Soren M. Bentzen Ph.D., D.M.Sc., University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, US.
Dr Bentzen received an MSc in physics and mathematics (1981), a PhD in medical image analysis (1986), and a DMSc (doctor of medical science) in quantitative clinical radiobiology (1994), all from Aarhus University, Denmark. He has published >370 original papers and book chapters, and has presented >300 invited lectures. He currently serves on 10 international cancer journal editorial boards. His research has been recognized by 24 awards and honors, including the ESTRO Breuer Gold Medal (2003), the MD Anderson Distinguished Alumnus Award (2008), and Honorary Life Memberships of the Association of Radiation Oncologists of India (2008) and the Belgian Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology (2009). He held an Honorary Professorship at University College London (2000-2005) and was a Visiting Statistician to the Medical Research Council Clinical Trials Office, London, UK (1998-2004).
Dr Bentzen is currently member of the Previously-untreated Locally Advanced Disease Task Force of the Head and Neck Cancer Steering Committee of the National Cancer Institute (NCI); founding member of the Steering Committee of the International Radiogenomics Consortium; member of the UICC Global Task Force on Radiotherapy for Cancer Control; member of the Board of Directors of the International Commission on Radiation Units; member of the Steering Committee of PENTEC (PEdiatric Normal Tissue Effects in the Clinic) group. He was one of the leaders of the QUANTEC (Quantitative Analyses of Normal Tissue Effects in the Clinic) initiative (2007-2010) and member of the ASTRO Task Force to develop an evidence-based guideline on the appropriate fractionation for whole breast irradiation (2009-2010). He is co-chair for Translational Research for two open RTOG phase III trials.
His main research interests include bioeffect modeling; biomathematics; applied biostatistics; clinical trial design; evidence-based medicine; late effects of radiotherapy; clinical radiobiology; integration of data from genomics, proteomics, and molecular imaging into novel therapeutic strategies.
Philippe Lambin, PhD, University of Maastricht, Netherlands.
Philippe Lambin is a Clinician, Radiation Oncologist and pioneer in translational research with a focus on hypoxia and Decision Support Systems. He has a PhD in Radiation Biology and is Professor at the University of Maastricht (Radiation Oncology) and at the University of Eindhoven (“Functional Imaging”). He is a “ERC advanced grant laureate” from 2016 and he is co-author of more than 387 peer reviewed scientific papers (Hirsch Index: 62), co-inventor of more than 18 patents (filed or submitted) of which 5 are in the (pre)commercialization phase and (co) promoter of more than 35 completed PhD’s (2 with cum laude).
Prof. P. Lambin is currently involved in several successful European grants (e.g. CDPT, Biocare, Euroxy, Metoxia, euroCAT, Eureca, Artforce, Radiate, Requite, BD2decide…) and two NIH grant from the US (“Radiomics”). His main areas of interest are directed towards translational research in Radiation Biology with a specific focus on tumour hypoxia, functional imaging (CT-PET), lung and head and neck cancer. More recently his interests have been directed towards the development of a “treatment decision support system” based on multiparametric databases containing clinical, imaging, biological and therapeutic information, and taking into account patient preferences (visit one of the websites he is managing: www.predictcancer.org). He is one of the inventors of “Radiomics” (watch the animation: http://youtu.be/Tq980GEVP0Y ) and “Distributed learning” a revolutionary Big Data approach in health care (http://youtu.be/ZDJFOxpwqEA).
Andre Dekker, PhD, University of Maastricht, Netherlands.
Prof. Andre Dekker is a board-certified medical physicist at MAASTRO Clinic, Maastricht, The Netherlands, since 2005. He has been the head of Medical Physics until 2009 and then led for numerous years the department of Information and Services that manages medical informatics and ICT. He is now responsible for all Research and Education activities at the hospital. He was appointed as a full professor at Maastricht University in 2015 where he holds the chair “Clinical Data Science”
Since 2008, he is the principal investigator of the GROW-Maastricht University research division of MAASTRO Knowledge Engineering. His research focuses on two main themes: 1) global data sharing infrastructures; 2) machine learning on this data for decision support systems. The main scientific breakthrough has been the development of a Semantic Web and ontology-based data sharing and distributed learning infrastructure that does not require data to leave the hospital. This has reduced many of the ethical and other barriers to share data.
