Program Director

Nadia Harbeck

Director, Breast Center
LMU University Hospital, Germany

Nadia Harbeck, MD, PhD, is head of the Breast Center and holds the chair for Conservative Oncology at the Dept. of OB&GYN, LMU University Hospital, Munich, Germany. She obtained her specialist degree (OB&GYN) at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and her medical degree from the Ludwig-Maximilians University of Munich (LMU).

Professor Harbeck is a member of the expert panel issuing the German AGO recommendations for breast cancer therapy (www.ago-online.de). She is co-director of the West German Study Group (www.wsg-online.com). From 2009-2015, she served on the executive board of the EORTC. In 2020, she was appointed subject editor for the ESMO Breast Cancer Guidelines. Professor Harbeck is a principal investigator or steering committee member of numerous breast cancer trials, particularly with novel targeted compounds and individualized treatment strategies. She has a strong interest in eHealth and is a co-developer of CANKADO, an international digital patient diary (www.cankado.com).

Professor Harbeck is one of the most frequently cited clinical researchers worldwide (highly cited researchers 2021). She has authored about 550 papers in peer-reviewed journals (h-index 87) and is coordinating editor-in-chief of Breast Care (Karger Publishers). She is a panel member of several international breast cancer consensus conferences.

Professor Harbeck is recipient of the 2020 ESMO Lifetime Achievement Award. She also received several additional recognitions of her clinical and translational research such as the 2021 UPO Award for Women in Academy and Research, the 2015 Bavarian Cancer Patient Award, the 2012 Claudia von Schilling Award, the 2008 EBCC Award, the 2002 AGO Schmidt-Matthiesen Award, a 2001 AACR Award, and the 2001 ASCO Fellowship Merit Award for the highest ranking abstract.

Disclosures:

HonorariaAstraZeneca, Exact Sciences, Lilly, Novartis, Pfizer
Contract of employment –
Co-Director West German Study Group

Stephen Johnston

Professor of Breast Cancer Medicine, Consultant Medical Oncologist and Head of The Breast Unit at the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust & Institute of Cancer Research, London

Stephen Johnston is Professor of Breast Cancer Medicine, Consultant Medical Oncologist and Head of The Breast Unit at the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust & Institute of Cancer Research, London. He was appointed Head of Medical Oncology at The Royal Marsden in 2019, having previously been the first Director of the UK’s  National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Biomedical Research Centre for Cancer at The Royal Marsden from 2006-12.

He graduated in 1983 from Trinity College at The University of Cambridge, and in 1986 from The Medical School at The University of Newcastle upon Tyne. He trained in General Medicine at St Bartholomew’s Hospital and Hammersmith Hospital in London, and subsequently in Medical Oncology at the Royal Marsden Hospital. He gained his PhD from the Institute of Cancer Research at the University of London, and took up his current position as Consultant Medical Oncologist on the Breast Unit at the Royal Marsden Hospital in 1997.

He has a specialist interest in the treatment of metastatic breast cancer, and his major research interests lie in understanding mechanisms of endocrine resistance in breast cancer. He is actively involved in facilitating the interface between basic and applied research, and has been Chief Investigator of several phase II / III trials of novel endocrine based therapeutic approaches in both advanced and early stage disease, including one of the large global adjuvant CDK 4/6 inhibitor studies in early breast cancer. He has published over 260 breast cancer related articles in peer-reviewed journals, and is a regular invited lecturer at national & international meetings.

He is a member of various scientific committees and international advisory boards, has served as Faculty  Member at the American Society for Clinical Oncology and is currently on the Scientific Committee in the European Society for Medical Oncology.

Disclosures:

Honoraria – Eli Lilly, AstraZeneca, Puma Biotech, Pfizer, Novartis, Sanofi Genzyme, Eisai, Roche/Genentech

Renate Haidinger

Patient Advocate, Neubiberg, Germany

Medical Journalist, consultant, Founder and President of the German Breast Cancer Association – Brustkrebs Deutschland e.V.

Following completion of Renate’s university-entrance diploma, she worked as a freelance journalist, specializing in psychology and medicine in 1987. In December 2000, Mrs. Haidinger was diagnosed with breast cancer. After several surgeries and chemotherapy, she founded a local advocacy group, brustkrebs-muenchen e.V., in December 2001, and in 2003 co-founded the nationwide organization Brustkrebs Deutschland e.V. (German Breast Cancer Association) with a group of doctors, breast cancer patients and others. From 2002 Mrs. Haidinger began offering a weekly consultation session at the Munich University Clinic, Munich-Großhadern.

Since 2005 she has professionally attended all relevant breast cancer conferences, recording video interviews with German experts and live streams from ASCO and SABCS. She writes content for a number of breast cancer websites and brochures, moderates podium discussions, and gives multiple annual presentations on HTA issues and market access, among other topics concerning patients

She has been a member of numerous advocacy, advisory board, and working groups, and holds memberships with many breast cancer societies. She also works with the European Medicines Agency and the European Commission, and is an appointed member of the innovative medicines initiative pool of patient experts. At the virtual ABC6 conference in 2021 she was member of the patient advocacy committee, faculty and panel member as well as co-chair of the consensus meeting.

