Axel Merseburger is Professor of Urology and Chairman of the Department of Urology at University Hospital Schleswig Holstein, Campus Lübeck, Germany. After graduating from Hannover Medical School in 2002, he completed a surgery and urology residency at the Eberhard Karls University, in Tübingen, followed by a research fellowship at the Miller School of Medicine, Miami, USA (2006). He became an Associate Professor in 2009 and a full Professor in 2012 at Hannover Medical School. In 2015 he was promoted to become chairman of the Department of Urology at the University of Lübeck. He is trained in all aspects of open and endoscopic urology and has a particular interest in laparoscopic and robotic-assisted surgery, particularly for the management of prostate, renal and bladder cancer. Professor Merseburger is a member of various uro-oncology organizations and is the Chairman-Elect for the European Scholarship Program (ESUP) of the European Association of Urology (EAU) and was the Chairman of the EAU Guideline Group for Lasers and Technologies. He acts as a reviewer and editorial board member for several urology and oncology-indexed journals. His research encompasses molecular and clinical aspects of uro-oncology, with a specific interest in biomarkers and prognostic factors for prostate cancer, renal cell carcinoma, and transitional cell carcinoma. He has authored and co-authored >300 peer-reviewed articles and he is the principal investigator in multiple phase II and III clinical trials within the field of urologic oncology.

Domenica Lorusso, MD, PhD, is Director of Gynaecological Oncology Unit at Humanitas Hospital San Pio X, Milan, and Full Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Humanitas University, Rozzano, Milan. Prof. Lorusso has been involved in gynecological oncology research for more than 25 years and has conducted or participated in approximately 250 phase I-IV clinical trials in gynecological malignancies. At present she is Principal Investigators of more than 60 studies.

Prof. Lorusso is responsible for the Clinical Trials Committee of the MITO (Multicenter Italian Trials in Ovarian Cancer and Gynaecological Malignancies) Group, which includes more than 150 Italian centers involved in gynecological oncology research. She is a member of the Board of Directors of Gynaecological Cancer Intergroup including 23 international research groups involved in the promotion and conduction of high-quality clinical trials to improve outcomes for women with gynecological cancers. Prof. Lorusso is also an active member of ENGOT (European Network of Gynaecological Oncological Trial groups), an international organization which coordinates and promotes clinical trials within Europe for patients with gynecological cancers where she chairs the Gynecological Cancer Academy. She is a member of the Board of Director of the European Society of Gynecological Oncology (ESGO). She has also co-authored about 300 international oncology publications. She is author of national and international guidelines on treatment of ovarian, cervical and endometrial cancer.

Prof. Lorusso’s key goals are to ensure best treatment to all patients and promote the clinical research, international trial collaborations and educations.

Michael K Gibson, MD, PhD FACP, is Director of Translational Research for Esophago-Gastric Cancer (EGC) at the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center (VICC), where he also holds a faculty position as Associate Professor of Medicine.

After receiving his medical degree from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Dr Gibson completed an Osler Medical Residency and medical oncology fellowship at Johns Hopkins Hospital while concurrently earning a doctorate of philosophy in clinical investigation at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Dr Gibson’s goal is to integrate the multidisciplinary pre-clinical research and clinical trials programs in esophago-gastric cancers at the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center. He manages the trial portfolio for these diseases to integrate the research programs across disciplines and lines of care.

Dr Gibson is a member of the NCI Esophago-Gastric Task Force and a member of the NCCN Esophageal/Gastric Cancers Panel. He is the study Co-Chair of EA2174 and EA 2183 and the Co-Leader along with Drs. Malcom Brock and Hajime Orita of the Jutendo/Johns Hopkins/Vanderbilt International Esophago-Gastric Collaboration.

The overall goals of Dr Gibson’s research efforts are to bring novel therapeutics to the treatment of esophago-gastric cancers based on rational pre-clinical investigation and in the setting of a focus on patient safety and outcomes.

