12th Annual Symposium on Global Cancer Research (Speaker Bios)

Dr. Anna Beltrame earned her MD from the University of Udine, Italy, and completed both her residency and fellowship in Infectious Diseases at the University of Brescia, Italy, where she also obtained a PhD in Clinical Trial Methodology. She later earned an MSPH (Epidemiology) from the University of South Florida. Dr. Beltrame’s research experience spans Europe, Africa, and Brazil, where she has contributed to numerous national and international observational studies. Her work focused on HIV and other sexually transmitted infections, tropical neglected and vector-borne diseases, and COVID-19. She is currently an Applied Research Scientist in the Department of Cancer Epidemiology at Moffitt Cancer Center, where her research focuses on advancing knowledge of HPV epidemiology in people living with HIV. She is also actively involved in several clinical trials evaluating the efficacy and safety of HPV vaccines for the prevention of HPV persistence, an obligate precursor to cancer.

Dr. Eduardo Cazap, MD, PhD, FASCO is an Argentine medical oncologist, founder and inaugural president of the Latin American & Caribbean Society of Medical Oncology (SLACOM), and past president of the International Union against Cancer (UICC). He is also an Emeritus Professor at the Latin-American School of Oncology and served as an ambassador for UICC at various summits and world congresses.

Dr. Cazap has authored over 200 scientific publications and served as the president of the UICC World Cancer Congress in 2012. He received the Distinguished Achievement Award from the Conquer Cancer Foundation (USA) in 2013 and was honored as a Fellow of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (FASCO). In 2018, he was awarded the Harvard Distinguished Leader Award by Harvard Medical School.

He was chair of the Global Track—Annual Meeting Education Committee at ASCO and a founding member of the National Cancer Institute of Argentina. Additionally, he is a Global Patron of Ecancer Medical Science (UK) and an editorial board member of approximately 20 international peer-reviewed cancer journals.

As a vocal advocate for “Global Cancer Control,” Dr. Cazap collaborates with leading international cancer organizations such as WHO, PAHO, UICC, IARC, NCI-US, ASCO, ESMO, AACR, AORTIC, IAEA-PACT, Harvard Global Health Catalyst, and Win-Win, among others.

With extensive national and international experience, Dr. Cazap is a regular keynote speaker, chair, or moderator at major global cancer and health conferences. He also actively participates in organizing prominent international events, contributing to the advancement of cancer control worldwide.

Margarita Correa-Méndez is a Program Director at the Center for Global Health in the Research and Training Branch where she manages grants in implementation science for cancer control and tobacco use and HIV in Low- and Middle-Income Countries. She also supports initiatives to advance research collaborations in these areas. Margarita is originally from Colombia, where she received her training in biology at Universidad de Los Andes. She then earned her PhD from University of Maryland Baltimore County and an MPH from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Dr. DeMoulin is a Psychiatric Epidemiologist by training and received his PhD in Environmental Health with a minor in Epidemiology at the University of Minnesota. His dissertation titled “Moral Injury: A Statewide Assessment on the Burden, Risk, and Protective Factors among Minnesota Firefighters” focused on developing a moral injury scale specifically for firefighters and assess the potential risk and protective factors of moral injury and dedicates his career improving the health and well-being of first responders in collaboration with the First Responders Resilience Network. Dr. DeMoulin is currently a 3rd year postdoctoral fellow at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) in the Molecular and Genetic Epidemiology of Cancer program and has been involved in large population-based cohorts from the Shanghai Men's Health Study, Southern Community Cohort Study, and the Cohort to Augment the Understanding of Sarcoma Survivorship Across the Lifespan. Additionally, Dr. DeMoulin collaborates with researchers at the University of Zambia where he validated a posttraumatic stress disorder scale among women recently diagnosed with cervical cancer and furthers seeks to understand the mental health impact, stigma, and barriers to treatment in this cohort.

Laura Esfeller, M.A., is a kidney cancer survivor, caregiver, and patient advocate. Diagnosed at age 29 with stage IV papillary renal cell carcinoma, she enrolled in the landmark S1500 PAPMET clinical trial and experienced a complete response to cabozantinib. Her lived experience fuels her work across research, education, and policy to advance the patient voice in kidney cancer.

