Dr. Ionescu is a graduate of University of Medicine and Pharmacy “Iuliu Hatieganu” in Cluj Napoca, Romania. She completed her postgraduate training in Anatomical and Clinical Pathology at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and a Fellowship in Gynecological Pathology at Vancouver General Hospital. She has practiced as a Consultant Pathologist at BC Cancer Agency in Vancouver since 2006. She is currently a Clinical Professor of Pathology at UBC and served as the residency program director for the Anatomic Pathology Residency Program between 2009 – 2017.

Her specific areas of diagnostic expertise are lung, gynecologic and breast pathology. She is an author of over 60 scientific publications and book chapters. She is the author and invited speaker at numerous regional, national and international lectures. Her investigation interests include oncologic pathology and molecular biomarkers, lung cancer and adult health education. She is the Canadian Anatomic and Molecular Pathology (CAMP) and CAMP pathology Oncology Digital Series (CAMP-PODS) course director.

Dr. Ionescu is an enthusiastic advocate of pathologists participating in numerous patient education forums, TV shows, advocacy and fundraising campaigns, being Medical Advisor for Lung Cancer Canada, moderator, presenter and community excellence awardee at ROMPOST TV on Omni TV, and in 2015 supporting biomarker testing before the House of Commons Committee on Health.

Wim Timens studied Medicine at the University of Groningen and received his MD in 1983 and was board registered as a pathologist in 1990. In 1988 he received a PhD-degree with a thesis on structure and function of the human spleen. In 1990 he worked as a post-doc at the Cross-Cancer Institute, Edmonton Canada, and later that year he joined the faculty of the Department of Pathology, University Hospital Groningen. In 1992 he was appointed as Associate professor, and in 1994 as full professor in pathology. In 2007 he was visiting professor with Prof. Thomas Colby, Mayo Clinic, Scottsdale AZ, USA and with Prof. James C. Hogg, iCAPTURE Center, St. Paul’s Hospital, UBC, Vancouver, BC, Canada. From January 2010 till 2020 he was Chairman of the Department of Pathology and Medical Biology of the University Medical Center Groningen.

In the last 30 years he has dedicated his diagnostic pathology work to the whole area of pulmonary diseases and worked on different research themes involving lung pathology; he has been involved in- and led many research projects, almost invariably in close collaboration with the department of pulmonology and several other disciplines. He has published over 470 peer-reviewed scientific papers and in addition several book-chapters and reviews. Within his research themes there is a strong focus on the pathogenesis of obstructive lung diseases and on lung cancer.

Three decades his research focuses on the identification of prognostic/predictive epigenetic and molecular markers for clinical outcome, response to chemo-radiotherapy, gene-targeted therapy and treatment-resistance in lung, GIST, Head&Neck cancer, as well as methylation-markers for the early detection of cervical cancer in scrapings. More recently his interest expanded to investigate and implement plasma ctDNA as a bloodborne-based molecular tool for the early cancer detection and classification for treatment-decision-making, and to predict MRD and response to targeted and immuno-therapy in patients with NEN/NET, NSCLC and GIST. As a CSMP he is active member in the UMCG Molecular Tumor Board and involved in harmonisation and standardisation of 8 Dutch MTBs. He is heading the laboratory of Molecular Pathology offering the latest innovative methods for treatment-decision-making in the region North-Netherlands. He is a senior member of the Dutch Society of Pathology, PATH, COIN, AACR, AMP, ESP, ASCO, ELBS, among others, and consultant in (inter)national committees and advisory boards on Molecular Pathology, the organisation of international proficiency mutation testing in lung tissue biopsies and plasma ctDNA, and co-authored various international guidelines on Molecular Pathology. He graduated in Medical Biology in 1985 (Cum Laude) and his PhD in 1993 in Molecular Biology (University of Amsterdam). He worked as a staff clinical scientist in Molecular Pathology at LUMC (1991-2000) and UMCG (2001-now). He co-authored >300 publications.

Please find more details on my research and publications on  http://www.rug.nl/staff/e.m.d.schuuring/ and information on Molecular Pathology on www.moloncopath.nl.