Dr Ken Kato is a medical oncologist and the Chief of the Department of Head and Neck, Esophageal Medical Oncology, and Gastrointestinal Medical Oncology at the National Cancer Center Hospital, Tokyo, Japan (2020-2024). Additionally, he serves as the Chief of the Biobank Translational Research Support Section within the Clinical Research Coordinating Section at the Clinical Research Support Office of the same hospital. Dr Kato’s primary focus lies in chemotherapy and chemoradiotherapy for esophageal, esophagogastric and gastric cancers. He has been an active contributor to the Japan Esophageal Oncology Group of the JCOG, which is Japan’s leading clinical trial group for cancer.

The group has spearheaded clinical trials aimed at developing new chemotherapy treatments for metastatic diseases and early-stage esophageal cancer in multimodal therapy settings. As a study coordinator, Dr Kato led the JCOG0502 randomized phase III trial, which compared surgery with chemoradiotherapy for clinical stage I esophageal squamous carcinoma, demonstrating the non-inferiority of chemoradiotherapy compared to surgery. Another significant trial, JCOG1109, evaluated neoadjuvant therapy for resectable esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, revealing that triplet chemotherapy improves survival compared to doublet chemotherapy, thereby offering a new perspective on neoadjuvant therapy for esophageal cancer.

In the arena of new drug development, particularly immune checkpoint inhibitors, Dr Kato has played a key role as a steering committee member in several international phase III trials for esophageal cancer, such as ATTRACTION-3, KEYNOTE-590, CheckMate-648, RATIONALE-306, among others.

Furthermore, Dr Kato holds the position of vice-chairperson at the Japan Esophageal Society (JES) and serves as a Director of the International Society for Diseases of the Esophagus (ISDE). His commitment extends to organizing international conferences in Asia and engaging in public relations activities.

Professor van der Graaf became the president of the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) from March 2022. She has been administratively active within the board of the European Organisation for research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) and the Connective Tissue Oncology Society (CTOS) and is the chairman of the Dutch Sarcoma Group.

Professor Kearns was the president of The European Society for Paediatric Oncology (SIOPE) from 2019 to 2021.

Dr Leal is a member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, American Association for Cancer Research, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group, European Society of Medical Oncology, Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer, and International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer. She is the NCI LUNG-MAP Chair, ECOG-ACRIN representative.

Professor Minsky is on the Board of Directors of the American Society of Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) and the American Society for Clinical Oncology (ASCO). He is a Fellow of both societies, is an honorary member of the European Society of Radiation Oncology (ESTRO) and was the 2015 President of ASTRO.

Professor Peeters is the secretary of the Flemish Society of Gastroenterology. He is treasurer of the Belgian Group of Digestive Oncology and member of the Belgian Society of Medical Oncology, The European Society of Medical Oncology, The American Society for Clinical Oncology and the gastrointestinal group of the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer.

Dr Pakkala is a member of American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) and American Society of Hematology (ASH). 

Dr Hutchings has been the Chairman of the EORTC lymphoma group since 2013 and a faculty member for the EHA Clinical Research Training in Haematology programme.

He is a member of the scientific committee for the European Haematology Association National and has been principal investigator or sub-investigator for >25 solid tumour and haematology phase I trials and >20 lymphoma and myeloma phase II and phase III trials. He is the national principal investigator for three mantle cell lymphoma trials (one ongoing and two planned) and three Hodgkin lymphoma trials.

He is the co-author of the international response criteria and guidelines for the use of imaging in lymphoma and the European society of Medical Oncology (ESMO) guidelines for Hodgkin lymphoma and ’ultra high-risk’ lymphomas.

Professor Daniel Kelly has an academic background in the social sciences, nursing and health care. His research interests have focused on the impact and experience of illness – primarily reflecting his clinical and managerial experience in cancer and palliative care – as well as the future potential of nursing and associated NHS workforce issues. He is the fifth holder of the Royal College of Nursing Chair of Nursing Research at Cardiff University (Chair established in 1988). Professor Kelly is currently involved in national and international research projects, and is experienced as a PhD Supervisor and Examiner, including international examining.

