori, 2015). She is a co-author of a book on chronic disease with focus on life cycle and transitions (Crisi e transizioni in condizioni di malattia. Conoscere e affrontare la malattia cronica nel ciclo di vita. McGraw-Hill Education, 2020) and on how teachers could care a pupil who is hospitalized (Il mio alunno è in ospedale. Come prendersi cura di un alunno ricoverato, Unicopli).

Mindy Elliott holds a Master of Science in Curriculum and Instruction and is the Director of Education for Veritas Collaborative, where she has developed the hospital school programming since the hospital’s opening in 2012. Mindy’s interests include educational equity for students with medical and mental health needs with an emphasis on special education, gifted education, and twice exceptionality. She holds a specialized certification in the education of academically and intellectually gifted students from Duke University.
Mindy serves on the executive board of the Hospital Educator and Academic Liaison (HEAL) Association, and is an Associate Editor of the journal, Continuity in Education.

Fotinica Gliga is an educational psychologist and science teacher at the Hospital School in Bucharest, Romania, doctor in education sciences. The research activity is in the field of specific learning disorders, autism, the needs and inclusive education of children with disabilities/severe somatic diseases. She collaborates with the Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences from the University of Bucharest in the realisation of the course “Inclusive education of students enrolled in hospital school and at home schooling”. She is member of editorial board of the journal Continuity in Education. She is member of the HOPE organisation and president of the Association of Teachers and Educators from Hospitals.

Dr. Meirav Hen is a senior lecturer and the head of the Department of Psychology in Tel-Hai College in north Israel. Her research is in Educational Psychology, with a focus on studying emotional processes in Educators, Students and Clinicians. She serves as an academic consultant in several Hospital schools in Israel and has developed a training program called ” Educational Dialogue during Crisis” for hospital teachers. Dr Hen teaches, research and consults hospital teachers in Israel. Recently she is leading a mutual research and training project for hospital teachers with Prof. Dorit Maor, Perth, Australia.

Degree: Medicine and Surgery (1977). Specializations: Pediatrics; Hematology; Anesthesia-Resuscitation.
1982-2016: Head of the Pediatric Day-Hospital and Pediatric Hematology Unit at the Monza Hospital.
2002-2004: President of the Italian Association of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology (AIEOP).
Visiting Research Physician, University of Chicago (1988).
Honorary Professor of Pediatrics, University of Niš (Serbia) since 2004 and Serbian Medical Academy of Belgrade since 2009.
Member of the Bioethics Committee of the National Cancer Institute of Milan since 2010.
Author of 4 books; most recent: “Ne vale sempre la pena” (2018).
First prize Vittorio Ventafridda as “Pioniere Cure Palliative Pediatriche” (March 2007).
Ambrogino d’Oro, Municipality of Milan, 7 December 2010.
Giovannino d’Oro, Municipality of Monza, 24 June 2017.

Full Professor of Education at the Milano-Bicocca University. She studied the emotional and cognitive problems of the hospitalized children and the importance of the school to help them to cope with them. She studied in particular how hospital school teachers run didactic and relationship among children, parents and medical staff. She wrote books and articles on this subject and tutored many university’s student preparing themselves to the educational carrier. At present she is involved in a research on home schooling for ill children.

Jennifer Lindwall, PhD, is an Associate Professor at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, and a licensed clinical psychologist at Children’s Hospital Colorado in the United States. She works in a multidisciplinary hospital-based school for youth with significant medical diagnoses, providing interventions to address adherence, pain, quality of life, anxiety, depression, and cognitive difficulties. Dr. Lindwall also leads program evaluation efforts and psychology training within the program. She also works in multidisciplinary clinics to provide psychosocial support for youth with diagnoses including multiple sclerosis and acute flaccid myelitis. Dr. Lindwall contributes to an investigation that delivers a tele-coaching adherence intervention for youth with cystic fibrosis.

Associate Professor Dorit Maor worked at Murdoch University with three decades of research and teaching experience in e-Learning, technology and pedagogies, HDR supervision and Science Education. She has supervised many doctoral students to completion in these areas. Her teaching and research expertise is in eLearning, particularly the integration of innovative pedagogies with new technologies. For the last six years Dorit had led a research team focused on vulnerable young people in hospital schools and the use of mobile technologies for learning, connectivity and wellbeing. She published widely in this area.

Born in 1937, pediatrician, hemato-oncologist, expert in childhood Leukemia.
He played an important role and collaborated in the implementation of protocols for diagnosis, treatment, research and psychosocial support at national and international level.
1965-1984: Pediatric Clinic of the University of Milan, Responsible of the Hemato-Oncology Center.
1984: he moves to Monza, to the University of Milan-Bicocca; Director of the Pediatric Clinic until 2009 (retired).
HOSPITAL SCHOOL : organized first in the middle of 70ies in Milan and later in Monza.
1988: a formal agreement was activated between the University Pediatric Clinic, San Gerardo Hospital, the Comprehensive Institute “Salvo D’Acquisto” and the Municipality of Monza.
The HOPE Conference testifies to the success of a project started more than forty years earlier.

Steven Shaw is associate professor in the Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology at McGill University in Montreal. He is director of the Resilience, Pediatric Psychology and Neurogenetic Connections Lab and co-director of the McGill Developmental Research Lab. Before entering academia, he had 16 years of experience as a school psychologist in school, hospital, medical school, and independent practice. He served as lead psychologist and associate professor of pediatrics at The Children’s Hospital in Greenville, South Carolina and Medical University of South Carolina. His clinical and research interests include pediatric school psychology, improving education for children with rare genetic disorders, improving implementation of innovation and clinical research in education and psychology, and developing resilience skills in children at risk for academic failure. He has over 210 scholarly publications and presentations and has edited four books. He is on the editorial board of seven international scholarly journals, past-editor of School Psychology Forum, and current editor of the Canadian Journal of School Psychology.

Richard Winder Dip Tch., BA, M Ed. Admin (Hons)
Richard is currently the Principal of the Northern Health School, providing education for students with chronic illness across most of the North Island. He has a background in Primary education and a Masters degree in Education Administration. He has a strong interest in learning, pedagogy and building the capacity of teachers. To this end he has presented locally and internationally in the area of Education for students will chronic illness, particularly at the European HOPE and Australasian HELP conferences. He is currently secretary of HELP and has also travelled extensively in Europe, Canada and Australia looking for and sharing good practice in this area.