Program
Discover the keynote speakers driving new ideas and impact at IASSIDD 2026
Prof. Dr. Bea Maes
Prof. Dr. Bea Maes is Full Professor in the Parenting and Special Education Research Unit at the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, KU Leuven (Belgium). Her research contributes both to theory development and to the design of assessment instruments and intervention strategies in education and support for persons with disabilities. This work is grounded in a quality of life and quality of support framework and often employs a multimethod approach.
Her primary research focus is on persons with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities (PIMD) and their families. She supervises a team of PhD students and postdoctoral researchers at KU Leuven. Prof. Maes has served for many years as Chair of the IASSIDD Special Interest Research Group on PIMD and maintains strong international research collaborations. Her work is published in leading international journals in the field. In Belgium, she actively disseminates research findings to professionals in disability services through the centres of expertise Multiplus and Magenta.
Dr. Benjamin Lange
Dr. Benjamin Lange is a Research Assistant Professor and Junior Research Group Leader in the Ethics of AI & ML at Ludwig-Maximilians University of Munich (LMU) and the Munich Center for Machine Learning (MCML). His research focuses on the ethics of AI and technology, foundational issues in normative ethics, and organizational & business ethics. He is Associate Research Fellow at the Oxford Uehiro Institute for Practical Ethics and a member of the Zentrum für Ethik und Philosophie in der Praxis (ZEPP) at LMU. Previously he was a Visiting Researcher at Google’s Responsible Innovation & AI Ethics team and held a visiting position at the University of Hamburg. He was educated at the London School of Economics (BSc) and at the University of Oxford (B.Phil & D.Phil). His work appears in international media and he advises institutions and companies on AI ethics, regulation, and corporate responsibility.
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