Alexandre Mironov graduated in Medicine and specialized in Surgery andPathological Morphology at Ivanovo State Medical Institute (IMSI). After he did his PhD, also at IMSI, in Histology and Embryology, studying mechanisms of kidney preservation. Employed as a senior researcher at Ivanovo State Medical Academy for 5years, he turned to the study of arteriosclerosis and defended his second thesis on the role of arterial hypertension in tissue biology in 1985. Between 1988 and 1991 Alexandre Miranov assumed positions as professor of Gross Anatomy, Chief of the Electron Microscopic Facility, and President ofthe Faculty of Therapeutic Science, also at the Academy. In 1994 Mironov moved to Italy and working at Consorzio Mario Negri Sud for17 years, he focalized his research on mechanisms of intracellulartransport. He became group leader at IFOM in 2010. At IFOM today, Alexandre Mironov combines his varied expertise with cancer research. Believing in keeping things simple, his group is working on the development of a diagnostic test for prevention, based on the early detection of excessive double-strand RNA. Alexandre Mironov has made major contributionson the functionality of the apparatus, publishing in Nature and Cell.

Margit Pavelka, following the study of medicine and specializations in internal medicine, focused on medical histology and cell biology drawing particular attention to ultrastructure research and electron microscopic techniques, cytochemical methods and cryotechniques, including high pressure freezing and freeze-substitution; several years ago, with the new installation of a 200kV electron microscope in her department, she started with electron tomography and 3D-analyses. Since many years, her main research interest is dedicated to the Golgi apparatus and its organization in cell physiology and pathology. In her work, particular attention is drawn to the Golgi apparatus architecture and dynamics influenced by endocytic traffic, drug treatments and cellular stress and the relationships of Golgi apparatus structure and function.