Jeroen Hiltermann studied Medicine at the University of Leiden and received his MD in 1993. He was board registered as a pulmonologist in 2003. In 1998 he received a PhD-degree with a thesis on air-pollution and asthma. From 2003-2007 he was a general pulmonary specialist in the Deventer Hospital. From 2008 he joined the faculty of the Department of Pulmonary Medicine and Tuberculosis, University Medical Center Groningen. In 2023 he was appointed as Associate professor in pulmonary oncology. In 2024 he obtained the IUS promovendi.

In the last 17 years he has dedicated his clinical and research work to the whole area of lung cancer; he has been involved in- and led many research projects, almost invariably in close collaboration with the department of pathology and several other disciplines. He has published over 110 peer-reviewed scientific papers and in addition several book-chapters and reviews. Within his research themes there is a strong focus on immunotherapy and translational medicine in lung cancer.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=hiltermann

Vincent de Jager received his medical degree from the University of Groningen in 2021. His PhD research focused on molecular biomarker testing in patients with non-small cell lung cancer, including national testing rates, prevalences of molecular aberrations, and emerging biomarkers in the Netherlands, as well as clinical outcome of patients discussed in the molecular tumor board (MTB) of the University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG). As of 2024, he is a pathology resident at the UMCG.

Frédérique PENAULT-LLORCA is currently professor of Pathology at the University of Clermont-Ferrand, CEO of the Comprehensive Regional Cancer Institute Centre Jean PERRIN, Clermont-Ferrand, France, deputy director of the research team INSERM 1240 IMoST, and head of the Molecular Biology Plateform at Centre Jean Perrin. She serves as vice-president of the UNICANCER group and chairs of the Immuno-Oncology group at UNICANCER R&D. She is a member of several pathology and oncology societies, with her main areas of expertise being female cancers. She co-chairs the French breast cancer guidelines of Nice-St Paul.  Frédérique PENAULT-LLORCA has conducted various biomarkers-based research studies in breast, GYN, lung, digestive tract, prostate and thyroid cancer in relation to response to targeted therapies and immunotherapies. Frédérique PENAULT-LLORCA has participated to more than 480 peer-reviewed publications and several books on female cancers and pathologic testing methods and issues.

Dr. Gill is a Professor of Medicine at the University of British Columbia and a medical oncologist specializing in gastrointestinal (GI) malignancies at BC Cancer – Vancouver.  She received a Bachelor’s of Science in Pharmacy and an MD from the University of British Columbia in 1996 followed by residencies in Internal Medicine and Medical Oncology. Dr. Gill subsequently completed a fellowship in Gl Oncology at the Mayo Clinic (Rochester, MN) and a Master’s of Public Health from the Harvard School of Public Health. In 2017, she completed an MBA from the Kenan-Flagler School of Business at the University of North Carolina.  She is actively engaged in education and research, with over 150 peer-reviewed publications and book chapters to her credit.  Dr. Gill currently serves as the Chair of the Canadian Clinical Trials Group (CCTG) GI Disease Site Committee, and is Past-President of the Canadian Association of Medical Oncologists

Frédérique PENAULT-LLORCA is currently professor of Pathology at the University of Clermont-Ferrand, CEO of the Comprehensive Regional Cancer Institute Centre Jean PERRIN, Clermont-Ferrand, France, deputy director of the research team INSERM 1240 IMoST, and head of the Molecular Biology Plateform at Centre Jean Perrin. She serves as vice-president of the UNICANCER group and chairs of the Immuno-Oncology group at UNICANCER R&D. She is a member of several pathology and oncology societies, with her main areas of expertise being female cancers. She co-chairs the French breast cancer guidelines of Nice-St Paul.  Frédérique PENAULT-LLORCA has conducted various biomarkers-based research studies in breast, GYN, lung, digestive tract, prostate and thyroid cancer in relation to response to targeted therapies and immunotherapies. Frédérique PENAULT-LLORCA has participated to more than 480 peer-reviewed publications and several books on female cancers and pathologic testing methods and issues.

Aleodor (Doru) Andea, MD, MBA, is Chief of Dermatopathology and Professor of Pathology and Dermatology at Roswell Park Cancer Institute, University of Buffalo and Adjunct Professor of Pathology and Dermatology at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, MI. Dr. Andea’s areas of expertise are Dermatopathology and Molecular Pathology. He received his MD from “Victor Babes” University of Medicine, Timisoara, Romania and completed an Anatomic and Clinical Pathology Residency at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan. This was followed by fellowships in Dermatopathology at Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC and Oncologic Pathology and Molecular Pathology at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY.

