10th Annual Symposium on Global Cancer Research (Speaker Bios)

I am a medical student from Jordan University of Science and Technology interested in translational cancer research and oncology. I aspire to become a physician-scientist in the field of immuno-oncology where I strive to have the privilege of crafting my research around my patients’ needs. My passion for cancer research was ignited after my first research project on melanoma and immunotherapy, I was fascinated by how two wrongs can in some instances make a right; the first being cancer cells’ inclination to grow abnormally and the second is the immune system abnormally (yet heroically) targeting host tissue.
This simple interest later developed into a deeply rooted curiosity for studying cancer. During this journey, I have been fortunate to contribute to several cancer research projects on immuno-oncology and precision oncology and was awarded two international research honors including the American Association for Cancer Research Global Scholar-In-Training Award and the Society of Hematologic Oncology Young Investigator Award. My current research focus is understanding the genomic and histopathological determinants of response to immune checkpoint inhibitors in solid tumors like melanoma and gastrointestinal malignancies.
Today, I find myself proud of where I am, but most importantly, grateful to all my mentors who were gracious enough to lend me their time, wisdom, and resources to become the best version of myself.

Isobel Bandurek is the Research Capacity Manager at the Global Alliance for Chronic Diseases (GACD). She leads on capacity development and knowledge sharing across GACD's Research Network and training programmes at the cross-section of non-communicable diseases, implementation research, and low-income settings. Isobel is a UK-registered dietitian with a special interest in nutrition-related chronic disease. She was selected for the 2021 European Nutrition Leadership Programme and went on to serve as Junior Faculty for the programme in 2022. From 2018 to 2022, Isobel served as Secretary of the British Dietetic Association London Branch committee. Previously, she worked in research interpretation and synthesis for the World Cancer Research Fund International, with homeless young people at Centrepoint UK, and as a clinical dietitian in the UK's National Health Service. Isobel has an undergraduate degree in biological sciences from the University of Oxford and postgraduate degrees in nutrition and dietetics from King’s College London.

Dr María Teresa Bourlon MD MS ia a Medical Oncologist, Associate Professor,
and Head of the Urologic Oncology Clinic at Instituto Nacional de Ciencias
Médicas y Nutrición Salvador Zubirán. Director of the Genitourinary Cancers
Program for Medical Oncologists at Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.
She was a 2013 ASCO International Development & Education Award (IDEA)
Awardee and 2018 JCO-GO Editorial Fellow Awardee. Her investigator initiated
research and participation on clinical trials has focused on genitourinary cancers.
Doctor Bourlon serves as guidance of medical school junior research fellows,
medical oncology fellows, former oncologists training in the Urologic Oncology
field, and thesis director of MSc and DCs alumni. Maria has been a mentor of the
Women´s Networking Center at ASCO Annual meeting, member of the ASCO
Global Oncology Taskforce and JCO GO Editorial Fellowship Mentor. She is the
Ambassador of the Oncofertility Consortium in Mexico, has served as faculty of
ESMO LATAM, ESO Latin America and ASCO Annual meeting and ASCO GU
Symposium.

Hawa Camara is a current (postdoctoral) Cancer Prevention Fellow at the National Cancer Institute. Prior to joining NCI, she managed health systems strengthening projects in sub-Saharan Africa and the Caribbean including countries such as Cote d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Guinea, Haiti, Kenya, and Nigeria. Dr Camara has worked in diverse settings with senior officials supporting the development of their national strategy for a range of public health issues and health systems domains (i.e., human resources for health, governance and leadership).
During her PhD, she conducted research on the implementation of a cervical cancer HPV-based test-and-treat program in a low-resource setting in the Pacific using qualitative methods, sociology of health, and implementation science. Aside from her PhD, she has led a review tracking the progress against the cervical cancer elimination targets for all three pillars (i.e., vaccination, screening, and treatment) for 35 countries in the Western Pacific. She has (first) authored publications on self-sampling HPV testing and is in the process of publishing additional first-authored manuscripts pertaining to her current PhD research. Hawa holds a PhD from the University of New South Wales (Sydney, Australia), an MPH from George Mason University (Fairfax, VA), and a BSc in Public Health from the University of Maryland (College Park, MD).

Eduardo Cazap MD, PhD, FASCO is an Argentinean medical oncologist, Founder and first President of the Latin American & Caribbean Society of Medical Oncology (SLACOM), Past- President of the International Union against Cancer (UICC) and Emeritus Professor, Latin-American School of Oncology. Ambassador for the UICC at Summit and World Congress. He published over 200 papers, President of the UICC World Cancer Congress in 2012. He received 2013 the Distinguished Achievement Award of the Conquer Cancer Foundation (USA) and was bestowed a Fellow of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (FASCO). 2018 Harvard Distinguished Leader Award; Harvard Medical School. Chair of the Global Track- Annual Meeting Education Committee (ASCO), Founding National Cancer Institute of Argentina member.

