Advisory Board

  • Bert Aertgeerts

    Prof. Dr. Bert Aertgeerts is a professor at the Catholic University of Leuven (K.U. Leuven), Belgium. He began his clinical academic career in 2000 as an assistant professor in general practice at the same university, alongside part-time work as a general practitioner at the Bleyenbergh Centre. In 2002 he was one of the founder members of the Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine of Belgium. Until 2008 he was director of the Belgian Branch of the Dutch Cochrane Collaboration and in the same year became president of that centre and was appointed head of the department of Primary Care. In 2009 he also became an ordinary member of the Belgian Royal Academy of Medicine. Professor Aertgeerts’ research focuses on diagnostic problems within primary care, implementation research and palliative care.

  • Marc Bracke

    Marc Bracke is a medical doctor trained in clinical pathology. As a full professor he is the director of the Laboratory of Experimental Cancer Research at Ghent University Hospital. His key research interest lies in the area of molecular mechanisms of invasion and metastasis of cancer cells, the central theme of both his doctoral thesis and the thesis he completed as a part his postgraduate teacher training. The aim of these studies is the detection of therapeutic targets and diagnostic tumor markers. Integrated in the hospital campus, he strongly favors collaboration between researchers and clinicians for the benefit of the cancer patient. He has published appoximately 150 papers in international peer-reviewed journals, and almost 30 chapters in scientific books on cancer. 14 PhDs have been awarded under his supervision.

    He teaches courses on fundamental cancer research topics to students of medicine and the biomedical sciences at the universities of Ghent and Brussels (VUB). Through multiple national and European scientific collaborations he has built up a network in which his expertise is often requested for peer reviewing in manuscript evaluation and international project funding. As an independent advisor he is a member of the scientific councils of the Stichting tegen de Kanker (Foundation Against Cancer), the Vlaamse Liga tegen Kanker (Flemish League Against Cancer), the Bijzonder Onderzoeksfonds (Special Research Foundation) of the University of Ghent and Reliable Cancer Therapies.
    application/msword iconCV Marc Bracke
  • Volker Diehl

    Professor Volker Diehl is director emeritus of Internal Medicine at the University of Cologne, Germany. Amongst numerous positions he was founder and chairman of the German Hodgkin Study Group (GHSG) for 30 years and is now the honorary chairman of this group. He was founder and director of the National Cancer Center in Heidelberg (2004-2005).

    His major scientific achievements are:
    - the first immortalization of umbilical cord blood cells to long term lymphoblastoid cell lines (LCL)
    - the first demonstration that EBV causes infectious mononucleosis
    - the first establishment of Hodgkin-Reed Sternberg cell lines in vitro
    - the co-discovery of the CD30 antigen and co-development of associated mono-clonal antibodies

    His clinical achievements are:
    - the foundation of the GHSG
    - the design and establishment of six generations of consecutive Hodgkin trials within the GHSG
    - amongst other path leading innovations, the design and implementation of the BEACOPP principle for advanced Hodgkin Lymphoma
    - the inauguration and establishment of the International Prognostic Index for advanced Hodgkin Lymphoma together with Dirk Hasenclever
    - the foundation of the European Task Force for Lymphocyte Predominant Hodgkin Lymphoma together with Harald Stein
     
    His achievements have been recognized through being awarded numerous prizes, amongst others:
    2001 the Salvatore Prize Lugano
    2005 the José Carreras Prize of the EHA
    2006 the Hamilton Fairley Award of ESMO
    2007 the Award of German Cancer Aid
    2008 the German Federal Cross of Merit (first class)
    2009 the ASH Award: Pioneer of Hematology
    2010 the ASH Coulter Award for Lifetime Achievement
    application/msword iconCV Volker Diehl
  • Robert A. Gatenby

    Robert A. Gatenby, MD, is chairman of the Department of Radiology and co-director of the Department of Integrated Mathematical Oncology at the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center. He joined Moffitt in 2008 from the University of Arizona where he held professorships in the Departments of Radiology and Applied Mathematics from 2000. He received a B.S.E. in Bioengineering and Mechanical Sciences from Princeton University and an MD from the University of Pennsylvania in 1977. He completed his residency in radiology at the University of Pennsylvania where he served as chief resident.