Dr. Andea also earned a Master of Business Administration degree from UAB School of Business. At Roswell Cancer Center Dr. Andea has established and is leading the Dermatopathology Molecular Diagnostics Laboratory providing clinical testing for melanocytic tumors. Dr Andea has a particular interest in developing and improving ancillary molecular tests to help classify and predict prognosis in histologically ambiguous melanocytic tumors. He was invited to deliver numerous national and international presentations on a variety of dermatopathology topics, with a focus on molecular diagnostic tools for melanocytic tumors. Dr. Andea is the author of over 100 peer-reviewed publications, one book, 3 book chapters and over 100 abstracts mainly in the field of dermatopathology.

Dr. Bishop completed his pathology training at The Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. Dr. Bishop is faculty for UT Southwestern Medical Center where he is Professor, Chief of Anatomic Pathology, and Jane B. and Edwin P. Jenevein M.D. Distinguished Chair in Pathology. Dr. Bishop has given numerous lectures and courses nationally and internationally. He has published extensively in the field of head and neck/endocrine pathology, with more than 300 articles. Dr. Bishop has also co-authored or edited 11 books and numerous book chapters including the American Registry of Pathology (formerly Armed Forces Institute of Pathology) fascicle on salivary gland tumors and the WHO Classification of Head and Neck Tumours. Dr. Bishop is the editor-in-chief for Seminars in Diagnostic Pathology.

My main research interest is to understand the involvement of the microbiome in health promotion and disease development. As a pathologist I am specialized in gastrointestinal-, pulmonary- and infectious disease pathology, as well as tumor genetics with a focus on molecular diagnostic methods. I established diagnostic microbiome analysis and untargeted deep sequencing applications for infectious diseases at the Medical University of Graz, which is a unique diagnostic measure used from clinicians in Austria and abroad. Complementing visualization of diseases with microscopy techniques and spatial transcriptomics allows me to gain deep insights into pathogenetic mechanisms. My research group studies the gut microbiome in the context of inflammatory GI diseases, specifically addressing its immunomodulatory potential and how this contributes to diseases like inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and cancer. A major research focus is the modulation of the GI microbiome via fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT). Together with my clinical partners I established the workflows and frameworks for FMT in Graz, wherein our group is international renown. Currently, we try CV Gregor Gorkiewicz 2 to define the “active ingredients” of FMT to develop new “biotherapies” to replace FMT. I serve also as a PI in the doctoral school “Molecular Inflammation” (DK-MOLIN) and as an academic editor for the journal MICROBIOME. During the pandemic I started investigating COVID-19. Due to a unique BSL-3 autopsy facility at my institution, we were able to establish a huge sample and virus collection. Autopsy complemented with microbiology and “omics” techniques (RNAseq, metabolomics, etc.) allowed us to gain deep insights into SARS-CoV-2 infection. Besides in publications these findings were also covered extensively in public printed media and on TV.

Vania Nosé, M.D., Ph.D., is a Professor of Pathology at Harvard Medical School and practicing pathologist and consultant in Endocrine Pathology at Massachusetts General Hospital (Boston, USA). Dr. Nosé brings more than 30 years of experience as Surgical Pathologist with expertise in Endocrine Pathology, Head and Neck Pathology, and Familial Cancer Syndromes. She is past-President of the Endocrine Pathology Society. She has numerous peer reviewed manuscripts and is an editor of 2022 books “WHO Classification of Tumours: Head and Neck Tumours” and “WHO Classification of Tumours: Endocrine and Neuroendocrine Tumours”, as well as author of books titled “Diagnostic Pathology: Endocrine” and “Diagnostic Pathology: Familial Cancer Syndromes”. In addition to that, she also serves as Program Director of Massachusetts General Hospital’s Surgical Pathology Fellowship Program for the last 10 years. Vania Nosé is member of the Board of Directors of the WTR since 2022.

Dr. Benedikt Westphalen studied Medicine and Molecular Biology in Hamburg, Philadelphia, New York, and Bern.

