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Head of the Hepatic Oncology Unit – BCLC Group, Hospital Clinic, Barcelona, Spain
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Dr. Maria Reig is a physician-scientist internationally recognized for her expertise in liver diseases and liver cancer. She currently holds several positions, including Head of the Hepatic Oncology Unit at the Hospital Clinic of Barcelona since 2019, Head of the Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) group at IDIBAPS, and Head of the Liver Oncology Group at CIBEREHD since 2022. Dr. Reig plays a pivotal role in leading the BCLC generational relief, driving research and treatment advancements for liver cancer patients. Her visionary approach is evident in the incorporation of the “Clinical Decision-making concept” into the 2022 BCLC Staging System, a widely recommended classification globally (PMID: 34801630). This innovative concept has also been adopted by the 2023 AASLD guidance (PMID: 37199193), further solidifying its impact in the field.
H-index: 41; Research articles 153 (IF: 2.279; Cites 13.775). Since 2018: Manuscripts: 79; IF:1.412; 29 as a main author; 37 D1; 44 Q1, 12 Q2. Total funding ~ 10.5M€ in the context of competitive projects and investigator-initiated clinical trials.
She has demonstrated exceptional leadership by spearheading inclusive and collaborative projects. Over the past 5 years, she has led 12 international and national academic collaborations involving more than 4,020 liver cancer patients from all continents and over 70 centers. Her initiatives promote multidisciplinarity and foster shared leadership. Also, she participates in 2 projects funded by Horizon 2020 (n.952103 and EU4H-2021-JA-04). These collaborations have resulted in publications in renowned international journals, several of which have played a pivotal role in influencing clinical practice (PMIDs : 34856322; 34388851; 33741640; 33383399; 32170821; 30684506; 28898447; 27084592).
Her training in Immunooncology (U. Navarra), Statistics (UAB), along with her profound clinical knowledge of patients with liver diseases, liver cancer and their unmet clinical needs, have led her to design and lead two investigator-initiated multicenter clinical trials in Spain (NCT04170556 and NCT04316182). These trials emphasize the integration of translational research into academic clinical trials, allowing for a comprehensive understanding of liver cancer and enabling personalized treatment approaches. Dr. Reig’s influence extends beyond research and clinical expertise. She is Chair of the International Working Group for the Liver Cancers Council at Global Liver Institute (GLI), a non-profit patient organization. She has actively contributed to the advancement of liver cancer care through her active involvement in various scientific associations (ILCA, EASL, AEEH, ALEH, ESMO) ensuring that the patient’s voice is heard; the advancements translate into tangible benefits for patients and integrated into medical decision-making processes. She led the Spanish consensus of AEEH, AEC, SEOM, SERAM, SERVEI, and SETH involved in the HCC management. She is the EASL representative of the 2023 ILCA-EASL Cholangiocarcinoma guideline and the EASL Hepatocellular Carcinoma guideline update, and was part of the board of the three-liver cancer register led by AEEH (PMIDs: 28279536; 20036398).
Currently, she is the EASL representative at UEG, part of the AEEH Scientific Committee as well as of the Working group of rare liver tumor at ERN-rareLiver. She is Associate Editor in Journal of Hepatology (IF 30.083). She is Associate Professor at the University of Barcelona promoting young investigators, through hybrid stating. She is mentor of 15 MD and PhD students, fellows and residents. She is also PhD Thesis Director of 7 young doctors, and Master Thesis Director of 4 people since 2015.
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Clinical Research Fellow, Imperial College London
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Doctor of Medecine, La Pitié Salpétrière Hospital, Paris, France
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Dr Manon Allaire is Doctor of Medecine in La Pitié Salpétrière Hospital in Paris, headed by Pr Thabut. She focuses on teaching and research in hepatocellular carcinoma with focus in portal hypertension and systemic therapy. Dr Allaire obtained her medical degree in Hepatology and Gastroenterology in 2015 and her complementary medical degree in Medical Oncology in 2015. She is responsible of the Department of primary liver tumor in La Pitié Salpétrière Hospital, and of clinical and translational trials focus on primary liver tumor. Dr Allaire is also member of the Proliferation, Stress and Liver Physiopathology unit in the group of Dr C. Desdouets in the Centre de Recherche des Cordeliers in Paris. Her team aim to study new immune biomarkers to predict response to immunotherapy and the impact of portal hypertension on the management of hepatocellular carcinoma.
Associate Professor, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.
