Vana Spoulou MD, MPhil, PhD is Professor of Paediatric Infectious Diseases at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA), Consultant Paediatric Infectious Diseases at “Aghia Sophia” Children’s Hospital and Head of the Immunobiology and Vaccinology Research Lab (ΙVRL) in Athens. Prof Spoulou was trained in Paediatrics in Athens, specializing in Paediatric Infectious Diseases at Great Ormond Street Hospital and received her MPhil in Immunobiology from UCL, London, UK and her PhD from NKUA. Her research is focused mainly on vaccinology including the development of novel methods for determination of immunological surrogates for evaluation of vaccine-induced protection in high-risk paediatric populations. An important focus of her research is the investigation of the development of antigen-specific B cell immunological memory and the discovery of novel antigens for the development of serotype-independent pneumococcal vaccines. Her research is supported by many National and European research grants. As head of IVRL, she has supervised more than 15 PhD students. For her research, she has received many national and international awards. She is member of many scientific societies including the Hellenic Society for Paediatric Infectious Diseases (HELESPID), the European Society for Paediatric Infectious Diseases (ESPID) and the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infection (ECCMID). She is also member of the rotavirus and varicella vaccine Experts groups. Since 2015 she is member of the Education Committee of ESPID and co-director of the "Wiser Immunizer course» that has been developed by ESPID and WHO. She is author of more than 100 peer-reviewed articles. She is co-author of the European Vaccines and Vaccination Textbook.