Editor-in-Chief, Ecancer Medical Science(UK), Co-Editor, Global Health Section, The Oncologist(USA) and Editorial member of around 20 other International peer-reviewed Cancer Journals. Acting as a promoter of the concept of “ Global Cancer Control “ Dr. Cazap advises, collaborates, or participates with leading cancer international organizations such as OMS, PAHO, UICC, IARC, NCI-US, ASCO,ESMO, AACR, AORTIC,IAEA-PACT, Harvard Global Health Catalyst between others. Eduardo Cazap has a vast in-country and international experience. He is a regular plenary speaker, chair, or moderator at global cancer and health meetings as well as part of organizing major international conferences.

Dr. Chandran is a Public Health Physician, with more than 15 years of progressive experience in clinical medicine, health systems, public health operations, and implementation research. Having previously led national policy response for NCDs in a middle-income country, she currently serves as a Public Health Officer at the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC/WHO). Her current role focuses on developing, implementing, and evaluating affordable and equitable multi-cancer prevention and early detection packages to improve cancer outcomes in different economies. Initially trained as a physician, Dr. Chandran has double Masters in Public Health and Medical Aesthetics/Anti-aging as well as a Doctorate in Public Health (Epidemiology).

Dr. Che-Hong Chen is a molecular biologist and geneticist at Stanford University School of Medicine. Dr. Chen’s research focuses on aldehyde toxicity and the function of the ALDH multi-gene family in humans. His research has led to the discovery of a class of novel enzyme modulators of aldehyde dehydrogenase. These small molecule modulators (Aldas) are potent enzyme activators for the variant East Asian-specific dysfunctional ALDH2 which causes the alcohol flushing syndrome (alcohol intolerance) and affects approximately 540 million people (8% of the world population). Analogs based on a lead compound, Alda-1, is now under clinical development. Using the ALDH2-deficient mouse model in combination with clinical research,
Dr. Chen is currently studying genetic variations, molecular interaction between different ALDH isozymes and the mechanisms underlying the pathology of neurodegenerative diseases associated with aldehyde toxicity in human. Together with Prof. Daria Mochly-Rosen at Stanford University, Dr. Chen established the Stanford-Taiwan ALDH2 Deficiency Research (STAR) consortium (now International ALDH2 STAR Research Consortium) in 2015. In 2017, Dr. Chen founded the Taiwan Alcohol Intolerance Education Society (TAIES), a non-profit educational and advocacy organization, in Taiwan. Dr. Chen also serves as a country director for the Stanford Center for Asian Health Research and Education (CARE) where he leads the promotion of public health education on alcohol intolerance, the awareness of health risks associated with harmful alcohol drinking and prevention of alcohol-related cancer in Taiwan and East Asia. His public health awareness campaign has been highlighted recently by Stanford Medicine with following links:
https://scopeblog.stanford.edu/2023/01/25/cheers-to-no-alcoholday/
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8IUeQlOYI2o&list=PLVKEERwuGN0-EJoXd60Y2cwRuww0ZLEaU&index=1

Mishka Kohli Cira, MPH, is a public health advisor in the Partnerships and Dissemination Branch, Center for Global Health (CGH), at the National Cancer Institute (NCI). Mishka leads and coordinates convening activities in support of CGH goals to advance global cancer research and coordinate NCI’s engagement in global cancer control. Mishka leads CGH’s convening of the Annual Symposium on Global Cancer Research, represents NCI in the International Cancer Control Partnership, and supports CGH’s work to convene communities of practices in cancer control with counterparts in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) to facilitate linkage of researchers to implementers and knowledge exchange around policy implementation. Mishka started her career working in international education at the College Consortium for International Studies, and served as a US Peace Corps Volunteer teaching English as a foreign language in the Slovak Republic. She received her Master of Public Health (MPH) degree from the University of Liverpool, and her Bachelor of Art (BA) degree in Russian Studies from Colgate University.

Joanne D’Silva, Ph.D., M.P.H. joined the National Cancer Institute (NCI) in 2023 as the Branch Director of the Intramural Diversity Workforce Branch in the Center for Cancer Training. In this role, Dr. D'Silva oversees efforts to create a more diverse intramural training community and foster an inclusive training environment at NCI.

Dr. D’Silva has dedicated her career to advancing equity among priority populations. With a passion for mentorship and career development, she has provided training and support for researchers from diverse backgrounds. Her research interests include cancer prevention and control, with an emphasis on community-based approaches to reduce the burden of health disparities.

