Geert Janssens (MD, PhD, Associate Professor), Chair SIOPE-RO-WG (2021-2023)
Princess Maxima Centre for Paediatric Oncology & University Medical Centre Utrecht – The Netherlands
Geert Janssens graduated in 1998 at the Catholic University Leuven (Belgium) and obtained his Board Certificate in Radiation Oncology in 2003. He was staff member at the Radboud University Medical Centre, Nijmegen (NL), where he developed special expertise in paediatric oncology, head & neck oncology and hypoxia modulation during radiotherapy (PhD) and currently works at the department of Radiation Oncology of the University Medical Centre Utrecht and the Princess Maxima Centre for Paediatric Oncology.
His field of interest has been dedicated to paediatric brain tumours (in particular brainstem glioma), paediatric renal tumours, metastatic disease from paediatric solid tumours, redefining target volumes in an era of high-conformity, and implementation of state-of-the-art radiotherapy approaches for paediatric tumours.
Geert is chair-elect of the SIOPE-RO-WG, treasurer of PROS (Paediatric Radiation Oncology Society), past-chair radiotherapy of the SIOP-brain tumour group, steering member of QUARTET (a SIOP-E project with focus on Quality Assurance for radiotherapy and imaging), member of SIOP-RTSG, SIOPEN, and EpSSG. He is (co-) project leader of a number of granted projects related to the abovementioned topics (Dutch Cancer Society, KiKa) and (co-)author of more than 75 peer reviewed scientific papers and 4 book chapters.
Together with the paediatric radiotherapy community, it is his ambition as a steering member to develop consensus statements, guidelines, collaboration pathways and to offer other handles to tackle radiotherapy-related inequalities across SIOPE-affiliated countries.
Stephanie Bolle, steering committee member
Insitut Gustave Roussy, France
Stephanie Bolle graduated in Medicine in 1998 at Liege University (Belgium) and obtained her Board Certificate in Radiation Oncology in 2003. After a fellowship at F. Burr Proton Therapy Center of Massachusetts General Hospital (Boston), she moved to France in 2007 and worked until 2011 in the Radiation Oncology Department at Institut Curie in Paris. Currently, she is paediatric radiation oncologist at Gustave Roussy, leading Cancer Centre in Europe. Her particular interest are brain and skull base tumours in children, adolescents and young adults. She have a large experience in proton therapy working at Institut Curie - Protontherapy Center of Orsay since 15 years. She is co-chair of Ependymoma sub-group of SIOPe – Brain Tumor Group. She is a board member of GRFRP (Groupe Français de Radiothérapie Pédiatrique) and an active member of SFCE (Société Française des Cancers de l’Enfant) and PROS.
Cathy Dunlea (BSc, Senior Pre-treatment Therapeutic Radiographer), steering committee member
University College London Hospital – United Kingdom
Cathy Dunlea graduated in 2016 from the University of Hertfordshire (UK), where she obtained a BSc (Hons) Radiotherapy & Oncology degree. She now works in the Radiotherapy Department of the University College London Hospital, as a senior pre-treatment therapeutic radiographer. In this position, she has experience with the process of photon and proton beam therapy.
Her experience also includes liaising with the paediatric radiation oncologists, registrars, physicists and play specialists, through leading a weekly pre-planning meeting, that enables clinical evaluative discussions of all patient referrals.
She endeavours to promote the highest standards of paediatric radiation oncology, in particular for patient information provisions, innovation and advancements in paediatric radiotherapy techniques. She has a keen interest in clinical research and development, aiming to enhance and harmonise the evidence base for paediatric radiotherapy across European centres. By utilizing her enthusiasm, reliability, and team working skills she hopes to assist in improving standards of quality assurance, patient experience and staff education across the SIOPE affiliated countries.
Semi Harrabi (MD), steering committee member
University Hospital Heidelberg – Germany
Semi Harrabi graduated in 2012 at Heidelberg University (Germany) and obtained his board certificate in Radiation Oncology in 2017. Currently, he is senior consultant at the Heidelberg Ion Beam Therapy Centre (HIT) and head of the paediatric radiation oncology group, including photon and proton therapy.
His field of interest and expertise lie in paediatric cancers, neuro-oncology, sarcoma and the application of high precision radiotherapy (with charged particles) to decrease the burden of treatment related sequelae, especially for the youngest patients.
Dr. Harrabi is head of the national radiotherapy reference institution for paediatric low-grade glioma and member of the osteosarcoma steering committee (COSS). He is active member of both national (DEGRO, GPOH, APRO) and international (SIOPE-BTG, PROS, ESTRO) working groups related to paediatric oncology. He is (co-)author of more than 30 peer reviewed papers and two book chapters.
As a member of the steering committee it is his ambition to bring paediatric radiation oncologists across Europe together to define common guidelines, stimulate exchange of scientific and clinical experience, develop new research projects and facilitate access to state of the art treatment.