Laura serves on multiple boards and advisory groups, including the Chromophobe and Oncocytic Tumor Alliance and the Judy Nicholson Kidney Cancer Foundation (JNF). She is the host of JNF’s podcast Real Talk on Renal Cancer and actively contributes to national and global initiatives through the SWOG Cancer Research Network Genitourinary Committee, NCI’s Annual Symposium on Global Cancer Research Steering Committee, and the US Department of Defense’s Kidney Cancer Research Program.

In addition to being a survivor, Laura was also a caregiver to her mother, who passed away from kidney cancer and B-cell lymphoma. She brings this dual perspective to advocacy and has served as a panelist, reviewer, or collaborator with organizations including ASCO, KidneyCAN, Kidney Cancer Association, HLRCC Foundation, and KCCure. Laura also lends her expertise to pharmaceutical partners, including Exelixis, Eisai, and Telix.

Professionally, Laura is the Director of Marketing for Morongo Casino Resort & Spa. She holds a B.A. in Mass Communication from Louisiana State University and an M.A. in Strategic Communications from National University. Originally from Gonzales, Louisiana, she now lives in Rancho Cucamonga, California, and shares her journey on her blog singlewhitekidney.wordpress.com.

João Paulo Farezin Fortti is a sixth-year medical student at the Federal University of Health Sciences of Porto Alegre (UFCSPA), expected to graduate in 2025.

He was a scientific initiation fellow funded by CNPq and PAHO/WHO, contributing to a multicenter clinical research project on the rapid diagnosis of opportunistic infections—such as tuberculosis, histoplasmosis, and cryptococcosis—in people living with advanced HIV disease. He also participated in research on congenital genetic disorders and has presented multiple works at national scientific congresses.

João Paulo currently trains at Santa Casa de Misericórdia de Porto Alegre, one of the largest and most traditional hospital complexes in southern Brazil, known for its excellence in teaching, research, and high-complexity care. His clinical experience includes rotations and extracurricular internships in general surgery, plastic surgery, and cardiology, with additional placements at the Institute of Cardiology of Rio Grande do Sul and the HPS (Hospital de Pronto Socorro) of Porto Alegre.

Throughout medical school, he has also served as a teaching assistant in Operative Technique and Physical Diagnosis. He completed an academic English program at Kaplan International in New York City and has been actively involved in academic leagues in plastic surgery and orthopedics. His primary interests lie in clinical and surgical practice, with strong engagement in applied research, evidence-based medicine, and the development of diagnostic strategies for vulnerable populations.

Satish Gopal, M.D., M.P.H. was appointed Director of the Center for Global Health (CGH) at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) in 2020. In this role, he oversees the development of initiatives and collaborations with other NCI and NIH partners, NCI-designated cancer centers, and other governmental and non-governmental organizations to support cancer research, promote science-based cancer control, and build research capacity in low- and middle-income countries. In addition, he serves as s an adjunct intramural investigator at the NCI, where he continues his clinical and translational research related to lymphoid malignancies in Africa. Before coming to NCI, Dr. Gopal was the Cancer Program Director for the University of North Carolina collaboration with the Malawi Ministry of Health.

Dr. Gopal earned his medical degree from the Duke University School of Medicine in 2001. He completed training in internal medicine and pediatrics at the University of Michigan, lived and worked in Tanzania from 2007 to 2009, then returned to the United States to pursue medical oncology and infectious disease training at the University of North Carolina. He primarily lived and worked with his family in Malawi from 2012 to 2020 before being recruited to the NCI, when he was the only medical oncologist in the country and treated public sector cancer patients at the national teaching hospital alongside Malawian colleagues. He returned frequently to provide clinical service in the North Carolina Cancer Hospital.

