Speakers 2018

Medical Oncologist and Chief of the Genito-Urinary program at Istituto Oncologico Veneto IOV IRCCS, Padova – Italy

Dr. Umberto Basso graduated in Medicine at the University of Padova in 1995, and then specialized in Medical Oncology in 2000 at the same University; he then acquired ESMO European Certification in Medical Oncology in 2002.

Dr. Basso is full-time Medical Oncologist and Chief of the Genito-Urinary program at Istituto Oncologico Veneto IOV IRCCS, Padova. His main interests are cancer of the Prostate and Bladder, Renal cell carcinoma, germ cell tumors, and soft tissue sarcomas.

Dr. Umberto Basso has published more than 150 articles in the field of urological malignancies, soft tissue sarcomas, breast cancer and cancer in the elderly in general, and has been involved in several phase II and phase III clinical trials in these cancers. He has presented several abstracts at National and International Congresses.

He is full member of AIOM, ESMO, ASCO, Gruppo Uro-Oncologico Nord-Est-GUONE, Italian Germ Cell Cancer Group-IGG.

Head of the Urology and Prostate Brachytherapy Unit at the Gustave Roussy Cancer Institute in Villejuif, Paris – France

His professional career started in Italy where he was born. He graduated in Medicine and Surgery in 1988 and specialized in Radiotherapy and Diagnostic Radiology in 1992 at the University of Pavia. He worked in Como, Milan and Leuven (Belgium). Since 2006 he works for IGR.

He is the Course Director of the Multidisciplinary ESTRO-EAU-ESMO Teaching Course on Prostate Cancer and teacher at both the ESO (European School of Oncology) and EAU (European Association of Urology) Prostate Courses.

He is PI and co-PI (Principal Investigator) of two major European Phase III trials on Prostate Cancer and has published over 80 papers in peer-reviewed journals.

Director of the Department of Oncology, Istituto Toscano Tumori, Azienda USL Toscana Sud-Est and Chief of the Medical Oncology Unit and of the Prostate Cancer and Genitourinary Unit, Ospedale San Donato, Arezzo – Italy

Dr. Bracarda graduated at the School of Medicine, University of Perugia, specialised in Medical Oncology at the Sacred Heart Catholic University of Rome, Italy, and in urology at the University of Perugia.

His current research interests are genitourinary oncology, and particularly prostate cancer, renal cell carcinoma and urothelial cancer, CNS tumors, treatment approaches that combine biological and immunological agents with traditional drugs or new targeted agents and schedule optimization.

Dr. Bracarda has published 123 articles in peer-reviewed journals, more than 700 abstracts, and a number of text book chapters.

Director of the Medical Oncology Unit, Ospedale S. Chiara, Trento – Italy

Orazio Caffo graduated in Medicine and Surgery at the University of Catania and, in 1990, he specialized in Medical Oncology at the University of Parma. He has been working for over twenty-two years at the Santa Chiara Hospital in Trento and in May 2016 he became director of the Medical Oncology Unit.

His fields of interest are: the treatment of solid tumors, in particular lung, prostate and bladder carcinomas, multidisciplinary integration, assessment of the quality of life in oncology.

He is author and coauthor of 122 printed publications in mainly international journals, and author and coauthor of more than 250 communications.
He is a member of AIOM, ASCO, ESMO and IASLC.

Professor of Molecular Biology, University of Trento – Italy; Head of the Computational Oncology Laboratory, Centre for Integrative Biology

Francesca Demichelis is expert in the area of Cancer Genomics with special emphasis in prostate cancer. Her laboratory focuses on the characterization of tumor evolution and progression through the study of intra- and inter-tumor heterogeneity using single base level information from tissue biopsies or circulating DNA.

She has longstanding interest in the impact of inherited polymorphisms within transcriptionally active regulatory regions on the initiation of hormone regulated cancer phenotypes. Her research group is involved in international consortia studies including The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and Stand Up 2 Cancer International/ PCF Dream Team.

Dr. Demichelis has received support from the European Research Council (ERC), the Department of Defense (USA), the National Cancer Institute (NCI), and the Prostate Cancer Foundation.

Medical Oncologist, senior staff member and full professor at the Erasmus MC Cancer Institute, Rotterdam -The Netherlands

Professor de Wit earned his medical degree at the University of Amsterdam and specialized in Internal Medicine and Medical Oncology at the Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam.

He is member of a wide range of professional societies and committees and serves as Faculty Member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology and the European Society of Medical Oncology (1999-2015).