Yasmin Lassen , steering committee member
Aarhus University Hospital, Denmark
In 2002, Yasmin Alexandra Lassen finished her specialisation in Radiation Oncology. She have worked in several radiotherapy departments in Switzerland, Luxembourg and Denmark. Since 2018 she was employed at the Danish Centre for Particle Therapy at Aarhus University Hospital in Denmark. For the last 12 years, she has worked with great enthusiasm in paediatric radiation oncology. Her main interests are late effects and paediatric brain tumours. Recent projects that she was involved in, have the focus on the development of neurovascular and neurocognitive side effects after paediatric radiotherapy as well as brain stem toxicity and image changes after proton therapy. Yasmin Alexandra Lassen is also very interested in projects about communication with children and their families about radiation treatment, which she thinks is a topic that needs to be more studied. Education is another important aspect of her career. She has organised multiple workshops about paediatric radiation oncology in the frame of the Nordic/Baltic Paediatric Oncology Society (NOPHO). She has also been involved in the establishment of a mandatory course in radiation oncology for the residents in paediatric oncology and it will have a first pilot course this year. She thinks that education in radiation oncology is not only important for us but also for the other specialties in our multidisciplinary team. International collaborations in paediatric radiation oncology are very important in our rapidly developing field. She is an active member of SIOPE, where she participates in the Radiotherapy Working Group, the Brain Tumour Group and the radiotherapy quality assurance QUARTET project.
Anne Laprie (MD, PhD, Full Professor), steering committee member
Institut Claudius Regaud & Université Paul Sabatier Toulouse III - France
Anne Laprie graduated in 1995 at the University of Toulouse (France). After obtaining her board certificate in Radiation Oncology in 2003, she worked as a research fellow at the University of California in San Francisco. Currently, she is radiation oncologist at the Institut Universitaire du Cancer de Toulouse- Oncopole (IUCT-O), in Toulouse and as a researcher at INSERM Toulouse NeuroImaging Center (ToNIC). She was associate professor since 2011 and is full professor of oncology since 2016.
Her clinical activity is fully dedicated to paediatric and AYA radiation oncology. Anne Laprie’s research field is metabolic and molecular imaging as well as ballistics for the optimization of radiotherapy of paediatric and AYA brain tumours.
She is vice president of the French Group of Paediatric Radiation Oncology, member of the scientific committee of the French Society of Children’s Cancer ( SFCE), member of SIOPEN and PROS and has a strong interest in teaching at national (member of the steering committee of the French paediatric oncology diploma and steering committee of the national college of oncology teachers) and international level (e.g. ESTRO teacher for the ‘Paediatric Radiation Oncology Course’).
She coordinates several translational research prospective trials and studies, including the national PEPPI study (Paediatric Ependymoma Photons Protons and Imaging), the IMPALA prospective study on the evaluation of memory sequels after paediatric radiotherapy, and the Ependymomics project, an artificial intelligence project with an European cohort to define prognostic and predictive markers of relapse and toxicity for paediatric ependymoma. She is (co-)author of more than 75 peer reviewed scientific papers and several book chapters.
As steering member her ambition is to contribute to shape the future of clinical, teaching and research of European paediatric oncology.
Gillian Whitfield (MBBS, FRCR, PhD) steering committee member
The Christie NHS Foundation Trust – Manchester – United Kingdom
Gillian Whitfield graduated with first class honours in Mathematics from Cambridge University in 1988. After 5 years working in industry, she returned to study medicine, graduating (MBBS) from the University of London (St Bartholomew’s and the Royal London) in 1998. Fellowship of the Royal College of Radiologists (FRCR) followed in 2005, and PhD and completion of training in 2011. She has worked as a consultant Clinical Oncologist (radiotherapist) at The Christie Hospital since 2011. She treats with photon radiotherapy, including Stereotactic Radiosurgery (SRS), as well as with Proton Beam Therapy (PBT) in the UK’s first National Health Service (NHS) PBT centre which opened in December 2018.
Her focus is on central nervous system (CNS) and skull base tumours in children, teenage and young adult patients and adults. At The Christie, she is the radiotherapy lead for the linac-based intracranial SRS service, treating since 2011 and one of the first centres in Europe to gain Novalis Certified Accreditation. She led the CNS group on radiotherapy improvements, for example the introduction of IMRT and VMAT. She led the team for Adults with CNS and skull base tumours preparing for the national PBT service, and led on PBT planning for paediatric CNS tumours, as part of which she wrote all the CNS and skull base clinical treatment protocols.
Her research in CNS tumours is focused on outcomes of treatment, and clinical trials exploiting advanced radiotherapy techniques including SRS, IMRT and PBT; she is the radiotherapy lead for paediatric CNS trials and co-investigator on several funded projects related to these interests. Nationally, she is member of the NHS Proton Clinical Reference panel (which reviews clinical cases for approval of NHS funded proton therapy), the Ependymoma Advisory Group, and the National Cancer Research (NCRI) Clinical and Translational Radiotherapy Research Working Group (CTRad).
She helped to develop Skull base service Quality Indicators for peer review, co-authored radiotherapy guidance for the Children’s Cancer and Leukaemia Group, and contributed significantly to Royal College of Radiologists radiotherapy guidelines, and to NHS consultations on SRS for spinal and intracranial CNS tumours. She is (co-)author of more than 30 peer-reviewed papers, co-author of chapters of 3 textbooks, clinical lead for an e-learning for Health e-Proton project and a regular invited speaker at national meetings.
As a steering committee member of the SIOPE Radiation Oncology Working Group, her ambition is to improve access to and standards of radiotherapy for children across Europe.