Dr. Franklin Huang is a physician-scientist and medical oncologist who cares for patients with prostate cancer. Huang's lab examines genetic differences between cancer cells and normal tissue, aiming to determine what makes certain tumors more aggressive. His work seeks to understand prostate cancer in African Americans and to develop better treatments. His other areas of study include finding new drug targets for cancer patients with precision medicine (an approach that individualizes treatment by considering factors such as genetics and environment) and global oncology (a field focused on expanding access to cancer prevention and treatment). His research receives support from the National Institutes of Health, the United States Department of Defense, the Prostate Cancer Foundation, the Benioff Initiative for Prostate Cancer Research, the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub San Francisco, and the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. Huang earned his doctorate in genetics from Harvard Medical School and his medical degree from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. He completed a residency in internal medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital and a fellowship in hematology and oncology at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute; both hospitals are Harvard affiliates. He is a co-founder of Global Oncology, a nonprofit working to improve cancer care for underserved patients around the world.

Deborah Jasmine is a final-year medical student at Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore. For her third-year research project, she worked in Tanzania to gain firsthand experience in global health, exploring the challenges and opportunities of conducting research in resource-limited settings.

Dr. Mansour is a board-certified Diagnostic Radiologist with a sub-specialization in Neuroradiology and previously chaired the Department of Diagnostic Radiology at KHCC. Dr. Mansour is the Executive Chairman of the Jordan Breast Cancer Program (2006–present), a Board Member of the Union for International Cancer Control (2024–2026), and a Commissioner for the Lancet Commission on Cancer and Health Systems. Under his leadership, KHCC attained Magnet® recognition from the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) and became an Association for the Accreditation of Human Research Programs (AHAARP) accredited academic institution in 2019. He has published over 100 peer-reviewed articles and co-authored two eBooks in Frontiers in Medicine. He is also the author of Cancer at Zero Distance: When Cells Betray the Body (2025) and Two Years of Solitude (2021). Dr. Mansour earned his MD from Vitebsk Medical Institute in Belarus, Fellowship of the Royal College of Radiologists (FRCR) from the Royal College of Radiologists (UK), Master of Medical Management from Carnegie Mellon University (US), and MSc in International Public Health from Liverpool John Moores University (UK). He is a Certified Physician Executive (CPE) through the American Association for Physician Leadership. In 2024, Dr. Mansour was awarded the Kuwait Prize in recognition of his exceptional contributions to Cancer Care.

Dr. Narh is a Senior Research Fellow, Epidemiologist-Statistician and Oncology-Epidemiologist in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the Fred N. Binka School of Public Health, University of Health and Allied Sciences, Ghana. He is also a visiting scientist at the Environment and Lifestyle Epidemiology (ENV) Branch of the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), Lyon, France. He gained a 14-month cancer etiological research experience at ENV. Dr Narh is also a first cohort trainee of the NIH-NCI D43 training grant for African Investigators and Project Managers. As part of his D43 training, he spent a month at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston with his mentor (Dr Timothy R. Rebbeck). His PhD focused on the statistical modeling of the burden of five major NCDs (Cancer, Cardiovascular disease, chronic respiratory disease, diabetes, and sickle cell disease) among hospitalized patients in Ghana. He is motivated to contribute to efforts aimed at reducing morbidities and mortalities due to noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). His current research interest focuses on cancers, particularly breast, prostate, and cervical cancers. Before joining the MADCaP partnership as a site PI from the University of Health and Allied Sciences (UHAS), he was a member of the IARC’s Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma Prevention Research (ESCCAPE) and African Breast Cancer Disparities in Outcomes (ABC-DO) studies in Africa. Dr Narh coordinates the Oncology Nurse Leadership Program (ONLEP) in Africa, hosted at UHAS and heads the clinical trials unit at his school.

Dr. Zivanov is a General Surgery resident at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, USA. She completed her medical training at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine as well as a Master's of Population Health Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis. During academic year 2024-2025, she completed a Memorial Sloan Kettering Stern Fellowship in Global Oncology, where she worked as a research fellow at Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospitals Complex in Ile-Ife, Osun State, Nigeria. Her research interests include global surgery/oncology, colorectal cancer early diagnosis and outcomes, and bidirectional surgical educational exchange.