From 2013-18 Professor Kelly led the Workforce, Innovation and Improvement Research theme, which is an active and successful theme with several strands of funded research activity. He also reviews for several high impact journals and reviews for a range of funding bodies on a regular basis.

He served as President of the European Oncology Nursing Society (EONS) from 2015–17 and is an elected member of the Board of Directors of the European CanCer Organisation (ECCO).

Lena Sharp is the Head of the Regional Cancer Center, Stockholm, Sweden. She was previously the Chief Nursing Officer and Patient Safety Coordinator at the Department of Oncology, Karolinska University Hospital and has a long experience in cancer nursing, clinical work, leadership, teaching and research. Lena main research focus is Health Care Communication and Patient Safety. Lena has a Ph D from Karolinska Institute. Dr Sharp is President for European Oncology Nurses Society (EONS).

Dr. Mario Mandalà received his medical degree from the Faculty of Medicine, Catholic University of Rome, Italy. He is currently Head of the Melanoma Unit, Division of Oncology at the Papa Giovanni XXIII Hospital in Bergamo, Italy. He was recently appointed Coordinator of the Mucosal and Ocular Melanoma Section of the Italian Rare Cancers Network. From 2011 he has chaired the scientific and organising committees of the Clinical and Translational Research Working Group of the Italian Melanoma Intergroup (IMI). Since 2008, he has given major contributions to ESMO, AIOM and ISTH clinical practice guidelines on the management of venous thromboembolism and solid tumours.

Shaji Kumar, MD, is a consultant in the Division of Hematology at Mayo Clinic, and professor of medicine in the College of Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, US. A significant component of Dr Kumar’s research efforts are directed toward studying novel treatment approaches in myeloma through well-designed clinical trials. He is principal investigator on multiple phase I, II, and III trials for plasma cell malignancies, which include a combination of Mayo investigator-initiated trials, industry-sponsored trials, and cooperative group trials. From a translational research standpoint, his laboratory has focused
on development of new agents for plasma cell malignancies, with a particular focus on the tumor microenvironment.

Dr Kumar receives ongoing support for research from the National Institutes of Health and the National Cancer Institute. He is a member of several professional societies, including the American Society of Hematology, American Society of Clinical Oncology, American Association for Clinical Research, American Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation, American Medical Association, Association of Physicians of India, and the European Hematology Association. His work has appeared in peer-reviewed journals such as Lancet Oncology, Journal of Clinical Oncology, Blood Cancer Journal, Leukemia, American Journal of Hematology, Mayo Clinic Proceedings, Blood, and European Journal of Hematology. He received his medical degree from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India. He completed an internship there, followed by a clinical residency in internal medicine and a senior residency in medical oncology.

Dr Kumar subsequently served a residency in internal medicine and a fellowship in hematology/oncology at Mayo Graduate School of Medicine. He then served as a research associate and Mayo Foundation Scholar in multiple myeloma at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute-Harvard Cancer Center.

Dr Rapoport has presented more than 100 abstracts at South African and international meetings (including ASCO, MASCC and ESMO) and published more than 60 peer reviewed publications with over 2,000 citations. He is a reviewer for numerous scientific medical journals, including Annals of Oncology, Supportive Care in Cancer and Journal of Clinical Oncology.

His fields of interest include cancer supportive care, antiemetics and infections in cancer, breast cancer, solid tumours and new anticancer agents. Dr Rapoport is a member of numerous professional societies, including the South African Society of Medical Oncology (SASMO), the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO), the American Society for Medical Oncology (ASCO) and the Multinational Association for Supportive Care in Cancer (MASCC), Chair of the MASCC Infection and Myelosupression Study Group and a member of the MASCC Antiemetic Guidelines Working Group and the MASCC Skin Toxicity Study Group. He is a member of various South African and international pharmaceutical company Advisory Boards as well as Protocol Steering Committee.