In recent years she has worked for the ABC Global Alliance and was elected “Director of the General Assembly” in 2019. She has co-authored many breast cancer publications listed in PubMed. In 2012 Mrs. Haidinger received the Federal Cross of Merit from the German President, Joachim Gauck.

Alessandra Gennari

Head, Division of Oncology,
Maggiore University Hospital and University of Piemonte Orientale, Novara, Italy

Alessandra Gennari is Professor of Oncology at the University of Eastern Piedmont and Director of Division of Oncology at the AOU Maggiore della Carità in Novara (Italy). She is actively involved in translational and clinical research in breast cancer since 1996. She is particularly interested in treatment individualization in breast cancer. She has published more than 180 articles in peer reviewed journals as well as book chapters. She is member of the Editorial Team (Clinical Editor) of the Cochrane Breast Cancer Group. Professor Gennari has additionally been an ESMO faculty member for the Breast cancer faculty group since 2017, and was the first author of the ESMO 2021 metastatic breast cancer guidelines.

She has served as Chair or Co-Chair of symposia in international conferences, organized by ESMO, ECCO and EBCC.

Sung-Bae Kim

Professor, Department of Oncology, Asan Medical Center,
University of Ulsan College of Medicine, South Korea

Sung-Bae Kim is Professor at Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan, Seoul, Korea. He attained his MD and PhD from Kyunghee Univerisity Medical School in 1987 and 1996 respectively, completed his clinical training in internal medicine at Ewha Womans University, and undertook a clinical fellowship at Division of Hematology-Oncology at Asan Medical Center. He additionally studied at the Experimental Transplantation and Immunology, National Cancer Institute, USA in 2000 as a postdoctoral fellow.

Dr Kim is a member of many steering committees in international clinical trials, and a number of breast cancer societies, including the Korean Cancer Association where he has served as a board member and Vice President, and ASCO, AACR and ESMO. He has also served as the Vice President of APCC from 2016-2017.

His research interests include tumor immunotherapy, molecular imaging, early drug development, and clinical management of head and neck cancer, esophageal cancer, and breast cancer. He has authored several book chapters and written over 300 articles in renowned, peer reviewed, oncology journals, and been the principal investigator on a number of clinical trials.

Dr Kim is currently Head of the Breast Cancer Center at Asan Medical Center and has served as scientific co-chair for ESMO Breast 2021-2023.

Disclosures:

Research funding – Novartis, Sanofi-Aventis, and DongKook Pharm Co.

Consultant in advisory boards – Novartis, AstraZeneca, Lilly, Dae Hwa Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd, ISU Abxis, Daiichi-Sankyo, Beigene

Stocks – Genopeaks, NeogeneTC

Roberto Hegg

Director, Centro de Pesquisa em Ocologia Ginecológica e Mamária,
Hospital Pérola Byinton/FMUSP, São Paolo, Brazil

Professor Hegg graduated in 1974 from the Medical University of Mogi das Cruzes. Through his work, he gained a specialist title in gynecology in 1978, and mastology in 1985.

He obtained his Masters of Medicine and a PhD from the Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo (FMUSP) in Brazil in 1983, where he was later appointed as an Associate Professor in 1992. From 1988 to 1996 Dr Hegg acted as a coordinator of the FMUSP medical residency.

From 1990 until 1998, Professor Hegg acted as the Director of the Human Health Reference Center, and has been the Director of the Gynecological/Breast Oncology Research & Studies Center since 1990.

He is the principal investigator on a number of global clinical trials in breast and gynecological cancer – covering Phase I-III trials, in more than 120 studies. He has published several articles in international, renowned journals and is a member of many breast cancer societies, including ASCO, ESMO and Federação Brasileira das Associações de Ginecologia e Obstetrícia (FEBRASGO).

Professor Hegg is currently the Director of the Centro de Pesquisa em Oncologia Ginecológica e Mamária in Brazil.

Disclosures:

No financial or non-financial relationships or conflicts of interest to disclose.

Evandro de Azambuja

Head of the Medical Support Team (Academic Promoting Team),
Jules Bordet Institute, Brussels, Belgium

Evandro de Azambuja, MD, PhD, is the Head of the Medical Support Team (Academic Promoting Team) located at the Jules Bordet Institute in Brussels, Belgium

Dr. de Azambuja earned his first PhD from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil, in May 2007 and his second PhD from the Université Libre de Bruxelles (U.L.B) in December 2015.

Dr. de Azambuja is a member of different societies including ESMO, ASCO and BSMO. He also has been chairing different ESMO activities such as Fellowship Committee (2018-2022), ESMO Leaders Generation Program (2018-2022). He is the elected ESMO membership director 2023-2024.

He has (co)-authored about 275 peer-reviewed articles and 15 book chapters. He has been a member of Education and Scientific Committees of the ESMO, ESMO Breast, EBCC and ECCO meetings and invited international speaker in different conferences and countries.

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