His research focus is Genito- Urinary Oncology. His publications include over 300 papers and book chapters.

Senior Consultant and Head of Clinical Trial Unit, Department of Oncology/Hematology, Kantonsspital St. Gallen, St. Gallen – Switzerland

Prof. Gillessen Sommer received her medical degree from the University of Basel, Switzerland. She completed a postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Adult Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, USA, before joining Kantonsspital St. Gallen as a consultant in 2001.

Since 1995, Dr. Gillessen Sommer has served as an investigator or principle investigator for multiple phase I, II, and III clinical trials, including “first-in-man” trials. She has published work in leading journals, including Clinical Cancer Research, Journal of National Cancer Institute, Clinical Genitourinary Cancer, European Journal of Cancer, European Urology, Journal of Clinical Oncology, New England Institute of Medicine, Annals of Oncology and Urology International. Her awards include the Byk-Preis (2001), the SIAK/ESSEX Prize and the SAKK/PFIZER Award.

2017 she became chair of Scientific Sub-Committee for Genitourinary tumours (Prostate) for ESMO 2018. From 2016 she is a Member of the ESMO guidelines Committee as deputy for GU malignancies.

Medical Oncologist, Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria Integrata, Verona – Italy

Dr. Roberto Iacovelli studied medicine at the “Sapienza” University of Rome, Italy. At the same University, he specialized in medical oncology and had the PhD in molecular medicine and human pathology.

He had international experience as a fellow at Institute Gustave Roussy in France and as oncologist in main referral oncological centres in Italy. Currently, he is a medical oncologist at the University Hospital of Verona, Italy.

His research activities focus on metastatic renal cell carcinoma, prostate and bladder cancer. His major interest is in predictive and prognostic factors in GU cancers as well as the sequence of therapy in renal cancer. He published more than one hundred papers in international peer-reviewed journals and several abstracts at international conferences on these topics.

Dr. Iacovelli received many national and international awards, such as the ASCO Cancer Foundation Merit Award in 2011 and the best poster award at the ESMO congress in 2012.

Chief of Prostate Cancer Unit, Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria Careggi, Firenze – Italy

Dr. Alberto Lapini studied medicine at the University of Florence, where he specialised in Urological Surgery.

From 1991 to 1996 he worked as an Assistant in Urology at the Urological Department of the University of Florence. From 1996 until now he worked at the same hospital as senior member and since 2005 as chief of the oncology section.

From January 2015 chief of the Prostate Cancer Unit. Dr. Lapini is member of several national and international associations, including the Italian Urological Society (SIU), The Italian Society of Urologic Oncology (SIURO) in which he is the incoming president, and the European Association of Urology (EAU).

Dr. Lapini has published over 150 publications in both national and international journals. Dr. Lapini has received awards from the Italian Urological Society, European Urological Association and American Urological Association as recognitions for his publications and presentations.

Head of Urology Unit, Ospedale Santa Chiara, Trento – Italy

Dr. Malossini specialized in Urology at University of Padova and in Trauma Surgery at University of Verona.

Since 2005 dr. Gianni Malossini is pursuing a program of technological innovation in clinical and urological surgery, by using mini-invasive techniques such as laparoscopic video and robotic surgery.

He personally performed over 3,300 major surgery, including 600 laparoscopic video surgeries and over 400 robotic-based operations.

Professor of Urology, Head of the Urology Department, University Jean Monnet, Saint-Etienne – France

He is board certified in surgery, urology and medical oncology. He is chairman of the EAU Prostate Cancer Guidelines, board member of the GETUG, and member of the SIOG guidelines.

He published over 180 peer-reviewed papers; he is member of the Editorial Board of the European Urology Journal and a reviewer several urological and oncological journals.

Director of the Oncology Department of ASLCN2, Alba (CN). Italy

Dr. Cinzia Ortega, a specialist in Medical Oncology, was a collaborator of the Medical Oncology Division of the Institute for Cancer Research and Treatment of Candiolo, Turin, from 1999 to 2016 when she became Director of the Oncology Department of ASLCN2, Alba (CN).

She graduated in medicine at the University of Turin in 1990 and specialized in the following 4 years in Medical Oncology.
Dr. Ortega has been involved in the treatment of urogenital tumors since 2001.

