Full Name
Pierrette Melin
Hospital/Organisation/Company
Liège University, Belgium
Speaker Bio
Her background, education & position, she is:
• Pharmacist, post-graduated specialist in clinical biology, PhD in Biomedical and Experimental Sciences from University of Liege, Belgium, for research in “Epidemiology of group B streptococci among pregnant women and infants”.
• Emeritus professor (since October 2020) at the faculty of medicine, University of Liege
• Past head of the clinical microbiology department at University hospital of Liege,
• Past founder and director of the National Reference Centre Streptococcus agalactiae
• Past member of the CIRM (Centre Intégré de Recherche sur le Médicament),
• Since 2002, expert of the Belgian Superior Health Council,
• Since 2013, member of the College of the Belgian Superior Health Council
• Since 2024, member of the bureau of the same College of the Belgian Superior Health Council.
• Since 2018, expert of the QCMD (Quality Control Molecular Diagnostic, Glasgow, UK) for Streptococcus agalactiae.
Research interest and skill:
• She has a 4-decade experience and research in group B streptococcal infections, diseases, diagnostic methods and prevention strategies.
• She is involved in national and international working groups for the prevention and management of GBS neonatal infections and chairs the group of clinical and public health representatives who re-evaluates the prevention strategies and updates the guidelines.
• Furthermore, she is a committed supporter of the development, validation and implementation of new technologies and products always aiming to improve the management of infectious diseases.
• She has a long-standing experience with the development and implementation of both conventional and advanced diagnostic tests in the clinical microbiology laboratory.
• She has also developed cooperation in Group B Streptococcal epidemiology with the University of Leon in Nicaragua, with the University of Montevideo in Uruguay and Bach Mai Hospital, Hanoi Vietnam.
• She is involved in research on antimicrobial resistance.
Other,
• She was work package leader
- in the EC-funded FP7 project, DEVANI 2008-2011 (Design of a vaccine to immunize neonates against GBS infections through a durable maternal immune response),
- in the EC-funded FP7 project, C4L 2011-2014 (« Chips for Life”, the overall objective was to develop a panel of dedicated rapid diagnostic tests to allow the medical staff to link antibiotic prescription on evidence-based diagnosis)
- in several national or regional funded projects as
• in the Federation Wallonie-Bruxelles Pole Biowin funded project 2016-2020 FRISBY: Fast and Reliable ultra-sensitive identification of Streptococcus B at delivery.
• For more than 2 decades, she was also technical auditor (ISO15189) for BELAC, the Belgian Accreditation Organization.
• Pharmacist, post-graduated specialist in clinical biology, PhD in Biomedical and Experimental Sciences from University of Liege, Belgium, for research in “Epidemiology of group B streptococci among pregnant women and infants”.
• Emeritus professor (since October 2020) at the faculty of medicine, University of Liege
• Past head of the clinical microbiology department at University hospital of Liege,
• Past founder and director of the National Reference Centre Streptococcus agalactiae
• Past member of the CIRM (Centre Intégré de Recherche sur le Médicament),
• Since 2002, expert of the Belgian Superior Health Council,
• Since 2013, member of the College of the Belgian Superior Health Council
• Since 2024, member of the bureau of the same College of the Belgian Superior Health Council.
• Since 2018, expert of the QCMD (Quality Control Molecular Diagnostic, Glasgow, UK) for Streptococcus agalactiae.
Research interest and skill:
• She has a 4-decade experience and research in group B streptococcal infections, diseases, diagnostic methods and prevention strategies.
• She is involved in national and international working groups for the prevention and management of GBS neonatal infections and chairs the group of clinical and public health representatives who re-evaluates the prevention strategies and updates the guidelines.
• Furthermore, she is a committed supporter of the development, validation and implementation of new technologies and products always aiming to improve the management of infectious diseases.
• She has a long-standing experience with the development and implementation of both conventional and advanced diagnostic tests in the clinical microbiology laboratory.
• She has also developed cooperation in Group B Streptococcal epidemiology with the University of Leon in Nicaragua, with the University of Montevideo in Uruguay and Bach Mai Hospital, Hanoi Vietnam.
• She is involved in research on antimicrobial resistance.
Other,
• She was work package leader
- in the EC-funded FP7 project, DEVANI 2008-2011 (Design of a vaccine to immunize neonates against GBS infections through a durable maternal immune response),
- in the EC-funded FP7 project, C4L 2011-2014 (« Chips for Life”, the overall objective was to develop a panel of dedicated rapid diagnostic tests to allow the medical staff to link antibiotic prescription on evidence-based diagnosis)
- in several national or regional funded projects as
• in the Federation Wallonie-Bruxelles Pole Biowin funded project 2016-2020 FRISBY: Fast and Reliable ultra-sensitive identification of Streptococcus B at delivery.
• For more than 2 decades, she was also technical auditor (ISO15189) for BELAC, the Belgian Accreditation Organization.
