Oncology in low-middle income settings: The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic

Dr Bente Mikkelsen was formerly director of division of noncommunicable diseases and promoting health through the life-course at the World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe (Copenhagen, Denmark), head of secretariat for the global coordination mechanism on the prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases (WHO GCM/NCD) at the World Health Organization Headquarters (Geneva, Switzerland) from its inception in 2014, and former CEO of the Southern and Eastern Norway Regional Health Authority.

Dr Mikkelsen is trained as a Gynaecologist and Obstetrician and holds a Master’s degree in Health Administration and Management from the University of Oslo. Her current focus is on achieving the SDGs through the reduction of premature deaths from NCDs in the context of WHO General Programme of Work, and working across sectors with multi-stakeholders, within and beyond the health sector using innovation, implementation research, health literacy and new technologies.

Mary Gospodarowicz is a professor at the University of Toronto, radiation oncologist with longstanding interest in genitourinary cancers and lymphomas. Her research focuses on clinical trials evaluating radiation therapy, image-guided precision radiotherapy, and cancer survivorship. Her current interests include global cancer control, global access to radiotherapy, and quality cancer care. She has authored close to 400 manuscripts.

Dr Gospodarowicz is the past-president of the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC). She spearheaded the Lancet Oncology Commission on “Expanding the global access to radiotherapy”. She continues to contribute to UICC and is currently a member of the board of directors of the City Cancer Challenge. She is an honorary fellow of the Royal College of Radiologists and has received other awards, including the ASTRO Gold Medal.

Dr May Abdel-Wahab's main areas of focus include healthcare access and training, as well as novel solutions to address disparity and diversity issues. She has served as a member and chair, on the United Nations Interagency Task Force Steering committee (UNIATF) on prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), which coordinates UN-wide activities in NCDs amongst others. As a member of the UN Joint Programme on the Cervical Cancer Control Steering Committee, she is working at the global and national level with participating countries to support a national comprehensive cervical cancer control programme. She is also a steering committee member of the Lancet Oncology Commission on Imaging and Nuclear Medicine, studying cost and access in oncology. She has served as chair of the ASTRO Committee for Healthcare Access & Training and co-chair of the Integration of Health Enterprise in Radiation Oncology (IHE-RO) Planning Committee, working on interconnectivity issues at various levels of patient care.

Dr Wahab is an avid lecturer and has published widely. During her time as a residency program director, she has developed particular interest in education and curriculum development and has organized numerous symposia and scientific meetings. She has also served on advisory boards, expert panels, and professional journal editorial boards. She was principal investigator on Phase I and Phase II clinical trials and studied the interaction of novel GHRH-antagonists and radiation in her lab in close collaboration with Dr. Andrews Schally’s lab. Prior to joining the IAEA, she was section head of GI radiation oncology at the Cleveland Clinic, USA, and Professor at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner School of Medicine, Case Western University. Her research focused on prostate and GI cancers as well as quality assurance and access in radiotherapy. She is a fellow of both the American Board of Radiology (ACR) and the American Society of Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) and was featured on the Best Doctors in America listing, among other honors.

Dr Ophira Ginsburg is a medical oncologist and global women’s health researcher with technical and policy expertise in noncommunicable diseases prevention and management.  She is the director of the high-risk cancer genetics program and associate professor in the section for global health, department of population health at New York University School of Medicine. Formerly based at the University of Toronto, from 2015 to 2016 she was a medical officer at WHO and continues to serve as a consultant to several UN agencies, providing technical assistance to member states on national cancer control planning and policies.

Over the last 15 years, Dr Ophira Ginsburg developed an inter-disciplinary collaborative program of research, education, and policy guidance in cancer control, with colleagues on five continents. The overarching aim of her work is to improve equitable access to early detection for breast and cervical cancer in low-income and middle-income countries. She also conducts public health research to reduce cancer disparities for women in underserved communities in North America, and is leading a new study funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health (“Cancer Moonshot” program), to improve access to cancer genetics services through primary care clinics in the New York area.

Dr Partha Basu is head of screening group of International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). He was head of gynecological oncology at Chittaranjan National Cancer Institute, India before joining IARC in 2015.

His current research projects include cohort study to evaluate single dose of HPV vaccine, RCT to evaluate a new Indian HPV vaccine, RCT to evaluate thermal ablation, evaluation of artificial intelligence for cervical cancer early detection, study of vaginal microbiome in HIV+ women, RCT to evaluate clinical breast examination, evaluation of automated breast ultrasound, evaluation of cancer screening programmes in Europe and Latin America, and evaluation of colorectal cancer screening in Mediterranean Region. These projects are funded by National Institute of Health (USA), Gates Foundation, American Cancer Society, MRC (UK), Norwegian Research Council, Swiss Cancer Research, Lalla Salma Foundation (Morocco), Indo-American Cancer Association, etc. Dr Basu's publications can be accessed here. 

Professor Richard Sullivan is professor of cancer and global health at King’s College London, and director of the King’s Institute of Cancer Policy and co-director of the Conflict and Health Research Group. As well as holding a number of visiting chairs, Professor Richard Sullivan is an non-communicable disease (NCD) advisor to the World Health Organization (WHO), civil-military advisor to Save the Children, and a member of the National Cancer Grid of India.

His research focuses on global cancer policy and planning, and health systems strengthening, particularly fragile and conflict settings. Professor Richard Sullivan’s research teams have programs in capacity building in conflict and health across the Middle East and North Africa (r4hc-mena.org), as well as programmes in women’s health, digital innovation (VR enhanced surgery) and a wide range of global health security projects. Professor Sullivan qualified in medicine and trained in surgery (urology), gaining his PhD in biochemistry from University College London. As well as working as research and development lead in industry he was also clinical director of Cancer Research UK, one of the world’s largest research funders between 1999 and 2008.