She has conducted clinical research in this field at the IRCCS of Candiolo coordinating several clinical studies proposing the use of innovative medical therapies. Even today, as Director of Alba’s Medical Oncology Department, she is involved in the direct care of patients with predominantly urogenital neoplastic diseases and in clinical studies on various neoplasms.

Since 2005 she participated in the drafting of guidelines for diagnostic and therapeutic approaches to neoplastic disorders of the genitourinary tract.
She is author or co-author of numerous publications on international and national journals and presentations at lectures or conferences.

Clinical epidemiologist, Silea – Italy

Dr. Pappagallo obtained his degree in medicine and surgery from the University of Padova. He obtained specific competencies in the fields of clinical epidemiology, clinical trials and evidence-based medicine at: Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, Department of Epidemiology, Clinical Trials Unit, Baltimora – USA; Unità di Sperimentazioni Cliniche, Istituto Tumori Genova (IST) – Italy; University of Oxford, Oxford – United Kingdom; McMaster University, Hamilton – Canada; European School of Oncology, Dublin – Ireland.

For almost 20 years, he has been working as Chief of Epidemiology and Clinical Trials Office, Department of Oncology and Oncology Hematology, of Azienda ULSS 3 Serenissima Dolo-Mirano (Venice). Since 2017 he works as clinical epidemiologist in Silea (Treviso).

His fields of interest are: Systematic Reviews of Scientific Literature, Production of Guidelines for Clinical Practice (GRADE system), Consensus building method (Delphi and NGT methods), Innovative approaches to drug clinical development and trial design, Validation of prognostic / predictive Biomarkers, Secondary prevention of neoplasia (screening).

Director of the Genitourinary Cancer Unit of the Medical Oncology Department at Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori – Milano, Italy

He obtained his degree in medicine and surgery from the University of Messina in 1992 and over the next 5 years he specialised in Medical Oncology.

Since 2000 he has been the principal investigator for a number of large clinical trials of investigational drugs for the treatment of metastatic renal cell cancer and prostate cancer.

Dr. Procopio has published widely in peer-reviewed journals (more than 150 papers) and presented at many international meetings. He is also an active member of many scientific societies, including AIOM, the European Society of Medical Oncology (ESMO) and the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO).

Chairman of the Division of Urology and Professor of Urology at the Université catholique de Louvain (UCL), Cliniques universitaires Saint-Luc, Brussels – Belgium

Professor Tombal obtained his MD in 1990 and his PhD in 2003, both from the Université catholique de Louvain. He completed part of his basic sciences training at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore (USA.)

Professor Tombal’s primary clinical interest is the treatment of advanced stages of prostate cancer, and particularly hormonal treatment and development of new biological agents.

He is heading the urooncology division at the Université catholique de Louvain where he is coordinating several trials in this research area. He is President of the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC), the leading European academic research organization in the field of cancer.

Medical Oncologist, Medical Oncology Unit, A.O.U. S. Luigi Gonzaga in Orbassano – Italy

Dr Marcello Tucci is a specialist in Medical Oncology and received a master’s degree in Palliative Medicine from the University of Turin, Italy.Since 2008 he has been working as a medical oncologist at the A.O.U.

San Luigi Gonzaga Oncology Unit in Orbassano, Turin, where he is the coordinator of prostate cancer diagnostic and therapeutic activities from 2014.

He is Clinical Coordinator of the “ANEMOS” Hospice of A.O.U. S. Luigi Gonzaga of Orbassano.
He is involved in working groups of the Oncology Network of Piemonte and Valle d’Aosta Regions and he developed specific recommendations in the urological cancer field.

He is the supervisor for the management of national and international multicenter clinical trials, sponsored and spontaneous, in genitourinary cancers in accordance with “Good Clinical Practice.

Professor of Oncology, Department of Oncology and Hematology-Oncology, Università degli Studi di Milano – Italy

Prof. Riccardo Valdagni received his medical degree from Università di Bologna, Faculty of Medicine, and his MS in Radiation Oncology from Università di Padova, Italy.He was a Research Scholar in Radiation Oncology at Stanford University Medical College, USA.

He is presently Associate Professor at the Department of Oncology and Hemato-oncology of Università degli Studi di Milano and Director of Radiation Oncology 1 Unit and Prostate Cancer Program at Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori in Milano. He chairs the Italian Society for Urologic Oncology (SIUrO) and coordinates the Prostate Cancer Programme of the European School of Oncology (ESO).

He has authored more than 140 publications, his major interests including Prostate Cancer, Radiation Oncology, Active Surveillance and Predictive Modeling.