    He is still an active clinical radiologist specializing in body imaging. While working at the Fox Chase Cancer Center after finishing his residency, Robert was under the impression that cancer biology and oncology were awash with data but lacked coherent frameworks of understanding to organize this information and integrate new results. Since 1990, most of his research has focused on exploring mathematical methods to generate theoretical models for cancer biology and oncology. His current modeling interests include:
    1. the tumor microenvironment and its role in tumor biology
    2. evolutionary dynamics in carcinogenesis (tumor progression and therapy)
    3. information flow in living systems and its role in maintaining thermodynamic stability
    application/pdf iconCV Robert A. Gatenby
  • Jan Geissler

    Jan Geissler is founder and CEO of Patvocates, acting as independent consultant in cancer policy, patient advocacy and social media. After his studies (diploma in Business Management in the UK and Germany), Jan held various managerial positions in telecommunications and media industry think tanks before he focused his professional life on patient advocacy in 2008. Being a leukemia survivor who participated in various clinical trials himself, Jan founded the online patient community Leukämie-Online/LeukaNET in 2002, which is one of the most frequented online platforms for leukemia patients on the German speaking Internet today. In 2003, he co-founded the European Cancer Patient Coalition (European umbrella association of more than 300 cancer patient groups) and became its first full time director 2008. In 2007, Jan also co-founded the CML Advocates Network which is connecting 60 leukaemia patient groups from 49 countries on all continents today.

    He is a patients' representative in various steering committees and advisory boards, acting e.g. as Secretary of the European Forum for Good Clinical Practice (EFGCP), as alternate member of the EU Committee of Experts for Rare Diseases (EUCERD), as member of the ESMO Patient Working Party, the ECCO Patient Advisory Committee, the Editorial Board of the Journal of European CME, the Institutional Review Board of EORTC, the scientific advisory board of the International CML Foundation, and the External Advisory Board of the University Clinic of Jena. He also acts as an independent EU expert in FP7 ethics review panels.
    application/pdf iconCV_Jan_Geissler.pdf
  • Moshe Frenkel

    Dr. Frenkel is a clinical associate professor at the University of Texas and the former medical director of the Integrative Medicine Program at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, as well as founder of the first integrative oncology clinic at this institution. Dr. Frenkel is a world-renowned expert in integrative oncology and has had numerous publications in peer-reviewed journals as well as chapters on integrative medicine in leading oncology textbooks. He serves as a board member of the International Society for Complementary Medicine Research and the Society of Integrative Oncology in addition to chairing the clinical practice committee of the Society of Integrative Oncology.

    Dr. Frenkel is an active member of the clinical working group and the oncology subgroup of the Consortium of Academic Health Centers for Integrative Medicine. He is board certified in family practice, earned his medical degree from Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Israel and completed his family practice residency at Brookhaven Memorial Hospital Medical Center in Patchogue, New York; an affiliate of Stony Brook University. Prior to joining the MD Anderson Cancer Center he served as a faculty member in University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston and served as a key contributor to an NIH grant on integrating complementary and integrative medicine (CIM) into the medical school curriculum, as well as providing CIM consultations to patients and their families. He is currently leading an integrative oncology service in one of the largest health maintenance organizations in Israel.
    application/msword iconCV Moshe Frenkel
  • Martine Piccart

    Martine J. Piccart (MD, PhD) is Professor of Oncology at the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB) and Director of the Medicine Department at the Institut Jules Bordet in Brussels, Belgium.

    Dr. Piccart earned her MD and PhD at the Université Libre de Bruxelles and received her oncology qualifications in New York and London. She is a member of the “Académie Royale de Médecine de Belgique”.

    With a primary interest in breast cancer and drug development, Dr. Piccart has a strong interest in international research collaboration, and is the principal or co-principal investigator of many clinical trials including HERA, MINDACT, and ALTTO. She is co-founder and chairwoman of the Brussels-based Breast International Group (BIG), created in 1996 to facilitate international breast cancer clinical trials and TRANSBIG, a European Commission-supported translational research consortium to complement BIG’s clinical research network. BIG brings together 44 collaborative groups from around the world and has over 30 trials under its umbrella; TRANSBIG represents 39 institutions in 21 countries. BIG recently launched an innovative biomarker and drug development program focused on neo-adjuvant trials, called NeoBIG.

