Board members - Baltic Flow Cytometry Society

President – Dr. Ilona Uzielienė

Dr. Ilona Uzielienė is a senior researcher at the Innovative medicine centre, Department of Regenerative medicine (Vilnius, Lithuania). She graduated with a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Biochemistry from Vilnius University (2008–2014) and obtained a PhD in Biology from Vytautas Magnus University/Innovative Medicine Centre (2020). In her research, Ilona focuses on cartilage tissue regeneration using human mesenchymal stromal cells and their extracellular vesicles, as a potential treatment for osteoarthritis. She is experienced in multiplex assays and flow cytometry.

Vice-president – Prof. Lidia Gackowska

Professor Lidia Gackowska is a Head of the Department of Immunology, Collegium Medicum, N. Copernicus University In Torun (UMK) and Head of the Department of Laboratory Diagnostics, University Hospital No. 2 in Bydgoszcz, Poland. She is a researcher, educator, laboratory diagnostician with specialization in Laboratory Medical Immunology for which she received the award of Minister of Health „Specialist-2016”.

She accomplished her PhD at the Faculty of Medicine of the Medical University of Bydgoszcz in 2004. In 2024, she obtained a postdoctoral degree in medical sciences and health sciences in the discipline of pharmaceutical sciences. For many years Head of the Clinical and Experimental Immunology Laboratory. From the beginning of her scientific and educational work strongly connected with immunology mainly in the aspect of cellular immunity using many research techniques, but above all flow cytometry In clinic and research area, magnetic-activated cell sorting (MACS), ELISA and cell cultures. Organizer of many national and international conferences, long-time volunteer of the European Society for Clinical Cell Analysis (ESCCA), member of the Associated Societies Subcommittee of ISAC (International Society for Advancement of Cytometry), President-Elect of the Polish Society of Cytometry, member of the State Examination Board in the field of Laboratory Medical Immunology for laboratory diagnosticians in Poland. The co-founder and partner of the spin-off company „Immbionic- science for health” conducting research and development work in the field of biotechnology. Member of multi-center research groups, executor of numerous research grants, awarded three team prizes for scientific and research achievements by the Rector of UMK. Author and co-author of 68 scientific publications, supervisor and reviewer of numerous master’s theses of students of medical analytics, pharmacy and biotechnology. Privately an artistic soul who not only loves traveling, but is always happy to relax in the company of good music and volumes of poetry.

Secretary – Prof. Dace Pjanova

Prof. Dace Pjanova holds a PhD in Molecular Biology and has been a tenured professor at Rīga Stradiņš University, Latvia, since 2023. Her areas of expertise include immuno-oncology, mechanisms of resistance to cancer therapies, genetic alterations in cancer, and the characterization of the tumour microenvironment. She is particularly interested in exploring how various immunomodulators can be used to modulate the tumour microenvironment to enhance therapeutic outcomes.

Treasurer – Dr. Mantas Radzevičius

Dr. Mantas Radzevičius is a Laboratory Medicine Physician and Assistant Professor specializing in flow cytometry and its application in clinical cell analysis. After earning a Master’s degree in Medicine from Vilnius University Faculty of Medicine in 2014, he completed his residency in Laboratory Medicine at Vilnius University Hospital Santaros Klinikos in 2018. In 2023, he was awarded a PhD in Medicine from Vilnius University for his work in application of flow cytometry in multiple myeloma.

Since 2018, Dr. Radzevičius has been practicing as a Laboratory Medicine Physician at Santaros klinikos, focusing on hematology and cytology. Concurrently, he has worked in medical education, initially as a Teaching Assistant and now as an Assistant Professor at VU MF, teaching human physiology to Lithuanian and international students. Dr. Radzevičius has actively participated in international conferences, presenting research on leukemia/lymphoma immunophenotyping and minimal residual disease. His research interests include clinical cell analysis, with a particular emphasis on flow cytometry’s role in diagnosing and monitoring hematological disorders.

Board member – Dr. Dmitri Lubenets

Dr. Dmitri Lubenets, born in 1981. Obtained bachelor degree in 2003 in University of Tartu on “Gene technology” program. Master of Science degree was obtained in the same university in 2005 on a “Transgenic organisms” program. Since 2012 have been working in University of Tartu as an engineer. As a part of my job I support scientists in their research helping plan, run through and analyze microscopic and flow cytometric experiments. My scientific field of interest and knowledge cover bacteria, yeast, drosophila, various human and mice/rat cell lines and primary cells.