Prof. Dekker has authored over 90 publications (h-index 37) in peer-reviewed journals covering informatics, imaging, radiotherapy, tissue optics and heart disease and holds multiple awarded patents. He has held visiting scientist appointments at the Christie Hospital NHS trust; University of Sydney Australia; Liverpool and Macarthur Cancer therapy centres Australia; Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District Australia; Universita Cattolica Del Sacro Cuore, Italy; Radiation Therapy Oncology Group, USA, Varian Medical Systems, USA and the Princess Margaret Hospital in Canada.
Frank A. Giordano, MD. Heidelberg University, Germany.
Dr Giordano is a Research Group leader in Translational Radiation Oncology and a Physician Scientist at the Department of Radiation Oncology of the Heidelberg University.
He received his Doctor of Medicine from the Heidelberg University, Germany, in 2007, and completed his MD thesis (magna cum laude) at the German Cancer Research Center in 2008, and his USMLE, Step 3, in 2009, in New York. Dr Giordano is a recipient of the ASTRO Translational Science Abstract Award (2015).
His pre-clinical and clinical studies focus on primary and secondary brain tumors (high-grade glioma/glioblastoma) ; he is a lead investigator in 4 mono- and multicenter trials working on brain-directed radiotherapy and hippocampal-sparing radiotherapy.
Heath D. Skinner, MD, PhD, University of Texas, US.
Dr Heath Skinner received his medical degree and doctorate from West Virginia University. He is currently as Assistant Professor at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Dr Skinner’s research is focused on the intersection between bench work and clinical practice, specifically identifying targetable biomarkers of radioresistance and translating these findings into clinical use. He has won 5 peer-reviewed research grants, including an NIH and CPRIT IIRA grant as a Principal Investigator. His clinical and scientific research has resulted in over 60 peer-reviewed publications. An outgrowth of work done in his laboratory and elsewhere has led to both a single institution NIH-funded trial (NCT02285855; PI H. Skinner) as well as a multi-institutional, randomized trial (NRG LU-001; Co-PIs H. Skinner and T. Tsakiridis) for patients with non-small cell lung cancer. His work has been recognized by several honors and awards over his career, including the Scholar-in-Training Award from the AACR, the Merit Award from ASCO, The Lupe C. Garcia Fellowship in Cancer Research and The Thomas H. and Mayme P. Scott Fellowship in Cancer Research, both from MD Anderson. Dr Skinner is also highly committed to the education of the next generation of physician scientists. He has authored 6 clinical book chapters, presented lectures for medical students and fellows, and lead an ASCO course in Radiation Oncology. He is or has been an active member of 11 professional societies, serves as a reviewer for 10 basic and clinical journals, and has presented his work at almost 20 different scientific conferences.
Michael Lim, MD. Johns Hopkins University, US
Dr Michael Lim is an Associate Professor of Neurosurgery, Oncology and Radiation Oncology at Johns Hopkins. Dr Lim’s surgical interest is in both benign and malignant brain tumors, with a particular interest in gliomas (including ependymoma), meningioma, pituitary tumors and skull base tumors. He has extensive experience in new and innovative neurosurgical techniques including image guided surgery, microsurgery, minimally invasive procedures and endoscopic surgery.
Dr Lim is the Director of the Brain Tumor Immunotherapy Program at Johns Hopkins. Dr Lim’s primary research interest is developing immune-based therapies against brain tumors. Dr Lim’s Immunotherapy program is nationally recognized. His research laboratory is focused on understanding the mechanisms of immune evasion by primary brain tumors. Findings from his laboratory are directed towards translation to novel therapies against brain tumors. In addition to running a laboratory, he also directs the immunotherapy clinical trials program at Johns Hopkins. He currently serves as the principal investigator of several large brain tumor immunotherapy clinical trials based on findings from his laboratory.
Renate Parry, PhD. Varian Medical Systems, US
Dr Renate Parry is Director of Translational Medicine at Varian Medical Systems, Palo Alto, CA. She leads a multidisciplinary team focused on exploiting new developments in biology and physics to enhance the therapeutic benefits of radiation therapy. Her interests include radiogenomics, drug-radiation combination therapies, and radio-immunotherapy. She also leads external collaborative programs in these fields with major medical centres in the US and Europe.