Prior to joining NCI, Dr. D’Silva was the Director of Health Equity Research at ClearWay Minnesota, where she led a competitive research grants program, designed community-tailored surveillance studies, and conducted culturally-responsive evaluations focused on addressing commercial tobacco-related health disparities.

Dr. D’Silva earned her doctoral degree in Behavioral and Community Health from the University of Maryland School of Public Health. She earned her MPH in Social and Behavioral Sciences and a BS in Psychology from the University of Florida.

I am a medical pathologist, with a doctor degree in biomedical sciences. I'm a Full-time professor in the program of medicine of the University of Tolima, in Colombia South America. Currently I'm one of the researchers of the group of Cytogenetics, phylogeny and evolution of populations in the same university. Also, I’ve tutored the PhD aspirants of biomedical sciences doctorate.

Falade Ayo Samuel MD, MBA is an Internal Medicine resident at Mass General Brigham Salem Hospital. He has been actively engaged in global health research since 2015. His current work focuses on examining inequities that exist in cancer clinical trials globally and investigating the generalizability of evidence to support cancer care in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Additional work focuses on looking into factors influencing adherence to oral chemotherapeutics in LMICs, and the benefits of immunotherapies and antibody-drug conjugates in hematologic malignancies.
He serves as the Resident/Fellow representative on the Massachusetts Medical Society Global Health committee and has been a longstanding field volunteer for Boston-based Partners in Health. He is additionally the Chair of the Board of Trustees for Intervention on Health and Community Development Initiative (IHCD initiative), a non-governmental organization in Nigeria that promotes preventive health through initiatives focused on increasing health awareness, screening, and patient education.
Dr. Falade obtained his first degree in Biochemistry from the University of Ilorin, Nigeria, his MD from Kharkiv National University, Ukraine, and his MBA from Karazin Business School, Ukraine.
Dr. Falade’s long-term career goal is to leverage international partnerships to establish a global cancer center of excellence in Nigeria focused on serving local communities and advancing hematologic/oncologic research to improve care for patients impacted by cancer globally.

Maria Geba is a clinical fellow in the Division of Infectious Diseases and International Health at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia, USA. She received her medical degree from Boston University School of Medicine and completed her residency in internal medicine at the University of Virginia. Her research interests include HPV-related diseases in at-risk populations, implementation science and access to care.

Elvin Geng is Professor of Medicine at Washington University in St. Louis where de directs the Center for Dissemination and Implementation. He is a physician who trained in infectious diseases. His work seeks to apply contemporary concepts in implementation science to advance our public health response to infectious diseases as well as to advance the scientific conceptualization of implementation.

Dr. Gouessé is a scientist, specialized in breast development and cancer, environmental toxicology, and reproductive health. She has managed diverse projects related to science and education and presented at 20+ conferences in Canada, USA, France, and Côte d’Ivoire. She has received several grants, awards and distinctions for her contribution and leadership in the advancement of research in toxicology.

Dr. Gouessé has worked at the national cancer control program in Côte d'Ivoire where she spearheaded the creation of a cancer research department, secured funding and coordinated an innovative project aimed at introducing circulating tumour DNA as predictive biomarker for cancer therapies in Côte d'Ivoire. She has also worked as at CEIBA Analytics, a consulting firm in data science, artificial and business intelligence.

Currently working at Jhpiego as part of the SUCCESS team, serving as the in-country coordinator of the implementation research study aimed understanding the feasibility, acceptability and cost of integrating HPV testing and treatment of precancerous lesions into existing women's health services.

Patti E. Gravitt, Ph.D., M.S., joined NCI as deputy director of the Center for Global Health in July 2021. In this role she leads implementation science efforts and provides scientific and programmatic direction across research, training, partnership, and dissemination goals.

Dr. Gravitt is a molecular epidemiologist whose research in human papillomavirus (HPV) and cervical cancer spans the translational spectrum from the natural history of genital infection to the translation of evidence-based prevention tools to low- and middle-income countries. Her efforts have contributed significantly to the evidence base regarding the efficacy of alternative cervical cancer screening strategies.

Dr. Gravitt’s National Institutes of Health–funded research included the study of cervical cancer prevention in Peru’s Loreto region in the Amazon rainforest. In addition, the study identified approaches to engage health providers and the community in education, screening, and treatment. Most recently, she led a team to use a systems-thinking approach to the design, implementation, and evaluation of World Health Organization–recommended, HPV-based screening algorithms. Through this work, she led the development of the Integrated Systems Praxis for Implementation Research (INSPIRE) methodology, which leverages systems thinking and participatory action research for shared decision-making and context adaptation of cancer control programs.

Dr. Gravitt earned her Ph.D. in epidemiology from Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health and her M.S. in biology from University of North Carolina, Charlotte.

