Scientific Committee

Anete Grumach is a Specialist in Allergy and Immunology and Head of Clinical Immunology at the University Center, Faculty of Medicine ABC (CEUFMABC) in São Paulo, Brazil. This is also the Center of Reference for Rare Diseases and a certified Angioedema Centers of Excellence and Reference (ACARE) center.

Prof. Grumach received her medical degree in 1979 from the University Health Center ABC, São Paulo, Brazil, and subsequently carried out residencies in both pediatrics and allergy immunology at the University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.

Prof. Grumach acts as a mentor and supervisor for students, scientists, and doctors undertaking advanced immunologic research. Prof. Grumach is a founder of the Brazilian Group of Study on HAE and a member of the ACARE steering committee.

She has published over 160 articles in peer-reviewed journals and has written, and contributed to, several published books. She is a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Clinical Immunology and a reviewer of the following journals: Jornal de Pediatria, Revista Paulista de Pediatria, Clinical Experimental Dermatology, Pediatric Allergy and Immunology, Clinical Experimental Dermatology, Frontiers in Immunology, Frontiers in Allergy, and F1000.

Marc Riedl, MD, MS, is Professor of Medicine and Clinical Director of the US HAEA Angioedema Center at the University of California – San Diego (UCSD) where he also serves as Clinical Service Chief for Allergy-Immunology.

He received his medical degree from the University of Chicago –Pritzker School of Medicine, completed Internal Medicine residency at Barnes-Jewish Hospital of Washington University, and Clinical Immunology and Allergy fellowship at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

Dr. Riedl received a Master of Science degree in Clinical Research from UCLA and holds board certifications in Allergy- Immunology and Clinical Pharmacology. Dr. Riedl serves on numerous editorial boards and scientific committees, as well as appointed expert panels for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and National Institutes of Health (NlH). He directs an active clinical research program at UCSD focused on angioedema and immunodeficiency conditions.

Olga M. Barrera graduated from the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Panama and specialized in Allergology and Clinical Immunology at the Hospital Das Clínicas of the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil. Dr. Barrera currently works at the San Fernando Hospital, Institute of Allergies and Pulmonology in Panama and is the Medical Advisor to the Panamanian Association of Patients with Hereditary Angioedema (HAE Panama). She is also a Research Associate at the Gorgas Memorial Institute for Health Studies.

Dr. Barrera is the Past President of the Panamanian Association of Allergy and Immunology and was the sub-coordinator of the HAE Committee for the Sociedad Latinoamericana de Alergia, Asma e Inmunología (SLaai; Latin American Society of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology) from 2019 to 2023.

Francisco Contreras-Verduzco is a Pediatric Allergist and Clinical Immunologist. He is the attending physician and Head of the Hereditary Angioedema Clinic at the National Institute of Pediatrics Allergy Service in Mexico City, Mexico.

Dr. Contreras-Verduzco is a Candidate member of the Sistema Nacional de Investigadores (National System of Researchers), which is part of the Consejo Nacional de Humanidades, Ciencias y Tecnologías (CONAHCYT: National Council of Humanities, Sciences and Technologies). His research interests include urticaria, hereditary angioedema, and autoinflammatory syndromes. Dr. Contreras-Verduzco has participated as a speaker at many conferences and is the author or co-author of several research articles.

Huamin Henry Li is board-certified in allergy and immunology and is currently President of the Institute for Asthma and Allergy in Chevy Chase, Maryland, USA. He received his Allergy and Clinical Immunology training from the Johns Hopkins Asthma and Allergy Center in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. Dr. Li has been a part-time instructor of medicine at the Johns Hopkins Hospital since 2001 after he finished his fellowship training and spent one year in a private allergy clinic.

Dr. Li received his Ph.D. in Medical Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, Texas – where he was awarded the McLaughlin Fellowship Award for excellence in research. Dr. Li is part of the Medical Advisory Board for the US Hereditary Angioedema Association (US HAEA).

Dr. Li has published several papers in allergy and immunology, peer-reviewed journals, book chapters, and has participated in many clinical trials. He has also served as editor of the current report of asthma and allergy.

Margarita Olivares Gómez is an Allergist at the Group of Inborn Errors of Immunity-GEII and “Jeffrey Modell” National Center, University of Antioquia in Medellín, Colombia, and a researcher at the Clinical Research Center Foundation (CIC) in Medellin, Colombia.

Dr. Olivares is a sub-coordinator (2019-2025) of the Hereditary Angioedema Committee for the Sociedad Latinoamericana de Alergia, Asma e Inmunología (SLaai; Latin American Society of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology) and was a Member of the Board of Directors for SLaai from 2017-2021. She is a Member of the Board of Directors of the Asociación Latinoamericana de Angioedema Hereditario (ALAEH: Latin American Association of Hereditary Angioedema) 2021-2024 and is the Past President (2016-2017) of the Asociacion Colombiana de Alergia, Asma e Inmunologia (ACAAI: Colombian Association of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology.