She began her professional career at Schering’s headquarter in Berlin, Germany, where she was responsible for developing novel imaging agents. Prior to joining Varian she worked at Schering’s US subsidiary in California, where she was successful in developing drug-conjugated antibodies for novel targets expressed on solid tumors. These antibodies have been advanced into clinical trials, including one that has successfully completed Phase 2 clinical trials in mesothelioma and ovarian cancer.
She obtained her PhD in Biology at the Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz in Germany.
Stanley K Liu, PhD, MD, FRCPC, University of Toronto
Dr Stanley Liu is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Radiation Oncology and Department of Medical Biophysics at the University of Toronto. He is also a scientist and a Radiation Oncologist at the Sunnybrook – Odette Cancer Centre where he treats genitourinary cancers. He obtained his PhD, MD and specialist certification in Radiation Oncology from the University of Toronto and completed post-doctoral fellowship training at the Gray Institute in the University of Oxford, UK.
The aim of Dr Liu’s research program is to improve treatment outcomes for cancer patients by uncovering the mechanisms of tumour radiation resistance. To address this, his team is researching the contribution of microRNA in radiation resistance and cancer aggression, and leveraging targeted agents to overcome this problem. Additionally, they are investigating the use of microRNA as non-invasive predictive biomarkers for treatment response. Together, they seek to improve our understanding of the underlying biology of radiotherapy resistance, while providing direct translational benefits for patients.
Raymond M. Reilly, PhD, University of Toronto
Dr Raymond Reilly is a Professor at the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy at the University of Toronto and the inaugural Director of the Centre for Pharmaceutical Oncology (CPO), a new research centre which focuses on the discovery, preclinical development and clinical translation of novel diagnostics and therapeutics for cancer. Dr Reilly has published 144 full papers, 124 abstracts, 6 book chapters, 1 book, and has given more than 70 invited presentations. Dr Reilly’s research is supported by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Canadian Cancer Society Research Institute (CCSRI), Ontario Institute for Cancer Research (OICR) and the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation (CBCF). Dr Reilly is a leading expert on the use of Auger electron-emitting radionuclides for cancer treatment. In addition, he has made important contributions to molecular imaging (MI) of cancer using radiolabeled monoclonal antibodies and peptides. A unique signature of Dr Reilly’s research has been the advancement of novel MI and radiotherapeutic agents from discovery through preclinical evaluation to first-in-humans Phase I/II clinical trials.
Michael Weinfeld, PhD, University of Alberta
Michael Weinfeld received his B.A. degree in Chemistry from Oxford University in 1978 and his Ph.D. from the University of London in 1982. After postdoctoral research at the Chalk River Nuclear Laboratories, Ontario, and the Cross Cancer Institute, Edmonton, Alberta, he joined the Department of Oncology in the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry at the University of Alberta and Cross Cancer Institute in 1989. His research interests include DNA damage and repair, tumour hypoxia, low-dose radiation response, and arsenic carcinogenesis. He currently heads the Alberta DNA Repair Consortium, which has a major program to design small molecule inhibitors of DNA repair enzymes and their application to cancer therapy.
Michael Hendzel, PhD. University of Alberta
Dr Hendzel is Professor in Experimental Oncology at the Department of Oncology, University of Alberta, and a Researcher at the Cross Cancer Institute. He received his PhD from the University of Manitoba.
His laboratory is interested in the chromatin and nonchromatin structures of the cell nucleus, their dynamics, and their relationship to the major functions executed by the cell nucleus (transcription, mRNA processing, DNA replication, DNA repair). To study these processes, Dr Hendzel’s team employs a range of microscopy, biochemistry, and molecular biology techniques. The additional research projects in the laboratory pertain to the contribution of chromatin remodeling proteins with chromatin at sites of DNA double-strand breaks. Dr Hendzel is particularly interested in the Polycomb repressive complex 1, which is a histone H2A E3 ubiquitin ligase and participates in both developmental gene silencing and DNA double-strand break repair. Evidence currently supports the hypothesis that the high expression of this complex in stem cells and cancer stem cells increases the resistance of cancer stem cells to DNA damage-inducing therapies.
Theodoros Tsakiridis, PhD, MD, FRCPC, McMaster University
Dr Tsakiridis is a Radiation Oncologist and Scientist at the Juravinski Cancer Center in Hamilton, Ontario. He treats genitourinary and lung cancer and specialises in modern stereotactic radiotherapy and radiosurgery using robotic cyberknife and modern linear accelerator therapies. Dr Tsakiridis’ research includes basic science laboratory work, translational and clinical radiotherapy studies. His laboratory work aims to identify molecular pathways of oncogenes and tumour suppressor genes involved in radiation responses of cancer cells and preclinical radiation sensitizing therapies for lung and prostate cancer. His clinical research includes tumour and serum biomarkers of radiation response, clinical studies of radiosensitizers and development of stereotactic radiotherapy techniques.