Dr Elias Jabbour graduated from the Saint Joseph’s School of Medicine in 1998 and joined, thereafter, the Hotel Dieu de France University Hospital as a resident. In 2001, he pursued in fellowship in Hematology-Oncology at the Gustave Roussy Institute. In 2003, he joined the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer as a fellow in the Department of Hematology/Leukemia and Stem cell transplantation. Thereafter, in 2007, he joined the faculty in the Leukemia department as Assistant Professor.

Dr Jabbour is actively involved in research in both acute and chronic forms of leukemia. He was actively involved in clinical trials that lead to the approval of several drugs in chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) and myelodysplastic syndromes. His research on resistance to imatinib and mutations of the protein kinase domain were presented in several international; meetings and published in peer-reviewed journals. He is also developing tailored therapies to CML.

Dr Jabbour has taken an active role in the medical community, participating in numerous scientific meetings. He has authored or co-authored numerous publications and abstracts and serves as a reviewer for many scientific journals. In 2005, 2006, and 2007, he received the American Society of Clinical Oncology and the American Society of Hematology merit awards for Outstanding Clinical fellow, in addition to two similar awards from the American Society of Bone Marrow Transplantation. Due to Dr Jabbour’s commitment and hard work he was promoted to Associate
Professor in September 2013.

Maurice Pérol, M.D., was Associate Professor of Pneumology and Head of the Department of Thoracic Oncology at the Croix-Rousse University Hospital in Lyon, France from 1993 until 2011. He joined in 2011 the Medical Oncology Department of Léon Bérard Cancer Center in Lyon, in which he is responsible for Thoracic Oncology.
His fields of scientific work include clinical phase I, II and III studies in lung cancer, especially in advanced non-small cell lung cancer; this work involves being a principal investigator or key investigator in several French or international cooperative studies. Of note, he was the principal investigator of the IFCT-GFPC 0502 maintenance French study which involves more than 70 centers in France and the co-principal investigator of the international REVEL phase III study assessing ramucirumab in second-line treatment of NSCLC.
He is an active member of many scientific societies, including ASCO, IASLC and ESMO, and collaborative groups. He was the Chairman of the Groupe Français de Pneumo-Cancérologie (GFPC) from 1998 to 2002 and Executive Board member of the French Cooperative Group of Thoracic Oncology “Intergroupe Francophone de Cancérologie Thoracique” (IFCT) from 1999 to 2003; he is member of the IFCT Scientific Board since 2003. He is the author or co-author of more than 140 publications in peer-reviewed journals.

Professor Bertrand Tombal is Chairman of the Division of Urology and Professor of Urology at the Université catholique de Louvain (UCL), Cliniques universitaires Saint-Luc, Brussels, Belgium. He is member of the Belgian Royal Academy of Medicine.

He is President of the Board of European Organization for Research and Treatment in Cancer (EORTC), the leading European academic research organization in the field of cancer.

He has both a basic science and a clinical interest in urological oncology, particularly in the field of prostate and bladder cancer. Professor Tombal obtained his MD in 1990 and his PhD in 2003, both from the Université catholique de Louvain. During his PhD, he studied the mechanisms involved in apoptosis of prostate cancer cells and the modulation of apoptosis by growth factors. He completed part of his basic sciences training at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA.

Professor Tombal’s primary clinical interest is the treatment of advanced stages of prostate cancer, and particularly hormonal treatment and development of new biological agents. He is heading the uro-oncology division at the Université catholique de Louvain where he is coordinating several trials in this research area. In addition, Professor Tombal has authored many published papers, books, and book chapters. He has presented at numerous national and international conferences and has been the recipient of various awards for his research in the field of urology, including the European Association of Urology thesis award, which he received in 2003.