Thanh Hoang is currently doing her doctoral study at the School of Public Health and Community Medicine at Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Sweden. She is a young researcher and have developed her research interest in health behavior change and social epidemiology.

Thanh completed her medical degree specialising in preventive medicine from Hochiminh City University of Medicine and Pharmacy in 2016. She then pursued higher education at the University of Gothenburg, where she obtained a master's degree in public health science focusing on health equality in 2021. She worked as research assistant at Global Health Research Group at the same institution with interdisciplinary global health research projects. This was followed by a Ph.D. from the School of Public Health and Community Medicine, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Sweden. Her doctoral project aims to understand factors influencing tobacco use cessation among people living with HIV in Vietnam.

Her goal is to continue pushing the boundaries of knowledge in behaviour change and to use her research to make a positive impact on the society.

Dr. Franklin Huang is a physician-scientist and Associate Professor of Medicine and Urology in the Genitourinary Oncology program at UCSF and an Investigator of the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub. He cares for prostate cancer patients at the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center and is the Principal Investigator of the SFVA/UCSF Precision Oncology Center of Excellence. He directs a research laboratory based at the UCSF Parnassus campus that is focused on understanding the molecular determinants of cancer disparities. He serves as a mentor to students and trainees who are interested in cancer genomics, cancer disparities, and global oncology. Along with Dr. Ami Bhatt, he is a co-founder and President of the non-profit Global Oncology. With a team of volunteers, he has helped lead the development of the first oncology clinic in Belize and helped pioneer patient navigation and cancer education programs.

Fatou Jallow is a Health Specialist at the Center for Global Health (CGH) in the Partnerships and Dissemination (P&D) Branch. Her role involves identifying research gaps and priorities around global health research. She is leading and managing projects at the CGH 1) aimed at understanding the aspirations and expectations of low-and-middle-income country (LMIC)- based researchers pursuing cancer research in their country/region of interest, and 2) working closely on a project that focuses on facilitating implementation strategies to improve cervical cancer screening and treatment in LMICs.
Prior to her transition to NIH, Dr. Jallow was an American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) fellow at USAID, Bureau of Global Health at the Office of Population and Reproductive Health for 2 years. As a fellow, she was a research advisor and provided strategic guidance on the development of family planning programs in LMICs and assisted in the management of the programs once developed and awarded to contractors.
Dr. Jallow has a doctorate in Endocrinology and Reproductive Physiology from the University of Wisconsin – Madison.

Dr. Johnblack Kabukye is a medical doctor and health informatics specialist at the Uganda Cancer Institute in Kampala, Uganda, with over 10 years of medical practice and clinical research experience. His expertise includes design, implementation and evaluation of digital health systems such as electronic medical records, telemedicine, artificial intelligence-enabled mobile apps, and patient telephone advice lines in oncology and mental health. Currently he is involved in the GACD project PRESCRIP-TEC (Prevention and Screening Innovation Project toward Elimination of Cervical Cancer https://prescriptec.org/) funded by EU Horizon 2020 and being implemented in Uganda, India, Bangladesh and Slovakia.

Dr. Kabukye completed a Bachelor’s in medicine and surgery at Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda; a Master of Science in Health Informatics from the Karolinska Institute and Stockholm University in Sweden, and a PhD in Medical Informatics at the University of Amsterdam focusing on “Digitalizing oncology in Africa”. Dr. Kabukye is also currently a postdoctoral fellow at Stockholm University studying patient reported outcomes in NCDs in LMICs through mHealth.

Dr Dinah is a Kenya registered Nurse/Kenya Registered Midwife /BScN. She graduated from the University of Dundee in November 2013 with a Masters in Nursing. She has 20 years of experience and has worked as a nurse instructor in the Nursing Education Services department at the Aga Khan University Hospital, Nairobi till October 2014. Currently she is a Senior Instructor at the Aga Khan University School of Nursing and Midwifery. Diana is a final year PhD candidate at the University of Salford with a focus on breast cancer health literacy.

Dinah taught in the Diploma programme in Oncology Nursing, the first of its kind in East Africa. Her other areas of interest are Medical-Surgical nursing, Critical thinking/Academic Writing and Leadership/Management
She was the Primary Investigator in a competitive research grant of $50,000 from the Beginning Investigators Grant to support research on the Health Literacy status of women with cancers of the breast and cervix. A project that was completed and our manuscript Fear, Faith, and Finances: Health Literacy Experiences of English and Swahili Speaking Women Newly Diagnosed with Breast and Cervix Cancer has been accepted for publication by ecancer journal.

