Dr. Johannes Bluemel is leading the viral safety section at the Paul-Ehrlich-Institut, Germany. He is assessing virus and TSE safety of blood products, recombinant DNA products, and advanced therapy medicinal products (ATMPs) for clinical trials and marketing authorization. He participated as an expert in the EMA-Biologics Working Party (BWP) and EDQM TSE-certification procedure and contributed to the drafting of numerous Guidelines and Monographs on viral safety. In 2025, he received an award from ICH for revision of guideline ICHQ5A on viral safety of biotechnology products. He is working on several research projects on virus inactivation and detection of viruses by next generation sequencing. He is chairing the group on blood-associated pathogens for the German advisory board “Arbeitskreis Blut” in as well as the Ph. Eur. Working Party on High Throughput Sequencing for the detection of viral extraneous agents. Before joining the Paul-Ehrlich-Institut in 1998, Dr. Blümel worked at the University Hospital Bonn. He performed research on virus replication and received qualification in medical virology and virus diagnostics (Fachvirologe). Dr. Blümel completed his Diploma Study in Biology at the University of Freiburg, Germany where he also received his Ph.D. degree. In 2010 he received a teaching graduation (Habilitation) in Medical Virology from the University of Frankfurt.