After completing his medical studies, Dr. Westphalen initiated his training in Internal Medicine at the University of Hamburg in 2008. In 2010, he joined the laboratory of Prof. Timothy C. Wang at Columbia University in New York City as a postdoctoral fellow. Here, his research centered on the intricacies of cellular plasticity and the origins of gastrointestinal malignancies.

Subsequently, in 2013, Dr. Westphalen affiliated with the Department of Hematology and Oncology at the University of Munich. In this role, he concentrated on clinical and translational research pertaining to pancreatic cancer and early-phase clinical trials. By 2017, he assumed leadership of the Molecular Tumor Board and subsequently the Precision Oncology Program at the University of Munich. In 2023 he took the clinical leadership position of the newly certified Center for Personalized Medicine at University of Munich.

Throughout his career, Dr. Westphalen has been the recipient of research support from entities such as the German Research Foundation, the German Cancer Aid and the Universities of Hamburg and Munich. His accomplishments have been recognized with young investigator awards from the AACR and GRG/AGA. Dr. Westphalen has authored and co-authored over 100 research papers. On a European level, Dr. Westphalen he has been a member of the EU Commission expert group: Mission Board for Cancer from 2022 onwards.

Dr. Westphalen joined ESMO in 2017 and was a participant in the ESMO Leaders Generation Programme the following year. In 2019, he joined the ESMO Translational Research and Precision Medicine Working Group and the ESMO GI and Translational Research Faculty. In 2024, Dr. Westphalen became a Chair of the Translational Research and Precision Medicine Working Group.

Enrique de Álava, M.D., Ph.D., Chairman of the Department of Pathology at Virgen del Rocío University Hospital and Principal Investigator at the Institute of Biomedicine of Seville since 2013, also holds a professorship in Pathology at the University of Sevilla. He orchestrates the Precision Medicine Strategy of the Andalusian Health Service, integrating cutting-edge molecular diagnostics into clinical practice.

Prof. de Álava, a pathologist with a deep interest in bone, soft tissue, and molecular pathology, served as the president of the Spanish Society of Pathology from 2015 to 2017. He completed his medical training and obtained his Ph.D. from the University of Navarra. His postdoctoral studies at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center were underpinned by a Spanish Ministry of Education and Science fellowship.

His career at the Spanish Research Council (CSIC) transitioned from a research scientist to a Full Research Professor, during which he also led the Molecular Pathology Laboratory at the Cancer Research Center of Salamanca. His research pursuits in sarcoma pathogenesis and diagnostic innovations have been recognized and supported by European and national funding bodies, as well as industry collaborations.

Leading a consortium with a substantial project on sarcoma funded by AECC for 2023-2027, Dr. de Álava is also a vocal participant in the medical and scientific dialogue online. He utilizes Twitter to share professional updates, engage with peers, and contribute to the global conversation on pathology. He tweets personally @EnriquedeAlava and professionally shares insights and developments from his department @PathologyHUVR and his laboratory @LabHUVR, bridging the gap between complex molecular research and everyday clinical practice.

Dr. Dara Aisner is a board-certified certified Anatomic and Molecular Genetic Pathologist.  She is a Professor of Pathology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine in Denver, Colorado and a member of the University of Colorado Comprehensive Cancer Center.  She is also board certified in Clinical Informatics.

She is the Director of the Colorado Molecular Correlates Laboratory and the Vice Chair for Genomic Laboratory Medicine within the Department of Pathology.  The laboratory provides CLIA level clinical services in the evaluation of patient tumor specimens for personalized medicine approaches.

She is a member of numerous oncology pathology and guidelines committees including the NCCN Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer panel, among others.  Dr. Aisner is a leader in helping establish formal processes helping medical oncologists and pathologists work optimally together, which is especially important in today’s world of precision diagnostics, personalized medicine and next-generation sequencing testing.

Lucian R. Chirieac, MD is Professor of Pathology at Harvard Medical School and Senior Pathologist at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts.

He is a contributing author of the 4^th and 5^th Editions of W.H.O. Classification of Tumours of the Lung, Pleura, Thymus and Heart. He has authored and coauthored more than 140 articles published in peer-reviewed journals and numerous book chapters in textbooks with a focus on lung cancer and malignant mesothelioma. Dr. Chirieac is the editor of two books, Precision Molecular Pathology of Lung Cancer, and Molecular Pathology of Lung Cancer.