Dr. Ishu Kataria is a Senior Public Health Researcher Center for Noncommunicable Diseases (NCDs) at RTI International. She works on NCD prevention and control both in India and globally. Dr. Kataria has experience in conceptualizing and developing training interventions, and designing and implementing programs on cancer prevention, maternal and child health, adolescent NCDs, and behavior change communication. Her recent work is co-leading a GACD funded project on improving access to affordable cancer care in India. She has also co-led a mixed methods study to describe the prevalence and correlates of cancer-related perceived stigma and investigate cancer-and diabetes-related knowledge and psychosocial barriers to diagnosis and treatment, including fear, stigma, and depression among cancer and diabetes patients and caregivers in India. She has also contributed to the development of a Digital Communication Toolkit to maximize digital health communication around cancer in India. She serves as a commissioner for the Lancet Commission on Women and Cancer. She is the NCD focal point for the UN Major Group for Children and Youth, chair for working group on NCDs for the recently established WHO Youth Council, and is the steering group member for the NCD Labs initiative for the WHO on NCDs and the next generation. Previously, Dr. Kataria worked with the All India Institute of Medical Sciences on their community outreach program and with the Government of India on their Integrated Child Development Services strategy. She has also published scientific articles in peer-reviewed journals and presented her research nationally and internationally.

Douglas R. Lowy, M.D., has been the National Cancer Institute’s (NCI) principal deputy director since July 2010, helping to lead NCI’s key scientific initiatives. He has also served as acting director several times during his tenure, most recently from April 2022 through September 2022. Dr. Lowy received his medical degree from New York University School of Medicine and trained in internal medicine at Stanford University and dermatology at Yale University. His research interests include the biology of papillomaviruses, carried out in close collaboration with Dr. John Schiller, and the regulation of normal and neoplastic cell growth.

Dr. Lowy, along with Dr. Schiller, received the Sabin Gold Medal Award from the Sabin Vaccine Institute in 2011. In November 2014, they were honored by President Obama with the National Medal of Technology and Innovation. In September 2017, the two received the Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award, the country’s most prestigious honor for biomedical research, for their significant research leading to the development of HPV vaccines.

Dr. Lowy received the 2019 Association of American Cancer Institutes' Distinguished Scientist Award in recognition of his long-term research on the molecular biology of tumor viruses and growth regulation, his role in enabling the development of HPV vaccines, and his exploration of oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes and their signaling pathways. His most recent honor is the 2020 American Association for Cancer Research Distinguished Public Service Award in recognition of his outstanding leadership of NCI during his terms as acting director.

For the past 25 years, I have served as a health authority, researcher, professor, as well as health professional in diverse Peruvian and international institutions, including in different capacities for the Regional Health Office of Loreto (regional ministry of health), the Loreto Regional Hospital, and the Faculty of Human Medicine of National University of the Peruvian Amazon. As a health authority, I have worked and guided policy related to a range of health topics – from tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, sexual and reproductive health, maternal and child health, to vector borne- diseases and cervical cancer, both at a regional level, as well as the national level (e.g., I was the National Coordinator for the Malaria Zero Program). Moreover, as a Professor, I have taught and mentored students in health systems management, design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of programs and interventions. I also have work and research experience with indigenous Amazonian communities. My teaching role has expanded beyond local students: I have advised and guided students in under- and post-graduate training programs with universities from all over the world. At the undergraduate level of teaching, I teach on epidemiological techniques and tools, basic and intermediate statistical analysis, and use specialized software applied to the diagnosis of needs and analysis of health situation. I have also coordinated as a local researcher in a training grant of the National Institutes of Health to enable to professional development of Peruvian physicians, nurses, biologists and technicians in infectious diseases surveillance, diagnostics, and reporting.

Richard Moser has been at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) for over 20 years and serves in several roles. He is the research methods coordinator within the Behavioral Research Program (BRP) at the NCI and conducts his own research and supports BRP staff in accessing and analyzing data. He is the senior methodologist for the Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS) and directs the Group-Evaluated Measures (GEM) project, a web-based portal to promote the use of standardized health research measures and data sharing. Lastly, he serves as the training director for the Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences (DCCPS) and leads a program that contains approximately 60 fellows and mentors several of his own fellows. His interests include conducting and promoting integrative data analysis, which involves merging or linking independent data sets and analyzing them to help build a cumulative knowledge base and answer novel research questions. In addition, he is interested in big data and the application of data science methods to behaviorally focused cancer research. He received the NCI’s Outstanding Mentor Award in 2019. He is an author or co-author on more than 95 peer-reviewed journal articles and several book chapters spanning a range of topics including survey methodology, analytic procedures, health behaviors, and innovative uses of data.