David Palma, MD, PhD. Western University.
Dr Palma is a Clinician-Scientist II at the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research (OICR) and a Radiation Oncologist at the London Regional Cancer Program (LRCP). He is also Assistant Professor at the Western University, Ontario.
Dr Palma’s research focuses on new imaging technologies used with radiotherapy to improve tumour targeting and deliver higher doses of radiotherapy than previously possible, and new imaging methods that can better assess response after treatment. Dr Palma’s work also focuses on empowering patients to seek out high-quality cancer care.
Dr Palma is involved in several cutting-edge clinical trial. He co-leads theSABR-COMET randomized trial assessing the role of stereotactic radiotherapy in oligometastatic disease, and the ORATOR trial, comparing transoral robotic surgery vs. precision radiation for cancers of the tonsil and base of the tongue. Dr Palma also chairs the Canadian Pulmonary Radiotherapy Investigators Group, which runs radiation-related lung cancer clinical trials and includes the central collection of all imaging studies.
Francis Rodier, PhD, University of Montreal
Dr Rodier is an associate professor at the Departments of Radiology, Radio-Oncology and Nuclear Medicine, Université de Montréal, and a scientist at the CRCHUM and Institut du cancer de Montréal. He obtained his PhD in Molecular Biology from the Université de Montréal and completed his post-doctoral studies at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, University of Berkeley, and Buck Institute for Age research, California.
Dr Rodier’s laboratory focuses its research on identifying cellular and tissue mediators of the mammalian DNA damage response. This important biological phenomenon is involved in human ageing, cancer development, and influences the outcome of cancer therapy. Dr Rodier aims to understand how the DNA damage response is terminated following DNA lesion repair, and how cancer cells can often tolerate persistent DNA damage signalling that occurs when DNA lesions are irreparable. To achieve these goals, his team combines cell culture and animal/human models with cutting edge scientific tools. In collaboration with clinicians, Dr Rodier’s team is also working to develop new molecular diagnostic tools for cancer stratification and to identify cellular targets to sensitize cancer cells to chemotherapy or radiotherapy.
Tamim Niazi, MDCM. McGill University
Dr Tamim Niazi received his Doctor of Medicine and Master of Surgery (MDCN) designation from McGill University in 2001. He did his internship and residency at the McGill University Health Centre. In 2006-2007, he was the Astra Zeneca Clinical Trials Fellow with the National Cancer Institute of Canada Clinical Trials Group (NCIC-CTG).
He is currently an Assistant Professor of the Department of Oncology at McGill. His clinical expertise makes him a sought-after lecturer on both academic and medical front. His specialities include GU malignancies (prostate, bladder, testicle etc.), GI malignancies (stomach, pancreas, rectum, anal canal), and gynecological malignancies.
Dr Niazi’s research interests include 3-D conformal radiotherapy (3D-CRT), intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT), total body irradiation (TBI), total skin electron irradiation (TSEI),
high dose rate (HDR) brachytherapy (Intraluminal: gynecological, rectal, oesophageal, and bronchial malignancies; Interstitial: breast, prostate, gynecological, head and neck malignancies), stereotactic radiosurgery, and image-guided radiotherapy (IGRT).
Alain Nepveu, PhD. McGill University
Dr Nepveu is Professor in the departments of Oncology, Biochemistry and Medicine at McGill University, and his laboratory is situated in the Goodman Cancer Research Center. He holds an M.Sc. from the Université de Montréal, a Ph.D. from Université de Sherbrooke and did postdoctoral studies at the State University of New York at Stony Brook.
Dr Nepveu’s group investigates how alterations in DNA repair and DNA damage responses contribute to the initiation and progression of cancer, how certain cancer cells become dependent on base excision repair, and how efficient DNA repair mechanisms can enable cancer cells to resist radiotherapy and chemotherapy. One goal is to identify “druggable” biochemical activities that are essential to cancer cells but dispensable to normal cells, in order to develop novel therapeutics that will sensitize cancer cells to treatments while causing no or minimal adverse effects.