Paolo A. Ascierto obtained his medical degree from the University of Naples, Italy, the institution where he subsequently earned his Board Certification in Oncology. He went on to serve consecutive positions at the National Tumor Institute “Fondazione G. Pascale”, in Naples, as a postdoctoral fellow and then as Vice Director of the Department of Clinical Immunology. Professor Ascierto is currently Director of the Unit of Melanoma, Cancer Immunotherapy and Innovative therapy at that same institution. He is an active Scientific Reviewer for several international journals, including, JCO, Lancet Oncology, and Clinical Cancer Research, as well as being the Editor-in-Chief of the Combination Strategies section of the Journal of Translational Medicine and Chief Section Editor of Expert Reviews of Immunology Vaccines and Informatics. As a result of Professor Ascierto’s experience and expertise, he has been a valued invited speaker at more than 350 national and international meetings. Furthermore, he is an active member of the Italian Society of Medical Oncology (AIOM), American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), European Society of Medical Oncology (ESMO), European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) and Society of Immuno Therapy of Cancer (SITC). Professor Ascierto has presided as Principal Investigator on over 50 clinical trials and he is the author of numerous publications in peer-reviewed journals. Such journals include: The New England Journal of Medicine, Lancet Oncology, Journal of Clinical Oncology, and Clinical Cancer Research among others.
Primarily, his major research interests are the genetics and proteomics of melanoma, the assessment of molecular markers for tumour progression in melanoma, management of targeted therapies for melanoma, vaccination treatments and immunotherapy of cancer, biochemical and immunological monitoring, and combination approaches for the cancer treatment.

John Marshall, MD, is a global leader in the research and development of drugs for colon cancer and other GI cancers. He is the principal investigator of over 150 clinical trials, at the local as well as national levels. Dr Marshall is the clinical director of oncology for Georgetown University Hospital, associate director for clinical care of the Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, and chief of the Division of Hematology-Oncology. He is widely published in the field of clinical oncology, reviews manuscripts for eight journals, and holds peer-reviewed grants from the National Institutes of Health.

In 2009, Dr Marshall became the founding director of the Otto J Ruesch Center for the Cure of Gastrointestinal Cancer. Combining expertise in molecular medicine, translational research, and a patient-centered philosophy, the Ruesch Center is dedicated to realizing the dream of individualized curative therapies through research, care and advocacy.

Dr Marshall’s own research focuses on the development of a novel vaccine for the treatment of advanced colon cancer. For over a decade, he has directed Lombardi’s Developmental Therapeutics Program while also maintaining his regular clinical practice. Seeing about 60 patients each week, Dr. Marshall specializes in cancers of the GI tract at all stages of the disease.

Dr Awada has published more than 27 book chapters, and more than 45 peer-review papers in international journals. His research focusses on new active anticancer drugs for solid tumours (new cytotoxics and molecular targeted therapies), and to individualize the treatments according to the tumour characteristics.

Dr Awada is a member of several EORTC groups including EORTC Head & Neck Cancer Cooperative Group. He is a member of the ESMO Educational Steering Committee for Developmental therapeutics.

Dr Wozniak has authored over 40 articles in peer-reviewed journals, 15 book chapters, and serves as reviewer for numerous journals, including the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Cancer, and the Journal of Clinical Oncology. Her primary research interests are the development of novel chemotherapy compounds and combinations on lung cancer and overseeing clinical trials.

She is a member of several ASCO committees and has won numerous awards including the Outstanding Teaching Award four times.

Dr Vaishampayan has been providing patient care on staff at Karmanos since 2000. Her experience extends to research, as well as being a member of the editorial board for multiple oncology journals.