Dr Mazvita Muchengeti (MBChB, PhD) is a cancer epidemiologist and the Acting Head of Department of the South African National Cancer Registry. She is an honorary senior lecturer at the University of the Witwatersrand School of Public Health, Epidemiology and Biostatistics Division and a research associate at the South African Centre for Epidemiological Modelling and Analysis (SACEMA), Stellenbosch University. She is the site principal investigator of the South African HIV Cancer Match Study. She is a committee member of the African Cancer Registry Network research committee and leads the IARC-GICR collaborating centre for monitoring cervical cancer elimination in sub-Saharan Africa. Her interests lie in strengthening cancer surveillance and research in South Africa and the sub-Saharan African region and in exploring the role of infections in cancer development in African populations. She holds a medical degree from the University of Zimbabwe (2002), a Diploma in HIV management from the College of Medicine of South Africa (2005), a Masters in Epidemiology and Biostatistics from the University of the Witwatersrand (2011) and a PhD in epidemiology from the University of Bern, Switzerland (2016).

Varun Nair is completing the final year of his Bachelor of Science in Integrated Sciences, specializing in Genetics and Global Health, at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. His interest in global health research and advocacy stems from his educational background and work with vulnerable populations in Vancouver. In the fall of 2022, Varun joined the Global Control for HPV-Related Diseases and Cancer, led by Dr. Gina Ogilvie, to improve access to cervical cancer screening in sub-Saharan Africa. His motivation for this work was inspired by his prior clinical research experience at BC Children's Hospital, where he gained a deep-rooted appreciation for global-minded research. In the future, Varun aims to synthesize medical education and graduate studies in public health as a clinician-researcher to positively impact global health policy and facilitate equitable access to healthcare for all.

Dr. Annet Nakaganda is a Clinical Officer and a Principal Cancer Epidemiologist, specialized in the conduct of cancer clinical trials and epidemiological investigations for cancer control in Africa. She holds a PhD in medicine (Cancer Epidemiology) and a Master’s degree in Public Health (Distinction) from the University of Manchester UK. Her recent work is focused on identifying novel approaches for accelerating timely availability and utilization of locally-generated quality cancer data to direct the cancer control effort in low-resource settings.
Annet is trained, and recognized internationally, as a leader in cancer control planning and implementation. She is a supervisor for Field Epidemiology Fellows at the Uganda Cancer Institute and has more than 15 years of cancer research experience, serving in various positions including: principal investigator, research clinician; research coordination; research governance and research monitoring/auditing. Annet has worked to establish the Cancer Epidemiology and Clinical Trials Unit (CE-CTU) at the Uganda Cancer Institute; and has led the harmonization of cancer registration guidelines for East Africa. Annet is a winner of several awards including: The HIV Trust Scholarship Award UK; University of Manchester Equity and Merit Scholarship Award; PRIM&R Global research scholarship USA; Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) World Cancer Congress travel grant; University of Mexico Prevent Cancer Foundation Immersion Scholarship Award; University of Manchester Doctoral Academy Research Excellence Award; CUGH-The Lancet Poster Competition Award; and BVGH’s AC3T Study Pool Mini-Grant Award. She has published in peer reviewed local and international journals and conferences.

Marianna Nobile has worked as a Research Fellow and Lecturer in both the Departments of Law and Medicine at the University of Milano-Bicocca, Italy. She researched on bioethics and health care law, with particular attention to the right to health and social determinants of health.
She has been collaborating as an Ethics Expert with the EU Commission to ensure that research activities carried out under the Horizon Europe funding programme are conducted in compliance with fundamental ethical principles, legislation, and human rights.
Her current role at the IAEA Programme of Action for Cancer Therapy focuses on supporting Low- and Middle-Income Countries to strengthen their cancer control capacities through comprehensive assessments of national cancer control capacities and needs (imPACT Reviews) and providing technical assistance to develop National Cancer Control Programmes.
Dr Nobile holds a Master in Philosophy (Bioethics) from the University San Raffaele, Italy and a Doctorate in Law from the University of Milano-Bicocca, Italy.

Dr. Odeny’s career vision in Global Oncology is to address gaps in cancer care by translating research advances to practical and scalable cancer programs in low-resource settings in the U.S. and in Africa through high-quality direct patient care and clinical/translational and implementation research.
His clinical research interests include reducing disparities in clinical trial eligibility and expanding treatment options for cancer in people living with HIV (e.g. showing that CD4+ T cell count thresholds for cancer immunotherapy clinical trials unnecessarily exclude people living with HIV). He is also studying the association between Kaposi sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) genomic subtypes and clinical severity of disease in patients with KSHV-associated diseases in the U.S. and Africa.
He is leading an initiative to establish a formal program in Global Oncology between Washington University in St. Louis and the Kenya Medical Research Institute to serve as a platform for training a new generation of globally-oriented physicians who will advance scientific discovery for underserved populations with cancer globally.
Prior to pivoting to a career in Global Oncology, Dr. Odeny was in-country PI or co- investigator for multiple NIH-funded trials, including 3 NIH R01s. These trials applied implementation science approaches to promote engagement in the HIV care cascade. There is a growing recognition that urgent research is needed to find optimal approaches for the translation of efficacious clinical interventions into effective and appropriately scaled programs in the global response to cancer and HIV. Dr. Odeny is interested in leveraging his expertise in HIV implementation science to global oncology.