Board member – Dr. Kristīne Vaivode

Dr. Kristīne Vaivode, PhD is a young post-doc and has acquired her education at several UK universities, including Queen Mary University of London (BSc in Medical Genetics), London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (MSc in Medical Microbiology) and King’s College London (MSc and PhD in Immunology). She completed her PhD studies at King’s College London (KCL), where her primary area of research was the mononuclear phagocyte system. Currently she works at Prof. Dace Pjanova lab at Riga Stradins University (RSU) where her main research area involves cancer immunology. Over the years she has acquired an in-depth knowledge in multicolor flow cytometry and is also an active RSU flow cytometry core facility member.

Board member – Dr. Alfonso Blanco

Dr. Alfonso Blanco is the Director of the Flow Cytometry Core Technologies at UCD Conway Institute in the University College Dublin. He is the co-organiser of several national and international courses, worshops and conferences. Dr. Blanco is one of the Key Opinion Leaders in Cytometry, acting as Reference site for different manufacturers.

Alfonso is the Co-Director and founder of the Cytometry Society of Ireland, past-Councilor of International Society for the Advancement of Cytometry (ISAC) and ISAC Scholars (2010-2015), co-founder and coordinator of the Red de Iberoamericana de Citometría, President and co-founder of the Spanish Research Society in Ireland (SRSI), co-founder and member of the Red de Asociaciones de Científicos e Investigadores Españoles en el Extranjero (RAICEx). Alfonso is a member of Instrument 4 Science, ISAC Membership Services Committee, Associated Societies. Alfonso won several awards like the Accuri´s Creativity Awards 2009 “Innovative Applications of Flow Cytometry”, the Irish Laboratory Awards 2013 “Laboratory Staff Member of the Year” or “UCD Exceptional Contribution to Learning Award 2024“, among others.

Board member – Prof. Eiva Bernotienė

Prof. Eiva Bernotiene is a Chief Researcher and Head of the Department of Regenerative Medicine at IMC, is a Professor at VilniusTech University with 20+ years of experience in mesenchymal stem cells, biomarker research, biosensors, and drug testing. As the principal investigator of several international biomedical studies, including FP7 project ADIPOA, H2020 project EMAPS and HE project TWINFLAG as coordinator, etc., using human patient samples, she holds multiple permissions from the Lithuanian Bioethics Committee. Eiva‘s research encompasses stem cell characterization, extracellular vesicles, inflammation, and disease modeling, as well as pre-clinical translational studies and international collaborations.

Board member – Prof. Vita Pašukonienė

Prof. Vita Pašukonienė is s Head of the Immunology Laboratory, Doctor of Biomedical Sciences, Chief Researcher at National Cancer Institute. Areas of scientific interest include cancer immunology, development and research of anti-cancer vaccines; studies of the immunogenicity of the cancer microenvironment.

Board member – Prof. Helena Moreira

Prof. Helena Moreira holds a PhD in Molecular Biology from the Institut Gilbert-Laustriat (Strasbourg, France), specializing in the molecular mechanisms of TNF-α secretion. She also holds a DU in Animal Experimentation and a DEA in Pharmacology and Pharmaco-chemistry from the University of Strasbourg. She is currently specializing in laboratory medical hematology.

Since 2011, Prof. Moreira has managed the Flow Cytometry Laboratory at the Department of Basic Medical Sciences, where she implements new cytometric analysis techniques, organizes training for researchers and students, and supports collaborative research. Her expertise includes flow cytometry, 2D/3D cell cultures, spectrophotometry, fluorescence microscopy, ELISA, immunophenotyping, and immunocytochemistry. Her current research focuses on cancer, phytochemicals targeting cancer stem cells, the efficacy and mechanisms of anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory compounds, neurological diseases, trisomy 3, and hematooncology. Prof. Moreira is a member of the National Chamber of Laboratory Diagnosticians (KIDL), the Polish Society of Cytometry (PTC), the European Society for Clinical Cell Analysis (ESCCA), and the International Society for Advancement of Cytometry (ISAC). She also serves on the Program Council for Medical Analytics and the Discipline Council of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the Medical University of Wrocław. She has contributed to several research projects funded by national and internal sources, including 5 national grants and 13 Medical University of Wrocław subsidy tasks.