“If you’re looking for an easy medical specialty, oncology is definitely not the one for you – but if you thrive on challenge and discovery, there’s no better time to start”
Dr Elene Mariamidze (Todua Clinic, Tbilisi, Georgia) has built a career shaped by diverse mentorship and a dedication to patient-centered oncology. With a research focus on thoracic malignancies, breast cancer and oncofertility, she credits a global network of experts for guiding her professional growth. In this conversation, she reflects on the invaluable lessons learned from esteemed mentors, the future of oncology and offers candid advice for aspiring oncologists starting their career in a challenging yet rewarding specialty.
Q1. Can you tell us about a mentor who has had a significant impact on your career, and the most valuable lesson they have shared with you?
It will be very hard for me to point to only one person in my professional life because so many amazing people have helped me to shape my career. I think it’s important to take notes from all mentors and even people who are not your mentors at the time, but you can learn from them and try to implement their advice or behavior that you find useful. I can think of several brilliant international experts and the habits that they shaped in me. To all these people, and many more, I am eternally grateful.
Prof Matteo Lambertini – his amazing ability to find meaningful collaborations, to never stop searching for the answers, to make you feel appreciated as a young doctor and help you out of the most difficult situations professionally. Prof Solange Peters, Dr Teresa Amaral, Dr Lizza Hendriks – though none were my mentors officially, they showed me how to gracefully implement the equity principles in my daily medical practice and how to be a good boss (both from mentorship and sponsorship position) to their younger colleagues. Prof Alessandra Curioni-Fontecedro taught me how to write an effective and successful motivation letter for a fellowship on a bus ride to the conference venue! She continues to give me life altering advice, even if its on a poster walk or five minutes before her official talk on at a conference (I call it the “Alessandra Way” – the solution finder 101!). Finally, the whole ESMO and ESO faculty and committees, who never cease to amaze me with their humility, grace and dedication to science and apt skills when it comes to even the most complicated scientific matters.
Q2. Looking ahead, what do you anticipate will be the biggest advancements or changes in your field over the next decade?
I think we will try to de-escalate some of the most aggressive treatments and opt for more patient centered care.
Q3. What advice would you offer to those just beginning their journey in your specialty?
I want to be as realistic as possible to avoid delusion in our younger colleagues; the fairytale moment where suddenly everything is better and makes more sense will probably never happen, but you learn, advance and practice by taking baby steps in your career, asking your senior, more experienced colleagues for guidance, work hard and be resilient in your decisions.
If you’re looking for an easy medical specialty, oncology is definitely not the one for you because it’s a specialty with one of the highest burnout rates. But if the mysteries of cancer, hard work and very welcoming global oncology community is something that interests you, now is the best time to start your career in oncology. Most of the programs you need to apply for take several years to get a position, so you need perseverance and to always be on the lookout for new opportunities and new projects. Looking out for new collaborations and constantly updating your knowledge as oncology develops very quickly. It’s a very dynamic but fulfilling profession, if you are up for a challenge!
About Elene Mariamidze
Elene Mariamidze is a medical/clinical oncologist with a research focus on thoracic malignancies, breast cancer and oncofertility. She specializes in solid tumors at the Todua Clinic in Tbilisi, Georgia. She is a member of the ESMO Young Oncologists Committee, ESMO Public Policy Committee, ESO Ambassador and is part of several COST action calls. In 2021, Dr Mariamidze founded the medical association Georgian School of Oncology (GSO) with the aim to promote and equally distribute education to oncology specialists throughout Georgia. She also serves as the president of the Georgian Society of Geriatric Oncology (GSGO). In 2024, Dr Mariamidze was awarded a clinical unit visit fellowship from ICF/ESMO and practiced breast cancer under the guidance of Prof Lambertini in IRCCS AOU San Martino, Genova, Italy. Dr Mariamidze has co-authored research articles in various high-impact international journals (Lancet Oncology, ESMO Open, JTO, JCO) and presented at numerous international conferences. Dr Mariamide has participated and presented in more than 100 events worldwide and has organized more than 12 conferences. Currently, she is working on several projects related to oncofertility, geriatic assessment, international lung cancer guidelines, lung cancer screening, cancer awareness and public policymaking.
Her international guideline portfolio includes: WHO- GBCI (Global breast cancer initiative) 2023, ESMO Non-Oncogene-Addicted Metastatic Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer Living Guidelines, ESMO Oncogene-Addicted Metastatic Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer Living Guidelines, Testing New Anticancer Drugs Prior to Curative Locoregional Therapies: MDICT 2024 Recommendations, Adequate assessment yields appropriate care – The role of geriatric assessment and management in older adults with cancer: A position paper from the ESMO/SIOG Cancer in the Elderly Working Group.
Disclosure: Elene Mariamidze has no financial or non-financial conflicts of interest to declare in relation to this article.
Cite: Dr Elene Mariamidze on world-renowned mentors and resilience: touchONCOLOGY Future Leader 2025. touchONCOLOGY. April 3rd, 2025
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