Her research related to clinical trials in prostate, kidney and bladder cancers, overcoming resistance to current therapies and exploring novel treatments and combinations in prostate cancer, as well as development of prognostic and predictive markers in kidney cancer

Andrew I. Schafer received his M.D. from the University of Pennsylvania, completed his internal medicine residency at the University of Chicago, and his fellowship in hematology at the Brigham and Women’s (formerly Peter Bent Brigham) Hospital. He remained at the Brigham and rose to the rank of Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School before moving to Houston in 1989 to become Chief of Medicine of the Houston VA Medical Center and the W.A. and Deborah Moncrief, Jr. Chair of Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, where he was subsequently appointed The Bob and Vivian Smith Professor and Chairman of the Department of Medicine at Baylor as well as Chief of Medicine at The Methodist Hospital. In 2002 he returned to his medical school alma mater as the Frank Wister Thomas Professor and Chairman of the Department of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. From 2007-2013 he was the E. Hugh Luckey Distinguished Professor and Chairman of the Department of Medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College and Physician-in-Chief of the New York Presbyterian Hospital-Weill Cornell Medical Center. Dr. Schafer was appointed to his current position as Director of the Richard T. Silver Center for Myeloproliferative Neoplasms (MPNs) at Weill Cornell Medical College in August 2013.

Dr. Schafer is the author of over 220 original articles and the editor of 9 textbooks in the field of myeloproliferative neoplasms, hemostasis, thrombosis, hematology, and internal medicine. He has been Co-Editor (with Lee Goldman) of the Cecil Textbook of Medicine since the 24^th edition. His clinical expertise is in the area of hematology, coagulation, thrombosis, and the myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs), and he has been clinically active in both outpatient and inpatient care on a continuous basis since his training.  He continues to be an active investigator, currently studying the role of different blood cells and plasma proteins in the cerebral microcirculation of transgenic mice with MPNs, using novel imaging methodologies.  He was the principal investigator of NIH grants for 30 consecutive years, and served on the Board of Extramural Advisors of the NHLBI and on the NIH Director’s Physician-Scientist Workforce committee (2013-14). Dr. Schafer is a Master of the American College of Physicians, and he has been elected to membership in the American Society for Clinical Investigation (for which he served as Secretary-Treasurer), the Association of American Physicians, Fellowship in the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and membership in the Institute of Medicine (IOM), now the National Academy of Medicine.  Dr. Schafer was elected the 2007 President of the American Society of Hematology (ASH), he was elected President of the Association of Professors for Medicine, 2010-2011, from which he also received the Robert H. Williams, M.D. Distinguished Leadership Award in 2012, and he was elected President of the American Clinical and Climatological Association for 2016-2017. Dr. Schafer was the founding editor-in-chief The Hematologist, a publication of ASH. In addition to serving as Chair of the Scientific Advisory Board of the MPN Research Foundation, he is currently Chair of the Scientific Advisory Council of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.

Dr Mutch is a specialist in gynecologic cancer, including ovarian and cervical cancer. He has published multiple articles in peer reviewed journals, and serves the editorial boards of Gynecologic Oncology, Journal of the Society for Gynecologic Investigation, and Obstetrics and Gynecology.

He is a member of AOA and is a past president of the Society of Gynecologic Oncology. Dr Mutch serves as the Chair of the Barnes Jewish Hospital Cancer committee and is the leader of the Gyn Focus group for the Siteman Cancer Center.

Dr Morris specializes in treating men with prostate cancer, particularly those who have metastatic disease or who are at high risk of developing metastatic disease. He has published many peer reviewed articles and been an invited speaker at numerous international meetings.

Dr Lopez is part of a multidisciplinary research effort in gastrointestinal oncology and has published in journals including Investigational New Drugs, Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, Cancer Research, Journal of Biological Chemistry, Molecular and Cellular Biology, Science, and Nature.

He is Chairman of the Tumor Biology Scientific Program and Educational Program Committees of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) and an appointed member of the Basic Mechanisms of Cancer Therapeutics Study Section at the National Cancer Institute (NCI). He is the Hematology-Oncology Fellowship Program Director at OHSU.

