Varese at the heart of transplant medicine: international congress on immunocompromised patients from 9 to 11 September, organised by Professor Paolo Grossi

Varese is preparing to welcome some of the world’s leading experts in infections affecting immunocompromised patients. From 9 to 11 September, the Palace Grand Hotel will host the eighth edition of the international congress «Various Infections in Immunocompromised Patients» (VIIP), a major scientific event focusing on the most advanced strategies for the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of infections in transplant recipients and, more broadly, in immunocompromised people.

The congress will bring together specialists, researchers and clinicians from leading European, US and Brazilian universities and institutions, with the aim of promoting discussion on the main infectious complications that may affect recipients of solid-organ or haematopoietic stem-cell transplants and of exploring the latest developments in transplant medicine.

The congress president and scientific secretary is Paolo Antonio Grossi, Full Professor of Infectious Diseases at the University of Insubria and Director of the Infectious and Tropical Diseases Unit at ASST Sette Laghi, as well as Director of the School of Specialisation in Infectious and Tropical Diseases in Varese. He is a nationally and internationally recognised expert in infectious disease issues related to organ donation and transplantation.

The opening ceremony will take place on Wednesday 9 September at 9.15 am, in the presence, among others, of ASST Sette Laghi Director General Mauro Moreno, President of the Lombardy Region Attilio Fontana, Mayor of Varese Davide Galimberti, President of the Lombardy Regional Welfare Committee Emanuele Monti, and the Deputy Rector of the University of Insubria, Umberto Piarulli.

The recent and remarkable development of transplant medicine has radically transformed the therapeutic landscape, offering life-saving opportunities to an ever-growing number of patients. However, managing infections in this particularly vulnerable population remains one of the most complex clinical challenges in modern medicine, making technological innovation, specialist training and international cooperation essential.

The congress scientific programme addresses some of the most topical and strategic issues in the field: from new immunosuppression strategies to bacterial and fungal infections; from the diagnosis and management of viral infections to new antiviral therapies; from the latest developments in transplantation for patients living with HIV to the use of artificial intelligence in organ transplantation.

Considerable attention will also be devoted to new frontiers in organ donation and transplantation. In particular, on 10 September Paolo Grossi will give a presentation on the possibility of further expanding access to transplantation through the use of organs from HIV-positive donors for HIV-negative recipients, one of the most innovative developments in the field.

Grossi has long been a leading expert in infectious disease safety in transplantation. Since 1999, he has served as the national “second opinion” expert for assessing the risk of transmission of infectious diseases from donors. He is also a national transplant consultant to the Italian National Transplant Centre (Centro nazionale trapianti), where he assesses the risk of transmission of infectious diseases from donors. He contributed to the development of national guidelines on infectious disease safety in transplantation. Since 2010, he has also contributed to drafting the Council of Europe guidelines on the quality and safety of organs intended for transplantation. He has served as past Chair of the ESCMID Study Group on Infections in Compromised Hosts and represented Italy at the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) on transplant safety.

Thanks to protocols developed by Grossi, the Varese Hospital, the hub hospital of ASST Sette Laghi, was the first hospital in Italy to perform kidney transplants in people living with HIV and to use organs from HIV-positive donors, making a concrete contribution to expanding therapeutic opportunities for people who previously had far more limited access to transplantation.

Alongside sessions focusing on new diagnostic and therapeutic approaches, the congress will devote substantial attention to ethical issues and clinical communication strategies, recognising that caring for immunocompromised patients requires a multidisciplinary and comprehensive approach integrating scientific, clinical, technological and ethical expertise.

Founded in 2006 and alternating over the years with the «Infections and Transplantation» congress, VIIP has become an established event for the international scientific community. The 2026 edition also carries particular significance for Varese’s scientific and healthcare community. In the coming months, Paolo Grossi will conclude his clinical activities after a long career combining research, clinical practice and scientific leadership. He will, however, continue teaching in the University of Insubria’s Medicine and Surgery degree programme and will continue his work at both national and, above all, international level, with the aim of ensuring the safety of organ donation and transplantation.

The congress therefore represents not only an opportunity for scientific exchange and professional development on the most advanced challenges in infectious diseases affecting immunocompromised patients, but also an opportunity to reaffirm the role of Varese Hospital and the University of Insubria within the international scientific community working in transplantation and infectious diseases.