He is coinvestigator of 3 National Institutes of Health grants and is a member in 7 prestigious national and international professional societies.  Dr. Chirieac is the only pathologist elected as permanent member in the National Clinical Trials Network (NCTN) Therapeutic Disease Specific Steering Committee and NCI Community Oncology Research Program (NCORP) Cancer Control Steering Committee at the National Cancer Institute (NCI). As a pulmonary oncologic pathologist, he is a member of the Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Committee and Malignant Mesothelioma Committee of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN), which establishes international guidelines for the treatment of lung cancer and malignant mesothelioma.

In 2018 and 2019 Dr. Chirieac was recognized for two consecutive years as one of the most influential researchers in science.  He received the Highly Cited Researcher Award by Web of Science Group for “exceptional influence and research performance demonstrated by production of multiple highly cited papers that rank in the top 1% by citations for field and year in Web of Science“.

Dr. Chirieac is an invited member to the International Mesothelioma Panel and the U.S.-Canadian Mesothelioma Reference Panel. He is on the Pathology Committee for the Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology, which is supported by the National Cancer Institute, is a permanent member on the Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Panel of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network and is a committee expert on the International Committee on Cancer Reporting. He is a member of multiple professional societies including, the United States and Canadian Academy of Pathology, Pulmonary Pathology Society, American Association for Cancer Research, International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer, and American Society of Clinical Oncology. He is a fellow of the American Society of Clinical Pathologists and the College of American Pathologists. Dr. Chirieac has received many honors and awards and participates in high-profile national and international scientific meetings. Dr. Chirieac was invited to moderate, chair, and present at highly reputable meetings like the United States and Canadian Academy of Pathology (USCAP), International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC), Pulmonary Pathology Society (PPS), World Conference on Lung Cancer, Romanian Academy of Sciences and International Academy of Pathology (IAP). He routinely lectures on aspects of malignant mesothelioma and lung cancer at conferences, seminars and meetings throughout United States, Europe, Australia, Asia and Middle East.

Dr. Goswami obtained her undergraduate degrees in Genetics and Medical Microbiology from the University of Manitoba and her undergraduate medical degree from the University of Toronto. She subsequently completed her residency in Anatomical Pathology at McGill University, and completed a PhD from the University of Toronto examining the use of microRNAs in the prognostication of mantle cell lymphoma. She went on to obtain clinical subspecialty training in Hematopathology and Molecular Genetic Pathology at the University of British Columbia and the MD Anderson Cancer Center, holding U.S. board certification in both subspecialties. Dr. Goswami is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology within the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto. Her primary research interest involves the application of molecular techniques to assist in the diagnosis and prognosis of hematologic and solid tumour malignancies. She is also interested in molecular pathology education and served as the elected Hematopathology representative on the AMP Training & Education from 2017-2019. She currently works as a staff hematopathologist and is the Hematopathology Molecular Lead at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Dr. Hyrcza is a molecular biologist and an anatomical pathologist. He completed the MD/PhD program at the University of Toronto with the PhD thesis focusing on the transcriptional regulation of the type I interferon responses in HIV infection. He then completed anatomical pathology training at the University of British Columbia and a fellowship in Head & Neck and Endocrine Pathology at UofT. He is currently the consultant pathologist in Head and Neck, Ophthalmic & Endocrine Pathology at the Foothills Medical Center and Rockyview General Hospital. Dr Hyrcza is married and has three children.

Marius Ilié is Professor of Pathology at the Nice Medical School, Côte d’Azur University and Surgical Pathologist at the Clinical and Experimental Pathology Laboratory, Nice University Hospital. He has special interest in thoracic pathology, melanoma and thyroid cancer, molecular pathology. He has responsibility for the day-to-day running of the Liquid biopsy Unit, as well as management of several projects with industry partners within the Biobank. He has a longstanding interest and expertise in the area of prognostic and predictive biomarkers in thoracic oncology as well as in Biobanking. He has contributed to several publications in the field of biomedical research and biorepository science. He is also dedicated to teaching as Deputy Director of the MSc “Biobanks and Complex Data Management” and Director of the Research Master “Oncology and Translational Research” at the Côte d’Azur University.