Oscar Calderón Llosa is an Allergist and Clinical Immunologist and Head of the Angioedema Center of Reference and Excellence (ACARE), Clínica SANNA el Golf, San Isidro, in Lima, Perú. He completed his allergy specialty training at the Hospital Universitario la Paz in Madrid, Spain, and has been managing patients with hereditary angioedema (HAE) since 2009.

Around 10 years ago, Dr. Calderón Llosa returned to Perú, and since 2018, he has been the Medical Advisor to the HAE Patient Association, HAE Perú.

Rafael H. Zaragoza-Urdaz is an allergist-immunologist. He received his medical degree from the University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine and his doctorate from the University of Colorado. Dr. Zaragoza-Urdaz has expertise in treating asthma, among other conditions, and has been in practice for over 30 years.

Dr. Zaragoza-Urdaz has authored over 60 peer-reviewed publications and presented widely to colleagues and patients in America and Europe. He was named among the Distinguished Physicians of Puerto Rico in 2004 and has received the Doctor’s Choice Awards for Immunology thirteen times.

Dr. Zaragoza-Urdaz currently works at the Centro de Asma, Alergia e Immunogía, Hato Rey, Puerto Rico, and Alergimmuno RHZU LLC, San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Ricardo Dario Zwiener is a specialist in the Internal Medicine and Allergy and Immunology Department at the Hospital Universitario Austral in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He is also Head of Research & Education at Centro de Alergia e Inmunología Dr Zwiener.

His commitment extends to developing local guidelines to enhance the management of HAE patients. He has played a crucial role as Principal investigator in the global impact studies of HAE on both patients and caregivers.

Dr. Zwiener is an International fellow of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (AAAAI), a Member of the Hereditary Angioedema Committee for La Asociación Argentina de Alergia e Inmunología Clínica (AAAeIC; Argentine Association of Allergy and Immunology) and Sociedad Latinoamericana de Alergia, Asma e Inmunología (SLaai; Latin American Society of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology), Director of the Drug Allergy Committee for AAAeIC and past Co-Director of the Allergy and Immunology Specialist Career for AAAeIC. He is a reviewer for the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology and the World Allergy Organization Journal.

Dr. Zwiener’s passion is to continue to understand the disease burden of HAE patients to improve their quality of life and find a cure for HAE.

Rosario Espinoza Mora is a medical specialist in internal medicine, critical care, and clinical immunology. She holds a master’s degree in Tropical Parasitic Diseases (2002, University of Valencia, Spain) and an academic master’s degree (MSc) in Biochemistry (2007, University of Costa Rica). She obtained an academic doctorate in Natural Sciences (PhD) in 2010 (University of Hamburg, Germany) and an academic doctorate in Medicine (PhD) in 2015 (University of Saarland, Germany).

Dr. Espinoza Mora has been a professor and researcher at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Costa Rica since 2015. She currently works as a clinical immunologist and leads the Research Department of the Dr. Rafael Ángel Calderón Guardia Hospital in Costa Rica.

Dr. Espinoza Mora has directed several studies related to vaccines, immune tolerance, transplantation, immunodeficiencies, autoimmunity, inflammation, infectious and neglected diseases, orphan diseases, and oncology, among others. She has multiple publications, including original articles, reviews, therapeutic guidelines, opinion articles and editorials. Dr. Espinoza Mora is a member of the American Association of Immunologists (AAI) and of the Costa Rican Internal Medicine Association.

Susan Waserman is a Professor of Medicine, Director of the Division of Clinical Immunology and Allergy at McMaster University and the Adverse Reactions Clinic at the Firestone Institute of Respiratory Health, St Joseph’s Healthcare, Hamilton.
She is extensively involved in medical education in both academic and community settings, in addition to an active hospital-based clinical practice in adult and pediatric Clinical Immunology and Allergy. Activities include practice guidelines in food allergy, allergic rhinitis, anaphylaxis, hereditary angioedema, and urticaria.

Dr. Waserman’s research interests include mechanisms and treatment of peanut allergy. She is the Director of the inaugural Schroeder Allergy and Immunology Research Institute and holds the Schroeder Chair in Allergy and Immunology Research.

Dr. Waserman is President of the Canadian Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology Foundation and past President of the Canadian and Ontario Societies of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. She is also Chair of the Medical and Scientific Committee of Asthma Canada, medical advisor to Food Allergy Canada, and on the Board of Directors of the Canadian Hereditary Angioedema Network and Asthma Canada.