    Dr. Piccart is an active member of many professional organizations, currently serving as president-elect of the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO). She is immediate past-president of the European Organization for the Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) and recently served on the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Board.
     
    She is author or co-author of more than 300 scientific publications in peer-reviewed journals and has received numerous prestigious awards for her contribution to research in oncology, including the ESMO Award for Exceptional Contribution to the Advancement of Medical Oncology in Europe (1997), a Jacqueline Seroussi Memorial Foundation for Cancer Research Award for International leadership in translational and clinical research that has improved treatment outcomes for women with early stage and advanced breast cancer (2005), the 14th Claude Jacquillat Award for achievements in clinical oncology (2006) and the ESMO-GSK Lifetime Achievement Award in Breast Cancer Research (to the Breast International Group in 2006). She was awarded the Miami Breast Cancer Conference Award of Excellence for 2007 and the Jill Rose Award for distinguished biomedical research in October 2009 in New York. More recently, Dr. Piccart received the William L. McGuire Award in recognition of her contribution to breast cancer research in December 2009 in San Antonio.
     
    SUMMARY OF SCIENTIFIC CONTRIBUTIONS
    - 410 communications and lectures (210 in Europe; 90 in the USA / Canada / Mexico; 19 in South America; 18 in Australia/Asia; 13 in the Middle East/Africa)
    - 450 published abstracts
    - 57 published book chapters
    - 358 published articles (in peer-reviewed journals)
         - 76 as first author
         - 125 as senior author
    application/pdf iconCV Martine Piccart
  • Eric Van Cutsem

    Eric Van Cutsem is Professor of Internal Medicine at the Catholic University of Leuven (K.U. Leuven), Belgium, head of the Digestive Oncology department at the University Hospital Gasthuisberg in Leuven and a senior clinical researcher of the Fund for Scientific Research in Flanders. He obtained MD and PhD degrees from the Catholic University of Leuven and during his training spent several periods abroad in the UK, the Netherlands, Switzerland and the USA. He is heavily involved in clinical activity and is engaged in and leads many national and international clinical and translational research projects on gastrointestinal cancer.

    Prof. Van Cutsem has published more than 280 peer-reviewed articles in prestigious journals including the New England Journal of Medicine, the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Lancet Oncology, JAMA, Annals of Oncology and the European Journal of Cancer, and over 400 other texts or chapters in books on gastrointestinal cancer. He is co-editor of the reference textbook on gastrointestinal cancer, Principles and Practice of Gastrointestinal Oncology: Second Edition (2008) and has been an editorial board member of numerous prestigious journals, including the Journal of Clinical Oncology, the Annals of Oncology and the European Journal of Cancer and is associate editor of Targeted Oncology.

    Dr. Van Cutsem is a member of several scientific organizations, including the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO), the European NeuroEndocrine Tumour Society (ENETS), the European Society of Digestive Oncology (ESDO) and many national organizations. He is or has been a member of the Scientific Program Committee and/or educational committee for ASCO, ASCO-GI cancerssymposium, ESMO and ECCO. Dr. Van Cutsem is also a member of the ESMO faculty and of the strategic ESMO Multidisciplinary Oncology Committee.
    He served as secretary of the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer – Gastrointestinal Cancer (EORTC-GI) group from January 2000 to 2003, was chair of the EORTC-GI group from 2003 to 2007 and has been chairman of PETACC (Pan-European Trials on Adjuvant Colon Cancer) since 2008, board member of the EORTC since 2009 and president of ESDO (European Society Digestive Oncology) since 2010. He is also chairman of the governmental colon cancer prevention task force in Belgium and is president of BGDO (Belgian Group Digestive Oncology) and FAPA (Familial Adenomatous Polyposis Association). He has received several scientific awards, including the Georges Brohée Prize in Belgium, the Hubertus Wald award at the University of Hamburg in 2009 and the San Salvatore Foundation award in Switzerland in 2010.

    Eric Van Cutsem is founder and has been chairman of the Scientific Committee of the World Congress on Gastrointestinal Cancer in Barcelona since June 2004 (in partnership with ESMO since 2005).

    application/msword iconCV Eric Van Cutsem