Douglas Perin is a Leidos Biomedical Research Inc. project manager who oversees several projects at the U.S. National Cancer Institute Center for Global Health (CGH), including coordination of the International Cancer Screening Network (ICSN), a collaborative group of cancer screening researchers and implementers; and, coordination of the CGH-WHO Collaborating Center for Global Cancer Control, which supports activities related to cancer control planning, cancer survivorship, implementation research and the WHO global cancer initiative activities, among others. Mr. Perin is trained in Law, a graduate from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul-Brazil; and received a Master in Public Health from University of Nebraska Medical Center. His professional interests include cancer epidemiology and prevention, mainly related to cervical, breast, and colorectal cancers; and, his area of focus lies in the translation of evidence derived from research into policy and practice.

Priya Ranganathan works as a consultant anaesthesiologist at the Tata Memorial Centre (TMC), Mumbai. She has a special interest in developing clinical research capacity, and is the convener of the CReDO (International Collaboration for Research methods Development in Oncology) workshop, organized by the TMC and the National Cancer Grid of India (NCG). CReDO is an intensive residential oncology research protocol development workshop that trains oncology researchers to convert their research ideas into full-fledged protocols over the span of one week. She is the convener of the Masters in Clinical Research degree programme at the TMC, and has organized and participated in several other short courses in clinical research methodology, biostatistics and critical appraisal.

Lana Ray (Anishinaabe kwe from Opwaaganasiniing) is an Associate Professor in the Department of Indigenous Learning, Indigenous Research Chair in Decolonial Futures and Director of the Anishinaabe Kendaasiwin Institute (AKI) at Lakehead University. She has led several Canadian Tri-Council grants related to Indigenous health, Indigenization and research sovereignty and is the principal investigator on the GACD funded project, “Waasegiizhig Nanaandawe’iyewigamig Mino-Bimaadiziwin Project: Cancer Prevention through Traditional Healing.” Prior to academe she worked in the government and not-for profit sectors and is actively engaged in community-based work that seeks to advance Indigenous social, cultural and political realities through resurgent and decolonial praxis. She has published in several international peer reviewed journals including Social Science & Medicine, Global Health Promotion, and the International Review of Qualitative Research and her research interests include Indigenous health and healing, Indigenous research methodology, self-determination in research, and Indigenization.

Dr. Shelley is a Professor and Vice Chair for Research in the Department of Public Health Policy and Management and the Co-Director of the Global Center for Implementation Science at the New York University School of Global Public Health. She conducts policy-relevant research that aims to accelerate dissemination and implementation of tobacco use treatment in health care delivery systems in the US and Viet Nam. This includes a National Cancer Institute funded study that is testing strategies for integrating tobacco use treatment in HIV care settings in Viet Nam.

Ms. Shnayder is a Public Health Analyst in the Research & Training Branch of the Center for Global Health. She previously served as an International Health Analyst at the Office of Global Health Affairs of the Department of Health and Human Services, where she was responsible for health-related programs/initiatives with Europe. At the Center, Ms. Shnayder leads the coordination of the NCI-wide technical review of Visa Waiver Applications from international scientists conducting research at the NCI Designated Cancer Centers. She is also involved in Centers’ research training efforts including coordination of the global participation in the NCI Summer Curriculum in Cancer Prevention from 2017-2019. Ms. Shnayder’s interests include breast cancer screening and early diagnosis; integrative oncology including dietary interventions for primary and secondary breast cancer prevention; cancer as a metabolic disease.
Ms. Shnayder received her undergraduate degree in Biochemistry and her Masters’ Degree in Health Science from Towson University, Maryland.

Izukanji Sikazwe is an infectious disease physician, HIV program expert, and clinical researcher whose work has been funded by the US National Institutes of Health, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Izukanji has over 15 years’ experience working within the public health sector in Zambia establishing and supporting HIV care and treatment programs, for both urban and rural communities. She previously worked as technical advisor for the National ART program at the Zambia Ministry of Health. She is a valued mentor and educator of medical trainees in Zambia, and practiced clinical medicine at the Adult Infectious Disease Centre of Excellence at the University Teaching Hospital in Lusaka. She is currently the chief executive officer for the Centre for Infectious Disease Research in Zambia (CIDRZ), a local non-profit NGO.
Izukanji graduated with an MBChB degree from the University of Zambia, School of Medicine. She then completed Internal Medicine residency and Infectious Disease fellowship at the Good Samaritan Hospital in Baltimore and the University of Maryland, respectively. She holds a Master of Public Health degree from Michigan State University and is a Fellow of the Africa CDC Kofi Annan Global Public Health Leadership Program.