Dr. Laskin is a Clinical Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of British Columbia, Associate Member in Canada’s Michael Smith Genome Sciences Centre, and an active member of the medical oncology staff at BC Cancer, Vancouver. Dr Laskin’s clinical and research interests have primarily focused around lung and head and neck cancers. In recent years her research has evolved towards genomic and personalized medicine and she is the clinical program leader for the Personalized Oncogenomics (POG) Program which is a collaborative research program that involves the clinicians of BC Cancer and the Genome Sciences Centre. The POG program is truly a translational research effort that uses in-depth genomic sequencing to guide chemotherapy decision-making in a clinically relevant time-frame.

Professor Umberto Malapelle in an Associate Professor in School of Medicine at the University of Naples Federico II.  Umberto is currently the Chair of Predictive Molecular Pathology Laboratory, Department of Public Health of University Federico II of Naples.

His main research interest is in the field of genomic biomarkers validation and testing for predictive information in the field of lung cancer, metastatic colorectal cancer, melanoma and gastrointestinal stromal tumor.

Moreover, he has developed skills in tailoring Next Generation Assays for several different applications with a special focus on the simultaneously detection of clinically relevant alterations (i.e., EGFR mutations, ALK traslocation, PD–L1 expression) in the routine setting including handling of different sample types, such as tissues and/or liquid biopsy specimens.

Frédérique PENAULT-LLORCA, MD, PhD, graduated as a medical specialist in pathology in 1993 and in oncology in 1995. Also, in 1995, she received a PhD from the Université d’Aix-Marseille II in cellular biology and microbiology, on the topic of HER2. Frédérique PENAULT-LLORCA is currently professor of Pathology at the University of Clermont-Ferrand, CEO of the Comprehensive Regional Cancer Institute Centre Jean PERRIN, Clermont-Ferrand, France, deputy director of the research team INSERM 1240 IMoST, and head of the Molecular Biology Plateform at Centre Jean Perrin. She serves as vice-president of the UNICANCER group and chairs of the Immuno-Oncology group at UNICANCER R&D. She is a member of several pathology and oncology societies, with her main areas of expertise being female cancers. She co-chairs the French breast cancer guidelines of Nice-St Paul. Frédérique PENAULT-LLORCA has conducted various biomarkers-based research studies in breast, GYN, lung, digestive tract, prostate and thyroid cancer in relation to response to targeted therapies and immunotherapies. Frédérique PENAULT-LLORCA has participated to more than 480 peer-reviewed publications and several books on female cancers and pathologic testing methods and issues.

Malcolm Hayes is a pathologist at the BC Cancer Agency (BCCA) in Vancouver. Dr. Hayes has worked at the BCCA since 1993 and has broad expertise in surgical pathology and cytopathology and major interests in breast, skin, gynecological and soft tissue pathology. He is a Clinical Professor of pathology at the University of British Columbia and a Fellow of the Royal College of Pathologist of UK. He has many years of expertise in oncological pathology based on 30 years experience of a large volume of challenging consultation cases referred to the BCCA .

Marius Ilié is Professor of Pathology at the Nice Medical School, Côte d’Azur University and Surgical Pathologist at the Clinical and Experimental Pathology Laboratory, Nice University Hospital. He has special interest in thoracic pathology, melanoma and thyroid cancer, molecular pathology. He has responsibility for the day-to-day running of the Liquid biopsy Unit, as well as management of several projects with industry partners within the Biobank. He has a longstanding interest and expertise in the area of prognostic and predictive biomarkers in thoracic oncology as well as in Biobanking. He has contributed to several publications in the field of biomedical research and biorepository science. He is also dedicated to teaching as Deputy Director of the MSc “Biobanks and Complex Data Management” and Director of the Research Master “Oncology and Translational Research” at the Côte d’Azur University.

Dr. Natasha Leighl leads the Thoracic Medical Oncology Group at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, and is Professor in the Department of Medicine, and Adjunct Professor in the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation at the University of Toronto. She holds the OSI Pharmaceuticals Foundation Chair in Cancer New Drug Development through the Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation. She has published over 300 peer-reviewed papers, has held (as principal or co-investigator) over $600 million in peer-reviewed grant funding, and has mentored many oncology trainees that have gone on to leadership roles in oncology around the world. Recently, she was awarded the American Society of Clinical Oncology Excellence in Teaching Award (2019).

