Prof. Robert Zorec University of Ljubljana, Slovenia

Robert Zorec is Professor of Pathophysiology at the University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Medicine, a Member of Academia Europaea (London), Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts (est. 1693 as Academia Operosorum), The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters, and has been a Member of the Committee for Advanced Therapies at the European Medicine’s Agency (London), 2009-2013. Studying vesicle trafficking mechanisms in pituitary cells, plant cells, hepatocytes, adipocytes, taste cells, neurons and glia, his work revealed the nature of these universal mechanisms, which underlie the evolutionary invention of eukaryotic cells. In 2000 established the Cell Engineering Lab at Celica BIOMEDICAL (becoming Director in 2006), a concessionaire for research funded by the government of Slovenia. Based on membrane fusion experiments, his lab has developed autologous advanced cell-based medicines (electrofused autologous dendritic and tumor cells, i.e.HybriCure® technology for immunohybridoma-based immunotherapy), clinically tested (EudraCT # 2012-005498-29) in castration resistant prostate cancer patients with encouraging results.