Prof Edelman is the author of over 200 articles, abstracts, and book chapters. He is a world-renowned expert in thoracic cancer, and developed one of the most commonly used regimens for treating advanced lung cancer and has focused on the development of biomarkers to personalize lung cancer therapy.

He serves on the Lung Cancer committee of the Cancer and Leukemia Group B (CALGB) / Alliance National Cancer Institute-sponsored Clinical Research Group; as the Medical Oncology co-chair for the Lung Cancer Committee of the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG); as a leader of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC); and as a Faculty Member of the European Society of Medical Oncology where he is assisting in the drafting of international guidelines for the clinical treatment of lung cancer.

Dr Cohen has authored more than 120 peer reviewed papers, Editor-in-Chief of Oral Oncology, and an invited speaker at many national and international meetings.

Dr Cohen is Head of the Solid Tumor Therapeutics program at Moores Cancer Center. His research is focused on squamous cell carcinomas and cancers of the thyroid, salivary gland, and HPV-related oropharyngeal cancers. He is especially interested in developing novel therapies and understanding mechanisms of sensitivity or resistance, cancer screening, and using medication and other agents to delay or prevent cancer (chemoprevention).

He has been the principal investigator of multiple clinical trials of new drugs in all phases of development and was recently appointed chair of the National Cancer Institute Head and Neck Cancer Steering Committee, which oversees NCI-funded clinical research in this disease.

Dr Bekaii-Saab’s research interests include experimental therapeutics/translational research focused on molecularly-targeted and immune-mediated therapies in gastrointestinal (GI) cancers, and more specifically pancreas and biliary cancers. He is the principal investigator on numerous clinical trials, including studies supported through research grants from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN).

Prof Bahou has published over 70 articles in peer reviewed journals and has presented at many international meetings. His research group is interested in genetic disorders of bleeding and thrombosis, focusing on blood platelets as the tools to understand the molecular basis of these disorders in humans.

Andreopoulou has published over 30 review and editorials in international journals and several book chapters. Her research interests include metastatic and locally advanced breast cancer, early drug development/phase I clinical trials, pharmacogenomic predictors and presurgical/neoadjuvant treatment.

Prof. Foà is the author of 350 articles in international journals. He is Co-Editor of Leukemia and Lymphoma, Associate Editor of the British Journal of Haematology (2002) and of The Hematology Journal (2008).

Prof. Foà has many society affiliations including: President of EHA (2009‐2011); Chairman of the Scientific Committee of the 4th EHA Congress, Barcelona (1999); Councillor of EHA (2002); Member of the Education Committee of EHA (2005); and Member of the National Committee for Health Research for the Ministry of Health (Italy).

Prof. Dominici has author 80+ peer reviewed publications and is an Editorial Board member of American Journal of Cancer Research and Word of the Journal of Stem Cells.

Prof. Dominici is President of the International Society for Cellular Therapy (ISCT). He is also a member of the Mesenchymal & Tissue Stem Cells Committee and was the ISCT Treasurer in 2009. In the 2009 he co-founded the forum of Italian Researchers on Mesenchymal Stromal Cells (FIRST).

Dr Aapro coordinates the Sharing Progress in Cancer Care (SPCC) program of the European School of Oncology (ESO) and serves the International Society for Geriatric Oncology (SIOG) as an Executive Board member. He has been a member of the board of the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) and of the European Society of Medical Oncology (ESMO). He is Past President of the Multinational Association for Supportive Care in Cancer (MASCC), and is now on its Board of Directors for 2012 to 2014.

Dr Aapro is Editor-in-Chief of Critical Reviews in Oncology/Hematology, Associate Editor for the geriatric section of the Oncologist, and is Founding Editor of the Journal of Geriatric Oncology, and was Associate Editor for Annals of Oncology. He has authored more than 250 publications and his major interests are new drug development, breast cancer, supportive care, and cancer in the elderly.

Dr Aapro received the 2012 ASCO BJ Kennedy prize.