Augusto Villanueva is Assistant Professor in the Liver Cancer Program (Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York). He received his medical degree from the University of Santiago de Compostela (Spain), and he is board certified in Gastroenterology and Hepatology (Spain). In 2013, we jointed the Institute of Liver Studies atKing’s College Hospital in London as Senior Lecturer and Consultant Hepatologist where he was co-leadingthe HCC Clinic and Multidisciplinary Tumor Board. In 2014 he was recruitedatthe Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai where he combines clinical activity and research focused on the development of novel minimally invasive biomarkers of liver cancer using liquid biopsy. He has more than 135publications (>14,000 citations, H-index 55) including articles in N Engl J Med, Nat Genet, Nat Biotech, Nat Commun,Gastroenterology, Hepatology, J Hepatol, J Clin Invest, Oncogene, etc. He wrote more than 15 book chapters and edited a book on resistance to targeted therapies in HCC. He servedas Associate Editor for J Hepatoland Liver Cancer and he is the current Executive Secretary of the International Liver Cancer Association.
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Clinical Professor,Department of Clinical Oncology of The Chinese University of Hong Kong.
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Prof. Stephen Lam CHAN is the Clinical Professor at the Department of Clinical Oncology of the Chinese University of Hong Kong. His main interest of research is clinical and translational studies on hepatobiliary-pancreatic and neuroendocrine cancers. Prof. Chan has published over 200 papers in peer reviewer journals and delivered over 140 international lectures.
Internationally, Prof. Chan is serving as the Head of External Relations of the International Liver Cancer Association (ILCA). He has also served in Scientific Committee of the European Society for Medical Oncology Congress as a track chair in 2021 and committee member from 2022-2023. Besides, He has been invited to be Associate Editors in several journals including Journal of Hepatology, Liver Cancer, and Therapeutic Advances in Medical Oncology.
Locally, Prof. Chan is the Panel Member of Biology and Medicine Panel for the General Research Fund in Hong Kong. He has also established a charity hand in hand cancer foundation to serve patients in need.
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Associate Professor, Icahn School of Medicine Mt Sinai
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Amaia Lujambio got her PhD at the Spanish National Cancer Center (CNIO) studying the epigenetic regulation of microRNAs in cancer (Esteller laboratory). She then pursued her postdoctoral studies (Scott Lowelaboratory) demonstrating that p53 can suppress liver tumorigenesis through non-cell-autonomous mechanisms by modulating macrophage polarization and tumor microenvironment, highlighting the importance that the immune cell compartment has in liver cancer. The focus of the Lujambio laboratory is to better understand liver cancer initiation and liver cancer maintenance by using sophisticated mouse models of cancer, RNA interference and CRISPR technology, valuable human samples, and genetic and immune profiling as key tools.
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Abdominal Transplant & HPB Surgical Oncology, University Health Network….
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Dr. Gonzalo Sapisochin is Staff Surgeon at The Toronto General Hospital, UHN. Dr. Sapisochin received his Medical Diploma in 2005 from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain and went on to complete his General Surgery residency training in 2011 at the University Hospital of Vall d’Hebron in Barcelona where he successfully defended his Doctoral Thesis, “Optimization of Liver Transplantation for Hepatocellular Carcinoma”, to receive his PhD be the Universidad Autonoma de Barcelona. He went on to complete his Clinical Fellowship in Abdominal Transplant & HPB Surgical Oncology with the University of Toronto and was subsequently recruited in a position at the Toronto General Hospital as Staff Surgeon with the Multi-Organ Transplant Program and the Division of General Surgery. He is currently an Associate Professor of Surgery at the University of Toronto. Dr. Sapisochin main research interest is the “interface” between liver transplantation and cancer. He has been one of the drivers of the concept of Transplant Oncology and chaired in 2019 the ILTS Consensus Conference in this topic. He has focused his research in the management of hepatocellular carcinoma, cholangiocarcinoma and colorectal liver metastases. He has published more than 150 original manuscripts in peer-reviewed journals such as Journal of Hepatology, Hepatology, Annals of Surgical Oncology or Annals of Surgery.
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Hannover Medical School, Hannover
Germany
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Arndt Vogel, MD, is managing senior consultant and professor in the Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Endocrinology at Hannover Medical School. He is head of the GI-Cancer Center and of the Center for Personalized Medicine at Medical School Hannover.
Prof Vogel’s scientific focus is the translational and clinical research in gastrointestinal cancer. Since 2004, he is leading a basic research group interested in the pathogenesis of GI-cancers with a special focus on hepatobiliary cancers and precision medicine. Arndt Vogel has been a clinical investigator in oncology since 2006 and has served as principal investigator on numerous clinical trials. He is author or co-author of more than 250 articles published in peer-reviewed journals including Lancet Oncology, Cancer Cell, Gastroenterology, and Hepatology.
Prof Vogel is member of societies including ESMO, ASCO, and EASL. He is member and chairman of Hepatobiliary Cancer Study Group of the AIO, a collaborative group in clinical oncology in Germany. Within ESMO, he is member of the ESMO Guidelines Steering Committee. Prof Vogel has responsibilities in the establishment of the national guideline and is the coordinator of the ESMO clinical practice guideline on the management of hepatocellular carcinoma and biliary tract cancer.