Dr. Sudha Sivaram serves as Program and Training Director at the Center for Global Health at the US National Cancer Institute (NCI). In this capacity, she works with colleagues across NCI and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to develop funding initiatives, and coordinate workforce development programs that seek to build capacity in cancer research in diverse global settings. She led the development of NCI’s first broad global research training initiative. Dr. Sivaram is a member of several trans-NCI and NIH committees that focus on advancing science in key biomedical research areas such as implementation research in cancer control and obesity and cancer. She contributes to the work of the Cancer Moonshot network of direct patient engagement that has developed workshops and funding initiatives to stimulate patient engagement in cancer research. Dr. Sivaram participates in NCI-wide working groups to advance research workforce diversity, equity and inclusion goals and provided global research training perspectives to the Cancer Moonshot Scholars Diversity Program. Dr. Sivaram received a Fulbright Nehru fellowship to conduct survivorship research in south India. Dr. Sivaram completed her Bachelor’s in Biological Sciences from Birla Institute of Technology and Science in India; a Masters in Public Health from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and a doctorate in International Health from the Johns Hopkins University. In addition to her work at NIH, Dr. Sivaram is also an adjunct faculty at Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health.

A Cancer Epidemiologist, Professor, and Director of the Cancer Epidemiology Education in Special Populations (CEESP) Program at The City University of New York Medical School.

Over the past 25 years, Dr. Amr Soliman has been collaborating with faculty in Africa, the Middle East, and minority populations in the U.S. to develop a program in international cancer epidemiology and migration studies. This has led to a strong research infrastructure with several centers in Africa to investigate the epidemiology of colorectal, cervical, and breast cancers. The U54 research training program that he has led in Tanzania and the inflammatory breast cancer research study that he leads in North Africa are major components of his research that provides significant opportunities for research training of students of the NCI-funded R25 Cancer Epidemiology Education in Special Populations (CEESP) program. The CEESP program was funded from the NCI in 2006 and is continuing through the current fourth 5-year grant cycle that ends in 2027 with a focus on Africa. Dr. Soliman has also conducted collaborative research with the minority-focused SEER registry in Detroit, the Michigan Cancer Consortium, the State Cancer Registry of Michigan, and the Arab American Center for Social and Economic Services in Dearborn, Michigan. He has also established research studies with the African migrants and refugees in Nebraska and New York. His research mentoring experience includes working with trainees from foreign, minority, and underserved populations. His research also includes access to cancer care, screening, and early detection in these populations.

Dr. Woo is a Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the University Malaya and a consultant gynaecological oncologist at University Malaya Medical Centre, Malaysia. She completed her specialist and subspecialty training in gynaecological oncology in the UK and was conferred her PhD by Cambridge University for her post doctoral research on HPV immuno-biology. Yin Ling left Malaysia as a teenager and spent 21 years on her education and professional training abroad. In 2010, she returned to Malaysia as a clinician scientist focusing on service development and research programs with an emphasis on gynaecological cancers. Yin Ling describes her work as ‘Malaysian centric’, whether it be on an individual patient or at a broader policy level. Dr. Woo believes that any innovation in healthcare services must take into account local resources with input from the stakeholders, particularly the women themselves along with a strong emphasis on advocacy. One of her more outstanding achievement is conceptualizing and executing Program ROSE (www.programrose.org), an innovative cervical screening program incorporating HPV self-sampling. In addition, Yin Ling is the clinical lead for the MaGIC study (Mainstreaming genetic counselling for genetic testing of BRCA1/2 in ovarian cancer patients in Malaysia) and the Every Woman Study (EWS-LMIC). She is currently the country representative for the Asia-Oceania Research Organisation in Genital Infection and Neoplasia (AOGIN), member of the Asia Pacific Economic Consortium (APEC) Cervical Cancer working group, committee member for policy at the International Papillomavirus Society (IPVS) and is a founding trustee to ROSE Foundation.

I am a China-based Assistant Professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and the Research Director of Social Entrepreneurship to Spur Health (SESH) Global. I have a special interest in community engagement and implementation science in infectious diseases and global health issues. I was a core team member and contributed to the development of pay-it-forward intervention package for public health programs and authored publications on two trials to improve service uptake. I am currently leading a randomized controlled trial examining the effectiveness of pay-it-forward in improving HPV vaccination among adolescent girls in China. I led the pay-it-forward influenza vaccine pragmatic trial, and our study findings have been published by the Lancet Infectious Diseases journal. The pay-it-forward idea was selected as one of the two winning innovations and awarded “Reboot Health & Wellbeing” prize by WHO in 2021.