Dr. Marginean completed Anatomic and Clinical pathology residency training at St. Barnabas Medical Center, Livingston, NJ. Following her residency, she completed two fellowships, in GI/liver pathology at Yale University, CT and cytopathology at MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX. 

She worked at Ottawa Hospital for 14 years, and she was a Professor of Pathology at Ottawa University. While in Ottawa, she had numerous local, provincial and national leadership roles:  Head of GI Pathology Section and Deputy Head of Cytopathology Section at Ottawa Hospital; President of Ontario Association of Pathologists: Director of Undergraduate pathology education. 

Currently, she is the Co-Director of GI pathology and GI research at Baylor St Luke’s Hospital and holds a Professor rank at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, TX.

The majority of her research projects are related to biomarkers in GI cancer, and were presented at local, national or international meetings and published in high impact peer-reviewed journals. 

Dr. Erin Pleasance is a Staff Scientist at Canada’s Michael Smith Genome Sciences Centre at BC Cancer. She completed her PhD in Medical Genetics at UBC in Vancouver, Canada, and a postdoctoral fellowship at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Cambridge, UK. Dr. Pleasance is a lead analyst in the Personalized OncoGenomics (POG) project, a collaboration between researchers in bioinformatics and genomics, clinicians, and pathologists that uses genomic technologies to contribute to personalized cancer therapy decision making at BC Cancer. She has previously been involved in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and other sequencing projects with the National Cancer Institute, and the Cancer Genome Project, UK, where she analysed some of the first cancer genomes.

Dr. Schalper trained as cell/molecular biologist and surgical pathologist. His professional experience includes clinical molecular diagnostics and development of cancer biomarkers. His laboratory focuses on understanding dominant immune evasion pathways in human solid tumors and deciphering the structural/functional determinants of the tumor immune microenvironment in lung cancer. Dr. Schalper is also the director of the Translational Immuno-oncology Laboratory at the Yale Cancer Center where he leads the standardized analysis of biomarkers in clinical trials using advanced cell/tissue analysis platforms.

Dr. Schrader is a Clinician-Scientist, Medical Geneticist and Co-Medical Director of BC Cancer’s Hereditary Cancer Program. Dr Schrader’s research focuses on the molecular detection of known and novel cancer susceptibility genes and the application of precision oncology approaches to hereditary cancer care. Dr Schrader has contributed to the characterization of multiple hereditary cancer syndromes and has clinically translated these discoveries to impact patient care. Dr Schrader has recently been appointed a Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Clinical Cancer Genetics and Genomics and has been recognized with a Clinician-Scientist Award by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.​

Dr. Brandon Sheffield is an anatomic and molecular pathologist with the William Osler Health System. Dr. Sheffield specializes in the implementation and delivery of molecular diagnostics to guide cancer care. His clinical and research interests explore ways to make molecular testing more accessible to cancer patients in a publicly-funded healthcare system.

Dr. Sheffield completed medical training at the University of Toronto, Pathology residency at the University of British Columbia, he is currently serving as the physician lead of research and medical director of immunohistochemistry and molecular pathology at the William Osler Health System.

Dr. Basile Tessier-Cloutier completed his medical training at McGill University in Montreal and later moved to Vancouver for a combined residency in anatomical pathology at the University of British Columbia and Molecular Oncology Research fellowship with Dr. David Huntsman at the BC Cancer Research Centre. He is currently doing clinical fellowship in gynecologic pathology at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. His research focuses on the molecular profiling of SWI/SNF-deficient undifferentiated gynecologic malignancies.

Dr. Tsao is a Pathologist Scientist and Professor of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, and Professor of Medical Biophysics at the University of Toronto. He is a member of the Board of Directors, member of the Staging and Prognostic Factor Committee, and member and past Chair of the Pathology Committee of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC). He was the Standing Editorial Board member of the WHO Classification of Tumours, 5^th Edition. He co-chairs the Correlative Science and Tumor Biology Committee at the Canadian Cancer Trials Group (CCTG). He is globally recognized as a leader in molecular testing for lung cancer and has led several multi-center projects for standardization of lung cancer biomarker assays in Canada.